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
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