Bath Half Marathon 2007
This Sunday I competed in the Bath Half Marathon, another event I have now participated in for the second year running.
Having entered last year's race, I was given priority entry this year, and made sure I got my entry in straight away. I was later rather annoyed that the Reading half marathon, another of my favourites from last year, was scheduled for the same day, making it impossible to enter both events.
Given the choice, I may have gone for Bath anyway as it is more of a PB course than Reading, and with the London Marathon just four weeks away, a PB would definitely give my confidence a timely boost.
I wrapped up my training on Wednesday and gave myself 3 well-earned rest days. I also had a rub down with Ali on Friday (still not a pleasant experience but nowhere near as bad as it used to be). I also took care to load up on carbs for a few days, lots of pasta and my beloved jelly babies :)
On Saturday I went to see "I Want Candy" at lunchtime, which, while mildly amusing was a bit of a disappointment. It was advertised as a "British American Pie" but was, I have to say, nowhere near as funny as that classic, or the two sequels that followed it. Still, it helped kill some time and it's nice to see former Eastender Michelle Ryan make the transition to big screen.
After the film I just chilled out at home and watched the England vs Canada one day international. This has been a terrible week for any cricket lover, and whilst I feel they are right to continue with the competition, the 2007 cricket world cup will always be remembered for the murder of Bob Woolmer. Let us hope that the perpetrators of this heinous act are swiftly brought to justice, and let us also hope that the teams now through to the second stage of the competition give us some exciting matches and a tournament that Bob would have been proud of.
I caught a bus from the train station to Bath (no trains at that time, and I wonder how many weekends this summer will be blighted by travelling by bus when I have actually paid to travel by train) and at the station met Daniel, Anthony's twin brother.
I had actually caught up with Anthony at the gym the previous weekend which was really good, I hadn't seen him for a good six months, and he complimented me on the weight loss which made me feel better. He has promised to stay in touch and guide me through the last few weeks approaching "the big day".
I made my way to the race with Daniel and when we got there, one of the things we did was get some pace bands from the lucozade stand (they go round your wrist and tell you what speed you need to do each mile at to arrive at your target time). Unsure whether to go for 1:45 or 1:50, he swiftly told me to forget 1:50 and aim for 1:45. I didn't feel this was very realistic, but no harm in trying I suppose, as long as I don't burn myself out too quickly.
Great Pulteney Street was packed as we assembled for the start, and I had no choice but to start in the 1:45 pen. I was glad to get going and it wasn't until about 3 miles into the race that the crowd started to thin out.
I was keeping the pace at around 8 minute miles for the first 6 or 7 miles quite comfortably but after that it became very hard work. I hadn't enjoyed last year's Bath half due to sore legs, and I knew this year was going to be tough as well, but this time for the right reasons. Somehow I managed to dig deep and keep pushing myself along at the same pace.
A "pit stop" at around mile 9 put paid to any realistic hopes of a 1hr 45 minute finish, but I always feel there is no point trying to run with a full bladder, it will only slow you down. So I braced myself for the last few miles and pushed myself to the end as best I could, even though I was starting to feel slightly faint and really wanted to stop and walk for a while.
In the end I crossed the line with 1:46:36 on my watch, and I later found out my chip time was 2 seconds quicker. So I had beaten my previous PB at this distance by a good 5 minutes, which surely proves I am in better shape for a marathon than I was last year.
I picked up my goodie bag and hung around to watch my brother in law, Richard, cross the line. He was running to raise money for Clic Sargent, a very worthwhile cause. While waiting I saw a few people who had collapsed during the race being taken away in ambulances, which was horrible. Usually this is down to poor preparation or pushing yourself too hard. No one can accuse me of not preparing, but I did wonder how close I was to pushing myself to the point of collapse.
But I hadn't collapsed, I was fine, and so off I went for a burger at Schwarz Bros (best burgers in Bath!!) and a pint before catching the (standing room only) train home. Definitely time for a celebration so I cracked open a few beers and watched "Casino Royale" on DVD and the excellent "Transamerica" later on sky movies. I had earned it.
I knew later I must have worked hard because I was sore for a couple of days after the race, missing my Tuesday track session (horribly hard work but very effective) because of this. But I have trained, because it has been so nice to run in the sunshine after work now that the clocks have gone forward.
Just a few more weeks now, and the big day will be here. And I can tell you, there'll be some celebration after that.
Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, March 2007
Having entered last year's race, I was given priority entry this year, and made sure I got my entry in straight away. I was later rather annoyed that the Reading half marathon, another of my favourites from last year, was scheduled for the same day, making it impossible to enter both events.
Given the choice, I may have gone for Bath anyway as it is more of a PB course than Reading, and with the London Marathon just four weeks away, a PB would definitely give my confidence a timely boost.
I wrapped up my training on Wednesday and gave myself 3 well-earned rest days. I also had a rub down with Ali on Friday (still not a pleasant experience but nowhere near as bad as it used to be). I also took care to load up on carbs for a few days, lots of pasta and my beloved jelly babies :)
On Saturday I went to see "I Want Candy" at lunchtime, which, while mildly amusing was a bit of a disappointment. It was advertised as a "British American Pie" but was, I have to say, nowhere near as funny as that classic, or the two sequels that followed it. Still, it helped kill some time and it's nice to see former Eastender Michelle Ryan make the transition to big screen.
After the film I just chilled out at home and watched the England vs Canada one day international. This has been a terrible week for any cricket lover, and whilst I feel they are right to continue with the competition, the 2007 cricket world cup will always be remembered for the murder of Bob Woolmer. Let us hope that the perpetrators of this heinous act are swiftly brought to justice, and let us also hope that the teams now through to the second stage of the competition give us some exciting matches and a tournament that Bob would have been proud of.
I caught a bus from the train station to Bath (no trains at that time, and I wonder how many weekends this summer will be blighted by travelling by bus when I have actually paid to travel by train) and at the station met Daniel, Anthony's twin brother.
I had actually caught up with Anthony at the gym the previous weekend which was really good, I hadn't seen him for a good six months, and he complimented me on the weight loss which made me feel better. He has promised to stay in touch and guide me through the last few weeks approaching "the big day".
I made my way to the race with Daniel and when we got there, one of the things we did was get some pace bands from the lucozade stand (they go round your wrist and tell you what speed you need to do each mile at to arrive at your target time). Unsure whether to go for 1:45 or 1:50, he swiftly told me to forget 1:50 and aim for 1:45. I didn't feel this was very realistic, but no harm in trying I suppose, as long as I don't burn myself out too quickly.
Great Pulteney Street was packed as we assembled for the start, and I had no choice but to start in the 1:45 pen. I was glad to get going and it wasn't until about 3 miles into the race that the crowd started to thin out.
I was keeping the pace at around 8 minute miles for the first 6 or 7 miles quite comfortably but after that it became very hard work. I hadn't enjoyed last year's Bath half due to sore legs, and I knew this year was going to be tough as well, but this time for the right reasons. Somehow I managed to dig deep and keep pushing myself along at the same pace.
A "pit stop" at around mile 9 put paid to any realistic hopes of a 1hr 45 minute finish, but I always feel there is no point trying to run with a full bladder, it will only slow you down. So I braced myself for the last few miles and pushed myself to the end as best I could, even though I was starting to feel slightly faint and really wanted to stop and walk for a while.
In the end I crossed the line with 1:46:36 on my watch, and I later found out my chip time was 2 seconds quicker. So I had beaten my previous PB at this distance by a good 5 minutes, which surely proves I am in better shape for a marathon than I was last year.
I picked up my goodie bag and hung around to watch my brother in law, Richard, cross the line. He was running to raise money for Clic Sargent, a very worthwhile cause. While waiting I saw a few people who had collapsed during the race being taken away in ambulances, which was horrible. Usually this is down to poor preparation or pushing yourself too hard. No one can accuse me of not preparing, but I did wonder how close I was to pushing myself to the point of collapse.
But I hadn't collapsed, I was fine, and so off I went for a burger at Schwarz Bros (best burgers in Bath!!) and a pint before catching the (standing room only) train home. Definitely time for a celebration so I cracked open a few beers and watched "Casino Royale" on DVD and the excellent "Transamerica" later on sky movies. I had earned it.
I knew later I must have worked hard because I was sore for a couple of days after the race, missing my Tuesday track session (horribly hard work but very effective) because of this. But I have trained, because it has been so nice to run in the sunshine after work now that the clocks have gone forward.
Just a few more weeks now, and the big day will be here. And I can tell you, there'll be some celebration after that.
Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, March 2007
posted by Jon | 8:36 pm
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