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St Albans Half Marathon
Peter Collins
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in Events
Looks like rain on Sunday, so bring your wellies.
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Comments
Drizzle I can handle, out right downpour I'm not so keen on.
At least it won't be blistering heat.
Better than being too hot as is often the case in June. Sounds like you are well rested with a good two week taper. Sometimes you can come back well after an enforced rest.
Yeah it doesn't look great weather does it
So where are the hills that I need to worry about as I like to be forewarned?
But I think the weather might of helped me. 6 secs quicker & it would have been a new PB. Not sure where I could have got that 6 secs from though. I feel I didn't go easy on myself through-out the course, but I probably had too much energy left in me at the end. The last 1/2 mile I was running 1m/m quicker then my normal pace, I'm normally struggling to drag myself to the end!
Most of the route was the same as the Fred Hughes 10 & St Albans 10k so parts of the race were familiar. The hills were certainly there, but nothing a killer.
I agree that the 20 min delay at the start was annoying, having to stand an extra 20 mins in the rain didn't help matters but I can't fault the rest of it. So many water stations, I couldn't believe it!
I can't believe I'm gonna say this but I actually quite enjoyed it. A few weeks ago I was just hoping to complete the race, even if that included walking breaks. But secretly hoping to do around 2.15 but I managed 2.12! Not a speed freak I know but good for me.
When I was standing at the start shivering away, I never thought I would want the ice lolly but come the finish it was a very welcome refreshment. .
On the whole I thought the marshalling and the drinks stations were great but the queues at the end for baggage were ridiculous and resulted in me barely being able to walk as my right leg seized up completely. It was nothing a nice warm bath couldn't fix but on that basis I probably won't run St Albans next year.
Well done everyone. I was expecting far more steep hills to be honest. That hill at mile 6 seemed to go on for ages but there wasn't really much else of note that I can remember.
I seemed to have quite a few runners go past me near the end but when I checked my garmin my pace was really good. Sounds like one of them might have been you Peter. Perhaps it was just that I was further up the field than recent races. I ended up getting my fastest time this year and 2nd fastest time ever at 1:37:40 so really pleased especially as I felt I had quite a bit left in the tank due to the hills that never came. Much more confident I can break that 1:34 PB later in the year now.
I thought the organisation was great, shame about the 20 min delay but not their fault. Was quite amusing the excessive number of water stations and the lolly on one of the wettest days of the year.
Well done on everyone's times!
Once we got going the rain seemed to ease off. I have to say, if the start had to be delayed even more then I would have probably gone home. Glad I stayed though.
I disagree that there were too many water stations, if it had been hot like it normally is then each of them would have been a very welcome sight.
I rarely take drinks either, the rhythm thing is one reason the other being that I worry the drink will give me a stitch.
I did take a drink at one of the last stations (& spilt most of it down me), that's possibly a place where I lost the 6 seconds needed for a PB.
Well done to everyone, woke up a little excited and nervous about how the day would unfold. Never done a HM race before and to be honest not really done a huge amount of training.
Weather was ideal early in the morning when i was having my breakfast but then when i jogged to the start it started to drizzle, not to bad i thought and then we got closer and closer to the start and it got heavier and heavier, then the words nobody wants to hear, the start will be delayed by 20min. Oh well time for a comfort break and a wee jog. My only worry on the day was to try and not get shin splints ( i really did stretch a lot) but as the race started within 1m they had made an appearance and i had to run with them for 5m. 5m with a stitch and shin splints is no fun in the pouring rain, but my running partner kept me going. 6m in and we switched placec in that i found my running legs but she started to really struggle i decided to stay with her as we normally run together, but just before we got onto Ragged Hall Lane she told me to go on. I felt pretty good but my garmin was all over the place so could not really get a truly accurate pace reading. When i started their was a guy with a blue t shirt on who looked really fit and was pacing a little quicker than we were at the start. So imagine how i felt when i saw him at the top of the hill just after 10m. Competitive head on i pushed hard up the hill and turned right by the pub their he was, he pulled over and i sailed past with a new lease of life, my times for the last 4 miles went from 8.08 to 7.05 and crossed the line in 1hr 46m. For my 1st one with not a huge amount of training i have to say i am pleased. Also happy that i have the bug back because i did not do any running in April and only ran twice a week in May as i lost all enthusiasm for running so feels good to get that back.
I enjoyed the lolly at the end, followed by a hot shower, a coupld of beers and a cheeky burger what a great way to spend the day raising money for 3 charities - Save the Children - Willow Foundation and the Seve Ballesteros foundation.
Going to do a 10k in July and will follow a plan as best as i can as i really want to try and do a sub 45 with an aim of breaking 40m before the end of the year.
A big thanks to number 1087 Russel who took the time to give Karina and i some pointers, cheers mate. Also a big thanks to Karina who i train with, Well done.
See you all on the road next time out.
Cheers runlozrun. Cant wait to race again probably aim to do a 10k in July.
How did you get on?
I was looking at the results last night, started to get a bit confused that I couldn't find myself. Then realised I was looking at last years results
In my defence, as I had got a text through on the way home from the race with my times so I thought the website would have been that quick too.
Although I enjoyed it, I think I'll do the 5k next year. I've done parts of the route 4 times now & it's getting a bit repetitive.
Wycombe next for me too, probably passing on Marlow though.
I'm Milton Keynes, K8 is just down the road from us at Leighton Buzzard.
If I lived in St Albans then the pubs might get in the way of my training.
Passing on Marlow K8 and yo're supposed to be a Purple Patch member as well, shame on you