First Race of the Season!

Four Villages Half Marathon

23^rd 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