Edinburgh City Half Marathon - 1:47:13
Just outside the time I had been hoping for, but not a complete disaster for my first half. I'm going to stay positive and use it as a target to aim for next time. I managed to stay relatively close to my 8 minute mile intended pace and it generally felt OK. The first 8 miles were relatively comfortable, the next 3 I felt it more difficult to hold the pace, and in the last couple it just slipped away on me.
Lessons learned:
(1) increase training mileage and get a 2nd longer run into my week
Since starting to run again in January I have been very conservative in increasing my mileage - from mid-20s to my current high 30s over a period of three months - and now is probably a good time to bump it up a little again to break into the 40s. A semi-long run during the week would probably also be beneficial. My average week has usually consisted of a long run at the weekend with nothing longer than 6 miles during the week, and I am sure this had something to do with my fading away at the end of this race. Funnily enought, the JD marathon training plan I am following calls for the dropping of the mid-week interval session I had been doing and replacing it with a semi-long run.
(2) unless the weather is bad, go with the minimum of clothing
I could probably have done with a layer less of clothing today as the sun came out in bits and I felt positively roasting. I doubt it would have had much impact on my time, but I expect I would have felt a lot more comfortable with just a t-shirt.
(3) when marathon time comes in June, don't set off at 8 minute mile pace (or it'll all end in tears!)
Splits from my Garmin are below.
1- 8:13
2- 7:41
3- 8:22
4- 7:56
5- 7:47
6- 7:39
7- 7:57
8- 8:07
9- 8:14
10- 8:10
11- 8:00
12- 5:51 (obviously a problem with the Garmin here and in the next mile)
13- 11:03
13+- 2:07
Total: 1:47:13
Leasons for the organisers:
There are already a lot of unhappy comments on the runnersworld website from people who ran today. The event wasn't "bad", but there were a number of organisation problems which stopped it being a "good" event.
Lack of toilets; unclear holding pens at start mixing up runners of varying abilities; too narrow route on first mile meant a number of bottle-necks- not enough marshals on the water stations; the promised energy drink wasn't available; terrible lane system at finish meant that runners were backed up over the finish line as they waited for their number to be taken (I have no idea what my clock time will be and frankly I don't care - it took me two minutes to cross the start line, and about 5 minutes after corssing the finishing line before my number was taken); and the worst "goody bag" I have ever seen (a bottle of water, a nutrition bar, and a bunch of advertising leaflets - I jest you not).
Would I do it again? Probably, but only because I happen to live in Edinburgh.
Lessons learned:
(1) increase training mileage and get a 2nd longer run into my week
Since starting to run again in January I have been very conservative in increasing my mileage - from mid-20s to my current high 30s over a period of three months - and now is probably a good time to bump it up a little again to break into the 40s. A semi-long run during the week would probably also be beneficial. My average week has usually consisted of a long run at the weekend with nothing longer than 6 miles during the week, and I am sure this had something to do with my fading away at the end of this race. Funnily enought, the JD marathon training plan I am following calls for the dropping of the mid-week interval session I had been doing and replacing it with a semi-long run.
(2) unless the weather is bad, go with the minimum of clothing
I could probably have done with a layer less of clothing today as the sun came out in bits and I felt positively roasting. I doubt it would have had much impact on my time, but I expect I would have felt a lot more comfortable with just a t-shirt.
(3) when marathon time comes in June, don't set off at 8 minute mile pace (or it'll all end in tears!)
Splits from my Garmin are below.
1- 8:13
2- 7:41
3- 8:22
4- 7:56
5- 7:47
6- 7:39
7- 7:57
8- 8:07
9- 8:14
10- 8:10
11- 8:00
12- 5:51 (obviously a problem with the Garmin here and in the next mile)
13- 11:03
13+- 2:07
Total: 1:47:13
Leasons for the organisers:
There are already a lot of unhappy comments on the runnersworld website from people who ran today. The event wasn't "bad", but there were a number of organisation problems which stopped it being a "good" event.
Lack of toilets; unclear holding pens at start mixing up runners of varying abilities; too narrow route on first mile meant a number of bottle-necks- not enough marshals on the water stations; the promised energy drink wasn't available; terrible lane system at finish meant that runners were backed up over the finish line as they waited for their number to be taken (I have no idea what my clock time will be and frankly I don't care - it took me two minutes to cross the start line, and about 5 minutes after corssing the finishing line before my number was taken); and the worst "goody bag" I have ever seen (a bottle of water, a nutrition bar, and a bunch of advertising leaflets - I jest you not).
Would I do it again? Probably, but only because I happen to live in Edinburgh.
posted by edinburghrunner at 7:33 pm
5 Comments:
Well done :-) Wished I could run that fast! keep up the good work.
Nothing shabby about that time! Well done and I'm sure you'll do better in your next one. Sounds like there were a few organisational glitches though.
Congratulations - that was a great time for your first half and now you have a PB to beat!!
dont sweat it - keep the training up and your times will come down. I ran the half yesterday having never raced or trained before jan. this year and can honestly say cross training (circuits twice a week and riding a bike to work) really helped my training programme. The goody bag was a joke eh, couldnt beleive it. t-shirts would have been the std. cheesy crap anyway. '-)
Thanks guys.
Yeah, the "goody bag" was hilarious!
Post a Comment
<< Home