And so a after a couple more good training sessions during the following, the weekend took a downhill turn with a stomach bug of some kind. Unfortunate after picking up a nice award at the Parklands Jog and Run Christmas party on the Friday night.
Having decided that I really didn't deserve the award after hosing each of my marathons this year as well as my original goal race at TR24, a weekend of illness has to be turned around. And if you can't get your long run in at the weekend, well, it may as well be a taper then. A bit of searching later, and entry to the Bedford Harriers Half Marathon was lined up for the following weekend.
I like running ultra marathons. Where I am in the field, they're sociable and relaxed. Walking almost always features and completing the distance in the top half of the field. A 5k is brutal little blast but at least it is over in short space of time. The distances between are a sliding scale from good form and a massive output of effort through to easy jogging and physical tiredness through time on feet. The tipping point for me is the half marathon which is short enough that it feels like my form should be good from start to finish, but it is just long enough that the legs and mind can get tired in the latter stages. This is why my PB still stands from 2011 in a race where I jog walked the last two miles in quite some pain. I've not been keen to go hard at one since then. But after a number of key races being failed this year and 2013 drawing to a close, it seemed like a particularly soft PB to attack but with little idea on what paces to target.
In the week before the race, I kept up the usual training with speedwork on the Tuesday and Thursday and used Saturday's parkrun to test a pace that I felt I could hold for the half. The first three kilometres at that pace felt tough, but I tried to remind myself that I always hate the first two miles of a race, whatever pace I am running. It still planted a seed of doubt on the viability of the pace but I had decided that I was going to go out relatively hard (i.e. harder than I have for anything over a 10k before) and then look to up the pace with 5k to go. If everything crumbled and I had misjudged the effort and my fitness, I figures I could cruise through the second half and still grab a PB anyway. A simple enough plan to which I also added that I wouldn't allow any kilometre splits to slide above a certain pace either. I knew the course was a little undulating and that I would use effort to guide some of the pacing, but I didn't want to let myself switch off on too many of the uphills and thus start giving myself an excuse to drift away from the goals. Finally, I wasn't going to be taking on any nutrition or water during the race. These have caused some stomach issues in a couple of longer races this year and I felt the cool weather meant I could blag 13.1 miles before the consequences caught up with me.
It couldn't have really gone better. The first 10 miles were exactly to plan. Paces within a couple of seconds of the target, accelerated the downhills and worked the uphills without blowing hard. Mentally, I was getting a little tired in the 8-10 mile stages and wondered if I would have anything to accelerate with in those last few miles. I also kept reflecting on that emergency gel in my shorts pocket. But lo and behold, at the 10 mile mark was a beautiful sweeping downhill that helped to build momentum into the finish and removed all concerns from my mind. My legs continued to turn over. My knees continued to drive. My heels continued to flick up behind. This was great. And when the flat came, and later the hills, the fact that I was crushing my goals meant that I didn't panic when I realised that I was running my 10k pace for those last 5 kilometres, nor when I noticed that I was below my 5k pace during that last kilometre uphill. And when running into the line, the time spent wondering if those 400metres were ever going to end were half felt. It felt smooth and easy. I had happily drifted past dozens of people in those last few miles and continued to do so up until the line.
The race couldn't have gone better. I had got in 4 minutes below my best possible dream goal. I felt absolutely fine (if a little spaced out until I found some calories). My legs had more than coped and a day later, still feel great. I had put in a decent effort and finished feeling good and knowing there was more to come. I'm unusually pleased with this. A nice way to round out the year.
Of course, there are three more weeks left of 2013...
