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Monday, November 16, 2009

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!

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