I just finished a 21.1km run that lasted about 1hh:30mm:41ss !
I turned up to the race HQ on Sunday morning greeted with some lovely running conditions, a little foggy (but I was guessing it would lift away during the run), and a nice cool temperature that meant my body wouldn't have to work too hard to cool me down. I was very happy, and couldn't wait to get started. I registered, dropped off my bag, did a little warm-up, did my final toilet pit-stop, and that's when the heavens started to open. The final 10 minutes before the gun seemed to drag like hell, and at that point I did start to think to myself - why am I doing this?
Unfortunately, 5 minutes into the run it was apparent that my GPS on my watch wasn't going to connect (probably a result of the heavy rain and fog) so I was forced to pace the entire run based solely on feel (not something I've done for a long, long time). I was also absolutely drenched, and I definitely carried around an extra kg from my soaked running gear. However, I didn't let this get in my way, and thought of the spectators having to stand around for hours in the pouring rain as a coping mechanism - I just struggled through it all, and I thought of all the hours of training runs that would come to nothing if I didn't push on.
The first half went by incredibly fast, and it wasn't long before I was passing the halfway clock and saw a time of 44:52. It was at that point that I thought potentially a sub-1:30 was on the cards. The two big hills that came in the second half were the last thing on my mind at that point, so they did surprise me when I came to face them - but I just struggled up them and looked forward to the downhill on the other side. The final miles dragged like hell, but the potential for sub-1:30 was the main motivation for pushing through them. I remember the feeling of pure joy as I passed the mile 11 sign and realising I had absolutely smashed my expectations, and with just ~3km to go, the easy part was ahead of me. I remember re-entering the showground (where the event was starting/finishing) and hearing the crowd, and just absolutely going for it in the final 1.5km or so. I was frantically pushing for every second to get as close to 1:30 as possible, and I saw the clock at 1:30:30 ish as I turned the final corner, and without a moment's hesitation I started sprinting. Finishing with a time of 1:30:41, a 12-minute distance PB and 4 minutes faster than my aim.
I can't wait until Southampton Marathon next month to see what I can do in the full distance!
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