Freckleton Half Marathon

Yesterday was race day - time to see what another 12 weeks of Hal Higdon's Advanced Half Marathon training program had achieved.

The previous week's training had been pretty awful but I put that down to overdoing it on my 16 mile run on the previous Sunday.

On Saturday my new baby arrived - a Garmin GPS watch. It was great to be able to try the watch out with a race. No more guessing distances for me!

The day was quite warm at 16 degrees and only a slight breeze.

The race had a record turnout with over 800 runners. It is quite unusual in that it starts at 2 pm. This did make for an early lunch but apart from that it was nice to start at a different time.

At 2 pm sharp we were off and I settled into a 7 min / mile pace. The course wound around Freckleton for a few miles before heading out into the countryside. The pace felt fine apart from a few hills in miles 5 and 6. Mile 7 was downhill and felt great - a 6.50 split for that one.

However after that it just gradually felt harder and harder. Miles 8 to 10 were done at just over 7 min / mile pace but the last three miles were a bit of a death march at 7.25 pace. The route was on the pavement of a busy road and was slightly uphill. After 10 miles I started counting down the quarter miles to try to make it go quicker. The only consolation was that everyone around me seemed to be struggling just as much.

I was hoping for a burst of energy in the last mile but it did not come. A lady glided past me and I had nothing in the tank to chase her with. Finally about 100 metres from the finish line a bit of adrenaline kicked in and I managed to sprint past the guy in front of me.

My time of 1:33:17 represents a 3 minute PB so I guess I should be happy with that and put the pacing issues down to experience.

Compared to the Wilmslow Half 12 weeks ago this was a real slog! I think negative pacing is the way forward. I really did not enjoy those last 3 miles!

Today my legs felt fine and I managed the normal short run to the gym and back. My struggles were probably down to dehydration. I need to get better at drinking out of cups while running or take a bottle with me.

It is now 16 weeks until the Chester marathon. I am going straight into week 3 of a Pfitzinger and Douglas sub 55 mile schedule. I had better get to sleep ready for that 10 mile run before breakfast tomorrow!