Finally a good race and a PR! The course was 0.1 long, and not only on my Garmin. I asked couple of other runners with Garmins, both 301 and 305, and they also had 13.2 mi. It's a certified course by UK Athletics, but I have to wonder... Maybe 0.1mi. is acceptable margin of error, but it would be nice to have result of 1:41:xx rather than 1:42:xx.
The good:
- weather: absolutely gorgeous day, maybe even a bit too warm - mid 50s, bright blue skies and a lot of sun (which made it feel too warm at times). Miles 8-10 got pretty windy, but the rest was fine.
- course: very enjoyable and scenic through Fleet town center and countryside. Really nice. Not flat, it was constantly rolling up and down, but without steep hills. Even for me, the hills were no problem, and I don't train on hills at all now. Only mile 10 was mostly uphill, the rest were all up and down. I don't know if the net elevation was positive or negative, but it's not a slow course.
- mile markers: clearly visible and mostly accurate. A lot of miles were just a tad long, that's how extra 0.1mi. appeared, but I was able to split all the miles, even 13th one, which is often not signed in races.
The bad:
- water stations: since it was pretty warm, I tried to drink at each station, they were positioned every 3 miles, approximately. BUT - when will race directors get the idea that serving water in stiff plastic cups is a disaster for runners who try to drink without stopping! You can't make a funnel with plastic cups like you can with paper cups (they tend to break), so what happens is that most of the water ends up all over your body rather than your mouth. I tried to do my best, but only managed to get a few ounces out of each cup. Oh well.
Now for my race. I lined up in front seeing how narrow the starting road was. Even though the race used ChampionChip, I didn't want to fight my way through hundreds of people. There were more than 3000 people running, it's one of the more popular pre-London halfs. The race started, and everybody sprinted ahead. I really had to hold back. Tons of people passed me in the first 200 meters. That's when it was very useful to have Garmin (and it was working, too!). I saw the pace dipping under 7:30, backed off big time, and let them all go. Many of them came back to me later.
My plan was to go out no faster than 7:50-7:55, and then either pick it up half way, or run even and kick the last 3 miles. In reality, I ran around 7:50 for 10 miles and then gradually sped up. The splits are not even because of course undulations, but I was constantly seeing 7:40-7:55 on each mile so it was okay. More importantly, I was completely comfortable the first 10.5 miles, and that was the key. I ran at the right effort. My breathing was pretty quiet, and I had a steady rhythm going. After the long uphill section between miles 9 and 10, I started noticably passing people. A lot of them were slowing down. But I felt strong and in control, although I was working a bit harder now. The wind was slowing me down a bit on these miles. I kept rolling until mile 11, and then, using the road protected from the wind, I sped up. I saw 7:20 on my Garmin, and that's when I knew I was going to have a good race. I passed dozens of people in these last 2 miles, and no one passed me at all until the finish! It was a great feeling. I was working very hard, but I still felt strong. In the last mile, though, I started to struggle, because there was some uphill again, and I could feel my legs getting very heavy. I was afraid I started kicking too soon, and will die a premature death. But I managed to hold the pace, although it was a painful last mile.
Last 100m. were on the grass, I was sprinting like crazy and didn't see the race clock at all (it was on the right side, and I was running on the left). I also didn't see (and didn't care for) a photographer. I can only imagine what kind of photos I will get!
Official results are not out till tomorrow evening, so I have no idea about my place or official time, but my Garmin gave me 1:42:04, and I'm pretty happy with it. It's a PR by 2:30. I hit my target time, even not considering that the course was a bit long. Hopefully, now I'll hit my marathon target as well.
Splits:
| Mile |
Distance |
Time |
Pace |
| 1 |
0.99 |
7:43 |
7:49 |
| 2 |
1.00 |
8:01 |
8:00 |
| 3 |
1.00 |
7:43 |
7:45 |
| 4 |
1.04 |
8:01 |
7:45 |
| 5 |
1.02 |
7:48 |
7:41 |
| 6 |
1:01 |
7:59 |
7:53 |
| 7 |
1.01 |
7:51 |
7:49 |
| 8 |
1.01 |
7:56 |
7:51 |
| 9 |
1.00 |
7:51 |
7:51 |
| 10 |
1.01 |
7:59 |
7:55 |
| 11 |
1.00 |
7:40 |
7:39 |
| 12 |
1.00 |
7:20 |
7:22 |
| 13 |
1.01 |
7:23 |
7:19
|
| 13.1 |
0.11 |
0:42 |
6:30 |
Update: found race results here. Looks like I was 10th in F35-39 and 59th woman. Overall gun position 541, gun time 1:42:12. Chip time a second faster than I thought, 1:42:03.
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