OK, so mostly failures. In fact does anyone really remember that much a run that was so successful that they had to file away the good things that went together to make it so? More likely you had that success built on the experience of several previous failures.
My first half marathon was at Reading. I had a few 10k races under my belt and thought I should be able to get under 2 hours. Again training is a bit of a blur as I didn't have a garmin watch and wasn't logging my training runs, but I think I got up to about 10 miles running and was still occasionally cycling to work, cycling to parkrun and running round in about 25 minutes. Given that evidence maybe I wasn't far off the 2 hour mark fitness-wise - 4 x 25 minute parkruns with 20 minutes left over for slowing down.
I don't think I ate much in the morning of the race, didn't know anything about energy gels and just assumed there would be enough to drink on the course. In fact there was plenty to drink on the course, the atmosphere of a city race was all there, with loads of people out on the streets cheering us on, bands playing, a beer stop at the Nags Head just before the last significant hill, energy drink and jelly babies being handed out.
Only problem is, I was undertrained and had no idea how to pace a race and didn't know anything about fuelling myself before the run. I had just gradually increased my long run distance to a point my body could easily cope with (about 10 miles) and had no experience of what lay beyond; I hadn't had much of a breakfast to give me some energy and then during the race I just went along with the flow of faster runners until I was tired and then miserable and my mind was telling me to give up.
I think I could have survived and ran all the way, possibly hitting my target time as well, if I had paced better and then had a gel or energy drink on the course for a mental boost, but with 3 miles to go I had taken nothing but water. With about 2 miles to go there is an interminable long straight to get you back to Reading FC's Madejski Stadium, but when you get there you turn off into a business park with no supporters around and do an out and back loop before running up to and then around the outside of the stadium. All torture. I could almost have just collapsed over the central reserve and cut half a mile out of the course, but I stuck with it, walking, getting my breath back, jogging, then at last, getting in to the stadium with crowds of noise and staggering across the line.
2 hours and 7 minutes. At least a mile walking in the last 2 miles to the finish. A great event let down by terrible execution.
Today I could run the whole of a road half marathon in pretty much any conditions without stopping, with no food and just a drink or two to freshen up. I would have trained running up to that distance and have no fear of what lay ahead, done speed work, cross training and stretching, be wearing comfortable clothing, eaten a decent breakfast, made sure I was adequately hydrated and taken some drinks on the course and then run at a reasonably even pace up to about 2 or 3 miles to go before hopefully having something left in the tank to push on the pace, emerging into the roaring crowds of the stadium feeling as tall, fast and graceful as Steve Cram breaking the mile world record in Bislet 1985.
Watching Steve Cram and that peformance just gives me goosebumps. Of course, if you want to experience something of that thrill you could have a look at my upcoming events and wait to see me at the finish line.
Or you could watch the video below.
No comments:
Post a Comment