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!