Bristol Half Marathon

Back in Bristol for the half marathon and a test run for next month which I felt I needed but the most important thing today was finishing in one piece as I tried to manage a few injuries. The main problem is my Achilles tendonopathy but my hamstring is still yet to heel and my two groins (left much worse) has been playing up due to me doing sessions on the grass in trainers with little grip, the problem is I need a big heel though due to the Achilles so I can't use XC spikes and a few ti es it's been a bit wet and you can feel the groin straining to keep upright.

I was very nervous on the start line worried if I was going to do more damage but before I knew it we were off. It settled down very early on and as we headed out on the long straight the group was about 8/9 strong with two small groups ahead. Darren deed and a few other took up the pace while I nestled in with my breathing fine but heavy legs from training, also with little fast work I new I was going to struggle a bit with sub 5min mile pace.

Lucky for me I had a nice group to get me in to town although a few guys dropped off by 8miles. As we hit the town again we had quite a few twists and turns and a few cobble sections which for my Achilles was a bit of a struggle, at 10 miles (50:50) Darren pushed on and our group of 4 split up quite quickly. Me and a guy from Derby then caught one who came back from a group ahead and then as the last mile was approaching another runner was trudging ahead so I wanted to finish strongly and possibly get back to Darren but with more twists and cobbles it was making it difficult.....plus my legs were now getting a bit tired.

I managed to just catch the runner ahead as we entered the last 100m but it left me with very little and he just got ahead on the line but to be fair to him he made a brave break around half way from our group so he deserved it.

Me and Ash then ran back to the hotel and did a few more miles on the treadmill before a little swim in the pool. The Achilles was quite sore so a big bag of ice and formula 1 in the room was how I spent the remaining time in Bristol before heading home around 1.30pm.

The Bristol 10k and Half Marathon are very well run events and I was happy enough with my run (7th 66.52) and was a good step in training. Hopefully my jiggles might clear up for the next race in Swansea at the end of September and be able to get some quality sessions in on the road.

Thanks to all the people who gave me a shout both as spectators and the runners going the other way.

Sims