‘Absolutely perfect weather for running this morning, everyone!” said the announcer at the start of the Reading half marathon.
I really wish he hadn’t. I’m sure I’m not alone in liking to line up my excuses at the start. Niggles/ tired legs/ it’s windy/ I’ve been up since 2.45am/ there’s a ‘y’ in the day – delete as appropriate. And that was the weather one blown to start with.
This race was supposed to be a good staging post for me, to see how I was doing on the way to London marathon. The answer, as it turns out, is ‘absolutely knackered’. I don’t know why – terrible sleep, 24 miles last Sunday, feeling a bit under the weather – take your pick.
Whatever the cause, my legs felt like lead after a mile, and I came as close as I ever have to giving up and posting a DNF. It’s a great race – not the flattest half in the world, and despite claims that it was “flatter and faster” this year the hills still seemed very much present – but the support is exceptional. Looking at my Garmin data, I think it was around the edge of Prospect Park at about mile nine, when I felt so awful I couldn’t even tolerate a sip of water, that the calls of “come on Kate!” really helped. [Disclaimer: I didn’t have some cheer club of thousands of people – in Reading, they always put your name on your race number for you..]
It might have been a good minute slower than my PB – when form suggested I should be a minute or two faster than it – but I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard mentally in a race just to keep going. And I don’t think I have ever been quite so utterly relieved to see the 400m to go sign, and the entrance to Madejski Stadium finally seconds away, and the last little stagger through the stadium itself across the finish line. After mile three I’d just been hanging on for a sub-90, and that I just about managed.
So, do I put it down to a bad day, do I blame my legs, my mileage last weekend or the three year old Torquemada in my house who isn’t having any truck with the notion that sleep is vital for recovery? This, see, is why Mo Farah goes off on training camps – anyone got a slot somewhere warm and sunny with no interruptions for the next five weeks?
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