One of the hardest races.....
Week three of racing was always going to be hard! But this was much harder than I ever thought it was going to be. The Colchester Half Marathon had been a thorn in my side for a while. I had tried to enter it on several occasions, but had to pull out due to injury or sickness! I had beef to finish with this race though and I was keen to give it my best shot!
Unlike usual I decided today to do a little warm up jog. So off I trundled with Bob Reason for a little leg stretcher before the race started. For all you runners out there you will also find it amusing that I made use of the bushes for a quick nervous wee stop! The wait for the toilets at the stadium was immense and I was never going to get through the queue before the race was due to start.
With our legs all warmed up we quickly lined up in the starting pens. I initially placed myself by the 1 hour 55 marker, but gradually got pushed further forward in the pen. I thought this would be ok though as I often go off a little quicker. Epic disaster of a decision though - by starting further forward it meant I was swept along with the masses.
The first two miles were both under sub 8 minute miles. Ok so yes.... the first two miles are also down hill, but there were at points during the miles I could see 7.35 7.40 flashing up on my watch. This is not sustainable for me. The sensible thing to do would be to slow down - hold back a bit, but I think I was conscious that North Hill was looming and it could take me some time to get up it. With this in mind I embraced the quick first two miles thinking I would slow down in due course.
North Hill soon appeared! Now this was the challenge! Back when I was 18 (yes many years ago) I used to struggle to walk up this hill from college. How on earth was I supposed to run up it and sustain any form of pace! Well..... interestingly enough it is by pretty much closing your eyes, looking at the floor and hoping that the top would come quicker! Somehow I made it! The hill training must be working!
The top of the hill was a nice surprise as the streets were filled with supporters and the down hill phase started. Down hill was lovely and I enjoyed whizzing through to four miles.
Then it all started to go slightly wrong! Ipswich road takes you up a long steady slope and my brain just didn't think I could do it. The weather was much warmer than I expected and I was melting! I even had to loose my running hat on route as I couldn't deal with the warmth! It took all the will power I had to keep going and I knew any chance of a PB had slipped away through my fingers.
The rest of the race is all a bit of a blur! Which is a shame as the last 7 miles is out through some beautiful countryside. The majority of it though was consumed by a constant battle between my mind and my body about whether I could do this or not.
To try and keep going I started to count down the miles! Although this time when I only had a coffee run to go - it seemed like a really long way! I also agreed with myself that I couldn't walk unless at a water stop to take on fluids. Running shorter races to get to water seems to get me through. It was easier than thinking of the bigger picture.
Mile by Mile I plodded on and every now and again a hill was thrown in for fun! Nobody had told me about the hefty hill at around mile 9! By the end it was a relief to see the football stadium appear in the distance. The course was lovely, but I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for running today!
I was pleased to have survived, but was slightly disappointed with my time. I finished in 1 hour 54.30. This was four minutes slower than last week, although todays course was much hillier. It's funny how I find this slow though as only a few years ago I would have killed for such a time! Needless to say the medal of Jumbo the water tower was worth all the pain! Lovely unique medal - certainly not going to get one like that again!
Next plan.... to have a rest - recover a bit and enjoy not having a race booked in next Sunday so I can have a lie in!