Mad March part 3: Fleet Half marathon

Pre-Fleet (pre-London) Half Marathon recovery
Having done a decent time at Surrey Half without trying that hard and the following week surviving reasonably well the spur of the moment decision to do Kingston parkrun just an hour before Thames Meander marathon, I thought I should have a quiet week of recovery before deciding how to tackle Fleet Half.

It's Rio time for Elinor after her
latest parkrun PB.

Marathon recovery started well with staying on my feet scoffing cake, fudge, bananas and squash, being driven home and then having a curry before a hot bath stretching and massage.  I find getting some protein in me as soon as possible after a race helps with recovery as does keeping moving, stretching warm muscles and some massage.  Apparently chillies are also good for reducing swelling and have some pain reducing effect, so the curry at home was a welcome surprise with additional benefits.  I had a massage booked for Monday evening and easy club runs on Tuesday and Thursday and the usual Frimley parkrun where, if I wanted to avoid having the hard stare treatment, I was running with Elinor.

Monday's massage was one of the least painful I have had in recent times as I was in pretty good shape post marathon (no pain, able to walk up and down stairs).  Tuesday I was leading the slow group for a 5 mile 11 to 12min/mile run, which was good recovery again, followed by the Sandhurst Joggers' AGM.  I'm doing a lot more run leading this year with the Tuesday and Thursday groups and I decided to take up the suggestion to join the club committee and take over organising the Thursday night runs.

The Thursday club run was a steady, pain free 7 miles including my jog to Crowthorne and Elinor and I managed 25:51 at Frimley parkrun which was a new PB for Elinor.  She was determined to go fast and showed real grit to keep the pace going in her run.

Race Morning
I forgot that this race started at 10:30 instead of the traditional 10am so I had the family up, dressed fed and watered and at the race village in Calthorpe Park by about 9am, which Julia was not that pleased about, but it was a sunny morning and Costa coffee was open in the mall on Fleet high street.  Come to think of it I should have realised something was amiss with my timing when people on twitter were saying they were getting to the start at 10am! I thought that was a bit too casual.

SJs Paula, Madeleine and Chris pre-start selfie

Anyway, with the wife and kids away to find refreshments I got to chatting with the many folks I know from Sandhurst Joggers, Cove Joggers and Frimley Lodge parkrun.  We had 22 SJ runners taking part, which was a pretty good turnout given that Reading Half marathon was also on the same day.  I met up with a few club mates and we had our photo snapped for a local newspaper and I chatted away with friends enjoying the sunshine until about 10:15 when I took my top layers off and went to the baggage tent.  This went like clockwork as there were no queues at all and I made my way out to the start to stand near the 1:45 sign.

Kit for the day was SJ vest by itself, short shorts, Red Venom calf guards, toe socks and my "marathon shoes" Brooks Ravenna 4.  I remembered this race last year being one of the most painful things ever as I got a small calf muscle tear at 1 mile, was in discomfort all the way round and couldn't walk for day or two afterwards.  So, why calf guards today and not last week at the marathon?  Who knows, it just felt like the right thing to do for today.

At the start with my "Everybody knows me" race vest on.
Brian Holden (Cove) and Martin Gay (Frimley Flyers) at right
(photo: Bob Fudge)

Out at the start it looked like nobody was really paying attention to the pace boards and were lining up anywhere, so if you get upset having to pass lots of slower runners, best to get a bit further forward.  I had an idea about going for a PB (1:47:03) as I was close a coukle of weeks ago at Surrey Half without too much effort.  A 1:45 time would be 8min miles so I set the Garmin for that and thought I would see how my legs felt over the first 2 miles.  As you'll see later, starting where I did in the crowd didn't have much effect - the first mile was my slowest, but only by 10secs and I probably got more out of continually catching up to people rather than being passed.

The course was the same as previous years with a the first mile or so a loop around the race village park to get back onto Fleet Road (the high street), then down to the station before a loop around the northern edge of Fleet before getting back to Fleet Road again at nearly 5 miles.  This is followed by a long loop to the east then north and west of Fleet before coming back to the end of the high street and the final run to the finish.  The high street is at the top of a small hill.  It's short but at a noticeable gradient and you have to do it three times, but the cheers from supporters help you get up there each time.

The initial miles round Fleet were quite entertaining as there were loads of people out on the local streets and Fleet Road itself was packed along its whole length with cheering crowds.  I saw many friends out supporting down there and managed to High 5 the kids on my second pass.  Particular mention goes to Bob Turner who was biking round the course and I saw three or four times for extra cheer. The first 5.5 miles went by quickly as there was so much going on and people to look out for, but reality bites at Fleet Station when you climb over the railway bridge and you quickly leave the town and head for the quiet countryside.  Now it's just you and a steady sea of runners stretched out before you.

The countryside and village sections are pleasant running and there was welcome shade from the trees. As ever I was chatting to anyone who would listen as I made my way gradually up to and past the runners in front of me along the undulating lanes behind Fleet services on the M3 and on towards Winchfield.  It was getting warm on this section and I found myself seeking out the shady side of the road.

The water stations were pretty good with large paper cups or a kind of big pouch with a thin spout that you had to give a good squeeze to get water out.  These were good to carry and I kept one with me to sip for 4 or 5 miles, but getting water into your mouth was sometimes a hit or miss affair and I managed to squirt myself in the eye a couple of times.  It was good to see that there was't much stray litter around the course and, apart from a few gels obviously dropped by accident, runners managed to drop their litter by the water stops or the hippo bags 100m later.

At 9 miles I came up to Gabby Bassett (SJ) and we ran and chatted together for a while. Then, approaching 10 miles and the Barley Mow pub at Winchfield I had my only wobbly of the day when my left hamstring started to get tight.  I thought it was the start of the kind of cramp that I got at last year's Milton Keynes marathon and might cause me to have to jog walk the last 3 miles.  The only way to run comfortably was with an exaggerated lift of my left knee, but after half a mile of this and with the sound of the crowds at the Barley Mow coming closer, it eased off and I was running normally. With most twinges during a race these days I tell myself "Don't worry, it'll pass" and it usually does.

With 2 miles to go you quickly pass through the villages of Dogmersfield and then Crookham before getting into Fleet again.  With 2 miles to go I spotted another SJ vest ahead of me and that gave me some incentive to chase harder.  I caught up with Phil Turner who urged me on, but with the heat building I could just about maintain the same pace until I got to the last mile where the crowds gave me more of a boost and the energy for one last push up the hill to the high street.  The crowds were 3 or 4 deep at the cross roads and there was great cheering from everyone here.  The last 500m to the finish really flies by as you hit a steep descent before turning into Calthorpe Park and sprinting for the finish.

I hadn't looked at my watch to check pace or time since about 3 miles in and had spent the rest of the race going at what I thought was a comfortable but quick pace. I collected my medal, drink, banana and kit bag, taking in some of the finish line atmosphere before looking at the Garmin and I was really pleased to see my time of 1:43:01.  A PB by just over 4 minutes.

Afters

All smiles for the medal shot with the Frimley Flyers crew
(Photo: Peddle family album)

I met up with the SJ runners who had just finished ahead of me and found my Frimley friends for a
bit of a debrief.  Nearly everyone had had a good race and there was a good number of PBs.  After finding the family and getting changed it was time for lunch at the Prince Arthur.  I felt really good after the race with no soreness and enjoyed the chat and a pint afterwards.


Splits for this race were again nice and even, though the course was undulating:

8:10 7:55 7:57 7:53 7:54 7:41 7:54 7:47 7:59 7:56 7:42 7:55 7:25 0:51@5:56/m

Selected Sandhurst Joggers finishing times:
Tim Rogers 1:28:22; Charlie St.Aubyn 1:33:53 (PB); Lucy Zirbser 1:34:09; John King 1:36:47; 
Paula Vine 1:41:15; Chris Lambourn 1:43:21; Phil Turner 1:45:09; Gabrielle Bassett 1:45:41; 
Sarah Alexander 1:49:10; Mike Gascoigne 2:05:30; Madeleine Duncan-Booth 2:04:59

Others:
Cove Joggers: Alison Lenaghan 1:38:28; Kelvin Gower 1:46:14; Brian Holden 1:58:43; Duncan Ball 2:03:43; Louise Mcintosh 2:06:32; Hannah Gray 2:09:58; David Lenaghan 2:11:52

Lisa Hale 1:31:55 (Fleet and Crookham AC)

Frimley Flyers:  James Ball 1:35:56 (PB); Martin Gay 1:55:53; Lee Marshall 1:56:14

Windle Valley Runners: Paula Fudge 1:52:24; Abigail Fudge 1:56:31; Sarah Erskine 1:44:27

and Neville Gascoigne 1:20:19 (Bristol and West AC son of SJs Mike and Fiona)

Well done everyone! It was another very good half marathon, very well organised by Fleet and Crookham Athletic Club and the support out on the course was great.