Well, that was a much better Half Marathon! Everything just went right. I felt really comfortable for the majority of the run, it only started to get tough around the 11/12 mile mark but by that point I could hear the crowds, music and radio chatter at the finishing point so that kept me focused and determined to finish.
Out of 780 runners that finished I ran on average 09:58 per mile, came 619th and achieved a new Personal Best of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 28 seconds for the Half Marathon, beating my previous time by a whopping 15 minutes! The time was also quite close to my Galloway Magic Mile predicted time of 02:09:26! I also managed to chalk up a new Personal Best for 10 miles too while I was at it! For the King of the Hill section I came 399th with a time of 3 minutes and 59 seconds.
I didn't have a pace strategy on starting this race, I just wanted to vary my effort depending on how comfortable I felt throughout. This seemed to work really well.
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| Yeovil Half Marathon Route & Pace (Click to Enlarge) |
I didn't have a pace strategy on starting this race, I just wanted to vary my effort depending on how comfortable I felt throughout. This seemed to work really well.
The walk breaks, when I finally started them as I lacked the confidence to do so at the very start really helped to break up the run into manageable chunks. Despite no music, I amazingly didn't get bored or lose much motivation during the run. This was also helped by the excellent atmosphere and buzz all around the course. The event organisation was excellent and even running along busy Yeovil roads and around an industrial estate didn't deter my enthusiasm! The finishing medal was ace too...
My food intake and refuelling strategy seemed to work well. I certainly benefited from the extra drinking station at mile 9 and the handful of jelly babies that I snatched at the last station. I had the start of the odd stitch at various places but they didn't come to much and the walk breaks helped to shake them off. The other runners were friendly and it might be the push I need to join a local running club as I can certainly see the benefits of a running community who can support you at these events, out on the course and in training.
I also suffered no chafing this time around thanks to my excellent running shorts that I bought this month and my new shoes seemed to perform well although some blistering was evident after the run. I'm hoping that this is just a sign that they are still wearing in...
The only thing I wasn't keen on was the horrible drink they gave out at the finish line (pure coconut water, Go Coco)...thankfully there was water available too!
So not a bad day at all. The finishing medal was the icing on the cake...a great memento! Looking back now I can't remember running through particular segments, a sign perhaps that I found a good groove during the race which helped the time and miles fly by.
My food intake and refuelling strategy seemed to work well. I certainly benefited from the extra drinking station at mile 9 and the handful of jelly babies that I snatched at the last station. I had the start of the odd stitch at various places but they didn't come to much and the walk breaks helped to shake them off. The other runners were friendly and it might be the push I need to join a local running club as I can certainly see the benefits of a running community who can support you at these events, out on the course and in training.
I also suffered no chafing this time around thanks to my excellent running shorts that I bought this month and my new shoes seemed to perform well although some blistering was evident after the run. I'm hoping that this is just a sign that they are still wearing in...
The only thing I wasn't keen on was the horrible drink they gave out at the finish line (pure coconut water, Go Coco)...thankfully there was water available too!
So not a bad day at all. The finishing medal was the icing on the cake...a great memento! Looking back now I can't remember running through particular segments, a sign perhaps that I found a good groove during the race which helped the time and miles fly by.
Very good Chris. Dad says just a bit slow for this years 'Olympics' Yeh the medal looks good. I think I would have liked that drink as I do like coconut flavour things.
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