2009 Conwy Half Marathon, Sunday November 8th 2009 (David of the UK)

My training for this race had not been ideal. I had had a head cold for the previous 2 weeks and though this didn’t cause a complete stop to my training it had caused me to reduce my mileage below 30 miles per week. In addition to this I had suffered with a sore big toe joint on my left foot. I’m not sure if this is down to general overuse or more specifically down to the Mazuno Wave Creation shoes I was wearing. Anyway, as I approached the Conwy Half marathon I felt 90% ready. I had run the Friday before, maybe a little too hard, and felt very good.

The course takes a beautiful route down along the Conwy estuary up round the Great Orme and back down beside the river, finishing at the foot of Conwy Castle. This means 3.5 miles of flat ground, 3 miles of assent followed by 3 miles of descent and back to the 3.5 miles of level ground. My only major concern as I considered the race was nutrition and hydration. I had run the Anglesey Half with a gel flask and 1 bottle of water. This had worked perfectly. Not too much weight and, with all the drinks stations, I was able to supplement my gels with sports drink and water. This race was different. There was 1 drinks station sited at 3.5 miles on the out and the same location which was after 9 miles on the return. For this reason I took 2 water bottles with me to go with my gels.

The morning of the race was beautiful. The weather had broken after several days of rain and though heavy showers were forecast the wind was not a problem. If anything, as will become clear, the weather was a little too good!

I got a lift to the race with some friends and toed the line at 12.15pm after having previously taken my SportsLegs an hour before.

My 10min/1min run-walk was not seriously hindered by the severe congestion at the start of the race.

Mile 1 in 8.00 min

I tried with no success to explain my run/walk strategy to all the people encouraging me to keep running, ah well. Felt fine HR in the 140 range everything going well.

Mile 2 in 8.20

Again everything fine but slowed by some congestion. Note to self – I must get nearer the front of the group next year. Took a sip of gel and water.

Mile 3 in 8.30
Sand under feet not helping and still lots of people around. There were 800 people in the race!
Felt fine but HR rising a little Average 151.

Mile 4 in 8.30

The upward section begins. HR is starting to rise but not too much – more gel and water bottle filled at drinks station.

Mile 5 in 8.27

Keeping speed up really well, just about to hit the Orme, going past lots of people. Another sip of gel and water. HR starting to rise averaging 157.

Mile 6 in 8.50

First proper uphill section on the Orme. Not feeling as strong as I expected. Starting to get pretty hot with leggings on. AHR 160 – a bit too high.

Mile 7 in 9.22

I know this is the hard bit but something is not quite right. AHR is 161 and I’m feeling very hot. This is not what I expected – I have done this run 10 times and not felt this bad before.

Mile 8 in 9.13

Final section of Orme assent – AHR 163 – much too high and feeling pretty wasted. I have run out of water to go with my gels.

Mile 9 in 7.34

The decent off the Orme was harder than it should have been. I couldn’t keep my cadence up in the 90 area without high HR. AHR 159.

Mile 10 in 8.20

Tried to fill my water bottles but kept going – I should have stopped and done this properly – here comes the wall! AHR 164!

Mile 11 in 8.58

I’m starting to feel terrible. No energy having to take more breaks to keep moving. AHR up to 167 – looking back now this is crazy my Max is 175ish! And I’m running on the flat with the wind behind me . Feeling terrible…..



Mile 12 in 9.09
I’m now down to survival mode – walking every 5 mins – AHR 165 – I’m not going to break 1.50 so now it’s just keeping one foot in front…etc….

Mile 13 in 10.01

The death march – I was overtaken by 15 people during this mile just couldn’t go any faster….AHR 160 – I’m going to finish this thing…..

Finished in 1.54.52

My final sprint saw a max HR of 177! I had pushed myself to the limits and beyond.
2 lessons come from this day.

1 If in doubt take more nutrition than you need and
2 If in doubt wear less rather than more.

My PB of Angelsey still stands – I hope to break it in Chester next year – but 2 valuable lessons under my belt should see me to better things next year. Now it’s preparation for the Pier to Pier 10k at the end of January!

2009 Anglesey Half Marathon Race Report (Report by David in the UK)

Sunday September 20^th 2009

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. The English Romantic poet John Keats wrote these germane words in conclusion to his Ode on a Grecian Urn.

I doubt very much whether Keats was a keen runner but if he was he might have seriously considered running the Anglesey Half Marathon. The course was truly beautiful and the run up the final 4 mile climb was truly, truly painful. This is the sort of race you do to really find out who you are. Have you got it? Can you stick with it? Are you, as Steve Runner says, “Army strong”?

The day started, not too early, at 6am. I had slept little during the night as this was my A race for the season and I was hoping to crack the 1:50 barrier. My hopes had been hit hard about 2 weeks ago when, after a discussion with a friend and fellow runner, he informed me of the hills and especially the final 4 mile staircase of pain which lay before me. Nevertheless, I still held out the hope of achieving a PB.

My training had gone very well with my longest run ever, 15.4 miles being run just 7 days before the race. The only concern I had, other than the course, was a slight twinge, which had appeared over the previous day. The weather, which had been forecast as cool and possibly rainy, was not a major concern. As it turned out the weather cleared at around 9am, half an hour before the race and the temperatures climbed to well over 20C.

The journey to Anglesey was uneventful but the scenery was beautiful as usual.

Checking in was very simple and the organization was fantastic. The runners were all bused from the finish point to the start of the half marathon. I took my Sportslegs tablets at 8.30am and got on the bus. There was a brief wait at the start but we got underway at 9.36am.

I was planning to do a 10min run / 1 min walk system on this race. I have heard very good thing about this system and in recent runs I have used it to very good effect, reducing my 8 mile tempo run time by 3 mins. My nutrition plan was to take my 2 bottle Fuelbelt with 1 bottle full of 7 High 5 caffeine gels and the other bottle with plain water. The provision of energy drink, water and sponges on the course was fantastic. Both energy drink and water were provided every 2 miles on the course.

I had decided to wear my technical running bib top with my Skins full-length compression tights.

I bought the Skins 2 months ago and I have found them to be nothing short of INCREDIBLE when it comes to the longer distances. I would previously have had very sore legs after a 10-mile run but with the Skins this was no longer a problem. The only down side to them is that they are black and can get pretty hot in the sun.

As we lined up at 9.35am there were 227 of us.

9.36am – We were off!

There were no problems with getting moving as there had been at the Chester Half in May I was into my stride within 30 seconds of the gun going. Trying to take it nice and easy to warm up a little and with no timing mat to cross it was everyone for themselves.

There were a few well-wishers along the first 400 metres but after that it was down to a few marshalls at turns and feed stations, this run would be a lot like a training run.

I was trying to keep my HR down as much as I could but if you can’t be excited in a race when can you be J

Mile 1 in 8.23

Trying to move into the 8.15-8.20 bracket with my pace but still feeling very strong and positive. I was running past large numbers of people but then came the walk break. I didn’t quite manage to walk slowly enough to drop my HR by more than 5 beats. I was just too excited. Then pushed on to try to get into the 8.10 pace.

Mile 2 in 8.20

Just on target for the 1.50 overall time. Took a drink of sports drink at the feed station then moved on. This time the walk break was better. I was happy with my pace and I dropped my HR by a full 20 beats. Pushed on to try to break the 8 min pace. Oh no! A hill. Remembering back to the course elevation this hill is half a mile long and rises 200ft. I was not going to be maintaining my pace up this. Pace fell back to 8.40.

Mile 3 in 8.45

Still feeling very strong as the course opened up and the flat sections beckoned us onward.

I took my first shot of gel and a sip of water followed by 2 caffeine tablets.

Pace was back to 8.24, just on target. Walk break really seemed to be working, HR dropped 15 beats and stayed low for a while, even with some 7 min pace thrown in there to stretch the legs.

Mile 4 in 8.20

Everything going great. Course was fine, I was fine, weather was ….. FINE! Argh, the sun was starting to really warm up. Kept to 8.10 pace while keeping the HR below 160, hard but comfortable.

Mile 5 in 8.30

My speed was drifting a bit as I chatted to a young medical student who was also running the race. Nice guy. Walk break felt good HR dropped 10 beats. Another sip of gel and water.

Mile 6 in 8.50

Too much chatting and not enough running L. Moved pace up to target 8 min. Took sports drink and sponge at feed station.

Mile 7 in 8 min

Nice quick pace had got me back on track. I took my 2^nd Sportslegs of the day. Nice downward slope reminded my to leave a bit in the tank for the 4 mile run up to the finish. Walk felt very good and used it to refill my water bottle.

Mile 8 in 8.20

I could start to see the hills that lay before us, trying to keep at a nice even pace and not waste energy. I decided to walk 2 mins. early to prepare for hills. Felling pretty good but very hot! 2 sponges, 1 on head other on legs!

Mile 9 in 8.35

The rest of this race rises about 700 ft over the next 4 miles. It doesn’t sound a lot but when you’ve just run 9 miles it feels like torture! Tried to keep HR below 160 average for as long as possible while running at sub 9 min pace.

Mile 10 in 9.05

I started targeting runners in front of me in order to keep motivated up the hills. I decided to drop the walk breaks as I felt the HR drop wouldn’t translate to any time advantage. My HR stayed at 160 average topping out at 165. Overtook 3 runners up the first hill.

Mile 11 in 8.55

Head down, cadence up, pain everywhere. These are the hard miles where you are truly alone.

I overtook 3 more runners up this hill. Just 2 miles to go. Everyone was suffering pretty badly.

I spotted a guy about 100 metres ahead of me as my next target. I got to within 10 metres of him be the end of the mile. My HR was averaging 160 still but topped out at 167.

Mile 12 in 8.45

I was hanging on to the tail of this runner. We overtook 7 other runners over the mile and I stopped thinking about anything other than making it to the finish and holding on…….. Hey it looked like 1.50 might be on the cards….. Head down and push on…. As we turned the corner the guy I had been tailing pushed ahead. I had nothing left to give. My HR was averaging 168 with a high of 174. My maximum HR is 174. As I saw the finish line I could hear someone coming up behind me. A final push then and …….. it was over! I … was…. completely….. wasted. I had to get myself back together quickly as I was given a chocolate bar and a medal while my timing tag was removed from my foot. As I straightened up the young medical student came toward me and shook my hand, good man. Boy what a race!

My final time has just been published on the website, and even though there was no obvious clock at the finish my time is down as 1 hour 50 minutes and 28 seconds. With a final mile of 7.43!

I had cut my PB by 6 mins and though there was pain, to tell the truth… it was beautiful!

Great Orme Challenge 2009 - Sunday 19th July (David from the UK)

Preparation, preparation, preparation.

The Great Orme is a large lump of rock which lies just to the north of Llandudno in North Wales.

It is 200 meters high and about 20% in places so, to any normal person, this would mean some training or preparation would be in order. Oh no, surely not!

Well, a lack of preparation made itself very clear during the steeper parts of the race.

I arrived at the race with 30mins to go before the start. A nice easy 2 mile warm-up meant I was properly ready for what I thought would be a quick start. The weather had meant that less than 100 people had turned up. So the start line was not hard to see as the starter fired the gun.

My first intention was to keep my pace in the sub 8min area for the flat section as the climbing, 200ft, starts after about half a mile. I completed the first mile in 8.15min with and average HR of 154, just into my anaerobic zone. With my heart condition, HR is more of a limiting factor than muscular strength.

The second mile begins with a quarter mile of level ground before the switchbacks which take you up 300ft to Tudno Church, normally a sight I would be delighted to see but on this occasion the knowledge of the remaining hills is all too pressing. During this time my HR rose to 166 which is only 5 beats off my absolute max so I decided to walk the drinks zone for 30 seconds. HR down below 160 and I was off again. I completed mile 2 in 9.10min at an average HR of 160.

I was feeling pretty wasted by this time so as the next hill lay before me I decided to walk again, this time for 2 mins, this kept my HR down to under 160 and by the end I was feeling much stronger. As I rounded the corner I was confronted with the 20% section of the race. Again I decided to walk through the worst of it to keep my HR under control. As I turned the final right hand corner, which leads to the summit, I had just under half a mile to go. I was now trying to keep my HR below 165 as this final section rises 300 ft and I could hear people running up behind me. I just kept my head down and went for a final push. As I turned the final bend I could see the finish line about 600m ahead of me. Time for my final sprint. I upped my pace back to sub 8min but completed the final 1.2miles at an average of just under 10min pace.

I stopped my forerunner at 29min 20sec. I don’t think my race time can be any more than this.

Looking at my watch I had hit a HR of 171 on 3 occasions during the final mile. I was on the brink of falling over as I crossed the line but tried to maintain face as my friend Richard approached offering his support.

He had completed the run in around 24 mins, he is a sub 40min 10k runner, and is always there to welcome me home J One day I may welcome him home ;) but not quite yet.

Anyway, a great race. A race that I should have prepared for, a race I didn’t prepare for – but fun anyway!

Next is the Anglesey Half Marathon – bring it on!!!!

David