This was my second road race in West Yorkshire this year, having completed the Liversedge Half Marathon on 13th February. The Spen 20 race is a 20 mile road race organised by Spenborough Athletics Club. It starts at St Mary's Athletics Stadium in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.
I was very apprehensive about running this race, apart from the fact that it is the furthest I have ever run and has an elevation of 1150ft, it is also part of the Yorkshire Trials and many of the entrants are club/veteran runners who do the race every year. Although I have done many a hilly training run and half marathons, my most recent longer runs (16/17 miles) have been relatively flat (for Yorkshire!) Anyway we (me and Alex) decided that as this is the longest distance we've ever run and we have no previous time to go on, that we would just aim 'to get round'.
The race started at 10.00, so we were up at 7.30 to allow our traditional pre run porridge to digest. It was pissing it down with rain and blowing a gale outside, which was not ideal! Anyway we get togged up and in the car. The rain is really coming down now and it's so freezing I could cry! Thankfully when we got to the stadium we could stand inside for a bit and there was a very small queue for the ladies toilets (in fact there didn't seem to be that many ladies there!)
The race starts with a lap round the athletics track and we have agreed that we will start off slow and try and stick to round about 9 minute mile pace (slow then!) There are as always the people that go out hell for leather. They are either elite or you pass them (breathing out of their arses) after a couple of miles! We ignore them.
First few miles we stick to the plan and then there is some variation in our times. We have a couple of quick downhill sections (there weren't many of them!) and a couple of slow uphill sections (loads of them!) The first water stop is at mile 7 and it's sodding cups! Complete waste of time and I end up throwing most of it over my face! At the 10 mile mark I'm just starting to get into my rythmn and start to speed up. Thankfully Alex is there to keep me in check by reminding me that we're only half way!!
I remember getting to mile 14 and thinking that I felt remarkably well for saying I'd run just over half marathon distance. Unfortunately this was short lived and by mile 16 I was struggling. The hills just kept on coming! At this point I employed my tactic of pretending that my legs no longer belonged to my body. I knew I had to stay focused mentally and not let my head drop or I wouldn't make it. Having Alex by my side all the way round really helped with that (even though he did most of the talking and I just grunted because I was 'in the zone' - sorry Alex!)
By mile 18, I started to feel a bit wobbly Bob! I was hungry, I was thirsty, it was hot, my legs ached, my shoulders ached and I still had two miles to go. I almost screamed when I saw the hill at mile 18. We were passed at this point by another participant who was shouting words of encouragement. I'm sure it wasn't supposed to sound smug and patronising, but it did!
Anyway after necking a handful of Lucozade tablets we pushed on to the end. I reckon the last half a mile was flat and thankfully I saw the finish sooner than I had expected to. I should mention at this point that Alex and I had made an agreement that we would cross the line together. However when we entered the Athletics Stadium and were greeted by the best neighbours in the world (Aunt Sally and Our Graham) and that spongey track, I couldn't help a sprint finish. I'm a competitive little bastard.............!!
Felt ok as soon as I'd crossed the line, could have gone round again.............er not!! Was impressed by the massive table of pick n mix and free brew afterwards, both of which I got involved in. Not so impressed with the 'quality' souvenir, which looked like something yer Nana won down the binga!!
Crossed the line in 2:58:10, not bad for a first time..............will be aiming for a quicker one next year, might even wear some long socks and short shorts!!
Got home, had an ice (yes that's ice, not nice) bath, ate, felt like I was going to die, then got on the ale!
No comments:
Post a Comment