Great Bentley Half Marathon
Nervous was an understatement for this race! The last time I had officially raced a half marathon was back in August. Even then I was struggling with the required speed for this type of race. Since then and my ankle incident in September I have done a few long trail runs (at a much slower pace) and several speedy six miles. Anything more was a bit of a struggle. I really should have thought more about a training plan before race day had arrived.
Time had however run out to get any more serious miles under my belt. So as a last ditched attempt I decided I should at least be organised for the race and it might help me get round. I started to embark on the pre-race checklist
1. Getting my kit ready.
This you would think is an easy thing, but there is so much to consider.
Do I wear my old trainers? New trainer? Will they rub?
Do I wear my body warmer? If so how will anyone see my Run for your Life top? Nobody will see your name so you won’t get cheers. Hmmmmmm….. Can I wear the body warmer under the Run for your Life top???? No now I look like a flump!
Do my running tights have pockets? Hmmm no…… so where do I put my jelly blocks? Yes…. I could put them in my sweat band wrist band if I only take three and not the whole pack!
Have I got my ankle support? Is that really going to survive another run? It’s falling apart a bit? Could I tape the ankle support up??? Is that going too far?
2. Getting some rest and relaxation
People may think I am mad, but to prepare my legs and ankle for a big run I often find going for a swim helps. It uses different muscles and relaxes the ones I will be using to run. It also really helps my ankle movement. Plus ultimately a quick forty lengths down the pool does wonders for my stress levels and automatically relaxes me. I didn’t think there was any harm in trying to chill out and calm the pre-race nerves a bit. This encompassed with a day at home was just what the doctor ordered. It was lovely to spend some time in the house getting organised and getting an early night. I know deep down I can run the distance, but if my brain is tired I can become very defeatist. I was so please that I managed to get a good night sleep and for once I didn’t have any crazy dreams where I was late for the race, forgot my shoes or came last.
3. Getting some fuel into me
I am rubbish at this! Totally believe that I can run up to a half on thin air and then wonder why I am struggling. The amount of times I have gone out and run this distance on a sugary cup of tea is ridiculous. Although I know everyone has their preferences and if often works for me – I am sure this method is not going to help me get quicker or get round any easier.
To try and combat any energy issues in the race I decided I needed to have some sensible meals the day before. Lunch time saw the re-appearance of the scrambled eggs on toast. At the grand old age of 35 I only learnt how to make scrambled eggs the other day. It was like a revelation to me! It was so easy to make and now love having this as a quick lunch. I have no idea whether egg on toast is a good pre-race food, but I often see runners eating it online so I thought why not! For dinner, we would normally have pasta the night before a race, but this time I opted for a large jacket potato, tuna and cheese. It was a risk to change from usual protocol, but sometimes a change can be good and you never know it might actually work better.
The race was relatively early in the morning so before bed I also filled the kettle in preparation for morning sugary tea and a pot of porridge. My current go to porridge is the apple and blueberry instant pots. They are so quick and easy to do and hold just the right amount for me pre-race.
4. Safety Pins
Now I felt very race ready! For about the last five years of my running career I have never remembered to take safety pins. These were located and attached to my top for the morning.
5. Watch Charged
God forbid that the watch would be out of battery or I would forget it. Considering I am not the best at pacing myself I rely on my watch so much. I am currently using the Fenix 3 and it is seriously the best thing I have ever spent my money on. I have had it for around a year and it just does everything I need it too and so much more that I don’t quite understand. I am sure there are even better watches out there, but the Fenix 3 provides me with everything I need to race and to review my workouts afterwards.
6. Jelly Blocks
Lots of people take gels, but I have always been slightly concerned about how they would react with my belly. A few years ago my running buddy introduced me to Jelly Blocks. You get around five in a packet, but I rarely use more than 2 in a half marathon race. They are really easy to eat and give that little extra boost I need when I feel like giving up.
RACE DAY
The race was in Great Bentley, Essex and it took around 30 minutes to get there by car. As per any race day we got there crazy early, but we were not alone. The event was already buzzing with activity. We parked on the edge of the village green and walked down the village hall. Here we got to pick up our race numbers and chip timing tags for our shoes. To my surprise when I opened my race pack I was number 1. Hilarious! Everyone found this rather funny and a photo was quickly taken for the Run for your Life page. It certainly would be the only time I was number 1 as I would never be winning a race. Although the number 1 race number was funny it did also mean that I had been over keen to enter the race! First person to register – oh the shame! Was hoping that the number might be lucky though and help me get round.
Before the race we had the Run for your Life photo (although a lot of people were missing from it) and consumed some of Kerry’s homemade flapjacks. These were amazing and I was secretly hoping that because Kerry can run fast normally that these flapjacks may be the secret to success.
THE RACE
The race started off in the industrial estate opposite the village hall. The start is rather cramped, but the pack quickly spreads out as we headed off into the country lanes.
The route crosses over lots of times, but this was lovely as it also meant that we got to see lots of supporters. One of the Run for your Life members had their parents there supporting and they were the best supporters ever. They whizzed around the course by foot and were all over the place cheering us on. It was so lovely to continuously see happy cheering faces – really helped to keep everyone’s motivation up.
The spur of the moment race day plan was to try and take the start of the race steady. I am often really bad for speeding off too quickly and then crashing around the four mile mark. Today I wanted to ease myself into it with the aim of sustaining a good pace throughout the race.
This worked to a degree as I didn’t feel like I whizzed off like normal, but after checking my watch in the first couple of miles I realised I was running around an 8.20 minute mile pace. This is very quick for me as although I can sometimes run this fast my steady pace is a 9.10 minute mile pace. I decided I wouldn’t slow down though as currently the pace felt good and I was very relaxed. I thought I would see how long I could sustain it.
The longer I was running the pace did begin to waiver between an 8.20 and 8.45 minute miles. Despite this I was still felt comfortable running under a 9 minute mile. I felt relaxed and happy that it was going so well. I waivered a little just before the drink stop at five miles, but after a few sips of bottled water and a jelly shot at mile 6 I was good to go again.
I decided I would try and keep the pace up for the second half of the race in the hope it would get me under two hours. Sustaining the pace is never something I had been able to do before, but I seemed to be in the right frame of mind and thought I would try. Today was clearly about pushing myself. Miles 6 to 10 flew by and the pace remained, but I had serious doubts on how the last three miles would go.
At mile 10 and 11 two fellow lifers caught up with me and they had a lot more left in the tank than myself, but I tried to cling on to them and not let them disappear into the distance.
I did however find the last few miles incredible hard. I knew I would make it if I slowed down, but at the same time I didn’t want to slow as it would be a shame to let the potential PB slip away through laziness.
At mile 11 I had a bit of a wobble and decided to walk a few steps to re-check the brain. After a few seconds I knew walking was not the way forward and I took a good dose of rule number 5. I manned up and got the legs going again. I was surprised and thrilled that the last three miles still fell under a 9 minute mile pace.
The race weaved back into Great Bentley and finished on the green. To my surprised my finish time was 1.52.35. This was three minutes faster that my previous PB and the fastest half marathon I had run in a year. The course was however very flat and renowned for being a PB course, but I would take this.
The event was really well organised, the bling was great and the marshall's were fantastic. At most check points they had music playing and the support was amazing. The only let down was the weather. It was rather misty and this meant the views of the countryside were limited. At least we didn't have rain though and the wind was nowhere to be seen.
The race worked really well for me and I feel that I pushed myself a little harder than normal. Maybe all the pre-race nerves and the pre-race preparation helped! Lesson learnt for next time…. If I prepare a little and also get some proper training in I could get even better!
Now the pressure is now on to get round Tarpley 20 at the end of February. This will still however be a PB as I have never run 20 miles on the road in a race. All my longer races have always been trail so I had better get the trainers back on during the week to get some distance training in.