I did not go into the Thames River Half Marathon with high expectations. I have a bad lower back, and had put it out a few weeks earlier. I'd been the fittest I'd ever been just before then (which was when I'd entered the Thames Half), but a bad back had taken 3 weeks out of my training schedule and left me feeling weak. Whilst I'd managed to build my distance back up again, I was still slow. For the most part I was struggling to maintain a 6 min/km pace.
So how did I managed to turn out a PB of 5:53:30 (about 13 mins quicker than my previous half)?
For starters, conditions were perfect for running. The course is almost completely flat, and mostly along the river bank. It was a bright sunny day, with no wind, but not hot.
I am not quite sure if you're supposed to taper for a half marathon or not. Especially. If you are doing it on the way to training for a full marathon. So I ended up doing what I called a half-taper. That is I had eased off a little, running 23km on Sunday, 10km on Tuesday, 8km on Wednesday and 5km on Friday. I had also eaten an enjoyable dose of pasta in the last few days, culminating in a large bowl of my favorite spaghetti bolognaise on Saturday evening (without the glass of red wine that normally goes so well with it). After a good nights rest, I had a peanut butter bagel and a banana before heading out. So I was well rested and well fed.
During the last two weeks of training. I'd reconciled myself to a slowish half. Maybe, I though, I'd have to settle for 2:15 or even 2:20. But when I arrive at the start I was feeling strong and starting to convince myself that I was up for a 2 hour round.
I met three other people at the line up. My sister in law ("SIL") is the one who talked me into my first two races, so she is a fairly familiar running companion. She had brought another friend, who I had meant once before socially. And the gentleman previous refered to as my partner in crime ("PIC") had come along for his first ever half marathon. Although we've hiked 54 miles together before, this was going to be the first time PIC and I had ever run together.
As we were chatting before the start, I asked the others what pace they were going for. SIL and friend seemed to have similar ambitions for a 2 hour round. When I asked PIC, he said, he hadn't really worked it out yet, but he was going for 5 minute kms. That's 1:40 I said, somewhat surprised. PIC is quite a serious guy and looked quite non-plussed. We chatted briefly about his training regime and I realized he was a lot fitter than I'd realised!
The four of us set off together, with PIC, being a sociable sort, opting to start with us instead of joining the faster group. The start was very narrow and congested, and as I was chatting to PIC I lost sight of SIL and friend a little ahead of us. After about 800m PIC said he was really struggling with the congestion and he was going to head towards the side. He worked his way to the side, and bounded off into the distance. I did not see him again until the end.
I decided I would try and catch up with SIL and friend for a little company, and pushed on. I was a little surprised when I passed 1km in 5:08 mins! I pushed on. By about 5km I was still doing about 5:15 mins / km, and was starting to wonder why I'd not caught up with SIL and friend yet. Apparently, SIL had seen me pass them at about 2km, but because the crowd had still been pretty thick and congested, I'd not noticed. Slightly puzzled at not having caught them, but feeling pretty strong, I decide to push on.
I took my first gel at about 5km. In my long runs in training, I've been taking one SIS gel every 5km, and that has been working for me. So I stuck pretty tightly to that plan. That always seems like quite a lot to me when I talk to other people.however, I am pretty tall and although I am slim, I am still lugging 92kgs around with me. The first one I took contained caffeine, and then the rest did not.
At 7km I was starting to accept that I had either already passed SIL and friend without noticing them, or that they were still ahead of me and not going to be easy to catch. Is was still running 5:15/km. I checked my form: my posture was good, my shoulders were relaxed, my arms swinging nicely, my back was not giving me any trouble, and my footfall felt light and quick. I seemed to be handling the pace well. My right Achilles was feeling a little tender as it has done on a few runs lately, but as it has not caused any real problems, I decided to push on.
By 12km, the tenderness in my Achilles appeared to have worn off, and I was still maintaining my pace and feeling strong. I convinced myself that I should push on as far as I could because even if I had to drop back to 6 min kms later, I still had enough fuel in the tank to finish at that pace.
At around that time, I found myself running in the middle of a group of about 8 runners. A cyclist coming the other way took it upon himself to ride straight through middle of our group. The runner in front of me, leapt out of the way with a yelp at the last minute. As he'd been obscuring my view, I didn't see the cyclist until it was nearly too late. I leapt to the side, and managed to get away with little more than a bump. The cyclist carried on without so much as an apology. It is hard to imagine what some people think!
I pushed on and the kms flew by. At about 18km, the course passed the start/finish point before doing a final loop around and back to the finish. It was about then that I started feeling tired. But with only about 3km to go I knew I still had enough to push on. The last 3km contained the only real 'hills' on the course. Although, to be fair, they were really just short and gentle inclines. But combined with the slight tiredness, my pace dropped of slightly, and I put in my slowest km of the race in 5:31 - not a pace I was going to complain about given my expectations at the start!
I took my last gel at 20km. With the finish line insight, I probably didn't need it, but I wanted to stick to my plan. I generally enjoy the tast of gels (someone has to, I guess) but as it took my fourth one, I did start to wonder hoe enthusiastic I'd be feeling if that was all I took for a full marathon or ultra. Is suspect I need to start thinking about adding a little variety to my fueling strategy.
Wife and daughter we're cheering from the sidelines just before the finish and I crossed the line in 1:53:30 feeling both strong and elated.
PIC was waiting just over the line, and in response to my enquiry, told me he finished in 1:35. I've got to say I was thoroughly impressed and inspired by that performance! SIL came in just behind me at about 1:57 - she'd stayed with friend most of the way until she realised that she had a sub 2:00 in her sights if she put in a final surge. She seemed very pleased that it had paid off. Friend came in at about 2:01 and seemed pleased to have set a new PR, although I know she'd really hoped for a sub 2:00.
So, having set out with low expectations, I was extremely pleased with how well the race had gone. I've now got a little less than a month to go before my first full marathon. I am not as far through my training programme as I would like to be, so I am going to have to think carefully how I best use my last few weeks of preparation.
