13/3/2011
Morning Pre-Race
6.30am My alarm goes off and I clamber over my dad and brother who are sacrificially sleeping on the floor; eat my breakfast of Maple and pecan crisp cereal and get showered. Feel pretty good thanks to a solid 9 hour sleep; despite my blocks efforts to wake me they only managed to keep my dad from sleeping, which me and Joel found amusing, unlucky dad! Thanks so much to those who sent texts and cards of encouragement, it was really kind, and helped to spur me on and calm me down in the hours before my first ever race.
7.45am All my gear is packed, trying best to ensure I don't forget anything quite important, such as my race number or my Garmin watch. Sort out directions and wake the other two to set off.
8.45am Arrive at Hood Park Leisure Centre in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, left on my own to sort out getting changed and navigating my way to start line. Having never been to a race this was quite an experience with loads of kit to buy for cheap prices, different teams huddling together to discuss their race strategy and I've never seen such long queues for the toilets. I eventually found my way to the changing rooms, got ready, fitted my timing chip and left for the race start which was a short walk away from the centre.
9.45am We were asked to sort ourselves out in to various pens based on our expected finishing times. My aim for todays race was to complete it in 3 hours, being my first race I expected there would be a few hiccups and that I would be able to run a more efficient race on the 17th april, although my main goal was to simply finish. I put myself in the 2:30 - 3.00 expected finish time which I was a bit unsure about since there looked to be some fairly capable runners in the group with most wearing club running vests etc. But my thinking was it was better to aim high and drop off rather than start slow and as I felt increasingly tired have to try and pick up the pace.
10am Race start, didn't really anticipate just how many people were running and it took some time for the field to thin out a bit and be able to get in to my rhythm without having to run around people constantly.
The Race.
I used a couple of club runners who started nearby to pace myself with for the first few miles, my thinking being that they would be more disciplined with their pacing and help me try and resist the urge to overtake loads of people early on which is quite satisfying but entirely pointless as they would just end up overtaking me later on. The course consists of two laps, and I heard many amusing remarks after there was a 10 mile marker after only about 2 miles of the race.
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| The last sprint for the finish |
Using my watch I kept track of each mile, and my current pace. The first 6-7 miles flew by, my pace not being as consistent as i'd hoped and was too fast, however it was quite satisfying as the first 10km I ran were faster than any 10km I had run in training. This might have been slightly due to different elevations but it was a nice little achievement. It did make me very wary however that at some point I was going to get really quite tired if I continued at this pace. I was able to keep below 8-minute-mile pace for the first 11 miles which was great and the first 13 miles (half marathon) I completed in ~1hr40mins which is far quicker than I thought I could run a half marathon as well.
The race went through some rather picturesque villages and even passed by a few farms, which reminded me of the farm my family used to visit in Capel when I was young, the smell of manure and countryside, beautiful!
I managed to soak one of the kids handing out cups of water at one of the stations as rather than grabbing the cup, I missed it and knocked it all over him, poor lad. The next kid I went to pick up the water from looked a little apprehensive as I approached which I found quite funny.
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| Nice product placement for lucozade. Can't recommend it enough, and my finishers hoody. |
I was using jelly beans for energy during the race, one every mile, however from about 8 miles in I started to feel really quite sick so thought it was my best to give those a miss from then on. Feeling unwell meant that I didn't drink very much either as this only went to make me feel worse. The last 6 miles were a real push and had to keep myself mentally strong, telling myself that I would only be disappointed later if I stopped and walked for a short while. I knew my pace was good and so the temptation was also there that maybe I could walk a mile and still achieve my target time, however I kept pushing on.
The last 200 metres you could here the applause from all those watching and one of the organizers cheering the runners on as they came up to the finish. I put in a good sprint finish which is always satisfying, especially when you've been plodding along for miles and overtook a couple of people near the end which satisfied my competitive instinct. I saw my dad and brother just before the finish line and could hear them saying well done, I had missed them at the half way stage as I was ahead of my target time so by the time they were there I was 10 minutes gone.
As soon as I stopped running I felt very dizzy and knew I wouldn't be able to hold back the sick feeling and one of the kind St Johns ambulance team took me to one side where I was sick, lovely end to my first race. Once I'd drank some fluid, got my goody bag and been given my finishers hoody I certainly felt a lot better. And a big hug from my old man was nice.
Distance: 20 miles
Time: 02:40:59
Position: 308th out of 865
I feel very satisfied with my performance, my dad put it quite well when my brother asked whether I enjoyed the race. With some things in life you work hard at them, push to complete them, you don't enjoy doing them to an extent but it is worth the satisfaction when you know you have achieved something.
The data from my garmin watch is below:
Recovery
Having found 20 miles incredibly tough, I have a better idea of what marathon day will be like, and have a more focussed idea of what training I'll do between now and the London Marathon. I need to have a look at and research why I was feeling so ill, need to practice using carbohydrate gels for energy during my training so that I'll be able to use them on race day and I can make a better kit choice, two top layers were unnnecessary. I had a sports massage from my good friend Jenny yesterday, which was SO painful but really helpful at the same time. So thanks for that, especially the other girls in her house deciding to come laugh at me in my pain!
Only 32 days to go now until the London Marathon, so please dig deep and sponsor me if you are able. The work which HOPEHIV support is life changing, your money will really make a difference in the lives of children and young people in sub-Saharan Africa. You can follow this link here to SPONSOR ME! You can give anonymously if you wish, you can also sponsor me by cash or by cheque written out to 'HOPEHIV' which I can then pass on.
Many thanks for reading, hope you have a great week.
