Fortis CPC Half Marathon

Tom Payn and I travelled out to do this race and it was originally my idea as I just want to do a proper 'fast' half marathon. Reading has hills in as does Bristol, and although Wokingham is actually pretty quick, it's often not that well attended. Pete Riley originally recommended this race to me as he said the competition was great, and the course even better. 

Tom and I took the ferry out from Dover and drove the 3 hour very simple drive from Dunkerque, arriving in time for dinner at the hotel. I did a 30minute easy run, and it was pretty breezy then but I hoped it would calm down a bit before race day. The race was at 2.30, which is unusual for a half-marathon and meant lots of hanging around at the hotel beforehand! We watched some Formula 1 and had an early lunch before being chaperoned to the race start at about 2pm. It was still quite windy but I told my self just to focus on the race. It was clear it was going to be quick as Patrick Makau and about 15 other Africans lined up on the start line as well as a clutch of Europeans.

Once we were underway, there quickly formed an African group and a European group, and the pace felt slow to me in the European group but I told myself it was a long way and now wasn't the time to get over-excited and start charging off. There was a breeze in our faces and I tucked in the group. The first mile was 4.59 and so it was slower than I expected but not too far off what we were after. We passed 5k in 15.30 and I moved to the front not long after this to try and push the pace on a bit more as I was getting fidgety. We did start to move a bit quicker but I was very conscious of the strong breeze in my face and so tried to tuck back in and Tom took it on for a bit. At about 10k, which we passes in 31.04, one of the European guys moved to the front and he carried us along for at a decent pace but I could still tell that we slowed when the wind was in our faces but a PB was still possible with a strong 2nd half. I still felt pretty comfortable and the pace picked up a bit but I was happy to hang on at the back of the group of about 4 or 5 for now. At about 9-10 miles we caught an African guy and he ran with us for a bit. The pace started to pick up a bit here and I was hanging on to the group, and Tom still looked pretty comfortable but I didn't want to be exposed at all so told myself to stay with the group for as long as possible, whatever happens.

By 10 or 11 miles we had the wind behind us and the pace picked up again. I passed Tom and was tracking 2 European guys and the African. There was a few yards between us all but I knew I had to start to hurt myself as I still felt reasonably ok. By mile 12 I was with the African and passed the two European guys. I knew I was going well and I just told myself to really hurt. I'm so used to just hanging on at the end of a half, but today was different as we'd started quite conservatively. I was vaguely aware that a PB was on but wasn't sure how close it would be. I really hammered the last 1.1 miles and just kept telling myself to pick it up. I passed the African guy with about 400m to go and kept pushing. When I got into the last straight and could see the clock I just went for it. I passed the line in 64.36, and my last mile was under 4.40. 

I'm pleased with the result, and pleased that I felt so strong after 10 miles and could pick up the pace like that. My last 5k was sub 14.50 and I'm pretty happy I can manage this after a 49.45 10 miles or so! What Tom and I really needed was a few people who were that bit better than us who would drag us through the wind without it feeling a touch slow, whereas everyone we were racing were about as good as us and so were affected in the same way. We thought the wind maybe cost 30 seconds or so, and I think that's fair. I'm obviously in great shape and although a little annoyed with the wind, can't be upset at all with a 30 second PB! It was good to be in a race all the way round also which definitely made the difference in the last 3 miles. I doubt I'd have got that much out of myself if I'd been on my own.

I just have to translate this good form into a big marathon PB now.... am off to the Algarve Tuesday for 2.5 weeks of training with Tom Payn, so that should help!

Miles splits: 5.00, 4.58, 4.58, 5.03, 5.08, 4.50, 4.53, 4.52, 5.01, 5.01, 4.48, 4.45, 4.40