I had more
time to prepare for the Scunthorpe Half Marathon and was able to learn from the
mistake of rushing into it at Sleaford. With
Sleaford done, I had the experience of running in an actual race and had got
the bug. The goal of completing a half
marathon before I was 50 was achieved. I
now wanted to beat my time.
By this
point we (Sue and I) had started to take a more keen interest in how to train
properly, and although we usually only ran twice a week, we were mixing it up a
bit with longer steady runs and shorter faster runs. We both went into this one having got 13
miles comfortably under our belts.
The Setting
The venue
for the N.E. Lincs half was really good.
Race HQ was the Glanford Park football ground at Scunthorpe, and the
race finished with half a lap of the pitch and the finish line central on the
pitch, giving a great view for our supporters and the feel of a real
celebratory finish running down the centre of the pitch.
The race
itself was nice and flat and the roads were closed to traffic, so it felt very
safe. On the day, the weather was
pleasant – not too hot, but not freezing like Sleaford!
Managing Niggles
I was still
struggling with niggles and aches in my right foot (from the cycling accident) and
the knock on effect this had on my left knee and left hip. I ran with my knee strapped up and took 2
paracetamol and 2 ibuprofen at the start, hoping that they would kick in at the
point I started to hurt. I started to
feel sore at about about 8 miles.
Strangely, I found that if I could pick up the pace a little, the pain
was less. However, I couldn’t sustain
the quicker pace for long enough because I was too breathless. Sue had blister problems and had to stop
twice to adjust her plasters; I had to keep jogging on the spot and up and down
because if I stopped, I felt I would cease up!
At just
after the half way point, we picked up a man in a tutu, whom Sue named
Bob. He was struggling because it was
his first half marathon and the furthest he had run before that was 4
miles! Crazy dude. That made our preparation for Sleaford seem
almost sensible. He ran with us for 2 or
3 miles and having someone else to chat to and encourage was a distraction from
my pain and helped those miles pass by.
He then dropped off and had to walk for a bit. He finished soon after us though and we
grabbed him for a photo.
I felt very
relaxed most of the way round and I look
back fondly at this event. However, I
was in quite a lot of pain in the left hip by the time I hit the 11 mile point
and was desperate to get to the end.
There was a tiny stretch towards the end – perhaps only 100 meters -
where we had to run on the grass verge to avoid a busy roundabout, and I
remember saying “ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch – I don’t like this”, and Sue
saying “I know, not long now mate, we’re nearly there.”
The Finish
We saw the
clock as we entered the football ground and knew at that point that we would
beat our Sleaford time. I noticed that there were plenty of people coming in
behind us, which felt like a real boost.
At Sleaford, I think there were only 3 or 4 people behind us.
Our names
were called out over the P.A. system as we approached the finish line, another
boost at the end and we finished in 2:23:36.
There was no fiddling about getting the chip-timer off as we had
disposable chips. What a good idea they
are! As it happened, I didn't have 'runner's brain' at the end of this one - just aches and pains! I recovered from them much more quickly than Sleaford though.
We didn’t
get our picture taken at the finish on this occasion. Spectators were in the
stands and not allowed on the pitch, so Chris and Vicky were too far away. There was an official photographer, but he’d
buggered off by the time we finished! When
we looked at the official photos later on, it looked like our mate Johny was
the last finisher to be photographed over the finish line – he finished about
15 minutes before us.
We were
given a Frankie & Benny's brownie along with our bottle of water at the finish
and then had to walk to the other end of the pitch to pick up our goodie bags
and T-shirts. It was only then that I
realised how bad the pain was in my hip.
I could barely walk; Sue finished that race in much better shape than
me, despite her blisters.
Next
The pain, just like the pain of childbirth, was soon forgotten. Like planning another baby, it wasn’t long before I was
planning my next half marathon – The Humber Bridge half. Well, it’s right on my
doorstep – it would be rude not to.
Fancy giving it a go?
The 2014 North Lincs Half, will be held on 4th May 2014 - Click here to enter. Some of the sponsors are Meters to Miles, McBride Physiotherapy, North Lindsey College, Scott Sports, British Association of Road Runners and Frankie & Benny's.
The 2014 Humber Bridge Half, will be held on 29th June 2014 - Click here to enter.
Finally - it's good to have goals to aim for but ........
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