147 Days To Go

Date & Time : 29/11/09 11:00
Distance : 13 miles
Total Training Distance (since beginning Sept 09) : 212 miles
Route : Norwich Half Marathon

What a great experience. I was a little nervous before the start, but my preparation had gone well and even my pre-race pee was timed to perfection. The weather was foul leading up to the start of the race, but literally as the runners stepped onto the start the sun came out and it could not have been better conditions.

One mistake I did make was lining up too far back in the pack with the rest of the 2 hour estimates, most of whom were lying I found out and therefore spent the first 2 or 3 miles trying to get past quite a lot of slower runners, which I think probably cost be a minute or two.


The first half of the race went really well. I was pleased with my pace, averaging 9 min miles, which is about 30 secs faster than my normal training pace. I crossed the half way point exactly on the hour. As I started my second lap I got a real boost when I saw Lorraine and the girls and Karen and Anna cheering me on.

The second half also went well. At about 9 miles I started to feel it in my legs a bit, but thought back to some advice I had been given that morning, which was to relax and enjoy it. I found the inclines much easier to deal with than the downhill sections and found that I was making up a lot of time and ground on the runners around me. Must be all that up hill training that I do starting out from Trowse.

11 to 12 miles was a bit of a struggle up the hill, but once I got to the top I had a really great last mile into the showground for the finish, and really motored down the finishing straight. Last time I did this race, 10 years ago, I had a horrible last couple of miles so it was great to finish so strongly this time and it a great confidence boost for the marathon next April.


Overall I really loved it, and can't wait for the next one, if anything I wish I had started further up the field and gone a bit faster, then I might have had a chance of breaking 2 hours. I'll also take more Jelly Babies next time, I was giving myself a treat every 2 miles, but ran out after 8 miles - poor planning!


Time 2:00:19.
Position 1399 out of 2233.
Position in category M40 - M44 199.