Saltmarsh 75 day 2

"Cock a doodle do,  cock a doodle dooooo."  What a strange alarm clock I thought, and I knew ultra runners were keen, but this did seem a bit early.  I checked my phone, and yes, 5:33 seemed a bit stupid since we weren't due to set off until 8am.  I couldn't hear anybody moving around, and remembered we were in the countryside.  It wasn't an alarm clock, it was a cockerel crowing!  "Cock a doodle do".

At least my alarm clock was set and I could relax into going back to sleep, which I did.  Despite an awful nights sleep, by the time my alarm went (at 6:30).  Still, I didn't want to miss the start, and I thought I would finally get to go to the toilet.  I got up and went to breakfast in my pyjamas.  Despite being quite hungry, there wasn't much there I could stomach, so I opted for some cereal and tea and coffee.  Again I was quite disappointed by the lack of fruit, not even fruit juice available at breakfast.  I definitely couldn't face the eggs, mushrooms and beans that were available and there seemed to be a permanent queue for toast, so didn't bother with that.

Sarah and Kevin joined me for breakfast which was helpful as I didn't realise we needed to check in for day 2 and we were fast approaching the deadline with 45 minutes to go.  I then went to get into my running kit, and retrieve Sarah's race number from our car.  By the time I had done this the race briefing was starting and I wondered where Sarah was.  She appeared and then disappeared, so I went to find her.... Her tent was still up! And it was 5 to 8!! Eeeeek.  She was really stressing, and we had to remember that with 37 miles to go a few minutes wouldn't matter.  However when the race briefing had stopped I started to worry.  We ended up asking David to finish taking her tent down, as she would be staying with us later anyway.  Then Sarah and I rushed out to join the rest of the field.   We started behind the walkers.

We were of course in the wrong spot and spent a lot of time overtaking, but we felt it was worth it as we didn't want to get too stuck at the first style.  The scenery from this morning was far more beautiful than day 1, and there was even frost on the field!  It had been a cold night.  Stage 7 was just 3 miles from steeple to Mayland.  Just enough to get warmed up, and apparently lost.  We bunched up with a couple of other runners and took a wrong turn which had the fortuitous result of us seeing a few peacocks wondering around, however, this was not the right way.  A few switch backs got us back on track only there was a huge puddle.  Sarah and the others went the long way, I tried to skirt the puddle, which Resulted in several puncture wounds to my left thigh from the bramble.  Luckily they were superficial and my first injury of the day.  I wondered if they would bleed more though since I was exercising to make me look hardcore, but they didn't.

At CP 7 we had quite a long stop as we needed to do all those things we didn't do before the race start, like fill our water bladders, empty our actual bladders, put on plasters, ask embarrassingly for Vaseline (those last 3 weren't me... Just sayin').  I text David for Vaseline as I didn't want to listen to Sarah moaning about her chaffing all day!  Karma got me back, and after a few more miles I started to feel pain in my right Achilles.  The uneven rutted ground of the sea wall between Mayland and Maldon was relentless, plus this was a part I had run before and really not enjoyed.  Sarah was enjoying seeing other runners snaking the sea wall in the distance both ahead and behind us, but I just wanted to keep my eyes on the ground so I didn't take a stumble.  I was wanting to walk more and more and was going to text David to bring some K tape to the next checkpoint.  Luckily, Sarah had some on her, so cue me, taking my shoe and sock off to try and tape my Achilles.  It didn't make the pain go away, but it reduced it significantly, so it was bearable to run.  After a couple more miles it was in both sides though.  My speed really struggled, and by the next check point i wasn't a happy bunny.  It had been 8 miles to Maldon, officially hitting the 50 mile mark for the weekend, but I could have stopped there.  

Laura and Soraya had come out to see me, and ran me into the CP, to David and elephant.  I was far less happy than on day 1 when the same had happened with Lorraine and rob in sideways rain, and had a long cuddle with David.  Everything hurt.  I really appreciated Laura and Soraya coming and they took a few photos of us.  Laura said she wanted to see me at the finish so I better be on time because she had other things to do.  This was so sweet for her to come all the way to Maldon, and then to come out again later in the day.  I better run well for her!

The next section was apparently all concrete and I wasn't looking forward to this.  Having gotten used to off road running in training for this, I dread running on harder surfaces as I feel the impact effects.  Still it was only 3 miles, and we did most of it with or in sight of a chap called Mark from Tiptree road runners who often runs these parts, so we relied on him for navigation.  It was also on this section that I started using an eating schedule again.  This actually helped dramatically with my state of mind and is a stark reminder of why I use the nutritional strategy I do.  The carb load and race fuel, whilst partly about fuelling working muscles, is mainly about fuelling the brain with glucose.  When brain sees access to glucose go down it sends all sorts of signals to stop you running.  I felt a million times better once I started eating, and was full of beans again by the next checkpoint.  Here we met Lucy, who Sarah recognised as second lady at the Stour valley marathon.  We spent most of stages 9 and 10 of day 2 over taking each other, and another female runner, and given Lucy had been so high at SVM, I did start wondering how high up the field we may be.

The weather and the scenery of stage 10 was beautiful, and Sarah and I were both quite enjoying the running.  I was also quite excited as I knew that getting to CP10 meant I was finishing this thing!  There was no way I would give up with only a couple of stages to go, and we had about 9 hours left to cover 18 miles.  But we both needed the toilet and I wanted a coffee too.  We took our toilet break and I had my coffee, although when Sarah sipped it she realised it was just black tea.  And here we met Lucy again.  She didn't look happy and said she was seriously considering pulling out here.  I told her that Sarah and I were taking a decent break here and were definitely run/walking the next section, and would she come with us.  I really didn't want her to finish here when she had come so far, especially as there was no apparent injury.  I knew if it were me, I would have felt incredibly disappointed to have gotten so far and not finished.

We sat down here for quite a while taking in some salty snacks and I was having a cuddle with my elephant.  Eventually we got ourselves up, and the 3 of us, the 3 musketeers. (Ok, I'll think of a better name) started running for 12 minutes and walking for 3.   As I had a functioning garmin I was doing both mileage check and telling the others when to run and walk.  This was quite a mental challenge for somebody who had run in the region of 60 miles the last two days, plus the temperature was starting to soar.  The stiles along this section were evil, and sometimes forced us to take a walk break a bit too soon, but none the less, each 12/3 section equated to about a mile covered.  Halfway through this 10 mile section from Goldhanger to Tollesbury, I had picked up a little stone in my shoe, so sat down to take it out, and also asked that we walk for 5 rather than 3 minutes this time.  All seemed to agree on that, and it broke up that section nicely.  By the end of this section I was struggling again but it was fatigue in my muscles, as quite frankly, having never done a 75 mile ultra before, they were going to reach a point where it got very tough.  

We arrived at CP 11- Sarah and Lucy ran ahead to it as they both needed the toilet and I walked into it and refuelled and got lots more water, and was happy to see Laura again!  How lovely of her to come see me here, but she wouldn't be coming to the finish as I was taking too long ;). David was there too and he seemed very happy with his pint of ale.  I could have downed that for him.  The heat of the day was getting high and definitely thirst was rising.  Luckily Sarah had a spare hydration tablet, as I had run out.  She had to be the one to get us going again.  We know the other lady that we had passed during the previous stage wasn't very far behind.  I asked the girls if they minded us switching the ratio to 10 run / 3 walk, and they agreed.  Sarah said it was extraordinary that we were still talking about running at 68 miles into a 75 mile ultra, and she had a point.  Most people we had passed in the last section had been mainly walking.

Stage 12 was really remote, like seriously really remote.  There was quite a severe warning on the instructions not to start the stage if you had any doubt of finishing it, such was the remoteness that they didn't think they would be able to rescue you.  That said, there was a water drop a couple of miles out from the last CP.  There were more stiles on this section and they were REALLY evil.  About half way through this section we passed Kevin.  He later said how he was surprised it had taken us so long to pass him but we were going at a really good pace.  When I could be bothered to look at the garmin during a running section we were probably doing somewhere between 9:30-10mm pace, although obviously averaged dramatically slower due to the walking.  My dream of finishing day 2 in 8 hours as well was long gone though.  Eventually when we thought we had about 2 miles to go, Lucy saw some people in the distance she thought were her children.  We decided if they were that Sarah and I would go off ahead and leave her to run in with them.  They were, together with her husband who had started day 1.  I asked him how much further and he said about a mile.  Phew, I've got this.  I was feeling really grumpy when Sarah didn't want us to have our last walk break with so little left to go, and I think that is because I stopped taking on food a bit early- in a marathon I don't take on any more if I figure there is less than 30 minutes to go, but here, I should have kept eating regardless, just in case.  Still, the sea wall became a muddy field, which became a road with some lovely people telling us 'not far to go now' and other such things.  Sarah sprinted for the finish and I saw my car in the car park so knew it wasn't too far away.  The emotions were already welling up and when I saw David at the finish I ran to him, threw my arms around him and cried and cried.  Overwhelmed with the emotion of completing it, but also because of what I was doing it for, in memory of my dad, who would have loved to walk some of the parts we ran.

Lucy wasn't far behind us and we all exchanged hugs and congratulations.  Next was food.  David had brought me chocolate milk, and there was also jacket potatos being served.  The three of us ate and exchanged contact details, and were generally chatting away.  I think I was quite shocked by the whole experience.  After about 45 minutes, we decided to get on our way home- Sarah still had to retrieve her car from the start but was promised a meal when she got back to mine.

In the car, David presented me with a gift from Laura, a new elephant called Saltmarsh Nelly.  How fun, and way better than a medal:

In the following few days I received another elephant from my mum together with a beautiful card that reminded me of one of my favourite poems.  The gifts:

And the poem; Footprints in the Sand- please look it up and have a read.  As I was struggling through day 2 of SM75 with Sarah, one of my best friends whom I've only known a relatively short time, I was thinking how lucky I was to have a friend like her who would say yes to all these crazy challenges.  And I really felt like she was carrying me on day two.  How lucky I am as well to have all those people come out and support me, and a special mention must also go to Sarah Attwood who took me on some lovely long runs around York in training for this, and Rob and Lorraine who said yes to another hairbrained crazy idea of running from Colchester to Harwich, again to help me with my training.

Thanks to mum and Laura for the lovely elephantine presents, and lastly thanks to the wonderful husband who gave up his entire weekend to be support crew for Sarah and I!  When we got home he was the first one to crawl in to bed!

On Monday evening, I saw a missed call from Sarah and picked up the voicemail.  Not only had we completed this epic challenge, but we were 3rd and 4th lady!  4th lady in my first ever ultra, which was actually two back to back.  Wow!  (Maybe I will do another one but don't tell David) 

And, a week later the celebrations with fizz, the pin and the medal:

Saltmarsh 75 day 1

The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to travel on foot, 75 miles of Britain's most unique coastline.  Claiming the title of the longest section of uninhabited coastline, and with a maximum elevation gain of 15 metres, this was a unique challenge.  2 days to complete it, with time limits on each day.

Well, as someone who has never run an ultra marathon before, I chose this one as my first, as I didn't really see the point in doing one marginally over marathon distance, but doing 50 miles in one day seemed a bit much... Therefore 75 miles over two days seemed the easier option (how naive).  Nonetheless, I accepted the challenge, and I promised myself that the only thing that would stop me running was injury.

The day before was spent with nervous but excited preparation- how much food would I need? Would I get sick of flapjacks? Did I have enough hydration tablets, would I be able to carry enough, and would the beef hula hoops squash down enough without crumbling?

The next morning I awoke with excitement of the challenge ahead.  We were giving Kevin, RD of the Stour Valley Marathon:  http://www.stourvalleymarathon.co.uk a lift to the start, and we would be meeting @mia79gbr there.  Given her enthusiasm at the SVM I was sure she would be there hours in advance.

There was promise of incredible organisation whereby you could send various things to whichever checkpoint you wanted and if you left your tent, it would be put up for you.  I decided it was too complicated to figure this out and instead packed a back that David was to bring to me at each CP after CP3, about marathon distance on day 1.  

Here's the full route map:

After registering and going back to the car to change, it was almost no time before the race briefing.  Obviously we had all been checking the weather forecast and knew we were due rain and wind from around lunchtime, which meant it would hit during that long section, stage 3, "Burnham-on-Crouch to Othona Community, Bradwell-on-Sea (13.3 miles)

The big one! Described by Robert MacFarland in his award winning book, Britain’s Wild Places, as ‘…the darkest, loneliest place in Essex’, this 17 mile stretch is as hostile and remote as it is unique and noteworthy." (Saltmarsh75.co.uk)

Day one had 6 sections, of varying lengths, one was as short as 3.5 miles but then the long one, was actually 13.6 miles, so longer than a Half marathon.  Thinking tactically this would best be done by having a pause each 2 CPs except the long one, however some misjudgement on my part meant I was wearing a bit too much for the warmth we experienced early on the Saturday, so had to remove a layer, that included the faff of removing my ultra vest too.  I had been promised that the CPs would be so full of food I virtually didn't need to bring my own, however, a fair comparison with either Stour Valley Marathon or Bacchus marathon, both of which I completed earlier this year, found them sorely lacking. I wondered whether it was just CP1 since it was so early on, and was hopeful for some fruit options and more variety of snacks as we moved through the day.

Me at CP1 still wearing too much kit- that pink top comes off soon.

Cp 1 was just after 5 miles in, and Sarah and I were already overtaking people.  The terrain was nice and easy here and the sky was big and blue.  I was naively thinking there was no way we were going to get that rain that was forecast when it was so beautiful like this.

We carried on and section two was where we met the sea wall.  This would become very familiar terrain by the end of the two days.  It had been mown, and was far easier to run than when I had recce'd parts of the route in May.  Stage two was from north Fambridge to Royal Corrinthian's yacht club in Burnham on Crouch.  8.7 miles.  We still ran this entire section, other than taking small breaks to take on food, and we still passed several walkers.  I had been feeling a bit under the weather in the few days leading up to this event, and I was quite worried during stage 2 as I seemed to be hotter than usual for a gentle jog through the countryside.  But I reasoned with myself that at 14 miles and the next CP it would be quite clear if I were actually too ill to continue.

Arriving at CP2 we really took our time here.  Sarah taped up her feet, and I adjusted my shoes having picked up a tiny rock at some point- I really need some gaiters.  The next section was more than a half marathon and we knew it was going to be tough, so we decided on using a run walk strategy, of 12 miles run, 3 miles walk.  This worked really well, and we were happily eating up the miles until the midway point where the Dengie100 runners had a water drop- I really appreciated this- their gazebo was like a mirage in the distance, not so much because we needed the water, but because the area really was that remote.

The wind was starting to pick up, as you can see in my hair:

But we were still smiling, and I was still hopefull that the rain wouldn't come until CP3, or even not at all. Not long after the water drop, we started to feel wet stuff coming out of the sky.  We decided to put our rain coats on, even though we were in a running section, and thank goodness, as the heavens opened moments later.  It was really really wet, and windy, and cold and soggy, and I started to find the walk sections really tough as I was cooling down too quickly.  

The wind and rain was relentless, and I just wanted to get to the next checkpoint- I wasn't caring much for the walking breaks, but Sarah made sure we were sensible so we could last the entire day, and day 2.

After what seemed like forever, two figures emerged from the darkness running in the opposite direction- oh no, we hadn't gotten lost had we?  As they got closer, I recognised them- Rob and Lorraine whom I'd done the 30 mile run to Harwich with, and who are also the current Guiness World record holders for the fastest 5k dressed as a pantomime camel.  It was wonderful to see them.  They had said they were coming to see me, but I had no idea where.  They helped run us about a kilometre into Checkpoint 3 in the wind and rain, saving us from having to get the instructions out.  Seeing them, and then seeing David, with Elephant at the checkpoint gave me a major boost!  This was the 27 mile point and there were only about 11 miles left to complete the day.  Nonetheless, the running conditions were horrible, and I needed a sit down and a salty snack before continueing.

In my mind this was the point which meant I would be able to finish today.  I had never run more than 30 miles at once, but that didn't matter- I didn't feel like I couldn't do 11.

Section 4 was just 3.3 miles.  Both Sarah and I though we would run this, but the storm picked up again, and I had to get an extra layer on.  Running into the wind was just a bit too much, and we did have a few walking breaks, including as we passed the decommissioned Bradwell power station.  We came off the sea wall for some shelter, and walked.  There was mud, and beyond we had to get back on the sea wall, but this mud was ridiculous.  It didn't just stick to the trail shoes between the lugs, but it stuck to itself... And then stuck to itself some more.  I must have gained 3 or 4 inches in height.  After such a long tough section, Sarah and I were in fits of giggles and this provided from much needed relief from what had been an incredibly mentally tough run.

Mud shoes- weight training in the middle of an ultra.

We arrived at CP4 in a considerably better mood than CP 3, after the fun of the mud.  I think the marshals thought we were crazy and I was mentally telling myself to shut up at my psychobabble- I was speaking like you do when you've had a few to drink in the early hours of the morning to someone who hasn't been drinking and indeed you've just woken up by crashing into some furniture... Red and black jelly babies! Wow! THEY'RE my FAVOuRiTE!!!!

CP 4-5 was 4.35 miles to St Lawrence, but I honestly cannot remember anything that happened.  Clearly the trauma of the previous 10 miles had erased my memory, but at least I can tell you that this run marked me crossing the marker for the furthest I'd ever run, which had previously been (only) 30 miles.

The rain picked up again, and by CP5 it was looking really dark, despite being the middle of the afternoon.

David was at cP5 waiting in the limited shelter.  We were really cold and wet and a little bit shivery, but nonetheless I was incredibly surprised to be asked if we were going to continue, especially as it was only another 3 miles to the end of day 1.  Still, I didn't give it a second thought then.  Of course we were continuing.  David asked us if we wanted fish and chips!  I didn't think fish would help, but the thought of hot salty vinegary chips in 3 miles time was amazing.  This was a part I had run before, so I expected to know the way, but with sea wall closures due to last year's storms, it wasn't as simple as that, plus, we had to go inland for the campsite.  Basically it was a left turn, along a road to cross a hidden style- the instructions gave the impression this style was immediate, but it was actually a very long way along the road- probably 3/4 of a mile.  We eventually found it then it was a few more styles to cross and fields, and then through a wooded area with some beautiful fairly lights, and yes, the finish of day 1.

We did it in 7:59, but wait, this was a village hall, not a pub?  But it seemed like there was food and David and chips.   Post run meal of baked beans on toast, chips, tea, then coffee, and then we realised how cold we were.

Someone gave us some space blankets, and I took off as many wet cloths as I could and wore David's jumper.  Sarah's shivering was concerning me, so we got to our car, and put the heaters on so she didn't go into shock.  Despite the incredible organisation of this event, somehow her tent and kit had become separated from one another.  After a few minutes, Sarah warmed up again and went on another search for her things, I helped David put the tent up as much as I could, then had a brief sports massage, before an uncomfortably cold shower, and then meeting David in the pub for dinner.

I chose Lasagne, and was surprised to be asked whether I wanted rice, chips or a jacket potato with that.   It's lasagne, isn't that enough on its own?  Anyway, I asked for chips, and had a cider, which after discovering a dead spider in it, having already drunk some was replaced with another cider.

After we had eaten, Sarah and I both crashed out, and needed to go to bed- it must have been about 9:30- I asked the pub for some milk and water to make up my nighttime recovery drink, and headed to the bathroom to get into my pyjamas and brush my teeth.

It was already quite cold so I slept in my hoody and with socks on, but it was barely a sleep, as I needed the toilet from very soon after getting into the tent, but was far too lazy to get up and go. . . 

To be continued...

Five marathons and an ultra. . .

If like me you were hooked on Richard Curtis films through the 90s and noughties, you would no doubt think of the film 4 weddings and a funeral.  However, there isn't much about this, that's like that, except perhaps the copious amounts of alcohol I may have consumed during the Bacchus marathon.

This is about my challenge for 2014.  This time last year, I decided that I would do 5 marathons and an ultra marathon in memory of my Dad to raise money for the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research fund.  My fundraising link is here: www.virginmoneygiving.com/angelaisherwood  Please take a look to see why I chose all of them, and see below for a quick review.

The first of the five would be the Greater Manchester Marathon - here is where, on my long term plan to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I would achieve a London Good For Age qualification.  When I started the journey toward my BQ (Boston Qualifier), a London GFA for a lady my age was 3:50;  this changed to 3:45 last summer.  I should have done a marathon last autumn that would have been my first sub-4 hours, but various things happened which meant I didn't have an autumn marathon at all.  Therefore, I had to take 34 minutes off my previous best to achieve my London GFA.  Well, I did more than that; I ran it in 3:39.  I don't think I've ever had a more perfect race, and I do recommend you read my blog to see how I felt in those last few miles, as I nailed it: Manchester Marathon

The next, was London, just a week later.  This was a challenge in itself; would I recover enough to run another 26.2 miles a week later.  I had been mentoring someone on the runnersworld  Forum.  She was going for a 4hr 30 marathon, and I was confident I would be able to pace her around.  This way I could enjoy running the race but still have a purpose.  It was a fabulous day, and we paced it perfectly, finishing in 4:30:10.

There was a luxurious 2 month gap between the second and third marathon of the year, I just had the small matter of getting married and going on honeymoon to attend to before returning to running.  I fantasised about running up the Pitons in St Lucia as being ideal off road training for the next marathons I was doing, but the reality on hiking these mountains was that it took two hours to cover less than 2 miles to the top, and the same coming down, and it was REALLY hard work (and that's coming from a multiple marathon runner).

The Third was my 'local' marathon, The Stour Valley Marathon.  It was just a week after we got back from our honeymoon, and I had done very little running since London Marathon, what with the final preparations for our wedding.  Still, this was one of the most enjoyable days I have ever had running.  What had been a very hot week turned into ideal running conditions, and we were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Constable Country without melting.  What's more, a cooked meal when we finished.  Congratulations must go to Kevin, Race Director, who put on a really brilliant race, and a fabulous memento of a horse shoe.  I've already signed up for next year, and can't wait.

Number 4 was a few weeks later, and hubby and I had our second holiday as a married couple in the Lake District.  We camped for this one, and had an amazing view of Lake Coniston from our Camp site, which was just a couple of miles away from the race start, and in fact, I ran past the camp site in the last couple of miles of the race.  The scenery was breathtaking, but one part that really struck me, is that a bit before the halfway point, after running around Tarn Howes, I was running downhill alongside a stream, which I instantly recognised as a footpath I had walked with my dad 11 years ago when he took me there to see parts of the lake district to help me with my A Level geography studies.  All that time ago, I left all the planning to him, so I had no idea where we had been.  I could have cried, but instead I had a big grin on my face that Providence had brought me back to this place to remember my Dad doing something he would have loved to do (well, not so much the running, but the exploring the Lakes).

Number 5 was last month in Surrey - the Bacchus marathon;  Again this was off road and not for time.  The challenge of this one was wine at the aid stations as it was on Denbies vinyard.  We had a wonderful weekend with family, and @mia79gbr stayed with us, and we ran the whole way around together in fancy dress.  The pictures showed we had a really good time, and the wine was fab!  LOVED this event, and I'm sure that will go in the calendar next year too.

This weekend, I take on the final challenge, which is my very first ultra marathon, The Saltmarsh 75.  75 miles over two days including camping over night.  At least this is a challenge, not a race, nonetheless, I am a bit frightened of the unknown.  Its been a long time since I've attempted a new distance.  And its excitement as well as fear.  All I can say is wish me luck, and I'll see you on the other side!

And, I would love some more sponsorship if you can spare it. .  . £7.50 is just 10p per mile!  www.virginmoneygiving.com/angelaisherwood 

Feeling optimistic

This weekend I'll be running the Bacchus marathon, a totally fun event and I won't be looking at my garmin.  This time last year I was upset about not being able to do my autumn marathon because of family commitments.  When I was off work sick, I managed to enter 3 marathons in the space of a week, and then got my place for London marathon confirmed a week later, which has had the effect of this wonderful year of running where I have already completed 4 marathons, and 43 miles of running at thunder run.

However, this blog was started because of my goal to qualify for Boston marathon, which requies me to run a full marathon in 3:35 or faster.  When I spoke to a running coach about how I would get there my pbs for 5k/10k/half/full were 24/52/1:59/4:33.  He said it was possible but would require work, and to be in with a chance of going for a 3:35 marathon, I needed to have a 22 minute 5k, a 46 minute 10k, and a 1:38 half.

I haven't raced a half since this years spring marathon training, where I got a pb of 1:43, but my 5k and 10k times are now 21 and 44 minutes respectively.  With over 6 months to go until London marathon when I get to run from the good for age start, I'm feeling very optimistic that I'm going to meet my goal, and indeed exceed it.

Vo2 max monitors on my garmin suggest a 3:15 marathon is achievable.  Last year I turned my September half marathon pace into my April marathon pace.  I'm sure I can do that again, but as always will exercise the caution necessary for winter training.  With no races planned after my ultra in October, I can really start building the base now, and clocking into marathon pace.  I certainly remember 8:30 feeling tough this time last year, but now it's my easy run pace, so marathon pace of 7:30; it seems scary now, but I'm going to go for it.  As always the pace for race day will come from how well I've trained, but training toward a 3:15 will certainly build me up well to get that BQ and be on the start line in Boston in 2016

One step away from being an elite athlete (Langham 10k report)

Langham 10k, 

-only signed up for it about 10 days before, but we really lack them around here, and its not a distance I would travel to race particularly.  This is the last one of the year that I am available to do, and I wanted to get a clean sweep of pbs before setting my sights on an even loftier marathon goal.  

According to my race predictor on my garmin, I ought to be doing a 10k in 43 something, but I am yet to run a sub 45 10k, so thought I would pace for that, needing to stick below 7:15 pace until halfway, and then see what I could do.

I started a bit too far back, and whilst the race was chip timed, it didn’t have a starting mat, only a finish mat, so I lost time getting over the start, and then battling through people, and getting stuck behind people who were running 2 or 3 abreast-  this was a road race, and the only road closure was the start area for about 7 minutes.  The country lanes were narrow in places, and clearly you wouldn’t want to face oncoming traffic.  Despite a lengthy warm up though, by 1km, my garmin was still saying 7:35 pace.  I didn’t want to over-egg it to catch the time up, but I did start thinking about picking up leg speed, and being a bit more aggressive to find my space.  This eventually worked, and I managed to pick up one of my running club friends Chris, in the process.  We crossed 1 mile in 7:08.  He passed one of his friends who was going for sub-50, Chris said so was he, and I politely informed him that we were on more like 45 minute pace.  It was good to have the company, but I know what I’m like in 10ks, I didn’t want to lose time here when I should be feeling strong and fresh.  I pushed on and Chris came with me, which was great.  It really helped spur me on when my legs were still feeling sluggish.  Second mile in 7:07 – ok, this was nice even pacing, and definitely on track for a sub-45, assuming that the course was accurately measured and there were no surprises (hills).  But when the next mile clicked over and I looked at my garmin again, I was on 6:40 pace, I reacted too quickly and it went to 7:30, and then I thought, clearly miles 1 and 2 were controlled enough, plus you’ve done some bloody long runs recently, lets just risk it, and start the push here.  

Chris stayed with me, but I lost him about half way, more from having the energy to dart around people than anything else.  He’s a very strong runner, and I was sure he wasn’t far behind me, but I daren’t look back, and lose my mojo.  As I passed the first water stop at 4.5k I reflected on how I used to stop for water in a 10k, but know that as long as I’m well hydrated to start the race, it isn’t really necessary.  I would allow myself to stop at the 7.5k one, if really needed.  Mile 3 complete in 7:02; I had sped up, but not as much as I thought, but my legs felt strong, and didn’t have that searing pain they usually have at the halfway point of a 10k.  Now was the time to push and start chasing people- at some point I was sure I would have my usual 3^rd quarter of the race lull, so I was trying to stay strong, but it never came... mile 4 was 6:57.  Aha, there was a reason, it was going to come in mile 5.  I was really starting to catch people here, who were capable of the times they were running, but had gone out hard from the start so were keeping even, or perhaps slightly slowing.  I could see 4 ladies all running very close together and this was my motivation.  I knew I would be quite high amongst female finishers anyway, but the opportunity to pass 4 of them at this pace could potentially put me in with a chance of getting a prize, depending on who else had showed up to run today. I focussed on them, and by the end of the 5^th mile (7:04) had passed them all, and they didn’t give any fight.

There were very few people in front and I was starting to hurt, though it was my breathing, not my legs... this was nothing compared to the 40kg deadlifts I had done  on Tuesday, clearly J.

During the first part of the last mile, I caught up with a guy wearing a Colchester half marathon t-shirt (what an uncomfortable thing to run it as its cotton, not technical).  I passed him on the inside and my pace was pretty quick – 6:30ish.  I couldn’t keep it up though, and he did give fight, which meant I had annoying heavy breathing in my right ear.  I’m not sure if he sped up, or I slowed to get that sound out of my head, but he got away.  There was barely anyone in my sights, and no women, it wasn’t far to go now, and I completed the 6^th mile in 6:51.  Clearly I had started the second half push too early, but was back now, and had some people to chase, even if they beat me over the finish.  I really don’t have much of a kick; that said I always seem to pass men in the last 400m of a race, who then out kick me in the last 50m, and you always wonder were they just holding back the last 9.5km.  Anyway, I crossed the finish line with a watch time of 43:56.  I didn’t place, but must have been close to placing as the commentator said he’d lost count but clearly I was high up.  When I checked the results later, my official time was 44:06, and I was 5^th lady.  Whilst pleased with a pb, I’m not sure it was the best race.  A well run 10k shouldn’t have 18seconds variation in mile split times!!  

It shows that despite improvements to my overall fitness due to running long and slow in preparation for the ultra, it takes me a really long time to warm up to top speed, as shown by the big negative split.

My garmin has told me I ran a 5k in 21:33 during that race, and very interestingly, my cadence was 179.  They say elites run at 180, so I guess I’m one step away.  ;-)

One of the best long runs ever

Been a long time since writing again but this is a run worth writing about.  I suspect it will be a long one so get your cup of tea ready.

I'm doing a 75 mile ultra marathon and had been getting increasingly worried having maintained relatively high mileage but rarely in contnuous runs.  I did a 23 miler with Sarah in York last weekend and the pace was a bit too fast for me, especially in new road shoes- one of my adductors seemed quite inflamed and my clients were noticing my limp most of the week, nonetheless, Friday is my rest day, so I figured 24 hours would cure it ready for the 30 miles I had planned on Saturday.  I was to run with Rob and Lorraine, the duo who currently hold the world record for the fastest 5k dressed as a pantomime camel.  When they aren't wearing their camel costumes, their marathon times are fairly similar to mine, so they are ideal companions for a long run.  Plus they are always doing ultra runs just for the heck of it.  This would have been my longest run ever though, and I already had my excuses in for bailing early.

I awoke at 6, and was almost as excited as I am before a marathon, however, it was noticeably cooler so I decided to prepare my breakfast and tea to have in bed.  Poor David, I was chomping away as he was trying to sleep.

Lorraine and Rob were getting to mine for 8am and David was going to drive us the 2 miles up the road tothe Essex way in West Bergholt- we were like children at Christmas messaging each other via Facebook about our long run preparations.  I had made Florentines and Ginger cake for run fuel, and Lorraine was bringing me some crisps to replace my salts- we all know I'm a very salty sweater.

After usual run preparations I was ready, and surprisingly for me, I was ready 10 minutes earlier than I needed to be!  And they were stuck in traffic- such is the state of Colchester's roads that 8am on a Saturday morning does not guarantee you an easy journey!  Shortly they arrived and David dropped us at armoury road where the Essex way passes some paddocks.  Already the jokes started, and we were talking to the sheep and cows.

The first 6 miles flew by.  I've run this section several times on my own, with @mia79gbr, part in reverse on the stour valley marathon.  I knew what to expect and remembered the turnings that were a bit difficult to find.  We were all using this run as ultra training, so we were sensible to take breaks like checkpoints, other than an apple orchard, which Rob took an apple from and bypassing the vinyard, there wasn't much particular of note on this section, although the following day when I ran the same section with David, we saw a muntjac (spelling from the British deer society) deer running away from the orchard.

After a long down hill on a stoney track, Lorraine and I spotted a beautiful lake and we decided to have our little picnic there- rob and I had Florentines, and Lorraine had some ginger cake.  After a brief stop we were on our way again- I was still confident of the route and remembered parts where there was an angry dog... The land owner happened to be on his driveway at this point, and warned us not to run on the footpath- none of us could tell whether this was a joke or not, so we just carried on running, on the basis that he probably couldn't catch us.  Shortly after this we got a little bit lost- we hadn't been using the route instructions and had been relying on my memory, which clearly wasn't all there since the last time I had ran this part was in the dark in December last year... Luckily Lorraine had a map, and rob at a fancy gps device so we found our way back onto the Essex way, up a steep hill up to langham church.  Before a steep descent into Dedham.

In Dedham we stopped to get some drinks- I had some ribena, and had the whole bottle- I seem to do quite well running on ribena, I discovered last week on the run with Sarah.

Then we continued on our way.  I was less certain of this part of the route, but the waymarks were much clearer- there were also fewer feasible alternatives, nonetheless, I was clutching onto my route instructions to keep up with them and avoid us getting lost again.  This section featured many kissing gates and we worked out we could save time if we all bundled into the gates together, so the gate only had to kiss once, rather than 3 times to let us all through.  This section was leg 8 of the Essex way relay, 8 miles from Dedham to Bradfield.  We transitioned from the undulating vistas of constable country to the Stour's edge.  Along the way we had another stop in Mistley, and managed to get a picture by the towers.  It turns out there are as many versions of history as there are people who want to tell it.  I read on the plaque by the towers the last time I was there that they were all that remained from a church that was there originally.  Lorraine said they were there because someone wanted to turn Mistley into a spa town, but then run out of money, nonetheless, a food stop and photo op is all that's really important ;-).  Although the gravestones surrounding suggest it probably was a church.

We continued having impressed some people with how far we had run already, 'wow you're running all the way to Harwich'. This was approximately 17 miles in, and I have to say my legs felt great- doing all these marathons lately has had the desired effect which is that it doesn't seem an insurmountable distance to exceed.

We passed through the edme factory and back onto beautiful fields and beautiful vistas- we met many walkers on this section, and one particular couple who helped stop us taking a wrong turn- I was adament we went thru the gate, and I remember now that the instructions had confused me last time at this point too- because that time I did go through the gate and had to retrace my steps.  Both rob's device and the walking couple with their map said not to go through the gate, and they were right.  What followed was a nice long run through the woods.  Again the miles started to tick away and we were chatting away and singing tunes from classic fm and moulin rouge.  Lorraine and I both learnt the hard way that signing whilst running uphill was not a good idea :-)

It wasn't long until we were in Bradfield and I had to turn the page for stage 9- Bradfield to Ramsey.  This section was good as it took us over 20 miles but also ended at a pub I wanted to stop in.  We found it easy to stay in our stride here, and we were still having lots of fun.  Rob and Lorraine stopped to try a rope swing, and then Lorraine and I tried some cage dancing.

It wasn't a kissing gate, honest!! :)

We also passed through wrabness- this was one of the most interesting parts of the run- by the river was long grass, which Lorraine thought looked like wooly mammoth fur, and I have to agree.

We passed the church, and here is where local history was rather lacking- we saw a bell in a bell cage on the church yard and suspected it had originally been on a tower that had collapsed.  We saw a local pull up to the church and asked him about it.  He told us that the church extension had been built in 1911 and that the bell had always been in the yard (yeah right). A later check of Wikipedia gave a more likely story.

Back down to the riverside and now up on the sea wall, in the distance we could see this Gaudi-esque house.  I didn't remember seeing it before and put it down to how tired I was the last time I ran this section, although now, checking it out, I see that it probably just wasn't visible yet.  A house for Essex: 

http://www.living-architecture.co.uk/the-houses/a-house-for-essex/overview/ 

It really was a spectacle, and certainly helped the miles pass.  Somewhere around 23 miles we were starting to tire but a quick look at the instructions showed we were just a few hundred metres away form the pub.  I insisted we all had cider, since my next marathon is on a vinyard and so I will be running whilst drinking wine.  I was really looking forward to an aspalls, but unfortunately their aspalls on draught was flat, and so instead we had kopperberg from a bottle.  The landlord was so friendly, and offered to fill our ultra vests up with water- seemed adept at catering to runners, and I suspect that if you lived around Ramsey you would probably always run on the Essex way.  So onto the cider, usually I hate this kopperberg stuff as it is just so sweet, but funnily enough after running 24 miles, it really hit the spot.  It was just right, and just enough given we had another 5 miles to go.

Getting started after this stop was tougher than all the others, and I'm sure it's because of the alcohol- I was definitely feeling hotter than I had any of the previous 24 miles and breathing was a bit harder- a good warning to really pace the drinking at bachus marathon next month.  This last section of the Essex way was, to be honest, a bit boring.  We went though some paddocky type areas but then it was pretty much sea wall, to car park, to 2.5 miles running along the seafront where the Harwich port never seemed to get any closer, that said, I was full of beans having passed the furthest I had EVER run at 27 miles and my legs still felt good.  We reached the old lighthouse at 29.94 on my garmin so of course I had to circle it a few times to tick over 30.

This really was a fab run, stunning scenery, ideal weather, perfect food and hydration along the way, and most of all fabulous company.  Thank you both for joining me on my crazy quest- next summer, we'll do the whole Essex way in a weekend :-) 

How cool is the map on garmin connect?!? We've crossed half the county

Greater Manchester Marathon

This was the 1st of 5 marathons this year in memory of my dad and to raise awareness of Mesothelioma, the disease that took him from us : www.virginmoneygiving.com/angelaisherwood

On Saturday morning, I woke up incredibly excited as I was going to start the weekend celebrating Colchester Castle parkrun's first birthday, and filming 2 of my friends attempting to break the world record running a 5k dressed as a camel.  The previous record was 30 minutes.

(Photo credit: Neil Wray)

They completed it in 25:30

After the fun of the Parkrun birthday, it was a quick turnaround at home before the long drive north and west to Manchester.  During the car ride, as well as falling asleep several times whilst cuddling my elephant, I also remembered this time 2 years ago, and having spent dad's last weekend at home surrounded by family and watching the boat race on what was quite an eventful boat race as a chap jumped in the water, and later the bow man from the Oxford crew collapsed with exhaustion.

We arrived at our hotel around 5:30pm, and so plenty of time to get a decent dinner before watching run fat boy run, my usual pre race prep, however, we spent almost an hour trying to get toa restaurant, as the trams were not in service we couldn't work out the busses and taxis lied about being at our pick up point when we were standing there the whole time.  Eventually we made it into the city centre and were looking for a Jamie's Italian, when we happend upon another Italian restaurant called Avalanche.

Avalanche was amazing, and highly recommend it,  if I'm ever in Manchester again, I will certainly return,  the wine was delicious and reasonably priced, as was the food.  Although the place wasn't cheap, I didn't think we were overpaying because the decor was so nice.  Our bill would easily have been £25-£50 more expensive had this restaurant been in Colchester or London respectively.

Back to the hotel, and an old friend from high school, who now lives in Manchester, met us in the bar, and we had a good old catch up.  Amazing that it's been over 10 years since we've seen each other!  She wished me luck, and we got back to our hotel room just before 10pm.  Having slept in the car, I figured I would still be able to catch some of the film, but got properly ready for bed just in case.  I managed about half of it, before deciding to go to sleep.

I shouldn't have bothered.  I was tossing and turning all night.  Excitement? Nerves? The room turning from sauna temp to ice cold in a matter of seconds?  Who knows.  By the time my alarm went off at 6, I just wanted a nice relaxed getting ready, which I managed.  Didn't even leave the room as I managed to use instant porridge.  Very little appetite though.

I woke David to take a picture of me before I set off for the start:

You can tell from the lack of light coming through it was a fairly grey day.  I was worried about rain, but thankful, as this would be my first marathon run in relatively cool conditions.

At the race village, I bumped into a couple of people I knew, including Jonathon who had been marshalling at the camel WR attempt Parkrun.  He had come up on the train, and was looking forward to a sub 3:30 finish.  We were in start pens B and C, so we walked to the start line together, and separated to go in th pens.  I was nervous right until I had passed 3 miles.  It took me a long time to relax into pace, and I kept having to control myself but also not push too hard for at Least the first half. I was so focused on getting the pacing right, that I barely spoke to anyone.  A few people spoke to me, but in my aim to stay focused, I made sure I dropped back or pushed on so that I could continue to run my own race.

Unfortunately I don't remember that much of the course, but I do remember the following.

At mile 7 @tinyrunner85 ringing her bell and cheering as I went past.

At halfway lots of crowds and cheering, which made me pick up my pace a bit too much!

At mile 16, elite runner June Allen massively cheering me on

At mile 17 @tinyrunner85 again cheering me on

After this I could hear my friend David S who will be running London marathon next week for his 50th birthday reminding me to keep steady at this point even if I felt great.  I felt good, but I wouldn't say great, so I just kept steady.  I did notice the pace starting to drop off but I could pull it back again.  At 18.5 miles I saw David (my fiancé, who is not 50!!!) with the camera, and that gave me another much needed boost.  I held on strong pacing until 20 miles, the real halfway point.

 

I was looking forward to passing Isherwood road at 20.5 miles to give me another boost:

But it didn't quite work like that and I didn't see the sign.

From here, my legs started to complain, I had to tell myself to keep going.  I looked down at my wristband:

If I could hold on to 22, I would be able to finish the last 4 in 10mm and still hit my target, but I had to remind myself that my maths might be off, due to race brain frazzle and that I should just keep it steady.  I would allow myself a little fade in the next few miles, and made a deal that I could relax a bit as long as I didn't stop to walk.  Turns out my relaxing a bit pace was 8:45ish, which made me think that 'holding on' pace may be 9mm... Notwithstanding poor mental arithmetic, I could possibly make 3:40... If I could pick it up, I could have finished 3:38:31, which would have been a whole hour faster than my first marathon.  But I had in mind that I was on the edge of cramping in my left calf and hamstrings and that it could end up painful.  I just kept running.

At 24.5, I allowed a smile to creep in.  As long as the cramp held off, I had this.  I was grinning inside, whilst gritting my teeth.  I'm sure I let out a fair few grunts and groans at this point.  In the last mile I wanted to push on.  This was the mile that above all the others I was dedicating to my dad.  I would fight and fight as he had taught me too.  There was no sprint finish, but I reckoned I could get under 3:42 which is what my pacing plan would have resulted in.  I could see the finish clock at 3:41: something and pushed and pushed to the finish line, when I stopped my garmin, I was overwhelmed and amazed to find I had actually run under 3:40!  Even if London changes the GFA requirements by another 5 minutes as they did last year, I still have it!

I have only now looked at the splits, and am really happy with them:

I will no doubt post more later with a bit more chance to reflect, but wow, 38 minute pb!  I don't feel like anything went wrong.  I had paced intending for a 6 mile drop off of pace in the latter stages but only really had the drop for 4 miles.  I smashed my target by 5 minutes and definitely feel a hellova lot closer to qualifying for Boston.

Thanks to all who have supported, helped and encouraged me along the way.  Knowing that you would be looking at my Facebook wall or Reading this blog to see the result really made me keep going in those final few miles.

Xxx

28 weeks later

So this one is going to be out of chronilogical order.  I still have the Essex 20 and Colchester half marathon to write about, but with 5.5 days left until the Greater Manchester Marathon, I thought it was time for some reflection.

Regular readers of my blog may recall that I started training for this marathon a lot earlier than many marathon plans would suggest.  This seemed more and more apt as my goal time reduced.  The title of the blog is Long road to Boston.  I had figured out that my autumn 2013 marathon would be my first sub 4, and that whichever marathon I did in spring 2014 would be a London good for age time.  When I planned this all out at the start of 2013, the London good for age standard for a girl in her late 20s was a sub 3:50 marathon.  This changed after last years London Marathon to 3:45.  Having missed my autumn marathon due to family commitments, and not finding a suitable one to replace it, I could have used this years spring one to get the sub 4, or go for 3:50 according to my plan, however, with 29 weeks to go, why not aim for a real stretch?  And get that good for age place which would hopefully give me the chance to run my Boston qualifier on the London marathon course.

I followed an amalgam of plans, but what was different about this time, is a lot more strength work.  In the first few weeks, I did my own kettlebels circuits,  over the November/December period I did gym strength work as I was working toward my gym instructor qualification, in January I did insanity, and since, I have been consolidating my running with tune up races.  I feel much much stronger as a result.  I've lost about 5kg since the start of training, give or take 1kg.  Both the strength training and weightloss, together with real dedication to the quality run sessions has translated into 13 minutes off my half marathon pb in less than a year.  It's where it needs to be for my goal of sub 3:45, and indeed many race calculators suggest that half marathon time translates to a 3:37, the app on my phone even has the illusive 3:35!  I started working on a marathon pace of 8:30 in October last year, and I remember it being tough for 2 miles.  Bear in mind, that was my half marathon pace at the time.

This long build up with a final focus really works well for me.  I like the small gains along the way, but the fact they are all pointing me toward a bigger goal is even more exciting for me.

So, 28 weeks later, I feel ready, but I also feel incredibly nervous.  The reality is that a 3:45 marathon would be 33 minutes faster than my marathon pb... That's over half and hour!!!  There is a real risk, as I've always been better at the shorter distances.  However, the positive is that both in the Essex 20 and the Colchester half marathon. I managed to maintain marathon pace where I wanted to.  These are great indicators, but I can never quiet that realism that 7 miles at the end of a 20 miler is a bit different to the whole 26.2

Anyways, I just have to trust in the training, and hope you'll all send me good luck vibes! 

Losing confidence

I drafted this blog a while ago, but never completed it.  Toward the end of February I was suffering from a lack of confidence in my running, largely because the illness that lead me to missing Great Bentley half marathon and rescheduling to do Dorney meant that I was now scheduled to do 3 back to back 20 milers, something I had never done before.  I decided to spread them out so there were 10 days between the first two, but I ended up not being able to get to 20 on the first run only completing 18.7 as I ran out of time.  Anyway, read on:

I've been having a bit of reduced running confidence recently.  I've started a new job to gain extra experience in fitness whilst I complete my PT training - that's going really well by the way, got 100% on my torso training and core stability exam the other week.

The new schedule has meant fitting in the runs hasn't been as easy, plus getting used to working on someone else's schedule for a while is making me more tired.  I have put in a few extra rest days and I think this is why my confidence is falling despite having hit every planned session in January.  

Because of the low confidence I thought a bit of a race might help me build it up, so I decided to do a parkrun on a weekend I wouldn't be able to fit in my long run anyway- no holding back on the parkrun, just do it and go for a pb.  My previous 400m repeats session back in late January suggested that a sub-22 was within my reach but I thought that would be a stretch on the Colchester course with that energy sapping hill twice!

I tried to convince Ian to run with me- he had previously offered to pace me around to get to 22, but he had his own goals for this day- see his post here:  http://ianelden.blogspot.co.uk 

At the start, Danny offered to go around with me, but I knew he would get too excited and if I tried to stay with him I would blow up by the end of the first mile :)

I started right at the front with all the fast men and by the time we were at the castle my garmin was reading 6:16 pace- there was no way I could keep this up!! 22 min would be 7:04 pace.  I knew from previous pbs on this course that there was a good 20s differential between first and second mile pace due to the hills, so really I needed 6:50 on mile 1 to allow for 7:10 on mile 2, hoping I could speed up again in the last mile.  

However, that early burst meant I struggled to get it back- I was going at a good pace to make my target, but in terms of a well paced run for this course, it wasn't - I went out way too fast and struggled up the second hill, although still managed to overtake people!

Ended up getting 21:36 and a shiny new pb, over a minute quicker than my last pb on this course set in December!  Started to get my confidence back ahead of a few planned races that should help give confidence in my marathon pace...

A tale of two halves

Last Sunday, I woke up early excited to do the Great Bentley Half Marathon.  Excited because this was going to be a pb, and excited because it would hopefully give me a time that showed a London Good for age time in my marathon is achievable.  I had been ill the last few days but I just thought my business was what was making me feel worse, so I had had an early night in the hope a long sleep would shift it.  A few minutes after I woke and was getting ready, I started to cough, and then the waves of tiredness swept over me, despite the 11 hour sleep.  I thought I better check my resting heart rate, and not going below 80, it confirmed I just wasn't well enough to race.  I told some friends on Facebook, and their outpouring of love and support overwhelmed me a bit.  I actually had a cry!  I can't believe I cried over not being able to do the race.  I later apologised to David for being such a pansy, and crying over a DNS, but he said you're not a pansy, you're passionate... Smart man, I should marry him.

I went on to Great Bentley to cheer on my friends, and about 30 minutes after the race start, my sinuses started to block up again, and I was at peace with my decision.  An emergency trip to tesco for sudafed allowed me to breath with my mouth closed, waiting to go out and cheer my friends.  I got to the finish at about 1:25, and Danny came whizzing past at 1:28!!!! He said that although the wind was bad, it wasn't as bad as it had been when we ran together on the seafront a few weeks ago.  There were many pbs achieved by my friends.  I had my eye on Lorraine- our Parkrun times are similar, but I suspect she copes better with speed endurance.  She got in in 1:43:46!!! Ahh my goal was going to be 1:45 (8mm) I wasn't sure I could do Lorraine's time of 7:55mm.  After the race, we went back to Somei's who had got a massive pb despite surgery a week ago, for a hot tub party.  This was great for my achy muscles, and was really nice to get to know everyone a bit better.  Inspired by everyone's success, I was determined to find another half marathon I could do to test it as a race.  I'm already signed up to Colchester half, but my plan is to run that at marathon pace.  This half was to tell me my marathon pace is realistic.

I knew @malcsbarbour was doing the Dorney lake race your pace half marathon, and I thought it was the following week.  Some googling when I got home confirmed this, but 10am Saturday morning when David would have to drive, plus £32 race entry seemed a bit steep.  David offered it to me as a Valentines day present, and I was happy again... Really must marry this guy, he knows the way to my heart is through my feet...

Until Friday when I saw what the weather was going to be doing!  I thought I'd escaped a windy run by not doing Great Bentley, but alas, I spent Friday night worrying if we were actually going to make it too the race venue.  It was a hard drive because it was so windy, but I had executed my pre race nutrition plan perfectly, so perfectly that by the time we got to Dorney, I was bursting for the loo.   I was very amused to see this sign in the portaloo....

I did wonder if it was referring to the race, or going to the toilet...

We then got into the shelter of the boat house, giving up on our previous meeting point which would have been outside.  Through twitter, we managed to meet up 

@rachelclarke, @malcsbarbour, @james_e_carroll, @james linney and me, oh and were photo bombed by that tall chap behind!

A bit of chat about goals and expectations before we hustled down to the start.  I did a quick warm up jog and felt a twinge in my hip, I suspect from  sitting down in the car.  Gave it a quick massage and hoped it was just pre-race nerves.  I found the 8mm pacer with James, and had a quick chat to him about his pacing plan, given the windy conditions.  He was intending to stay bang on 8mm.  There were two other 8mm pacers and I didn't hear their chat, and wondered whether they had decided on something else as the race got going.

I stuck with the one who said he was running 8mm evens for the first couple of miles, but the grouping of the people around him was starting to get to me, especially the big men with their pointy elbows, and meanness not letting me in the crowd.  Shortly after 2 miles, we crossed over the bridge and with that small shelter firm the wind I caught up with the 8mm pacer group who were just ahead.  I kept with them but could feel the gear was switching up a bit, and we did the 3rd mile in 7:45, dramatically pulling away from the other 8mm pacer behind.  All I had read on pacing groups suggested that sticking with a group will allow you to go a little bit faster than you are capable of, so I decided to stick with them,  but too many pointy elbowed men meant I kept getting dropped off the back.  When they started another mile going at 7:30 and didn't seem to be slowing, I decided I better get back into my own pace, as I wasn't able to gain the benefits from the group.  The time in hand would hopefully help me later in the race in case this earlier running too fast would cause me to blow up.

I took my first gel at 5miles and not wanting to lose time, I ran with it- I don't usually practise this, and I was thinking of @mia79gbr's report of this race last year and how she squirted gel in her eye.  I took small sips of the gel so that I wasn't running too long without breathing.  I was on my own now, but could see the fast pacer group ahead of me.  I was contemplating when to start my final push, 8 miles, 9 miles? 10 miles?  I didn't think 8 miles would work as I still needed to take on another gel, and the wind was affecting me, since I didn't have a group around to shield me from the wind.  I took the first gel that came out of my pouch- luckily it was a caffeine gel, and started sipping on it, after I stopped at the water station.  This was half way thru the third lap, with one more lap to go.  Really I could push at any point from here, especially as the wind was slightly favourable as you run toward the boathouse.  I passed the slowest runner here as the front runner passed me, and it made me think that despite the pacer going off fast, it was a really good way to avoid congestion on a multi-lap course.

I was trying to do some calculations now,  would I be able to beat my sub 1:45 target, would I be able to beat Lorraine's time?  Both were dependent on keeping going at my pace and beating Lorraine's was dependent on being able to pick it up.  The wind had dropped a bit on my last run away from the boathouse, but I still struggled to stay under 8mm, maybe it was psychological now.  I had to have a bit of a talking to myself to get it done.  Less than a Parkrun left to run.  I did start to smile that I had my pb now, and as mile 10 clicked to mile 11 I smiled that I had achieved my 1:45 target.  Now it was about how far under that I could go.  Could I do sub 1:44??  Could I do sub 1:43?  I thought I could but as always there was a bit of a mental struggle.  As mile 11 clicked to 12, I picked up the pace and was doing 7:30, which seemed incredible to me as it's faster than my best 10k pace- another sign that the training is paying off.  I very soon passed the pacer group that had gone off too fast, and there wasn't much of a group left, perhaps proving that they were too fast.  12 miles into the race, and I was starting to get hot, perhaps because the wind had dropped.  So I rolled down my arm warmers and took off my gloves, with about 800m to go.  I really started pushing and could tell I was going up a gear as I managed to pass people, and even the girl who had started running with me around 11 miles seemed to vanish.  Instead of doing another lap, I could turn left into the finish chute. I thought it was going to be longer but only about 20m to the mats, David and elephant were there to cheer me across the line and I could see the clock on 1:43:xx I was determined It wouldn't get to 1:44 but didn't dare look at my garmin as I was focusing on my stride.

I stopped the garmin on 1:43:05!!! Wowsers a 7 minute pb, and last year in march I did 1:56 so 13 minutes improvement in less than a year.

I was a very happy bunny

 Great medal too!  It has a tortoise and a hare... I guess I was the tortoise since I overtook the hares pacer group at 12 miles 

And here are my paces:

I managed to catch up with Rachel and Malcs at the end.  Both had had brilliant races!  Malcs achieving sub 1:30, and Rachel also achieving a 7 minute pb and a perfectly executed race, despite losing her glasses in the wind at around 4 miles!

It was expensive for a half marathon, but you did get a decent medal and technical tee out of it.. I would mention the pacers too- I think they were great in that they allowed people to start largely in the right places, whilst I passed people at the end, I wasn't passing swathes of people who had started too fast, as I usually do.  I would only suggest that perhaps the pacers should have more frequency, as a minute per mile is quite a big gap between, especially at the sharp end.   I'm sure that if they had set up groups that were going for a time, it may have been a bit more successful.  Especially as with conditions like that, running a dead even pace isn't the best strategy. 

All in all, a brilliant race, and the best Valentines day present EVER!!  Good job I am marrying that guy really ;)