Humber Half Marathon

After the last 3-4 seasons racing over the sprint distance, with the occasional Olympic distance triathlon in there for good measure I decided to have a crack at the half Ironman distance (70.3). Although I have been really successful at the shorter format and have qualified and raced for the GB Age-Group squad I think I will be just as good, if not better at the longer distance races. With this in mind I though I would enter the Humber Half marathon to test out the legs and fitness ahead of my first 70.3 triathlon at Castle Howard a month later. 

Although this summer I haven't been able to put in a big day of training on a Saturday (like previous seasons) as my PhD has limited this (short-term pain for long term gain) I have still maintained consistency in training. Building up to the half marathon my training has seen a slight shift from an even swim, bike, run split focusing on shorter sharper interval work, to more longer interval based work to get me ready for the increased demands of running 21km. In the final week leading up to the half marathon I was tapering down and felt fresh, so was hoping that this was going to reflect in my time. The Humber Half is quite a tough 1/2 marathon so with this in mind and speaking to a few people that have raced it before I set out with a time of sub 1:30hrs in mind, which isn't too shabby for that course. 

In the build up to race day, I checked out the route map so I could familiarise myself with the water and aid stations. This distance is right on the cusp of needing a top up of CHO. Fortunately there was an aid station (~mile 5) amongst the many water stations so I knew there would be an opportunity to keep up with the hydration and fuelling.    

The night before the race I prepped my race kit; pinned my number on my vest and put the timing chip on my trainer, so when I woke up I didn't have to worry about a thing! 
So it was the morning of the race, I woke up feeling good and started to enjoy a nice cup of coffee and ate my pre-race breakfast. We then (me and Sally) drove off to the race, what I really like about running races is how chilled they are in comparison to tri, we literally drove there, parked, chatted to a few people pre-race, paid the customary visit to the loo, warmed up and chatted to a few more runners and some work colleagues, who were also racing. Then it was race time, simples!! As everyone started heading toward the start I was keen to muscle myself to the front, so as not to get held up by the fun runners! 

 There I am, second row. Thanks for the pic (http://www.humber-half.org.uk) 

The race organisers held us at the start line before giving us a count down. The klaxon sounded and we where off! In the build up to the race I spoke to lots of athletes who have ran this race before to get some advice on pacing as this was new to me. I followed everyone's advice to the letter, so took the first 3-4 miles moderately steady. The first mile through Hessle, across the Humber bridge and along the slip road and into Barton was ran all within myself. The whole length of the bridge and the slip road to Barton was pretty tough as it was into a block headwind. I was fortune enough to be in a group of 6 runners so used my brain and just sat in behind a tall runner to shield myself as best as possible from the wind. 

Once I dropped into Barton I was then able to pick up the pace and really get into my running, this is also pretty much the advice given to me by people who have raced this before. I then ran through Barton market place, where I was able to get the little bit of sports drink that I needed, before heading out onto the only long stretch of flat road where I was able to up the ante just a little bit more, before the route took me under the Humber bridge. The course then took a left turn and onto the most feared and infamous part of the race the mile long stretch up "Cardiac Hill". I made sure I knocked off the pace a little for this section, careful not to go too deep into the "red" as I was warned this could make or break your race. I got to the top of the hill, feeling pretty good, had a quick look at my watch and realised I was on for my target time, so was mega happy. I then turned and started to make inroads into the final 3 miles of the race and headed back along the opposite slip road back toward the Humber Bridge. I think that Cardiac Hill, the slip-road back and the final stretch of the bridge was easily the hardest part of the race. You needed to be right on the limit but at the same time careful not go too deep, so you couldn't recover and kick for the final mile. Once over the mid-point of the bridge it was then all downhill!! It was full gas ahead I made sure I didn't leave anything left in the tank and this helped as in the final 1/2 mile the supporters were out in force along both sides of the course cheering us on! This was great and just what I needed. 

I was absolutely buzzing when I finished and was able to recover enough to see my time, I did it in 1:27.27 so smashed my goal by 2:30 mins. BUZZING!! I came 38th out of a field of ~2000 runners, so again buzzing with that!!  

My face hides the excitement of a good time!! 

As always a massive thanks to my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil and to my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears). Picture courtesy of http://www.humber-half.org.uk/

Nottingham Sprint Triathlon

I entered Nottingham at the start of the season hoping to qualify for the European Sprint Distance Championships for 2016. However as i qualified earlier in the season for the European Duathlon championships also in 2016 I decided not to "opt-in" for selection as I think I'd struggle to fund both as well as my best friends wedding in Malta. Building up to Nottingham I was happy with how my training had gone, however I had only raced one pool based sprint so my race fitness especially in the swim was somewhat lacking. 

I travelled down to Nottingham (Holme Pierrepont) the night before, in an attempt to relive some of the stress of travelling on race day, especially as the M1 is a nightmare at the moment with all the road works. I made good time and after registration, I put on my cycling gear and headed out to recce the bike course as in previous years the bike course was laden with potholes. However this year I was pleasantly surprised as these had been filled in, which was wonderful. After the recce I headed to the hotel, checked in, dropped off my kit and then headed out for dinner, with the Mrs. 

It was the morning of the race and I did the standard pre-race ritual; 3-hr pre race breakfast and carb and caffeine-load. After chilling in the room and getting ready we then headed over to Holme Pierrepont. Just like in previous years this was a split transition, so I first made my way to T1 and started setting up my bike and laying out everything I needed for the swim and bike legs. I then headed over to T2 to put my trainers down. I was lucky with T2, in that I had an easily identifiable landmark so I knew where my trainers would be upon entering transition. After setting out all my kit in both transitions I started to put my wetsuit on, whilst listening to the pre-race brief.

Yet again this was a GB qualifier for both the Worlds and Europeans so we were set off in Age-Group waves (M 20-24, 30-34 & 35-39), which is great as you get a good idea of your direct competition. We were able to get into the water ~5 mins before the race start and I started to warm up and get acclimatised to the water temp which was a tad chilly. We then got a 1 minute warning and at that point it occurred to me that I had left it too late to get a good position in the water. The horn went and we were off!! It took me until the first buoy to get into my swim rhythm as it was a constant battle to find clear water. Unfortunately I didn't get into the swim group I wanted to be in, so couldn't take advantage of the better swimmers, but you live and learn. After exiting the water I quickly ran into T1 to grab my bike and start making up for the time I lost in the water.

Just like in previous seasons and has now become the norm, my training consisted of racing in the local TT league so i knew this would help me out on this course. The bike course was 4 laps of 5km (20km in total) and perfectly suited to the “TT’er” as it was dead pan flat, with four 90° bends per lap. The wind was also kind to us so I knew it was going to be a fast time. I felt really strong on the bike and as the laps ticked down I was constantly gaining and passing some of my fellow competitors. After four storming laps I approached T2, just after the 30 min mark, with my feet resting on my tri shoes and dismounted before the dismount line.  

The run was just a single 5km lap of the bike course with a few slight deviations. In a similar story to the bike I felt super strong and kept picking off competitors. I could see the finish line fast approaching so kicked for the final 1km. This last km was pretty tough as the wind had picked up from the bike leg and we were now running into a head wind!! The finish line was down the “blue” carpet in front on the grandstand and the crowds. This was a great way for finish the race. I completed the 5km in just over 19 minutes. 

I finished with an overall time of 1:05:49, which resulted in me coming 17th in my Age-Group, which was a improvement from last years placing, so I'm happy with that especially with my lack of racing and decreased time to train due to PhD commitments. 

The next race up for me is the Humber Half Marathon at the end of June. 

Thanks to my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil.

Thanks to my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears)

New race kit looking great (shame about the silly face!!)