So, a few days ago I was reminded by Sharon that I had entered the Richmond Half Marathon this weekend! I’d completely forgotten. When I entered I thought it would be a nice way to get a longish run in just as I start to ease back the training in advance of my main spring race, an Ironman. Two weeks after the London Marathon would be fine (as I hadn’t planned to run London hard, which I didn’t).

The day before at Bushy parkrun I nipped under 19 minutes on very tired legs (from a previous week of fairly large cycling volume) so an easy Saturday would surely give a bit of recovery in advance of a bit of a smackdown at this half marathon.  I had toyed with the idea of a steady paced training run but with it being a fast course and myself being fairly fit I thought it was worth a go at pushing for a good time.

My previous best time over the distance is 1:27:42 from the Bedford Half Marathon in 2007.  That’s a hilly course. Surely I could do better. I had a good bash at beating that time at Tunbridge Wells in 2008 but it didn’t work out on the day. I’ve not ran a half marathon race hard since then.

I had a think and thought a time around 1:25 would be a great result. The only ‘speed training’ that I’ve done all year has been weekly parkrun 5k’s. How would this work out for just over 21km’s.  Surely four 20 minute 5k’s and a bit at the end. Sounds simple eh.

Sunday morning. The weather was perfect. Plenty of friends and fellow club runners were taking part (or marshaling) so there wouldn’t be a lack of support on the course. After a short warm-up I got myself in position right by the front of the start area. This is partly because the race is ‘gun’ timed (meaning everyone gets a time based on the start, not when they personally crossed the start line – so getting near the front was necessary and also helps avoid too much early congestion).

Richmond Bridge, one mile into the race. Photo: Rodney McCulloch

And then we were off. The early miles were solid and relatively comfortable. I saw my good friend Stefan race off fast (as he does every week at parkrun) and I awaited the ‘catch.’  Over 5k it’s normally at about 2.5k, but what would it be over 21k.  Well… it turned out to be pretty much bang on 10k.  I only know this as when I caught up with him he lifted his arms in the air and proclaimed to me (and the other runners near by) something along the lines of “I have done a sub-40 minute 10k for the first time ever!”  That made me laugh.

Heading from Hampton Court along the towpath at about 6.5 miles I found myself with a group of maybe five people.  Before long two of them had drifted off of the back and it was myself, a Collingwood AC and a Tadworth AC runner in a small group.  We kept each other going and ran pretty well together. No-one wanted to drop off of the group so we all ran hard and stuck together. The pacing was steady, the effort was hard.

Around 9.5 miles into the race. Note the Collingwood AC runner (in yellow) tucked in nicely behind me. Photo: Katrin Kroschinski, http://www.fire-passion.co.uk/

Just before 10 miles I took a gel. I’d had nothing else during the run (apart from a gel 20 minutes before the start) and no water. In fact I didn’t use the water stations once during the race.  I didn’t feel particularly thirsty (I was well hydrated beforehand) and just wanted to concentrate on running!

At about 10.5 miles I ran past Jo and Paul Sinton-Hewitt who were marshaling in Canbury Gardens and Paul said ‘take it easy David’ or something very similar! Cheeky git!

At this point it was just the Collingwood runner and myself.  We worked well together.  We sped up from averaging around 6:25 minute miling to around 6:15 miling. From miles 12 to 13 alongside Riverside Drive we caught up with Sean from Ranelagh who was struggling. I told him to jump on the back of us and he tried his best to. Shortly after he dropped back and I couldn’t hang on any more. Miles 12-13 was (according to my GPS) run at 6:04 minute miling pace.

I had no idea of the time at this point (I’d stopped doing the maths in my head a few miles back) and it was just a case of having to dig deep all the way to the finish.

There’s a slight double-back just before the finish and I remember a encouraging shout from Grant, who’d already finished. Cheers.  I turned into the finishing straight (the only bit of grass you run on) and crossed the line in 1 hour 23 minutes and 46 seconds.  A personal best of 3 minutes 55 seconds. I’ll take that.

Not long after I finished I cheered Stefan in who’d done brilliantly to hang on and get a 1:27:10 for his first ever half marathon. Brilliant work.

Stefan and David with their post-race bananas!! Photo: Rodney McCulloch

This run really worked me hard in the final miles and although I’ve not done and relevant speedwork as such lately I think my endurance and general leg strength from long bike rides certainly helped.  After a very gentle bike ride home I then got my ‘nice’ bicycle out and rode just under 60 miles to my parents house for a celebratory BBQ!

For those interested, here’s my splits/heart rate graphs etc. over at TrainingPeaks.

The Cranleigh 21 mile race is one of the best bargains of the racing calendar. 10 pounds for 21 miles. That works out to be just under 48 pence per mile! Bargain.

I’ve run this twice before and this year the plan was once again not to race but to treat it as a good solid training run.

In 2012 the weather was beautiful – hot and sunny. This year it was 0 degrees celcius with a wind of around 15mph blowing. Oh, and some snow flurries! Certainly not shorts and vest weather. Today it was base layer, tights, running club vest, wooly hat and gloves. I was an ideal temperature throughout the run.

The original (note that I’ve said ‘original’ here!) plan was to run slower than I did at the Spitfire 20 three weeks ago.  Well… it didn’t quite happen.  I set off at a good pace, and kinda just kept it up throughout.

At around 9 miles (when you head onto two loops of 6 miles) I got chatting to a lovely lady from Woking. She like myself was ‘taking it easy’ (well, easier than race pace) and we had a good chat. About the usual subjects. You know. parkrun.

Towards the end I picked up the pace a little (she picked it up a little more) and ran through to finish in 2 hours 42 and 20 seconds. My average pace was 7:40 miling (according to the 21.14 miles that my GPS recorded – or 7:44 miling if I ran to the racing line) which was about the same as at the Spitfire 20. It seems like this is just my steady long run pace.

The marshals on the course were fantastic and I really enjoyed the little cups of orange squash that they were handing out (much nicer than just water).

With the London Marathon four weeks away running at this pace would get me round in around 3 hours and 20 minutes. I’m really planning on running London a little slower (so expect me to refer back to this post in a few weeks saying how it all went wrong and I ran too fast!).

The current training (including London) is just preparation for another marathon that I’m doing in May. I can guarantee that this marathon will be slower. Mainly because I’ll be doing a little swim and bike ride beforehand…

I don’t really enter many races. I guess I’m a bit of a loner when it comes to most of my training. Maybe I’ll blog about this at some point but not right now.  Anyway, enough about that – back to the subject…

Sharon and Kirsty had plans to enter this event (Sharon doing the ‘Tempest 10′ event – which is a single lap – with the Spitfire 20 being two laps).  I entered as well and if it was anything near half as well organised as the Three Molehills race by the same Events To Live organisers then it would certainly be a good morning out.

Porridge and coffee for breakfast and an early (not triathlon early, just running race early) start to get to the race site in Dunsfold (where they film the TV show Top Gear).  Sharon had a couple of miles warm-up to do (her plan said 12 miles, so a two mile warm up and a ten mile run would suffice).  My plan.  Well, I don’t have a plan. I just thought it would be nice!  I did 16 miles a few weeks ago so surely 20 would be fine.  I had no plans to race this or run particularly hard.  I just wanted to get round at a steady pace and not injure myself.  My right calf has been tight the last couple of weeks and I’ve eased off the running and done more cycling. Time to give it a proper test.

The first 10 miles were lovely.  The course was lovely.  I know airfields are big but you have to run about 2.5 miles to get out of the bloody aerodrome.  It was very exposed but thankfully not too windy.  Once we got into the country lanes there was lots of chatting amongst other runners and I found myself ducking in and out of a few conversations and saying hello to people (who I didn’t know) from other running clubs.  The time flew by.

The course was lovely and quiet. The marshalls were absolutely amazing. Drink stations were perfect (one of the lads had no trouble with me swapping a lime flavoured energy gel that I’d picked up at an earlier station for a strawberry/banana flavoured one).  Now that’s customer service for you!  No quibbles (ok, so I was probably over 25 years older than him so perhaps he was just respecting the old folk!).

Back to the marshalls.  The route means we had to cross a couple of road junctions.  When you get out into the countryside it often seems that the 4 wheel drive brigade hate runners and when there’s marshalls stopping traffic out whilst ‘us’ are running along ‘their’ roads they can get a little angry.  Well, every time I crossed a road the marshalls were doing a superb job and I didn’t notice any angry motorists.  I hope it was like that for the rest of the runners as it was lovely where I was.

At the end of the first lap you have the tough part when you run through the start/finish area and back for another two and a half miles of exposed surroundings – with a stiffening cold wind and a sweaty running top on this made it a bit chilly.  Well… you just have to run a little faster to keep warm!  I was asked by a chap who I’d be running alongside for a while if I was comfortable.  My heart rate was steady and just on the overlap of my ‘recovery/aerobic’ ranges.  I felt fine from a heart rate point of view – it was just my legs strength that would be the limiter going forward.  I was still experiencing a few aches from a longish bike ride in the Surrey Hills on my day off two days previously.

At about 14 miles I decided with around 10km left to run I’d increase the pace a bit and started to put in a few faster miles.  I slowly edged past people and was really enjoying it.  It certainly wasn’t easy but I wasn’t pushing myself overly hard.  It was just more of a solid pace.  Before long… well, about an hour later we turn back into the aerodrome for the final straight.

There was a pretty large gap behind me and I was taking it at the same pace as previously.  As I approached the finishing funnel area I noticed three chaps closing in on me from behind and one giving it a good go. I remember saying to the people supporting something like “really, do I have to sprint and race now after all nearly 20 miles” and then I decided to give a good kick and sprint for the line.  I didn’t need to do this – the position or time doesn’t really bother me.  I just wanted a good solid run.  Oh, I didn’t let the chap pass me :)

My first lap took 1:18:20 and the second lap 1:15:42.  That’ll be a bit of a speed increase over the second lap then!

My finish time was 2 hours 34 minutes and 3 seconds.  Averaging 7:40 miling.  Faster than I had originally planned but not overly quick for my liking.  That’ll do.  I’ve got a 21 mile event/race in a few of weeks time which I will try and run slower at.  I want to get more ‘time on feet’ rather than a fast time.  Right now for me its all about Ironman training rather than specific marathon speed-work.

Lunch consisted of a couple of bacon rolls at the race HQ and then the drive home.  A really good race organised by really nice people.  Highly recommended.

This is the annual summer handicap cross country race for Ranelagh Harriers and one I always try and attend.  It’s a great challenging course on a beautiful summers evening.  As the sun is going down there are families and dog walkers strolling around the park and you, together with around 70 other runners race down the paths and trails of Richmond Park for just under five miles.  It truly is lovely.

Unless it’s 2012 and its been pi**ing with rain most of the day and the course is mostly muddy and waterlogged grass.

Anyway… moving on…

This was my second run after the Outlaw Triathlon nine days ago.  My first run was at Bushy parkrun on Saturday where my legs were just tired, completely tired.  I pushed hard and managed a respectable 18:43 but was so shattered that was it for my training that weekend.  Monday/Tuesday this week I was working in London so plenty of steady miles on my heavy old mountain bike got the legs moving again.

I was looking forward to a good tough run this evening and that I believe I delivered on.  I really didn’t expect there to be so much water on the course having not run on the trails of Richmond Park for a good few weeks – it was much worse than in the middle of winter.

Getting ready for the start. Chap in the grey top is off next, followed by the lady.

As it’s a handicap race we all start at different times and its great fun watching who goes off in front of you (slower runners) and those behind you (hopefully faster runners).  We all stand around joking that the ‘handicapper’ (he who sets the starting order based on previous performances) has screwed up yet again and given us inaccurate starting times.  However, these are the cards that are dealt and we have no say in the matter.  If you’re a consistent athlete it’s very difficult to ‘beat’ the handicapper and win one of these races so you just need to look at it as a solid race where you’ll hopefully be catching up some of the slower runners towards the end.  You also need to try and look out for and stay ahead of the faster runners who set off after you.  It’s like running with a large target on your back!

Did I mention that the course was wet and muddy.  Well, it was.

All you have to do is follow the arrows that mark out the course

I set off fairly hard and took advantage of the run down Queens Ride to clock an opening mile of around 5:45.  Last year I ran the first mile in 5:53.  This is where the comparisons to last year end!  It was tough, real tough.

Heading around Spankers Hill Wood I was overtaken by Andy B. who muttered the words of encouragement “Come on Beardy!”  Well, as we were about to run into a headwind I had the option of fighting the headwind on my own or using the same effort and sitting right behind Andy and let him do the work, and at the same time run a little quicker.  Easy decision.

I stuck with Andy only for a couple of minutes during what was the most exposed part of the course.  At 5k my time was around 19:13 which seemed reasonable – especially with a couple more miles to run.  I really pushed myself during this race and it was great to overtake quite a few people in the last couple of miles.

As I crossed the line my time was 31:34.  Last year I ran the course in 31:04 which was my best time.  The weather in 2011 was better with no puddles and mud and I hadn’t just raced an Ironman nine days before so I’ll take that as a great run.

In the overall results I was the sixth fastest on the night out of 76 runners, which was a great turnout on a far from summery evening.

I just thought I’d post this graphic which is now available for all runners of the 2012 London Marathon on the results website.  This gives a good overview of how I did during the race compared to other runners.  The graphics are created by runpix.net and I think it’s pretty cool for something so simple.

The most interesting thing for me here is the data on how I ran during the last 7km (from 35 to 42km).  Apparently I overtook 455 runners during this time, and only 5 runners passed me.  As I said in my race report I kept my pace going steady until the finish, which clearly was not quite the same for just about everyone else around me.  I’ll take that as a positive thing :)