Four Villages Half Marathon
23rd January 2011
I entered this race in early Autumn as a motivator, to keep me focussed on training over early winter, and when training was going well. However, November and December were pretty poor training months for me. Firstly I caught some sort of virus which knocked me for six and put a halt to all training. Then, in work, I had four weeks of Ofsted inspection activity (preparation and then the inspection), which meant training was limited to a snatched 15 minutes on the treadmill every now and again.
Shortly after our successful Ofsted inspection came Christmas, which for me is usually a period where training time shrinks and the waist expands. However, this year Lynn and I escaped the usual festivities and flew to Mexico for two weeks in the sun. This proved to be excellent for my much needed run training. In 14 days I managed to fit in 12 run sessions, covering 125k in the process. Most of the sessions were an hour or less, but it meant they were run at a quicker pace and also gave me some consistent run training. Back on track, my run training has been pretty consistent since.
As for the race, my goal was to hit 1:30. My previous best for a half marathon was 1:34, which I did in Liverpool in 2009. I had run a 39 minute 10k in October, so thought the 1:30 was within reach. The only doubt I had was my lack of long runs as most of my running for the past 4 or 5 months has been 60 minutes or less. I set my virtual partner on my Garmin to run 4:15k pace.
Despite a pretty congested start, the race itself was excellent, with the course meandering along undulating country lanes. There were a lot of fast runners out there meaning that the pace was quick right from the start. I had to restrain myself and try and keep to a 4:15k pace – no point starting too fast and then blowing. Despite this restraint, I was running at a little around 4:05k pace – much too quick. Because this was an early season runners race with a reputation for fast times, there were plenty of people who were aiming for times between 1:25 and 1:35 and so plenty of people for me to use as pacemakers. I settled into a pace that was probably a bit quicker than I wanted to run, but actually felt comfortable. The first 5k was covered in 20:44 – about 30 seconds quicker than planned. The second 5k was a little slower, when at last my body listened to my internal pacing clock, covering the distance in 20:57, meaning my first 10k was run in 41:41. Several months ago that 10k split would have been a new 10k PB, but such is the rapid improvement in my run that this felt like I was holding back and running at a sensible half marathon pace.
During the middle section of the race, the people I had been using as pacemakers started to tire and the pace slowed a little. I upped my effort to catch and then join a quicker group ahead. The hills arrived from the 12k mark so I worked hard to keep the pace as even as I could. The third 5k arrived pretty much on target pace, in 21:22. At this point in the race, I knew I was going to go sub-1:30. I was able to run comfortably with a 171 HR, with my breathing completely under control, hitting fast k splits. Even the hills didn’t spoil the rhythm too much. I altered my stride slightly and went for it, amazed at how comfortable I was able to run and how many people I was overtaking. My heart rate did increase slightly from a consistent 171 to 172 and then 173. It’s amazing the different this made. At about 16 or 17 k, my legs suddenly began feeling heavy and I could hear my breathing for the first time.
Fortunately, the downhill section wasn’t too far away. However, I am not very good at running fast downhill and I lost a few places on the 3k run in to the finish. When the road flattened out a little with about 1k to go and I tried to pick up the pace I felt my right calf spasm with a little cramp. I immediately put a stop to that idea. I wasn’t going to spoil the previous 20k effort with a crazy last kilometre. Anyway, I was probably going fast enough as my last 3k splits were all in the 3:50’s – not bad for the end of a half marathon!
Finishing Time: 1:27:45
Average Pace: 4:10 per k
Average HR: 171
Position: 177 out of 1637
| K | Average HR | Split | 5k Splits | 10k Splits |
| 1 | 157 | 4:14 | 20:44 | 41:41 |
| 2 | 170 | 4:10 | ||
| 3 | 172 | 4:09 | ||
| 4 | 170 | 4:07 | ||
| 5 | 170 | 4:04 | ||
| 6 | 171 | 4:06 | 20:57 | |
| 7 | 170 | 4:09 | ||
| 8 | 171 | 4:15 | ||
| 9 | 172 | 4:15 | ||
| 10 | 172 | 4:12 | ||
| 11 | 171 | 4:09 | 21:22 | 41:36 |
| 12 | 171 | 4:18 | ||
| 13 | 171 | 4:30 | ||
| 14 | 172 | 4:23 | ||
| 15 | 173 | 4:02 | ||
| 16 | 172 | 4:16 | 20:30 | |
| 17 | 173 | 4:21 | ||
| 18 | 171 | 4:12 | ||
| 19 | 171 | 3:51 | ||
| 20 | 173 | 3:50 | ||
| 21 | 177 | 3:53 | | |
| 0.1 | 178 | 0:18 | ||
