On Sunday I ran my first ever half marathon in Croydon. As I posted on Saturday I felt it had been a long time coming, so I’m really proud of myself for completing the race!
On Saturday in an effort to ‘carb load’ I made sure to eat lots. Porridge for breakfast, a bagel for lunch and risotto for dinner. Not sure I could have done much more carb wise!! I went to bed nice and early on Saturday night because I knew I would need lots of rest.
On Sunday I woke up bright and early at 6am to get myself ready. I made sure to get all my stuff ready the night before so I wouldn’t be rushing round and stressing on the morning. For breakfast I had a bagel with peanut butter, which seems to be the pre race breakfast of lots of you out there, so I figured I was in with a safe bet! The race started at 9.15 but I had to get a train, then a tram up to Croydon and then find it so I wanted to set off early. On the train I had a lemon and ginger tea which I thought might calm me down a little and settle any nerves! I ended up getting off the tram with plenty of time to spare which was a good job really because it took me a while to find the race HQ. Luckily I was found by a friendly marshall who sent me on my merry way to the start!
The organisation before the race was very impressive. Plenty of loos, lots of changing areas, pins for your race number, lots of people to ask for help, a big bag drop of area. I don’t think I could suggest any more improvements. There was also a warm up before the race which I enjoyed and I’m definitely glad I took part in.
The race started bang on time at 9.15am and I made sure to position myself near the back. In the queue for the start I met another lady who had only trained as far a 5K. I have serious respect for her finishing, with that little training – I seriously could not have done it. I set my Garmin to aim for a roughly 12 min/mile pace which would have me on track to finish in 2hrs36 and be right on time with all my training. I made sure to start off slowly because I didn’t want to burn out too quickly!
For the first couple of miles I felt really good and really enjoyed it. The temps were good and it was a nice course. They had water stations every three miles and I stopped at each one to have a drink and walk whilst drinking. At mile 4 my knees really started to hurt and I was concerned that I had to run for another 9 miles with my knees in pain. Luckily either the pain let up or I learnt to ignore it because I carried on. At around mile 9.5 I started to struggle and this was the first time I really stopped to walk. It was one of the hardest things I did to start running again, and it was actually really weird to start walking after running so long. I walked a lot more in miles 11 and 12 as I was really hurting in my hips, knees and lower back. I knew by this point I’d be a couple of mins off my target finish time but I really was not feeling good!
My splits for the race:
Mile 1 – 11:23
Mile 2 – 11:37
Mile 3 – 11:53
Mile 4 – 12:28
Mile 5 – 11:50
Mile 6 – 11:56
Mile 7 – 12:35
Mile 8 – 12:03
Mile 9 – 12:29
Mile 10 – 13:37
Mile 11 – 12:04
Mile 12 – 13:30
Mile 13 – 12:29
0.1 – 10:01
Total – 2:41:34 – Ave pace – 12:22
On the train on the way home and feeling very tired!!!
Once I got home I had a big bowl of pasta and then had a nice relaxing bath. My knees were really sore, especially walking up and down stairs. Monday and yesterday I felt pretty tight in my legs and hips. Last night I had a sports massage for my legs which I am definitely glad I did!!
I am really proud of myself for running my first half marathon. I know my time definitely won’t be breaking any records, but it’s a great start for my next one.
Stripes and Snapshots 