Richmond Half Marathon

14M - incl half marathon race - Ranelagh Harriers' Richmond Half Marathon
13.1M at 5.41min/M - 01:14:22; 4th position
1M warm up

I was disappointed with my performance - outside my previous best by 30secs. I'm in much better shape generally than previous half marathon races and I even went through half way in the marathon faster than this and feeling considerably better.

Having said all that, I only signed up for this one last Saturday after I felt my legs were coming back to me post-marathon, I've had one of my heaviest weeks mileage-wise and I didn't taper. I also had belly ache from about mile 3 or 4 which has only just got better several hours after the race. Not sure quite why, but I was a little anxious at one stage I might have to do a Paula...

I went off at 5.20 (which is about 01:10:00 pace) but after one mile could tell it was a bit ambitious. After 3 miles at 5.30 I was already hurting and was getting anxious. What with my belly ache, I was not at all sure how things were going to pan out. Normally I have to batten down the hatches and forget the pain from about 9 miles in a half marathon, so this was all a bit ahead of schedule. But I kept it together and managed to get myself in OK shape to 9 miles and then gave it a bit more. By the end, I was catching numbers 3 and 4 and got 4th with a sprint. I got him with a bit to spare so didn't need to dive over the line, though I was quite close to vomiting with the effort.

I didn't have any muscular niggles or aches and feel good now a few hours down the line.

While I say I'm disappointed, it was great training (mental as well as physical) and it's the challenge of getting through these patches and days that makes me love long distance running. I'd soon get bored of it if it was easy. My next race is 3 weeks away and is my real target for taking a chunk off my half marathon best. I'll tailor my training and taper properly for that one.