A Year In The Making

At last years Bridgwater half marathon I found out just how unfit I was while coming back from injury. Returning from said injury was tough. You could say its been a year in the making as I’ve been eyeing this race ever since last year.

I don’t tend to dwell too much on a race if it doesn’t go to plan but last years race was so bad that I had to go back and improve my time.

The original plan was to go for a PB but after picking up a few niggles the week of the race, that plan went out the window. After my knee locked up and my left calf was really tight, I wasn’t even sure if I’d race at all.

I ran the day before and thankfully my knee was fine. I was just left with all the other little aches and pains I usually have!

Taking a chance

The night before, I was messaging Simon, my coach. He was concerned about me running on my tight calf.

After much deliberating I decided to get up the next morning and go to the race. Once there I’d warm up and see how everything felt. I gave myself three options, run the half steady, drop down to the 10k or not run at all.

As I was there early, I took advantage of a free massage service which helped loosen up my calf. I then set about doing my warm up.

Knee pain, nope! Calf tightness, a little. IT band, meh, that’s kind of always there. My own totally unqualified assessment was that I was good to run the half.

I was definitely taking a chance as I had no idea if my knee or calf would flare up mid race. As I knew before, I wasn’t going to be going for a PB. So my plan was to run to feel and see what happens, if I felt good push on, if not then ease off.

Running without pressure

I have to admit that while I love properly racing and pushing myself to my limits, it was nice to start a race with the pressure off.

No pushing for a PB or a certain time. No constant watch checking to see what pace I’m running. It was a refreshing change to just run.

So I set off and after a few checks of the watch, I told myself off and decided to check it as little as possible. People streamed past me but for a change, I wasn’t concerned by it.

Instead I just trundled along at my own pace and it was glorious! All my little niggles were also holding up well so a few miles in I was pretty sure I’d made the right decision.

That is however until I passed 6 miles. I started to feel it in my knee. Nothing major, just a niggly little feeling that was more annoying than painful. I started to wonder whether I’d have been better off dropping down to the 10k.

Finishing strong

I persevered and after about half a mile or so later it either went away or I just forgot about it.

It was getting hotter but around the 8 mile mark I was feeling pretty good so decided to start pushing on. I didn’t go mad but upped the pace enough that I was soon catching and passing people in front of me.

This was my new plan, catch and pass as many people as possible. I actually recognised most of the people I was passing as those that had gone past me earlier in the race. It’s always a nice little boost to your competitive spirit when that happens!

I was motoring along nicely and it dawned me on how much I was struggling in the later stages of last years race. I was fitter, stronger and an awful lot more comfortable this time around, even when running faster.

It wasn’t long before I’d negotiated the rather unpleasant turnback section of the race and was heading towards the finish. With only a mile to go I tried to kick on again and I was pleased to see I banked my fastest split in the last mile.

A year in the making

I passed one more person just before turning into the rugby ground to the finish line when he decided to engage in a sprint finish.

I started to go with him but I quickly realised he was a far better sprinter than me so I didn’t even bother trying to stay with him!

It was still a strong finish and my official time was 1hr33.19 which is over 11 minutes faster than last year. I know it was different circumstances last year but it was nice to get a course PB.

What was also enjoyable was running with no goals or pressure and I actually really enjoyed the race.

Speaking of enjoying races, my next race is Saturday 7th September, less than a week after Bridgwater. Its a Maverick Races Original Series event on the trails in the Cotswolds and its a race I’m very much looking forward to!