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Running the Bristol Half Marathon

2nd October 2005

• Leading up to the event
• The morning of the event
• Runners Village
• The Start
• The Race
• After the event
• My result

Leading up to the event

My training had been going well, but I ended up having almost week off before running the Half Marathon. I felt a bit guilty about this and thought it might impair my performance but also kept telling myself it would be good to get plenty of rest so I would be fresh and raring to go on the day.

On the Thursday before the half marathon John caught a cold and cough, and it was looking unlikely he would be well enough to run. I was very disappointed by this and that I would be left running it on my own. I was also worried about catching his cold because that would have meant both of us out of the race. As it turned out I was well and fit for the race and although John didn't run, he came along and did a great job of supporting me.

The morning of the event

On the morning of the half marathon I had to get up at 6am, which was really early considering it was a Sunday! The race started at 9:30, so we needed to allow plenty of time to drive to Bristol, catch the park and ride, and find Runners Village.

Runners Village

We made it to Runners Village about an hour prior to the start of the race. The atmosphere was amazing. There was an abundance of food stands, which were very tempting, but of course being about to run I couldn't eat any of it. Instead I opted for walking around in order to stay warm and keep my nerves in check.

The Start

I made my way to the race area about 15 minutes prior to the start, and stood just down from the 2hrs 10 mins mark. I wondered whether I should be further back, but John persuaded me to stand at that point, as any further back would risk me being slowed up by walkers. All participants were encouraged to count down from 5 to mark the start of the race. Then the wait really started…. the sheer number of competitors (12,000), meant that I, along with many others, had a long wait to cross the start.

As I was standing in the queue waiting to run my mind started to wander. I looked around at the back of the people in front of me and one thing that jumped out at me was the number of women that weren't wearing a sports bra! Many of them clearly had normal or fashion bras-I saw one Kalvin Clein bra as well as a number of bras with the thin straps as opposed to racer back. I was, and still am, totally amazed. Do these women not understand they will get saggy boobs? As well as the pain they might get after running for 13 miles?!

I finally passed the start line at 16 minutes after the first runners!

The Race

As I past the start line I felt both excited and nervous and tried hard to forget how big the challenge was that lay in front of me.

During my first mile my heart rate shot up very quickly and was all over the place. It took me 14 minutes to run the first mile! After that I settled into my own pace and from mile 1 to mile 9 I ran around 75% of my max heart rate. This was a nice, gentle pace, and meant I didn't get out of breath.

One thing that I had been worried about for the half marathon was getting bored. What does one think about when undertaking over two hours of the same activity? After all, if I had got bored it was not as though I could have gone to do something else! But with watching the first runners coming back down the long straight as I was heading up it, all the scenery of country and city, and encouragement from the crowd, I didn't get at all bored.

At around mile 6 the big toe on my right foot started to ache. I didn't really know what I could do about it, so just kept going and thought about something else. By the next mile the pain had gone, but my other big toe started to ache!

As we passed each mile marker I checked the time on my heart rate monitor, and was pleased to see I was doing around 11 minute miles.

It was at mile 9 that my legs really started to ache. I didn't feel tired or out of breath, but my legs were certainly feeling the strain. At that point, knowing you have run two thirds of the race already and only have 4 more miles to go keeps you going.

Running the last few miles around the city was absolutely fantastic. The encouraging crowds were made up not only of supporters, but the general Bristol public.

There were a couple of small hills to contend with at mile 11. Luckily they were short and I was able to continue running while going up both of them. As I past the final mile marker I felt very pleased, as well as relieved that I would soon be able to rest. At this point, due to keeping around 75% heart rate until now, I actually had some energy left to pick up the pace. For the last mile of the race nobody overtook me, and I over took a number of people. This felt very satisfying, especially at such a late stage in the race.

I finally crossed the finish line, extremely pleased with my time, and went to cool down and do some stretches.

After the event

That evening my body ached more than it ever has before. My legs and knees, as I expected, were very sore. But I also had some pain in my lower back muscles and an aching left foot for many days after the event. At least that day I could eat what I wanted knowing I had already burned up over 1200 calories!

My result

My position was 7044 out of 12,006 people.
My chip time was 02:17:34.

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