Flying Along -Fun, Planning and PB's
Although many of you won't believe this..... it's not all about running! There is a lot of running, but our weeks do contain other things! A week in the world of the Southgate residency can be a busy one filled with all sorts of activities. I had intended for last week to be one of recovery and rest but this quickly fell apart as every evening started to be filled.
The week flew by with a combat session, a pilates session and a trip to the cinema (which for reference was the worst film I have ever seen - FENCES - don't do it!!!!) The working week ended on a high though with a lovely few drinks with some work colleagues. We let our hair down with some Spanish style gins at Arcade Street Tavern and then onwards to The Rep - somewhere I had not been in ages - but was surprisingly fun!!!!
We also got to hang out with the lovely Abby who had come down from Newcastle to visit us Ipswich folk! Saturday lunchtime was filled with funny tales, gossiping, and eating yummy food. Cult does the best chips with toppers - you can have chilli beef, bacon, cheese, mushroom - whatever combination out of a long list. Super yummy and hits the spot for a quick snack. Really sad that she is only back for the weekend, but counting down the days until she's back in September to run the Ipswich Half Marathon with me.
Of course the week wouldn't have been complete though without some running thrown in for fun. I do appreciate my running tales must be boring for many of you and I promise that some travels tales will be following in the near future. We love having a trip or a holiday booked so we have something to look forward to and it feels strange to not have anything currently scheduled in the calendar.
I think it may be a tough decision making process though as I want to go everywhere and do everything. The perfect trip needs to include sun, scenery, rest, adventure, hiking, sightseeing, great food, travelling around....... I am just so demanding and want to make the most of every moment I have away from work! I think we may end up planning a few different trips throughout the year...... but until we actually make a decision my running adventures will continue.............
Friday coffee run was my first run for the week and the fastest coffee run to date! Yipeeeeeee! Having a few days leg rest must have helped! We named it the pre Cambridge leg loosener! I think it ended up being a pre Cambridge leg charge though! Am hoping it was a good sign though that I was ready to race again!
Sunday morning came all too soon though! With parking and traffic tricky getting into Cambridge the alarm clock was set crazy early. I was up and out of bed by 5.40am! Yawn! This was crazy and made a mental note to myself that I wasn't signing up next year to run this one! Claire kindly picked me up at 6.15 along with David and Sean for our hour drive to the park and ride at Milton with our pre-booked tickets. Everyone had advised that we should get there by at least 7.30am to prevent any delays in getting to the race.
With porridge mixed up in the boot of Claire's car we boarded the park and ride bus easily with our breakfast to munch on. We hardly had to wait for the bus and it quickly whizzed us into the centre of Cambridge by 8am.
Cambridge Half as a whole is really well organised in the lead up to the event. On actual race day however there is no-where to hide from the elements. Ideally they need a tent to provide some shelter to the runners - but with around 7000 people running I appreciate why this is just not feasible! I remember last year I was freezing before the start and this year we had rain and wind to contend with. With an hour and a half to wait we kept our warm clothes on for as long as possible, but eventually had to de-robe so we could get to the start line. Bin bags may not be fashionable, but they certainly do keep the wind off! I was snug as a bug for the last half an hour before the starting gun went off.
The heavens opened in the last thirty minutes before the race started! We managed to keep dry in our bin bags, but my feet were soaking. This meant the first two miles of the race were rather uncomfortable. Feeling damp and cold it was like running on ice blocks. It took a good three miles to warm up and get into the race, but it was a good reason to run a little faster.
Last years Cambridge had been a PB for me and I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull a better time out of the bag. The wind was quite forceful on the route, but I decided to try and give it my best shot. I spotted a fellow lifer friend ' David M' just ahead and I set my sights on trying to catch him up. I knew he ran around a pace that could get me a PB so if I tried to stick with him I may just be able to pull it off.
From last year I had remembered the course being relatively flat! I think I may have been dreaming though. The first four miles of the course are quick. A steady downhill start winding through the main city streets all filled with endless supporters. This is a real boost - having everyone cheering your name as you past by the city sights certainly motivates you for the rest of the race. Even at mile four the route is steadily going downhill. This is where I suddenly remembered that what goes downhill must go up! Miles five to seven sees a steady incline, but despite this I was pleased to see my watch ping up a 10km PB. With this in the bag I knew I needed to keep pushing through the second half of the race. I am glad I did from reviewing the below result!
Miles eight to ten are the hardest. Despite a nice water stop these are the miles out in the countryside with little to see and little support. I was starting to struggle at the quick pace I was trying to maintain, but as we entered back into the main city streets and the supporters reappeared it helped to boost my motivation and to dig a little deeper.
With David M still in my sights we did some epic posing for the official photographers just before mile eleven. I am looking forward to seeing these when they are released later on in the week. Although I am not sure how good I would have looked at this point.
The last few miles were tough! I nearly broke, but soon realised I was very close to 1 hour 50. I tried my hardest to beat the clock with a sprint finish, but I was just out finishing with 1 hour 50.21. It is however the quickest I have ever run in my life and I was pumped! Five minutes quicker than last year and two and a half minutes quicker than my last half marathon. Couldn't have been happier!
The biggest challenge now was to not get cold while waiting to recover my bag and warm clothing. The wait was around 25 minutes so by the time I had located my coat we were all ready to evacuate home! Luckily they managed to find my bag though - a number of people were struggling to recover theirs and it created a lot of stress! The bag handlers looked very stressed - but it must be hard having 7000 runners bags all in one place - especially when they all looked the same!
The bus ride home was slightly more smelly than the one there! A bus load of damp sweaty runners - all eating quavers from their race packs! Yuck! The bus driver must have had some strong nostrils to handle the stench! The bus ride back was chilly and I was looking forward to the heated seats in Claire car! I love it when she drives to races!
The car journey home involved the decision to go and celebrate our successful runs with a stop off at the Brewery Tap! It is one of our fav drinking pubs and despite the recent bad press they have received am gutted that it was closing after today. The pub was full to the brim and it was nice to get a final pint in before it closed for good. What a lovely end to a busy fun filled weekend! Now for a hot bath.... and a rest before the Colchester Half next weekend!
