Racing and Pacing.

This week’s hot topic is all about racing and pacing! I’ve now churned out two half marathon races in the lead up to the full, as has Kate. Dan, Simon and Amy have all completed races too. This weekend was the big race weekend, with many of London’s marathon runners turning out to various events around the country – the popular one was Silverstone, but the idea of running in circles on a race track filled me with dread and I avoided it like the plague... in fact, none of the intrepid Bibendum team ventured near that race at all!

I’ve realised that I really enjoy the half marathon distance race – for me, it’s over and done within a couple of hours, training for it doesn’t become life-consuming like training for the full distance marathon does, and you feel completely awesome when you finish. It also doesn’t completely kill your legs, and you don’t feel like you need to run with the rucksack of paraphernalia that you need for a longer race (energy gels, sports drink, tissues, Vaseline, keys, mobile phone, money, tube pass, plasters, survival blanket, Swiss army knife, kitchen sink...) .

The thing that scares me about doing these races though is that, in training for the full marathon, you complete your half marathon race, you’re utterly knackered, you’ve given it all you’ve got to get the result you were hoping for and then you realise you have to run DOUBLE that distance. Cue great sinking feeling... how the hell am I going to manage to run that far??? Somehow I hope we’ll all manage...

My first race was at the beginning of March in Berkhamsted (http://www.berkhamstedhalfmarathon.co.uk/) – a hilly course that winds around the villages near Berkhamsted and finishes at the town cricket club. I’d been warned it was a tough, but pretty, course, and hoped that all my hard work training on the hills in Richmond park would pay off in the end. It was an enjoyable race – made more so by travelling with a car full of Serpentine girls who were also competing, meaning there was support at the start and finish of the race.

The weather was cool and overcast, and I felt comfortable in what I chose to wear. I managed to get gels intake and water intake working well, and powered strongly up the hills, which felt awesome. The worst hill, at around the 5M mark made me want to cry, but nearing the top another runner advised that this was as bad as it gets and that spurred me on knowing I didn’t need to reserve a bit of ooph for a potential future hill.

Because I’d been warned that this was a tough run, I’d picked my race time at around the 1:55 mark, vowing to be happy with anything under 2 hours. However, as I approached the last few miles, I realised I was out-running this prediction and knowing that the last couple of miles were essentially downhill, this pushed me to up the ante and aim for a sub-1:50 finish.



As the picture from this race shows, as I approached the 13 mile mark, I was REALLY pleased with how the race had gone! I crossed the line on my watch time of 01:48:16, with an official gun time of 01:49:17. There were no timing chips for this race, and it demonstrates what a difference it makes between the starter gun going off and actually crossing the start line in what was essentially a small field of runners.

So, one half marathon down, and one to go. I ran my second half marathon in the Forest of Dean (http://www.forestofdean-halfmarathon.co.uk/), which was another hilly route, this one mostly on trails, which are much kinder to the knees! I’d really hoped to get a PB on this race, despite the hills, and set myself a goal of 01:45, which turned out to be foolish in the end!

For some reason, this race just didn’t go according to plan. It was an absolutely stonkingly hot sunny day, and I’d chosen the wrong top – long sleeves, when I should have worn short. I also kept getting stitch on the course and had to slow down much more than I wanted to (I even had to walk a couple of times!! Very frustrating!). I realised by the 9M mark that my goal wasn’t going to be obtainable, and I wondered if I’d even get the sub-01:50 that I’d had previously, but was too hot and sore to care!

I pushed on though, knowing once again that what goes up (and we’d gone up and up and up) must come down, and that the last mile or two must essentially be straight downhill... and they were – almost too steep to let fly. By some miracle, I crossed the finish line with seconds to spare... literally! My chip time was 01:49:58 – two seconds inside that challenging sub-1:50. And twenty minutes later (and for the rest of the day), I was buzzing – stitch and heat forgotten, and just pleased to have achieved another pretty decent result.

I’ve since checked out the Runners World race predictor (http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?uan=1681), with both my race times and it pegs me for the full marathon at somewhere in the 03:45:43 – 03:49:16 mark. That’s some pretty precise measuring – I’ll be interested to see how accurate it is! However, London Marathon is much flatter than the halves I chose, so maybe I could beat the 03:45 and get a good for age...fingers crossed!

Dan:



I undertook the Milton Keynes half marathon in the first weekend of March. Training had gone well and I was feeling pretty happy up until the race but a little apprehensive considering I had not run a competitive race since school. This was on a much grander scale than I had imagined but definitely something I needed before the marathon. It was great practice to be running in a crowd and to get used to bustling for position amongst so many people.

It’s also key to getting your pacing right as you do tend to run much quicker than normal due to the adrenaline and competitiveness. My target time for the marathon is under 4 hours so I would have been happy with any time under 1hr 55 but I exceeded my expectations and ran a 1hr 37 which I was ecstatic about. It has made me consider changing my time to around 3.30 for the main event but I started with a target of 4 hours and as long as I achieve that I will be happy. Anything under that will be a bonus.



Kate:
I did the Brighton half marathon three weeks ago which I managed in 1hr59mins, which I was pretty pleased with. I ran it with my brother and there’s nothing like a little sibling rivalry to keep you running!

I did another half marathon on 15th March in Hastings, which was so hard, the first 7 miles were uphill which I read afterwards makes it equivalent to running 14 miles (needless to say if I had read it before I wouldn’t have done it) so I finished it in 2hr1min which I was a little gutted about as I had anticipated being faster than the first time. But I am doing a 16 mile race in three weeks so fingers crossed for that!

Simon:
I ran the Bath Half on Sunday, my first ever half marathon and a real test for the big one. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. I had been warned that the Bath Half has a reputation for chaotic organisation – last year they delayed the runners at the start line for an hour in the rain! Congestion was a real problem at the start, the first two miles were so bunched up that there were patches where you had to walk!

I found the heat a problem having previously only trained in winter months. I was alarmed to see so many people collapsed towards the end and couldn’t help thinking ‘that will be me in London next month’. Anyway, I wanted to do sub 2 hours and crossed the line in 2 hours 1 minute which was very irritating. My second half time was 50 minutes which is encouraging. Sadly there were no pictures on the Marathon-photos website, what a shame. I am predicting 4:45 for the big day.

Amy:
Oh I’m so ashamed to write my times compared to the rest of you! I also did the Brighton Half which was better than I’d expected to be honest. I had signed up to do it when I was still thinking I would be doing the London marathon so it was a little premature considering I was only 2 weeks into training. I did however manage to complete it, in a lengthy 2 hours 17 mins. Initially I was relatively pleased considering I just wanted to finish the bloomin’ thing. But compared to the others I’m now a little mortified! Obviously now I’m working on speeding up a little... maybe some new trainers will help.. perhaps those ones with the wheels in the heels...

Runners World Race Predictor times for the Bibendum London Marathon team:
Dan: 03:22:14
Gemma: 03:45:43 – 03:49:16
Kate: 04:08:06 – 04:12:16
Simon: 04:12:16
I personally think these might be just a bit enthusiastic, but I am keen to give it a try for that kind of time!

Because Amy's doing Edinburgh and her training was in it's early days when she ran her half, I haven't done a race prediction for her....yet!

However, I predict a bit of a race on for Kate and Simon...what do you reckon?