Perfect run, pretty sure can go sub 3 next time...

The day before: Did a 5km run at 09:30, 7:37 min/mile but quite hilly and with several gates, so actual running pace was a bit faster. Had lasagne and chips with a bit of sald for both lunch and dinner. Had a bag of crips and some nut in the evening. Went to bed at may 10:30, but couldn't sleep for what felt like hours.

Woke up at 06:30 feeling knackered. Had yogurt and fruit, followed by a bowl of porridge with some sugar, and a glass of oj for brekky, before 07:00. Dont remember drinking or eating anything else.

It had frozen over night (frost on cars) and was cold before the start (wore an old t-shirt  which I threw away at the start). Wore ron-hill shorts and running vest, more mile 'London' socks and type a6 Saucony shoes. Lubed up with plenty of vaseline jelly on feet, nips and crotch (but forgot arm pits).

Was carrying two SIS Go gels from the start but they had caffeine so I didn't want them until half way. The first water stop was at 6 miles ish so I had a good drink of water and two sis non-caffeine gels in the next mile. I had several good mouthfuls of water at each water station. Think I had a SIS go electolyte gel (possibly raspberry) at maybe mile 10 and it was nice. Then had a normal caffiene gel (cola) at mile 14, and another at maybe mile 18. I tired another electolyte gel at 20-21 miles but couldn't finish it. Then at maybe 23 miles had a double espresso 150mg caffeiene go gel and that was good.

Wasn;t sure what pace to go at, decided sub 3 would be too hard, so instead decided 3:0x would be a good time, which is 7:14 or under. So I set off at 7:10's and see how it goes. Wasn't surprised when several miles were ~7:00 but felt good, low hr (after the initial high 180 readings went back to 152 ish) and could breath fine, drink fine, so thought I'd see how long I could do that.

At half way my time was 1:32 something, so I thought brill, should be sub 3:10 if I can just maintain this pace. I expected it to get harder af amybe mile 15-18, but was still getting some good times just over 7:00. I think at mile 20ish I saw Ste's yellow calf socks in the distance and though I'd see if I could catch him up. It took maybe 2 more miles but I caught him and we ran together for a bit. but after a bit less than a mile he said he couldn't keep up and dropped back. I was still feeling good, no suggestion og walking nor struggling yet so I kept plugging away. One or two people were walking now and I was overtaking a lot of others.

By mile 23 I was feeling tight calves, and I'd felt hot spots in my toes for miles, but nothing too bad. I was getting a little desperate for a caffeien gel which I'd read would be near the end, and finally at maybe mile 23 I got one, and more water. I took a mile to drink the gel and felt good, but my times were now ~7:15 ish, I was slowing a bit. I was still overtaking plenty of people who must have gone out too fast, and by now I had it in my head I'd achieve sub 3:10 as long as I could keep running, and even had thoughts of a negative split, but I was definately slowing down.

I tried hard for the 25th mile, and thought I was running well, but the 25th mile was my slowest. The last mile I knew I'd finish string, and maybe  sped up a but, but it was a long last mile. Several mile markers had been 'late; compared to the watch, and the finish was too, maybe the whole run was a bit long. I heard Charlotte and the boys shouting near the finish and managed to give a good smile - I'd done it! 

Didn't once think about London Good For Age of sub 3:05 untill the last half mile but realised it wasn't going to be - next time! So I'd ran it all fine, with a good low hr, no problems and just a popped blister on my big toe. Bit of chaffing under my arm pits, and my hr plaster was too high so have a red welt from that, but overall a very good run - brilliant!

The next day my calves are very tight when walking, but cycling and swimming is fine.

Milton Keynes in 3 weeks? Sub 3? Its got to be worth a try?

Hard race - into the wind for the first 3k, then a steep zigzag up to the clifftop really ruined my sub 40min time.

With the Ironman in 3 weeks I wasn't sure whether to take it easy (aim for 1:45) or go for a pb, which I knew would be tough and might cause injury... in the end I decided to go for it.

Had usual brekky at 6:45 am, and we left at 7:30 and arrived just after 8am. I had half a banana on the way, so maybe 7:45, and drank about 500ml of water on the way. I had a pee at the event village and took 2 Ibuprofen and had a gel at 8:30. Walked the long walk to the start and waited around for 10 mins or so until it started.

I wore my new Ronhill superlight shorts, Sugoi piston top, white/grey Beluga? socks and Saucony Type A6 shoes (only worn them for up to 10ks until now, wasn't sure if it was a good idea to wear for a half, but they turned out great, no bliters or toe soreness at all. There was no wind, about 10 C - perfect. The '1:30' pen was literally the start line of the race, so I started maybe 3 people back from the very front line. Looking back down the hill of the bridge the whole carriageway was full of runners behind.

From the start it was slightly uphill over the main bridge, but straight away my pace was fast - 6:20ish. After cresting the hill it was downhill for a mile or 2 and the pace was well up, easily sub 20min for the first 5 k. I felt good though, running well within my limits.The next 3 miles had the occasional short inclines but nothing major, though it certainly wasn't pancake flat. I knew a hard hill was coming up... I took a bottle of water at the 5k mark and swalled 2 or 3 mouthfuls but ouldn't manage more without breathing wrong.

After 6 miles we finally came to 'the hill' - it wasn't long, but it was steep! A few people were walking up (and I was probably within the first 50 runners so none of these were slow) but I managed to 'run' all the way up, but my breathing was very heavy by the top. I did know that the next 2.5 miles were downhill after it though, so I figured I could relax a bit on that. And they were right. My fastest 5k was just after that hill so it surely was down all the way! By mile 10 I was feeling the pace but knew I only had a 5k to go, and at one point my average pace had been 6:33, well below my target of 6:40 for a new pb.

We could see the bridge towers now, but I knew a mile or two would be uphill onto and over the middle of the bridge and I started to struggle. I'd opened the 1st of the 2 gels I was carrying at mile 3, and took 3 miles to sip away at it. I took a swig of water at the 10km mark, and then at mile 7 opened my second gel and again just took little swigs. At the 15km water station I took a bottle, drank a little and poured the rest over my head to 'refresh' me. The mile up to the middle of the hill was very hard and I knew I was slowing down. It wasn't steep but it was long, and I was at 7min/mile - was I going to lose my pb? I knew I should be able to pick up again down the other side of the bridge but in reality I only stopped slowing down. I got it back to 6:30 for that last downhill. It went flat for a while, and then we came off the motorway and downhill under neath it, nice - but then a nasty sting as we had to go uphill, only shjort but reasonably steep to just before the finish - I was knackered but knew I had a pb now. I ran over the finish line and had to lie down - what a great run!

That night my legs were achey all night, so I went on the turbo for 20 mins the next morning which seemed to help

 

Great run, great time (my aim had been ideally 1:33, would have been happy with 1:35, so 1:32 is brill)! Could have been quicker though (congestion!).

Perfect weather - though a bit cold to be standing around at the start (just wore usual t-shirt and shorts). Maybe 3 or 4 degrees at the start until the sun warmed the rest of the route up. No wind, clear blue skys. Annoyed with myself for sitting around at work for 10 minutes because it was 'a bit cold' outside. I thought I'd freeze while hanging around for the start, so didnt make a move to the start until after 8:50 - only to find the whole start area chocablock - I couldnt get to the correct starting pen, and was way back with the 2 hours + group. Several marshalls let me know I should be further forward (based on my yellow race number) but I just couldn't get through the mass of people. (and wasnt cold at all really in the starting lineup, so many people there and nerves etc, was fine).

The race started at 9:00, we started shuffling forward a few minutes later, and slowly walked across the start line at 09:10. The first mile most people were barely running as there was no room; I dodged and weaved my way through, using the pavements and outer edges of the marked off sides as there were slightly less people there, but it was slow. The next 3 or 4 miles were completely blocked by people too but some more weaving and running from one side of the course to the other (usually the outer edges of corners) allowed me to up my pace, but I was covering more than the race distance - even the gps says I did 13.25 miles and has always under-measured the distance before, so I must have done maybe 0.2 miles more than the half marathon.

Absolutley drenched in sweat at the finish, with salt beginning to cake on my face. Good job it was so cold.

After the 2nd and 3rd mile pace I felt great, could have run quicker (was very happy with 6:45s, wasnt expecting them really), and then I think there was a bit of a hill for mile 4 and everyone slowed down and bunched up so getting around them was harder, hence the +7 there. The rest of the run was always busy, overtaking literally thousands of runners, all the way to the finish live, and I think only 1 person overtook me the entire run. Settled into a good sub 7 pace which felt maintainable so just plugged away.

Sub 1:30 is definately achievable if I can start good and maintain todays pace.

Ate Burger King bacon double cheeseburger XL Superlarge meal Friday lunch, ham egg and chips friday night, spag bol Sat lunch, and fish and chips from the chippy sat : 5:30pm. Had usual porridge, a few grapes, yourt and orange juice at about 7:10 this morning and that was it. Never felt at all any lack of energy so defiately dont need to bother with gels/ sweets etc for half marathons. I did swig a few mouthfuls of water at mile 6ish, and then tried again at mile 9 but coughed a lot and struglled to drink as my breathing was pretty maxed out. 

Was quite late to bed last night (11:30) but fell to sleep pretty quick, the boys woke me up at some point but mostly slept, felt knackered whe the alarm went off a 7 though. Had breakky, cycled into town at 8am, very slowly, (0 degrees then) and got changed at work.

At mile 11 I noticed the peripheral vision in my left eye was gone - I couldnt see people to my left! Right eye was fine, but at mile 12 I started noticing wierness in that eye too. As soon as I finished I stopped noticing the bad vision so it must have fixed, but then at home after the race it happened several times, in both eyes. Dehydration?

Last run was 5 easyish miles last Wednesday, and today my legs felt great. Full of energy, no pains at all, didnt have single issue during the run. (did have biggish blood blister on side of left foot when I went for a shower, and the two usual toes hurt a bit, but nothing major at all) - good strategy for next time. Right calf is a bit sore after the run, but really just generally knackered from the exertion (really quite tired, have to lie down).

One shoe lace came undone somewhere in mile 11, just left it and finished the race with it undone.

Such great weather there were loads of people cheering, felt good.

Quickest 10k during the race was 42:51, just 1 second slower than my fastest ever 10k! Need to work on sub 40 10k now... Tried a really fast sprint finish, as I could see a possiblt 1:31:59, but just couldnt do it, crossed the line with a gps time of 1:32:20; endomondo says my half marathon time was 1:31:14, and I belive it.

Monday morning: Both calves are quite sore when I walk, but the soreness quickly goes away after a few delicate first steps. Feet/ankles are a little sore too.

Tuesday: really quite sore calves when walking (no pain sat down, its just when getting up after sitting - hobbling along for a few paces)

Wednesday: much better, still some tenderness when walking but no limping or walking strange. Went for a 3 mile run at lunch, not easy, quite sore, but OK

Thursday: pretty much back to normal. Slight soreness occassioanlly but 95% healed I'd say.

First marathon - tough, very tough! Was hoping to do 8min/mile so do a 3:30:00 but right from the start knew that wasnt going to happen. My hr was between 155and 160 and I knew that wasn't sustainable based on my previous 20 mile run, so slowed down a little, and targetted 3:45:00. Happy with my time of 3:38:30, and now 3:30 is a future target.

Took two ibuprofen half an hour before the run, and two more just before the run, and even had one after 10 miles. No pain for the first 15 miles but then my left foot toes area started hurting, and continued hurting all the way. Knees were fine during the run.

I'd eaten a fryup on Friday night, spag bol Saturday lunch, and fish and chips Saturday evening. Had porridge, grapes and yogurt as usual for brekky at 6:30am, had a banana about 7:30 and then did the run at 9. I ate my usual jelly baby per mile, with a mini chomp bar at 10 and 20 miles. Never ran out of energy, no stitch,, no 'wall' - the only thing that slowed me down was my sore aching legs and feet - I had plenty of energy. I took 2 litres of water in my rucsac and drank it all by 20 miles, so had a few swigs from the bottles available at water points during the last 6 miles.

Weather was cold - frost on the ground on the drive up and air temp of 4 or 5 when we started. No wind glorious sun at the start so it soon warmed up, but for the last hour is clouded over and even hinted at rain. Due to the coldness I swapped my usual blue regatta running t-shirt and instead wore my HellyHansen 'Freeze' long sleeved half zip top, and usual shorts. I was warm for the first 10 miles or so, sweating quite a lot (salty drips into my eyes) but was comfortable after that. Even got cooled down for the last few miles as the wind picked up and had to unroll the long sleeves to keep warm, so it probably was the correct top (and no nipple soreness afterwards so bonus there).

 Surprisingly when I got home after the run I could walk OK. The main soreness is in my right knee, so I'm going up and down stairs a step at a time, but other than being physically knackered and just sitting down all day my feet are OK - none of the usual internal pain causing limping. My 2 middle toes on my left foot are battered, bruised and blistered and very senstive but only notice that when I walk into something. The following day I can walk normally, no limping at all.

One thing I notcied during the run was my hr was occasionally showing 180+, same as my half marathon, and I worked out that it was the saftey pins holding my number on my t-shirt - the two top ones are right over the hr strap. When I readjusted the reading looked much more correct (but during the course of the run things moved so the hr graph is occasionally wrong.

Update: 4 days later I went for a run, 3 miles in my fourth quickest time ever, so I'd say fully receovered! (apart from my toes! huge blisters under three of my middle toes were causing lots of pain for several days until they were popped and squeezed out several times)

 

Update: 4 weeks later the toe nail on my second largest toe on my left foot has come off. There appears to be a new nail underneath. Didnt really hurt.

Felt tough after 5 miles, was thinking of quitting after 7 or 8 miles, ran to the half way distance, on target time to be fait (1:27, aiming for a 2:55), but knew I couldn't maintain that pace for another 1.5 hours, so stopped - DNF'd! for the first time ever. Walked 2 or 3 miles back to the start. Thought that if I can't pb its better to stop and not ruin myself, find another marathon in a month or so, rather than finishing in 3:15 or whatever it might have been, and being knackered for weeks.

 A very good run. I'd hoped to beat least years time of 2:12, but hadn't run for a week with a bad leg so wasn't sure how this would go. As London Marathan has been postponed to October and coronovirus playing havoc with scheduled events thought this might be my last attempt for a while so might as well go for it and see if I could run 6:30's, which would give me a 2:10 and is on for 2:50 marathon.

Started fine, one pace and feeling good. Into the wind for the first half of the loop, but with the wind for the second half. First 10 miles were find and was at 6:28 pace, but wasn't sure it could last. MIles 10-1 5ish were again into the wind and I had to run hard to just barely maintain 6:30's but amanged it. At mile 14-15 ish had abiout 12 seconds spare to break 2:10, but most miles were hard to manage 6:30 now. By 18 miles had several seconds spare, and managed to gain a couple more, but even running the 20th mile I wasn't convinced I could go sub 2:10 - but mamaged it, just!

Had lasagne and chips at 6pm night before, and a whole tub of Aldi Cheeky Monkey (same as before Newport half 2 weeks again where I barely pb'd). Had usual brekky (grapes, greek yogurt, porride, orange juice) at 7am, drove there stopping twice for shits. Had a sis gel 30 mins before, along with 2 ibuprofen and 2 paracetamol. Had torq gel at 5 miles, sis electrolyte gel at 10, and a double espresso sis 150mg caffiene at 15 miles. Seemed to work, especially the caffiene as my hr climbs significantly for the final few miles, and it was bloody hard, but I managed it.

 3rd overall, 1st male vet. No trophy :(

Mo Run Cardiff - Paced Dan to his first sub 1 hour 10k (and only his 2nd 10k ever)

 Sub 3! My target was 6:45 min/mile giving a 2:56:59. Set off a little fast and managed to go through exactly 9 miles in exactly1 hour, and was within 1 second of 18 miles for 2 hours (approx 6:40 pace I think). I maintained that pace for 2 more miles but at 22 it all started getting hard!

I tried, but each mile after was losing 10-20 seconds, so I crossed the line in 2:57:23 (by this point my watch was ticking off miles about 1 min before I crossed their mile markers, so my watch marathon time is 2:56 something.

The last few miles were brutal! All I could think was to keep running, and hope not to have to stop. I thought I could feel cramp in my calves but it never happened. I t was just fatigue. I did overtake 20 people n the second half of the race though, including 2nd lady in the last 2 miles, so others were suffering just as bad, or worse. Think only 2/3 person overtook me in that second half.

I had my usual brekky at 6am, and then a torq gel 20 mins before, an sis normal gel at 5 miles, sis electrolyte gel at 10 miles, a torq gel at 15, started on another sis electrolyte gel at 20 but didn't finish it. At ~22 miles I had my sis double caffiene gel but if it helped I couldn't feel it. No probs with guts or anything - no GI distress. I drank several mouthfuls of water at each water point.

For some reason not as elated as I thought I would be - it was just so hard at the end

Was hoping for 2:15ish, so did better than I expected. Very windy on the outbound half of the loop, really struggled to maintain target pace of 6:30-40 so just tried to maintain effort there, but the payback on the inbound half was superb, really fast running.

Had usual brekky 2.5 hours before, sis gel 30 mins before, torq gel @ 5 miles, sis electolyte gel @10, and then a double caffiene sis @ 15 - didn't feel immediate benefit from that, but the last 2 miles I was flying, managing to pull away from 1st lady who I'd been glued to for 11 odd miles, so maybe the caffiene really does help?

Had a couple of quite painful stomach cramps throughout the race, up until maybe the last 6 miles when they stopped, felt like I needed to shite myself but squeeked out some farts and was ok. Had the shits as soon as I finished, not sure what caused that.

Had a couple of good mouthfuls of water every 3 miles or so.

Brilliant! Took another 1:20 off my half pb (vaporflys?). Was raining but not windy the whole way round. Didn't run to a target pace, ust ran quickly but comfortably. Reckon I can go quicker still! Should have easily got 1:22 official time...

Had usual brekky 2.5 hours before, torq gel 30 mins before, and a double caffiene gel at 6.5 miles. One swig of water at 3 miles. (and yesterday ran a park run (2nd place at fell foot!), cycled Follow the Dog at Cannock with the boys, had kfc for lunch, bacon double xl burger king meal for tea, and went to bed at midnight)

Great run!  Due to illness in the Lakes at end of Feb I hadn't trained enough to go for sub 3, so was thinking 3:15 would be ok, anything better a bonus. I started out at 7:15 miles and held that or slighty better (average  was 7:13 at mile 20) all the way to mile 23, but the last 3 miles I lost 10 seconds on each previous mile. I didn't 'bonk' though.

Felt fine at halfway, 1:35:10, and really noticed others slowing down then, but managed to keep my pace. Accorsing to the official timings I started around 220th and overtook several people every timng spot, and finished 138th.

Had usual grapes + yog + porridge for brekky at 6am, then had a torq gel an hour before (was 30 mins but then the start was delayed by 30 mins). Had a sis electrolyte gek at about 7-8 miles, then grabbed a high 5 gel and had that at about between 11 and 12. Started sipping on a sis double caffiene at about mile 17-18 and the first one lasted to about mile 21. Popped another double caffiene at 22, and sipped on that the rest of the way (think I threw some away at mile 25).

Took several slallows of water at each water stop (every 3 miles?)

The day before ate fish and quinoa for lunch and then a decent sized lasagne and chips

Shame the garmin 935 lost my run! Managed to download Ste's and alter the timings to be somewhat like mine.

Starts with a 1.5 mile tarmc climb, then mostly downhill or flat, on mud / forest roads, final bit is flat and fast. 20th out of 295. Hard but will do again

3rd! But to be honest most runners were doing the 20 miler. Had hoped for 3 hour marathin pace, but went off too quick and slowed significantly, so overall 6:55 is a little slow

Couldn't quite break 40 mins, but the run was slightly long, and Endomondo reckons the best 10k was 39:58 - much better than I thought I'd do today

Better than I expected, after cycling 33 miles quick yesterday morning then running a 19:33 park run too - very warm, and the hill at mile 4 broke me

11 seconds slower (chip time was 18:45) than yesterdays pb park run - the first two miles were similar but the last mile I struggled on

Plan was 6:10 miles, so I was slightly ahead on the first 2, bang on on the 3rd, but just couldn't maintain pace, losing 30 seconds in the last 2 miles - Endo reckoned my 10k time was 38:42, which is exactly the same as my current 10k pb...

Great run! Very windy, help a lot going out for the first 6 miles, but was a bugger for the next 3 or so, before helping again for all but the final mile or so, which was very windy into my face. Really happy with the time, wanted to negative split but the wind and a few hills made consistent pacing tricky. I'd aimed for 1:28 with a hop for 1:27, so 1:26 is brilliant! Endo suggests I was just 8 seconds slower than my pb I set in Cardiff in 2014, so this is the second fastest half I've run.

And look at the hr, 9 or 10 lower than all previous half runs! Could definately have gone faster, but its going to be tough to break 1:25. I ran 2 miles yesterday, and 2 the day before - is the mile a day helping my hr? No problems with feet or anything else. Had porridge 2 hours before, 1 normal sis cafiene gel half an hour before and a double caffiene between miles 6 and 8 ish. Took a couple of swigs of water at mile 3 but nothing else.

Will do this run again - nice route and a good number of people without being mega busy - the sub 1:30 pen was easy to get to and nice and relaxed, 

The fact that I did a 2:15 turbo session as a sson as we got back from the run suggests I had plenty of energy left!

Tough run, but one of my fastest 10k's - and am doing a duathlon 2 hours later

Had hoped to break 40 mins, but struggled in the second half. Not surprising considering how little running I've done recently due to dodgy hip/ares/leg

Very good run. Set off easy, targetted 45 mins for first half then planned to try to negative splty - and I did! Probably second best run (after manchester marathon) pacing and enjoyment wise, as I didn't go flat out until mybe the last mile. After Hever castle middle distance tri last Sunday very happy with today

Aimed for sub 3 - and failed! Possibly too quick to the half mark at 1:29, but by mile 15 was suffering. Walked mile 17? then ran the rest at 150 hr (9 min mile) - poor

The day before a 3 hour marathon attempt, so weas going to take it easy but predictably smashed it on the day - 4th fastest 5k ever, hard!

New 10k pb (at least it would have been had a bit the full 10k - felt good, worked very hard and 5 of the 6 miles were under 40min 10k pace - superb!

Hard! only 5.8 miles so well short, but pace was nowhere near sub 40 10k time.

Good but tough run through the two tunnels (hence the poor gps data). COuldn't quite break 40 mins.

I was hopinh gor 39:30 which would be a big pb by 20 seconds for the 10k. The first two miles were a bit faster really, I planned to run @ 6:20 min/miles, but then I had to work very hard to stay under 6:30. Very hard race, probably the 3rd hardest, after the two recent 1:26:30 halfs last year.

Chuffed to bits with the time, and no problems during or gthe next day either.

Did the 2k fun run with Dan half an hour earlier and then lined up in good time. Goal time was 31 mins, 6:12 min/mile. I started off well, possibly too quick, but was on pac euntil the 4th mile. It was into the wind up the barrage and I struggled. Had the wind on the way back for the final mile abut 10+ people overtook me in the last half mile. I sprinted for the last 100m.

 

A hard race, but some new records, and if I can do another 6:25 mile I'd be on on for a new 10k record easily.

After running 39:50 at least year's Mo run, and it being the only time I've run a 10k in less than 40 minutes, I was keen to try to do it again today. I haven't been running as much recently, lost a little bit of enthusiasm since Ironman Wales, and my right knee has been sore after 20+ mile rides (not runs interestingly), so been taking it easy. I was prepared to try though, and in the last two months I'd got a new 5k pb of 18:53, so in theory I had the pace.

I had my usual brekky at 7:30 and cycled gently into town leavinh home just before 9. I got changed at work, and had 2 ibuprofen at about 9:30, and then walked over to registration. I had a SiS gel while walking over. It was chilly out but not too bad. The queues for registration weren't as long this year so I was ready to run by about 9:40, so decided to have a walk around to 'warm up' (at least, to not get too cold). 

At around 10 the 5k's went off and I queued up, perhaps 2 rows back from the front. We shuffled round to the actual start, and pretty much dead on 10:10 we were off. Perhaps 20 people were in front of me, some shooting off at crazy speeds, so I didn't get held up and was in to my flow immediately. After about 1.5k's though we started catching people walking the 5k and for the next k or 2 it was quite busy. I didnt get held up but had to weave around people.

I think I may have set off a little too fast - my first mile was 6:16 (my aim was 6:20's) but I kept running pretty much as fast as I could. The first 5k was OK, under 20 mins, but I was working hard. I could see several people ahead, and as I rounded one point the race leaders passed going the other way, clearly several minutes ahead. I thought I might be about 10th.

The 4th mile was a struggle, and I seem to have lost several seconds there, though could be bad gps. I knew I was still on target for sub 40 mins, but only just (average race pace was 6:25) - I kept running, but was breathing hard and not enjoying it. Someone over took me with a mile to go, and then in the last 100m another lad overtook me. I crossed the line and was done. It was about 0.1 miles short of 10k, but I wasn't going to run the full 10k like I did last year.

Final results show I was 15th overall based on chip time (thats all that matters to me) and 2 seconds slower than last year (when I was 8th @ chip time). Comparing the gps plots on Topofusion I set off a bit quicker this year, but slowed down at the end.

I'm confident that I was under 40 mins for the 10k, but only by 5 to 10 seconds - definately my second quickest 10k pace, and happy overall considering my recent lack of enthusiasm.

This run was 3 weeks after the Ironman, and just 6 weeks after my previous half at the Severn Bridge. I didn't think I'd break the Severn Bridge record but was hoping I might beat my Cardiff half previous record of 1:29:30.

Usual brekky at 7, drank a small glass of water, ate a banana at 8 then cycled down to work nice and easy. Got changed, faffed, had a gel and 2 ibuprofen at about 8:30, and left the office at 8:40. I thought I'd struggle through the crowds to get around the castle to the white pen but in the end got there with at least 10 mins to spare. Though the night had been cold (6c) standing in the crowd of sub 1:30 runners, about 15 rows back from the front, I wasn't at all cold in my vest and shorts.

When the cannon went off we walked a few yards and pretty much started running as we crossed the timing mat. A lot of people were running a little bit faster than me, maybe I started too far up front, but I saw my pace and felt OK so stuck to it. It looks like I slowed down for the 3rd mile even though its flat. The 4th mile has the biggest hill of the run, for about a 3rd of a mile, but the other side is down all the way so the time is recovered.

I took a gel at mile 4 and 8, and had a couple of swigs of water at each water stop, though I maintained full pace and didn't stop running at all. After about 6 miles I knew I was ahead of me previous time but it didnt even occue to me that I could beat my half marathon pb. Going up the hill of Roath lake wasn't too bad and I seem to have maintaned pace there, but for some reason struggled coming along the other side, even though some of that was downhill.

The last hill up under the bridge got my hr up but I know its mostly down from there. I knew I'd break my cardiff pb now, but still hadn't considered beating the severn bridge time. 

My watch had been going off earlier and earlier than the mile markers (and others had too) so it was only in the last mile or so it occurred to me that I might break my pb - but I was pretty tired. I sprinted the last stretch and if you trust endo I did take 13 seconds off it, though my official time was slower.

Striaght after the race I was very tired, but not absolutely broken like at the Severn bridge and previous cardiff half's, and within minutes I was serioulsy thinking I could have gone quicker. My hr was also lower than previous runs. I think I set off without thinking I could do it, and feeling I was tired after a lot of races recently, so I didn't really try my very hardest. It does make me think that a sub 1:25 is possible, I just need to find the right race, and be on form.

The next day my legs  were very sore when walking, and my calves mostly were equally sore on Tuesday, walking was awkward. On Wednesday I could walk almost normally but they were still sore.

New marathon record! (And that was after my longest ever bike ride the day before).

I'd been dreading this marathon for weeks, as I can still remember how hard the last one I did was. That one was just a 'training' run around home, not an official event, but I remember struggling so much to beat 3:30, the last two miles were brutal. I thought that after Friday's swim and a fast long bike yesterday I would really struggle today. 

My plan was 8 min miles, for a 3:30 time, but I set off a little fast. I felt OK though, and even though I kept thinking 'I'm going to fast' I carried on at just sun 8 mins. The fourth mile (I think) was up a long reasonably steep hill and that slowed me down so my average pace was back to the plan. I ate gels every 4 miles or so, but taking a mile or two to eat each one. I think I walked the first water stop but ran the rest. I seem to remember most of the rest of the first half was mainly downhill or flat, and I was feeling pretty good by the halfway mark, and was a few minutes under my planned time.

I

After hurtng my knee during a hilly 10k run last Sunday I wasn't too sure about even doing this run today. I'd already paid for it though, and for several weeks I'd been hoping/planning for this to be my first sub 40 minute 10k (previous best so far was 40:34 in February). That definately seemed unlikely now but I felt I should at least go along and see how my knee was.

I did a short mile run on Friday night and my knee started to hurt then, so it wasn't looking good, but during that run my hr was nice and low and I felt great other than my knee and left foot being sore.

I had usual brekky at 8am, then cycled into work for about 9:20, a bit later than I'd planned. I'd also planned to take some painkillers to see if I could finish the race but left them at home, so after getting changed at work I ran to the shop and got some Ibuprofen. I took 3 x 200mg tablets at about 9:35, and then headed to the park to register.

I positioned myself in the front quarter of the lineup but well back from the front, as I wasnt sure how many fast runners there would be and didnt want to get in anyones way. The buzzer went off and I crossed the start line maybe 10 seconds later, but was held up quite a lot by some very slow runners. After half a mile the pace was 6:45 and I thought I'd blown my 40 minute target already

After a mile was time was about 6:30 I think - maybe I was on target? I kept running, and it wasn't until have way through mile 2 that my knee started hurting. I ignored it and ran on. I was wearing Merrel Bare Access thinking that they'd encourage me to run differently to normal and perhaps help my knee, but I was just slapping my feet down about flat, not running on my toes. I could see there were about 10 people ahead - where were all rge fast runners? I kept running, and slowly overtook people. 

Coming up to the end of the first lap I had to decide whether to continue and risk seriously hurting my knee, or call it a day - I carried on. My second mile was bang on pace, and so was my third/ My 5k split was just sub 20, so I actually had a chance. I was surprised really, as I wasn't finding the run too hard - perhaps the pain my left knee was distracting me from my effort? Or perhaps the week off had really worked for my overall fitness readyness?

The fourth mile was tough, but I'd overtaken a few runners, I could see 2 quite close in front, and several quite far infront. I slowly overtook 1 (he spoke to me, congratulating my running and suggesting me were both on for well under 40 mins, but my watch distance suggested the race markers were a little short).  I kept plugging away, and realised my knee no longer hurt, but now the ball of my left foot was hurting every time I landed on it. Mile 4 was another good pace.

Mile 5 and 6 were easier than I'd expected. I overtook the final runner I could see and kept running. It was hard, but nothing like when I've previously run with a 40 min target (in feb I was dry puking after I finished!). I was pretty sure now that the course was short - I would break 40 mins for the course, but I wanted a true 10k distance on my watch. The final part of the run was on grass, which was a bit wobbly, but I saw the boys at the finish line and smiled as I crossed it - I slowed down a little, not sure where to go, but I carried on running. I grabbed a medal as I ran past (I got a 5k one so swapped it later) and just carried on running, passed everyone and back onto the field,

My watch finally said 6:25 miles so I stopped - the watch showed 40:13 - gutted! So close. Its a new pb but I could have gone harder if I'd known (I really could have!). I was annoyed all the way back to work, if only I'd gone a little harder, or started nearer the front.

Then I realised, the start of the run was slow, and the end was fast, why hadn't I ra just another 10 seconds - I would surely have made it then. Hang on, 10k is 6.22 miles... was there a chance? I transferred the data to my work pc, and endomondo showed a 10k time of 39:50 !!!!!!! Wierd though as only 1 mile was sub 6:26 pace required for that, the oers on it or a second or two over. Whatever - I'd done it, a sub 40min 10K, and I hadn't felt terrible or puked etc, so all good. My left foot was sore but knee was fine.

I cycled home, and cycled with Dan to Asda for the next two hours - still no sore knee.

Monday morining cycling to work my knee was very sore! No more running for 2 weeks, than I'll do a 14 miler - 7 min pace?? We'll see

I'd not been looking forward to this run for a long time - I can clearly remember how hard the 2012 one was and how sore and tired I was after it. My one goal this year was to be under 1 hour 30, which meant 6:51 pace all the way round. Had steak, chips, fried eggs and beans for tea saturday evening and slept pretty well from 11pm until about 4, when the kids woke me up and I couldnt get back to sleep but dozed off and on.

I learnt from last year and intended to be sure I got to the correct pen early. I had usual brekky at 7, then cycled gently into work for about 8:25, got changed, toilet, faffed, toilet again, checked I had everything and left for the run about 8:35. Access to the white pen (the first pen at the front, just behind the elites, for those who siad they'd do sub 1:30?) was through the castle, so I headed that way. Inside the castle walls I saw a toilet queue, and thought I'd better have one last go, dont want to carry any extra weight around!

I got into the queue at 8:40, and finally finished that job at 8:50, just as the wheelchair race started. From there it was a 30 second walk through the main castle entrance and onto the road, through the white pen entrance and I was in position. About 15 meters behind the start line, but lots of people in front. I couldnt see any of the elite runners. Just after 9 the cannon went off and we started. It was a walk for maybe 10 meters, but as we crossed the start line we started running, and was quickly up to race pace. Though there were lots of runners there was plenty of room so none of the doding and weaving from last year. I didnt have to jump up any kerbs etc.

After half a mile or so my pace was 6:33 - a bit too quick really, but I felt good and kept running along. Just before the Penarth hill that starts at the Porsche garage I passed the 'sub 1:30' marker runner, who I'd seen at the start but then lost track of. I was happy to be ahead of him as that meant I should be well under 1:30 then... the Penarth hill was tough, and at the top my current mile pace was 7:14, but luckily it was downhill to Tescos the other size and I finished the mile in the 6:40's. Around the barrage was OK, still every mile well under target pace of 6:51, and I was starting to calculate my buffer, it must be 40 or 50 seconds by the half way point I though, which meant I could slow to 7:00 if I had too.

I had a gel at mile 4 and had a few gulps of water at maybe mile 5. After the Bay I sometimes looked at my mile pace and it was in the 6:50's so I ran just a little faster, not wanting to lose my buffer yet. Through Albany road I was beginning to be confident that I'd break 1:30, every mile so far was under 6:50 and my overal pace was 6:42 ish I think. Worryingly my watch was buzzing of the miles earlier and earlier than the officail mile markers, and by mile 9 it was perhaps a 100m  early.

About mile 9 as we went through Albany rd? I took a bottle of lucozade but could only drink a few mouthfuls before throwing it away. I was getting quite tired now and knew there was the Roath Lake hill soon. It was tough, but I managed to get up it at pace and the watch showed 7:05 ish for the current mile. Charlotte and the boys should be at the end of the Lake and I finally sore them and they shouted encouragement. That was the slowest mile, just 1 second under 7:00 and meant I was using up my buffer. The other side of the Lake would be half downhill but my pace barely improved - I wasnt running out of energy, I was just sore and tired. The short steep hill up to the cemetry from the bottom of the Lake was slow, not walking, but barely running really and I lost some time, but after that it was 90% downhll. At the end of the cemetry and cross the main road near the red brick school I was suddenly aware of lots of runners overtaking me - the 'sub 1:30' group had caught me!

I tried to stay with them, slightly worried now that I might be under 1:30, but couldnt increase my pace. One of them stood on my heel and I stumbled but caught it and kept running. By the time I got to the right turn over the railway bridge they were gone and I was on my own again. That final hill hurt, and then down the other side there was a car with a race clock on it - 1:29:03 or something like that. I wasnt sure how far down the last street the finish line was, and really tried to pick it up but I was tired. Finally I could see the finish clock, 1:29:30 something and then I was under and finished. I think it was about 1:29:45 ish. I'd done it!

I walked a few meters forwards and then sat done by the barrier, knackered. I had a minute there and then got up and collected my medal and t-shirt etc, It was a very hard race, but I dont think as hard as last year, even though this year I was quicker and had a higher average hr. No loss of vision, no sick feeling. During the run my right ankle had hurt occasionnally but aprt from that I was fine, no pains.

I walked slowly back to work, got my stuff and went for a swim, but I'd left my goggles behind so alternated crawl and breaststoke for 10 lenghts total and had a shower. Charlotte had brought the boys into town on the bikes.

Later that evening my legs were stiffening up. They were sore all night, and the next day I cycled to work OK but slower than normal, and every time I got up from my chair my legs were sore. The old pain in the ball of my left foot is back now as well, and my left hip hurts occasionally.

Tuesday: Calves are still tight, left knee is occassionally sore. Went for a swim this morning and wasnt exactly full of energy, missed 2 of 5 100m sprints @ 1:30

First official half marathon and very pleased with my time. Official chip time was 1:38:52, 328th out of 1545 timed finishers (supposedly there were 2500 runners, but I can believe 1000 didnt finish?).

Was hoping to run @ 8 min/mile so do the run in 1:45, but after getting through the crowds for the first mile I setlled into a reasonably compfortable pace of about 7:30 and managed to maintain that all the way round. The final 2 miles were slower as they were heading back from a turn around point and directly into quite a headwind (which I hadnt felt so much at the start of the race and which must have help alot for the 5 or so miles heading east along the sea front).

It was cold (about 5 or 6 C), windy and very occasionally rainy. I wore shorts and t-shirt, and took my running rucsac with water, 13 jelly babies, mini chomp bar, rain jacket and spare gps in (so similar to my long run two weeks ago). I carried 1.3 litres of water but only drank perhaps two thirds of it. I was never hot, didnt sweat a great deal, exposed flesh was chilly when running into the wind. Never got hungry, no stitches or cramps and never felt like I was running out of energy.

I took 2 200mg ibuprofen half an hour before the run, and 2 more just before the start, and had no pain at all from my right knee (which had forced me to stop 1 mile into a 4 mile run 5 days earlier, hence the painkillers). My left leg and foot were find all the way round, but my right foot started to hurt after a few miles and hurt the rest of the way round. It hurts to walk properly on it now but otherwise apart from aching legs the following day I feel pretty good.

Running with so many other runners made it easier and less tedious than running on my own. I did end up targetting runners ahead of me and tried to get past them, but really my mile times were pretty consistent. I could have gone a little quicker but not much, probably 95% effort.

Unfortunately my heart rate strap went wrong. There's no way my hr was in the 200's, so the whole hr plot and stats are wrong, but perhaps the overall shape of the graph is indicative of effort, I really dont know. Its the second ime I've noticed crazy numbers (the other being my failed run a few days earlier, and both since I changed the battery in the strap just-in-case the battery was low... I'll try a new battery.

Update: By the following Thursday all muscle aches have gone (I'd had a really quite sore left calf when walking on Tuesday/Wednesday, and even my shoulders were sore on Mon/Tue (must not have been running 'relaxed')) - Onlt thing thats hurting now is my right foot (as usual) - still cant step on it properly, very painful to do that, so I'm walking on the side of my foot but hardly noticeable really)