Wednesday, 14 May 2008

Tewkesbury Half Marathon

So last Sunday saw witness to a rather painful and hot experience. The Tewkesbury Half took place in high 70 / low 80 degree temperature that saw me register a much slower than anticipated 1hr31. I was aiming for 1hr25 and was ahead of my goal pace after 3 miles and then it all went horribly wrong. I decided to miss the first water station at 2.5 miles and by mile 5, I had blown up. I completely fell apart and my pace dropped through the floor from around 6.30/mile to 7.00/mile. I struggled on through the next few miles, just looking at my feet and hoping the next water station would appear like an oasis. Miles 5-8 were are real struggle and I almost stopped running altogether as my goal had gone and it felt like I was running backwards. I rallied toward the end with two sub-7.00/miles but it was a painful finish to a hot and tiring race.

Hats of to Laura though who bounced to the finish in 1hr 24, finishing as first lady, first Harrier and 13th overall. Cracking run, amazing performance in such conditions.

Dave staggered over the line in much the same state as I. A race we'd both rather forget as soon as poss!

Good run last night with the Harriers; a 9 mile run offroad including Cleeve Hill and the racecourse. Nice pace, lovely conditions but has left me with very badly bruised toes to complement the blisters from Sunday.

Next stop: Sunday's race with trusty Rusty!

1 comment:

David Rowe said...

1:31 in that weather - can't complain at that. I was supporting a half marathon near where we live on Sunday and the conditions were incredibly tough for the runners.