Newport Half Marathon
Newport half marathon is a race I was supposed to run this time last year. Due to the snow it was cancelled. It rearranged for 2 weeks later which was the same day as Reading half marathon.
That was also a race I was supposed to run but ironically enough they were both cancelled. Yep, that pesky snow was the reason yet again. Like everyone else, I love a bit of the white stuff but not when your races are cancelled.
Anyway, I was able to defer my entry to this year and, hooray, no snow! Just lots of rain and the promise of howling winds. Still, at least those conditions don’t result in race cancellations.
Not the best build up
I’ve been looking forward to this race for a while now as it was one of my goal races. This past week or so I started wondering whether it was one of those things that just wasn’t meant to be.
I picked up a niggly little pain on the inside of my right thigh about 10 days ago. It was one of those completely innocuous things where I went down two steps on my way out of work and felt the pain.
It was an odd pain in an unusual place. I thought nothing more of it until I went to do my easy run that night. It was quite painful from the get go and instead of being sensible and sacking the run off, I kept going.
Once home I put a bag of peas on it then soaked in the bath to try to help it. It took over a week and a few easy runs before it started to clear up. The night after the one run it did feel ok, I did some glute work and then it ached for the next two days.
On top of that, Steph had a sickness bug in the night on Thursday. It resulted in me having to take an unpaid day off work. Due to her condition, the sickness bug really hit her hard and she only got out of bed to have a quick shower.
So with the worry of a niggle not healing, the paranoia of catching a sickness bug and the realisation I’d hardly run for over a week, I started to wonder if I’d even make it to Newport.
Race day
Thankfully I dodged the sickness bug and Saturday night ran for the first time without feeling the niggle. Simon, my coach, then gave me my goal pace. It was quick and it was scary. He was confident I could do it so I agreed to go for it.
After an early start to get to Newport in time to get parked near the race start I arrived with only a couple of minor hiccups. Those hiccups being my Google Maps not working which meant I had guess where I was going for some of it. The second was the road I needed to go down being closed. Having witnessed a car go down there anyway, and a cone moved out of the way, I gambled and went down there too.
The other car turned off but as I followed the road I caught up with the lorry that was putting the cones down. Safe to say one of the guys wasn’t amused I’d driven down there. Thankfully the other guy was good about it and let me go past so I could access the car park which was literally just to the left of me.
Once I’d parked I made my way to race HQ by blindly following a lady in running kit. I must say, they held it at a leisure centre which was ideal. They had toilets, although only 2 cubicles, changing facilities and a big sports hall for the bag drop and other things. It was centrally located and not too far from the race start and even closer to the finish.
Chasing big goals
So as the race start approached I did my warm up, thankfully niggle and pain free and lined up near the front. The plan was to go out at 6.50min miles for the first half of the race before dropping it down to 6.40 and then pushing on.
I got off to a good start, a little too quick but I soon settled into a rhythm. I felt pretty good as we left the town centre. there was a surprising amount of little steep inclines throughout the race. Not enough to cause me any real issues but steep enough to disrupt my rhythm and breathing a little.
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park half marathon a few weeks ago was the first half marathon I’d run without gels for a long time. That was just a training run but I also ran without them for this race too. It wasn’t out of choice, it was because I haven’t got round to buying anymore.
As it was the first time I’d “raced” without them I was unsure what, if any, effect it would have on me. By mile 7 I was still feeling ok but mile 8 my legs turned to jelly. I’ve no idea whether that was a result of no gels, the lack of miles in my legs over the last 2 weeks or both.
I kept on plugging away but I was now past the halfway mark which was the time to push on. If I’m totally honest, I think I’m suffering a slight mental block with pushing until it hurts. Don’t get me wrong, I always leave it all out there but I know mid race is the period I struggle with most when it comes to leaving my comfort zone.
Closer than I thought
Mile 9 is when I started to do some maths. I was trying to work out where I was at in terms of finish time. Somehow I managed to convince myself the PB was long gone and that I’d struggle to get close to 1hr30. For a minute or two I contemplated backing right off. The goal was a PB so now that’s gone whats the point?
The point was that this was more than a training run so I knuckled down and got to work. It was tough but as the miles ticked by I just tried to catch each person in front of me. My legs wouldn’t turn over as quickly as I’d have liked but I over took a few other runners.
It was slightly demoralising around mile 10 when you could hear the announcer at the finish line loud and clear. That sound soon faded away until we got close to mile 13. At this point I gave it everything I had left, which wasn’t an awful lot!
A painful sprint finish later and I crossed the finish line. My legs were done in but according to my watch, I had just sneaked in under 1hr30. I worked out between miles 11 & 12 that I’d got my maths wrong. Turns out I was closer to my current PB than I thought I would be.
I don’t like what if’s, or to make excuses BUT it did make me wonder what might have been. If I’d had a better couple of weeks before this race then who knows. Still, it was a great time, my second fastest, and all things considered it was a solid effort. It was also incredibly wet after raining the whole way round!
What’s next
As I mentioned above, the organisation was great at this event. The marshals and spectators were really supportive, despite the awful weather, and the course was nice. I’m sure in places the views would have been stunning on a nicer day. And if you like your medals as much as I do you’d love this one, its HUGE!
So now it seems my niggle has gone, slight ache aside, its back to putting the hard work in. My next race is Reading half marathon, the other snow casualty from last year. That one will only be a training run but I’m looking forward it.
Steph and the girls don’t come to many of my races anymore but they will be in attendance for that one. Mainly because of the finish being in the Madejski Stadium, home to Reading Football Club. It’ll be an early start for them but hopefully worth it.
