Worthing 20

Yesterday saw me undertake my biggest running challenge to date – the Worthing 20 mile road race!

It was a bitterly cold and very windy day, and I have to admit that I didn’t wake up in the most positive running mood, but once I stood on the start line I decided to put all of that aside and just go for it.

 

The race consisted of 4 x laps of a 5 mile course, and was completely flat., which provided a great pacemaker for the marathon.

My race plan was to take it really slow on lap 1 and build up speed for the other 3 laps. The plan started off well as I came through lap one in 50 minutes, and as I came through lap 2 at 1hr 42mins I felt really good, and positive. I picked the pace up and at the end of lap 3, went through thinking “only one lap to go”. And then something changed. As I went through 17 miles I think I must have hit a ‘wall’ as my legs started to feel really heavy and there wasn’t much left in the tank – not good with 3 miles to go! I managed to compose myself, take on some gels and pick myself up to complete the race. But it wasn’t easy.

 

I’ve come away in 2 mind sets: positive that I’m able to run 20 miles (this was my longest run to date), but also nervous with the fact that I still have another 6.2 miles to go on marathon day! All I can do now is put in another few long runs and then start to taper off – I’m sure I’ll be fine!

I finished in 3hrs 14mins, I originally thought it was 3hrs 12mins, but my Garmin was slightly ahead of the chip time for some reason.

 Stats

Chip time: 3:14:38

Pace per mile: 09:44

Category position: 46/79

Gender position: 103/1077

Here’s the latest medal in my collection.

 

 

Next stop the Cranleigh 21!

28k - longest run yet

On Sunday I completed my longest run to date - 17.4 miles (28k).

I woke up bright and breezy at 7am and headed out in the bitter cold with the intention of running solidly for 3 hours and see how it went.

The pace remained slow and steady as I didn't want to over-do it, and the 3 hours flew by! I was in my own world, with Andy C and Nero keeping me company on my iPod.

As I headed home just over 3 hours later, I realised I'd just run 17.4 miles which is two thirds of the marathon distance :)

This has made me feel a lot more confident about the next few big races I have - the Worthing 20 and the Cranleigh 21.

I still can't quite believe how far I'm now able to run. 6 months ago I was struggling to run 10k!

The Brighton Half Marathon - 17 Feb 2013

Yesterday I completed my first ever half marathon in Brighton!

It really was a perfect day for running – the sun was out, it was around 4 degrees (probably felt a little colder), and there was no wind chill.

Having stayed the night before at some relatives in Hove, I woke up at 6.30am to have my porridge in plenty of time before the race and was slightly nervous – not because I didn’t think I could run the distance, but because I wasn’t sure what to expect I suppose.

So porridge eaten, stretching completed, I headed down to the sea front just after 8am where runners had already started to arrive. It was great atmosphere down there - Heart FM were broadcasting the event live, and there was just a general pre-race buzz of excitement.

I chatted to a few people I knew and then before we knew it, we were told to get into our start ‘pens’ – basically the time that you thought you’d finish in. I headed for the 2hour group, and in hindsight I should have gone in the quicker group as once the race started, I was held up for around 2.5 miles with slower runners. There was no room to overtake anyone either, but at the same time I didn’t want to push things too early on.

We headed over to the Pavillion and then East towards the Marina, where there was a slight hill increase, but other than that the course was predominantly flat, which was great, and allowed to take in some amazing seafront scenery.

 

 

At the 10 mile mark my legs started to feel quite heavy, but as we turned back towards the Pier with 3.1 miles to go I told myself it wasn’t far to go, grabbed some Lucozade and picked up the speed.

I did make one mistake though – with 800 metres to go decided it would be a good idea to go for a sprint finish, not realising that actually 800 metres is still quite a long way!!! By the time I crossed the line I was exhausted, but I’d managed to complete the race in less than 2 hours, which was always my ultimate aim. The final time was 1hr 57:25!!!

 

Here is my shiny medal!

 

 

My key learnings from the day were:

-          Don’t go in a start pen that is too slow - if anything go at the back of a faster one

-          Don’t go for a sprint finish with 800m to go - 800m is still a fair old way!

The next stop is my 15 or 21 mile race in Cranleigh – bring it J

 

Longest run to date - my own half marathon

With it now only being 3 weeks until the Brighton Half Marathon, I woke up this morning ready for my early run and decided to see if I could run my own 13.2 miles at slow pace.

It's always much better to have a goal at the start of each run - something I never used to have - it was just a 5k here, 5 miler there. But now I ask myself before each run: "What do I want to achieve from this?" and it really works.

So I set off just before 8 and completed 21.55k (13.4 miles) in 2:13:04 which I didn't think was too bad. It was SO good to be back out on the roads after the nightmare snow week last week, and I actually felt like  had a bit more in the tank at the end which surprised me.

Pleased with today's run!

I'm still finding that it takes me around 1.5 miles to really settle into my rhythm though - I hope when it comes to London I'll be able to settle down and not get too wrapped up in the spectators and the excitement!

Next week I'm aiming for 15 and then push for 18 the week before Brighton. I do need to start planning some different routes though as am getting bored of my usual one.

Let's just hope we don't get any more snow!!!

At the foot of Marathon Everest with a long way to climb

The definition of a marathon:

1. A long-distance running race, strictly one of 26 miles and 385 yards
2. A long-lasting or difficult task or operation of a specified task

I think the Virgin London Marathon 2013 falls into both of these!

So, my marathon journey has well and truly begun. I applied for a ballot place and for the second year in a row, was unfortunately denied one.

Unphased, I then decided I would go down the charity route and have secured a place with the Run For It team, raising money for Age UK. I’m really excited to have secured a place and although I know the next 6 months will be a challenge, I’m determined to cross that finish line.

I’ve always been quite a sporty person – I was on the cross country and netball teams at school, and represented my county in athletics a few times, but it’s only been in the last 12 months or so that I’ve started to enjoy running again. Having said that, it’s mostly been running on the treadmill, and I haven’t been running long distances – the odd 5k here pushing towards a 10k.

The idea of running 26.2 miles is really daunting at the moment – it’s the thought of hitting that pavement continuously for over 4 hours without collapsing that’s really getting to me. Or running from my house to Haywards Heath – that seems near on impossible!

I’m quite a competitive person however, and would definitely consider myself as positive. So although it will take time, no doubt hurt, will require willpower and changing my life, I WILL get there. I’m taking one week at a time – it’s not a sprint race after all.