The Paddock Wood Half Marathon has mixed memories for me. My first visit in 2004 was supposed to be part of my build up to that year’s London Marathon but served only as a confirmation that I would have to withdraw – illness had got the better of me and hampered any prospect of training. I struggled around in 2:36:31! My second visit saw an improvement to 2:03:29 but then last year, when all seemed well set for an attempt a sub 2 hour half marathon for the first time, I struggled in the heat and finished in 2:07:02. As I came to this year’s event, I had already conquered the sub 2 hour time by the finest of margins at Dartford (1:59:52). This left me the choice of attempting to improve on that, or attempting some pace discipline and going with my intended London Marathon target of 10 minute miles. The former got the better and I had already decided to target a new PB by the time I arrived. Weather wise, it was not too dissimilar to last year with bright sunshine, albeit it seemed a little fresher than I recalled from last year. A new vest last week at Cranleigh, but no change to the damage meant I ditched the tape this week and went for Vaseline instead. New running shoes too. My old pair had been feeling a little flat in cushioning so I had to get a new pair to wear in before London. New shorts too! It seemed luck was on my side when we arrived. I had dropped off my fellow runners near the start and headed off to park up, finding a car park only a couple of hundred yards further on. I then heard of heavy congestion on the route I should have taken on the way down, only missing it through not paying attention to my satnav and turning off at the wrong exit on the motorway! The toilet queue was ridiculously long but luckily PWR Tim discovered the a men’s loo hidden away with no queue. All falling nicely into place so far. There was a handful of other PWRs taking part in their first half marathon today so it was good to have a chat with a couple before the start. There were also some seasoned campaigners and Roger from Bromley Vets suggested I might achieve around 1:50 today! Not likely was my response, especially if it warmed up later in the race. Finally, 9:30am arrived and we were off. This is a popular race and so can be quite helpful at the start where it’s difficult to head off too fast because of the number of other runners around. At the same time, there is just about enough space to make progress if others have set off too slow. Luckily, I didn’t really have any runners slower than my pace to contend with and I managed to establish my goal pace fairly quickly and settle. There was a hill at around one mile, but after that, the course is flat except for a small handful of humped back bridges later on. I progressed through the first 4 miles without issue, I could feel the temperature beginning to rise by this point and the first drinks station was welcome. One useful piece of advice I was given last summer is to use water to keep cool, so not just drinking but pouring it over my head to help cool down. Luckily, the drinks stations were only water this week, and no squash, so I was able to take this approach all the way around. Around 7 miles, I began to recall last year. This was the point a which it all fell apart. This year though, I still felt in good shape. The question in my mind though was whether or not I could sustain the pace all the way. I persuaded myself to think just 2 miles ahead and get to that point before reassessing. Somewhere in between, we came across a cold wet sponge station. As I collected mine, one of the marshals was shouting to “save it for the stocks”, and there at the end of the buckets was some poor chap waiting to be pelted by wet sponges. Not likely today though, it was far too warm to waste anything which helped stop overheating. Also during that period, I was passed by a couple of others in the same M40 category as me, one stating he was pacing himself for “an inch and a half inside 1:55”. That was a bit of a shock to hear at this stage. I knew I was ahead of my intended pace, but that sounded like I was significantly ahead. At 10 miles, we were greeted by a spectator shouting the now well known phrase “only a parkrun to go”. Of course, in any normal scenario, 3.1 miles would be straightforward. However, on legs which were now tiring, it felt like a long way to go. 11 miles was my next target. At that point, I knew I would have less than 20 minutes to go. I felt like I was slowing down and a look at my watch throughout mile 11 showed paces at just over 9 minutes per mile. I still felt like I had a rhythm though and so I turned my attentions away from my watch and simply focussed on the road ahead. The last 2 miles signalled a time to really dig in - not far to go, but that last 20 minutes already felt like a lifetime. The crowds which had been absent in the country lanes had now returned. The lift I got was incredibly helpful, a real boost to get me to the top of the final bridge and as I got there, I glanced to my left and was able to see the finishing line. Ahead of me, I could see the 13 mile sign and a nice gentle downslope off the bridge towards it. I reached 13 miles and turning a sharp left back towards the finish line meant it was time to stretch my legs and break into a “sprint” finish. As I approached the line, I could see the time was well under 2 hours. I stopped my watch but before I was able to look and take in the time, I had to pause to briefly to get that initial finish line recovery before heading away from the finish area. A look at my watch as I walked back to the baggage store showed me a time of 1:56:20, a new PB which was later reduced by 1 second on the official results. On another positive note, the Vaseline did the trick! No war wounds this week! One of the pleasing things about this performance, apart from the finish time, was dealing with the bad memories of last year. In times gone by, those memories would have haunted me and without a doubt, I would have given up and walked. Today, my mind was strong and determined, and there was no way I was going to allow anything from last year to get in the way of a decent time. All in all, everything seemed to fall into place today, either through luck, or the hard work of the last year paying dividends. All good then!
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After my visit to Charlton Park Academy last Wednesday, it was back to running and the Hastings Half Marathon. Hastings has been a good hunting ground for me in my 3 visits to date – 2 half marathons and a parkrun. My first half marathon earned me a spot prize – a mug a few small bits to go with it, my second earned me some new laces for finishing in 66th place (the same was awarded to position 10) and then my third last year saw me record my fastest ever half marathon, beating 2:03:04 set in 1999 at London Docklands! All looked well set for this year. A new half marathon PB set last week at Dartford, which was also my first time under 2 hours, and knowing I had gone quicker here than at Dartford in each of the last two years gave me confidence that another PB was possible. Then I arrived at Hastings and saw the weather! I parked up in one of the seafront car parks, and as I got out of the car, I was taken aback by the strength of the wind. Worse than that, it blew directly into my face as I headed towards the start. The walk from the car was also part of the last two miles of the race along the seafront, so tired legs plus a headwind made for a very likely touch end to the race. It was good to meet some fellow PWRs and Bromley Vets in the baggage area beforehand, luckily covered and sheltered from the wind! With the experience of Thanet a couple of weeks ago, I brought an extra layer just in case, although as it turned out, there would never be any need for it. There was most definitely a need for some Vaseline or micro pore tape for protection from the sandpaper like men’s PWR vest! This was packed in my bag following one or two harsh lessons over the last couple of years which have left me a little sore after longer races. Many other male PWRs have experienced the same, and the evidence is very visible! But, for some reason, the application of the tape disappeared from my mind and as I waited to start the race, I remembered I needed to tape up! Too late! I had to go ahead without it! There was always hope that there would be no damage! Time would tell! The start to this race is nice and flat, for about half a mile! Then it is constant hills for the best part of the next 7 miles! I had barely crossed the start line when I was overtaken by fellow PWR Mike, who at least had the decency last year to wait until around 5 miles to do the deed! Early days though. The start of the hills came soon enough, a short up and then down, and then the real stuff! A hill which can’t be far off impossible to actually run! Short steps required, just like dropping down the gears in a car! I made it up in one piece for a brief respite and then the next hill. All of a sudden I heard a “hello mate” from behind and as I turned, I saw Dartford Harrier Stephen (1:50:25). A brief chat before he headed off, at least having the decency to pass me around the same sport as last year. Next up was Bromley Vet Sarah. She passed me much earlier last year but must have started behind me this time around. As she was about to head off, after stating she was taking it easy (she finished in an impressive 1:48:21), she had time for a social with an old friend! That was the end of the friendly stuff. How it was time to focus with the longest hill coming up, not especially steep, but it goes on……and on…..and on! Eventually, I reached the top. I had conquered this hill twice before so I knew what was ahead, but for some reason, it seemed to go on forever this time around. Having got through the worst, it was time to get my legs back and off I went on the relatively flat section taking me up to the turn downhill at around 8½ miles. The turn before the downhill is a short section added to make up the distance. The trouble is, it starts uphill, and a hill which at this stage of the race feels fairly steep! As I headed up, I could see Mike who had passed me just after the start! The ascent to the U turn felt slow and made longer at the sight of runners just ahead of me already on their way down. In reality, it’s a fairly short distance and I was soon there and heading downhill. I caught Mike soon after and headed on my way back to the seafront. The descent is quite steep and so the thought of a nice downhill is quickly overtaken by the pounding felt through the legs, draining more energy that I would normally be hoping to preserve for the finish, Add to that, a couple of cheeky inclines to keep the focus and you soon realise there is no real respite on this section of the course. The downhill section finishes through Hastings Old Town. I’m sure it’s very pretty, but at this point I was more interested in getting to the finish line. I was getting tired! I exited the Old Town and as I reached the seafront, I, and everyone else of course, was met by Captain Birdseye, high fiving as many runners as he could! He picked a good day to be on dry land as the distant memory of the high winds at the start were once again a reality as I reached 11 miles and the seafront. The wind felt stronger than at the start and still blowing directly into the faces of all runners. I’d pretty much had enough by this point but was urged on by a lady from Lewes. I needed someone to latch onto and her timing couldn’t have been better and so I allowed her to set the pace and just ran alongside. By 12 miles I had edged back ahead of her. My turn to do the work but by 12½ miles, I checked she was still there but she had disappeared! Half a mile to go and I just had to plod on. It felt like a quick pace but the reality was very different. A quick check of the watch and I wondered if sub two hours was possible. A shout out from Tim (1:34:43) and Antony (1:46:10) as I reached the final 100 yards but alas, it was not to be. However, despite just going over 2 hours, it was still a course record for me in 2:00:23. I’d have taken that before the start. So, two battles out of the way – high hills and high winds. Then the schoolboy error of earlier came back to haunt me! My white vest was bloodied, not from the direct hit of an invader’s arrow but the sandpaper that is the Petts Wood Runners vest! The nipple tape I had overlooked meant the constant rubbing would leave me staring at the pain of a lukewarm shower when I got home as well as a bloodstained vest! Believe me, it hurt! I should know better having been there a few times before. Hopefully I won’t forget to use it on 23 April as another 13.1 miles of nipple sanding could leaving me feeling uncomfortable in the extreme and needing more than a Guinness or two! Ouch! RESULTS |
ABOUT MEHaving completed 5 marathons between 1999 and 2016, I decided this year, I would try to do it properly and plan my training! Alongside, I wanted to keep a blog as it went along, partly to look back on, and partly to help anyone else who may benefit from my own experiences. Archives
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