Reading half marathon - my best race yet
On Sunday I competed in what was the biggest and best race of my running career to date.
I had heard a lot about Reading half marathon and had entered some time ago (last year I think). It is apparently the second biggest half marathon in the country after the Great North Run, with some 13,000 entries.
I wrapped up my training on Wednesday with a short run with Anthony. Then I enjoyed 3 days of complete rest. No running, no spinning, no body pump, not even a few sit-ups. Nothing more strenuous than a walk into town. Unusually for me, I found I quite enjoyed it. Normally I miss the gym but not this time.
It seemed to have the desired effect. By Saturday I was itching to go. Being the consummate professional he is, Anthony gave me a call to have a chat, answer any questions I might have, and make sure I had no worries or concerns.
As usual I went to the cinema in the afternoon. I find it just takes my mind off the race and relaxes me. I decided to see "She's The Man", an American teen comedy based on Twelth Night. It was great - not quite in the same league as "10 Things I Hate About You" - probably the best in the genre - but it was still fresh and funny and Amanda Bynes stole the show. Don't laugh, but I also love "What A Girl Wants" in which she stars alongside Colin Firth. She's a real cutie and if she treads the boards in London, as Julia Stiles did with aplomb two years ago, there's a good chance I'll be seeing her play a few times as well.
I didn't have the best night's sleep Saturday - drunks walking past my house kept waking me up. But I woke up feeling refreshed and headed to the gym where I met up with Grace, Dave, Gary and Anthony and his family. I gave Grace a lift - she was planning on taking the train but I offered to take her. I think it's important to cultivate friendships and as we are of similar ability we should run together more as well.
We drove down in convoy and parked up in the pre-booked car parks. I was immediately impressed by how well organised it all was - well sign posted and so forth - and how many people there were.
We had time to kill before the race - no bad thing - but it went quickly and before we knew it we made our way to the start. Anthony was lining up with the other elites and gave me a few last minute words of advice. His parting shot to me was "Sub two hours mate, don't let me down". No pressure, you understand.
He had made it abundantly clear that he wanted a sub 2-hour half marathon out of me, and yes I did feel under pressure. But I thought about this and eventually decided it was a good thing. It's no longer good enough to just get round, people expect good things from me. And there is healthy competition - there are people who want to beat me, and people I want to impress.
What can I say about the race? Not a great deal, actually - it just felt nice and controlled. I felt I was going at a good pace and for the most part, felt good. I had stomach pains for the first few miles - I wondered if this was because I hadn't eaten for nearly four hours. Oops.
The pains eventually subsided and I kept myself going by taking plenty of fluid on board, perhaps a little too much. The race was fantastically well organised and supported, and there were regular drink stations. The scenery was nothing to write home about however. But I had made the decision not to wear my MP3 player so I could soak up the sounds and atmosphere, and it proved a prescient move.
One thing I love about these events is that invariably you see or experience something that really makes your day. At about 11 miles I passed a young lad who was wearing a t-shirt he had had made for the event which had the words "It's all for you" inscribed on the back, and a picture of a lady, presumably a deceased relative, maybe his mother. Having been there myself, I know where he's coming from. I thought that was a lovely idea, and will probably do something similar for my first marathon in September. I tapped him on the back and said "nice one mate" as I passed him. He was wearing an MP3 and I don't know if he knew what I meant. I hope he realised later.
After 12 miles I was seriously hurting. I really, really wanted to stop. I had no idea of my time but knew then I had given it everything. Needless to say I kept going and as we went round in a loop I saw Grace ahead of me. She looked shattered and had started walking so I shouted at her to keep going. I like to think that's the sportsman in me, wanting other people to do well if they have given it their all.
Eventually we reached the finish line in the Majeski stadium. I'll never know where I got the energy from, but I managed to sprint to the line. By my watch I had made it in 1 hour and 59 minutes so I had achieved my goal. (I later found out my chip time was 1:58:54). I was exhausted but ecstatic.
As I queued for my medal and goodie bag I met Dave and Gary. I was especially pleased for Gary as it was his first half marathon, and he managed it in just over 2 hours. Fantastic work when you take into account that he was carrying an injury (his knee has been giving him gyp recently and was heavily strapped). I told him he should be very proud of himself. He's quite a bit faster than me over a 10k, but I think he was very nervous about whether or not he could complete this distance (it is, to be fair, quite a step up). Hopefully this will have given him a lot of confidence.
And so we headed back to Swindon. I dropped Grace off at the gym, picked up some lunch from Sainsburys and hurried home to watch the cricket highlights. Needless to say I was disappointed as I watched another capitulation by the England one-day team. It amazes me how such a fine Test team can be such a shambles in the other format of the game. It just seems, with the exception of Kevin Pietersen, that their hearts really aren't in it. They look like they've had enough of being on tour and just want to come home. And quite frankly, who can blame them?
Not all bad news as it turned out - I found out later the match had been abandoned and I was watching highlights of a previous game.
You really, really don't want to know how much alcohol I consumed Sunday afternoon. I think most people would be horrified. What I will share with you is that I thought it was time to settle back with a bucket of cold beer and my favourite movie of all time: “The Shawshank Redemption”. I hadn't watched it for some time and had almost forgotten just how good it is.
I'll write a separate article on the film another time, but there's a great quote in it: "I guess it comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living, or get busy dying".
I like to think I know which option I had taken on Sunday, 9th April 2006.
Copyright Jonathan Weedon, April 2006
I had heard a lot about Reading half marathon and had entered some time ago (last year I think). It is apparently the second biggest half marathon in the country after the Great North Run, with some 13,000 entries.
I wrapped up my training on Wednesday with a short run with Anthony. Then I enjoyed 3 days of complete rest. No running, no spinning, no body pump, not even a few sit-ups. Nothing more strenuous than a walk into town. Unusually for me, I found I quite enjoyed it. Normally I miss the gym but not this time.
It seemed to have the desired effect. By Saturday I was itching to go. Being the consummate professional he is, Anthony gave me a call to have a chat, answer any questions I might have, and make sure I had no worries or concerns.
As usual I went to the cinema in the afternoon. I find it just takes my mind off the race and relaxes me. I decided to see "She's The Man", an American teen comedy based on Twelth Night. It was great - not quite in the same league as "10 Things I Hate About You" - probably the best in the genre - but it was still fresh and funny and Amanda Bynes stole the show. Don't laugh, but I also love "What A Girl Wants" in which she stars alongside Colin Firth. She's a real cutie and if she treads the boards in London, as Julia Stiles did with aplomb two years ago, there's a good chance I'll be seeing her play a few times as well.
I didn't have the best night's sleep Saturday - drunks walking past my house kept waking me up. But I woke up feeling refreshed and headed to the gym where I met up with Grace, Dave, Gary and Anthony and his family. I gave Grace a lift - she was planning on taking the train but I offered to take her. I think it's important to cultivate friendships and as we are of similar ability we should run together more as well.
We drove down in convoy and parked up in the pre-booked car parks. I was immediately impressed by how well organised it all was - well sign posted and so forth - and how many people there were.
We had time to kill before the race - no bad thing - but it went quickly and before we knew it we made our way to the start. Anthony was lining up with the other elites and gave me a few last minute words of advice. His parting shot to me was "Sub two hours mate, don't let me down". No pressure, you understand.
He had made it abundantly clear that he wanted a sub 2-hour half marathon out of me, and yes I did feel under pressure. But I thought about this and eventually decided it was a good thing. It's no longer good enough to just get round, people expect good things from me. And there is healthy competition - there are people who want to beat me, and people I want to impress.
What can I say about the race? Not a great deal, actually - it just felt nice and controlled. I felt I was going at a good pace and for the most part, felt good. I had stomach pains for the first few miles - I wondered if this was because I hadn't eaten for nearly four hours. Oops.
The pains eventually subsided and I kept myself going by taking plenty of fluid on board, perhaps a little too much. The race was fantastically well organised and supported, and there were regular drink stations. The scenery was nothing to write home about however. But I had made the decision not to wear my MP3 player so I could soak up the sounds and atmosphere, and it proved a prescient move.
One thing I love about these events is that invariably you see or experience something that really makes your day. At about 11 miles I passed a young lad who was wearing a t-shirt he had had made for the event which had the words "It's all for you" inscribed on the back, and a picture of a lady, presumably a deceased relative, maybe his mother. Having been there myself, I know where he's coming from. I thought that was a lovely idea, and will probably do something similar for my first marathon in September. I tapped him on the back and said "nice one mate" as I passed him. He was wearing an MP3 and I don't know if he knew what I meant. I hope he realised later.
After 12 miles I was seriously hurting. I really, really wanted to stop. I had no idea of my time but knew then I had given it everything. Needless to say I kept going and as we went round in a loop I saw Grace ahead of me. She looked shattered and had started walking so I shouted at her to keep going. I like to think that's the sportsman in me, wanting other people to do well if they have given it their all.
Eventually we reached the finish line in the Majeski stadium. I'll never know where I got the energy from, but I managed to sprint to the line. By my watch I had made it in 1 hour and 59 minutes so I had achieved my goal. (I later found out my chip time was 1:58:54). I was exhausted but ecstatic.
As I queued for my medal and goodie bag I met Dave and Gary. I was especially pleased for Gary as it was his first half marathon, and he managed it in just over 2 hours. Fantastic work when you take into account that he was carrying an injury (his knee has been giving him gyp recently and was heavily strapped). I told him he should be very proud of himself. He's quite a bit faster than me over a 10k, but I think he was very nervous about whether or not he could complete this distance (it is, to be fair, quite a step up). Hopefully this will have given him a lot of confidence.
And so we headed back to Swindon. I dropped Grace off at the gym, picked up some lunch from Sainsburys and hurried home to watch the cricket highlights. Needless to say I was disappointed as I watched another capitulation by the England one-day team. It amazes me how such a fine Test team can be such a shambles in the other format of the game. It just seems, with the exception of Kevin Pietersen, that their hearts really aren't in it. They look like they've had enough of being on tour and just want to come home. And quite frankly, who can blame them?
Not all bad news as it turned out - I found out later the match had been abandoned and I was watching highlights of a previous game.
You really, really don't want to know how much alcohol I consumed Sunday afternoon. I think most people would be horrified. What I will share with you is that I thought it was time to settle back with a bucket of cold beer and my favourite movie of all time: “The Shawshank Redemption”. I hadn't watched it for some time and had almost forgotten just how good it is.
I'll write a separate article on the film another time, but there's a great quote in it: "I guess it comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living, or get busy dying".
I like to think I know which option I had taken on Sunday, 9th April 2006.
Copyright Jonathan Weedon, April 2006
posted by Jon | 7:36 pm
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