Last line of my last blog post read “Next Sunday is Folksworth – first
one since 2004; how will that go???” Well…. It went quite well thank you
very much. Only bagged a pb for the race *smiley face* beating the
previous best time by 1minute and 6 seconds from way back in 1998 when I
was still 33 years old. If this race is anything to judge and the
on-going training is good then I should be up for a really good time in
London. I thought I was good for about 1:42 but to achieve that is quite
remarkable.
I was up at about 7.00am and helped myself to a
double porridge with some honey and Golden Syrup, with the race about
4hrs away it still seemed a lot to eat as I do not normally eat before a
Sunday run (I’d always eat before a race though).
Left home
about 8.30 after walking the dog to the shop for a paper, it was really
too early as Folksworth is about 30 minutes drive but knowing how
limited the parking is it was the right idea. I did have to stop a
couple of times for a wee – nervous; me? Got there at about 9.30 and
found that I couldn’t park where we previously did, but about a
half-mile away, there was a shuttle bus taking runners to the start. Did
the usual pre-race things and talked to a couple of other runners and
then made the 10 minute walk to the start. I sat in the bus shelter for a
while, to keep warm and found myself the brunt of a few ‘waiting for a
bus’ jokes.
Usual two lap course and the wind today favoured the
runner, with us it seemed most of the way round but quite nasty on the
down-hill stretch to the end of the first lap and finish. I started
about one third of the way in and felt quite boxed in for a while; the
start is quite narrow and busy for a couple of miles. I always think its
good to start about there is it keeps me steady at the start.
The
rest of the race was , it would seem the same all the way round, I ran
as hard as I could and never felt too fatigued. Perhaps the last
half-mile into the wind was the toughest. I ran most of the way with a
guy from March. Preparing for his first marathon, he run the first lap
really well but by about 12 I managed to pull away and beat him by over
one minute; I’m sure he’ll do well at London.
I’m sure the finish
clock read 1:38:05 as I crossed the line, with about 6 seconds to cross
the start line I had settled for a 1:37:59 but by Garmin disputed that
as did the official result – never mind, still a great pb. Yes it was a
great pb. Third best wava score too. I had my usual ‘yakking-up’ session over the finish line but thankfully didn’t embarrass myself too much.
A quick change and home by 2pm in time for dinner with the in-laws.
Next planned race - Stamford 30k on February 13th err……. How will that one go???
