So two half marathons in as many Sundays... yes I think I am mad. But I do like a challenge and I don't give up easy so yes, there I was, on Sunday, in Cardiff Bay with 15 thousand other people at the start line. It was 4 degrees, sunny and mayhem. this was the biggest race I'd ever turned up to on my own, with no supporters; pretty nerve-wracking. I'd been bouldering with my mate Ry the day before which , with hindsight, probably wasn't very wise although thoroughly enjoyable. It resulted, thankfully, only in achey arms but meant that now I ache EVERYWHERE as I carry quite a bit of tension in my shoulders when I run (although the mantra "run tall, run free" did help a lot). Ry turnedout around the 6 mile mark to shout encouragement at me which made all the difference. Thanks Ry!
My leg didn't cause me any real issues and I came in at 2:12 which I was pretty pleased with, it only being 2 mins off my HM PB. Thanks Sean for giving me the chance to run it in the first place!
Good points about the race:
- The baggage was very well organised, as were the medal and goody bag hand outs
- The course, very pretty at the start, scenic all the way and about as flat as you could get
- Plenty of water stations
- Plenty of loos
Bad points about the race:
- The warm up wasn't very well organised, it was hard to hear and follow if you weren't up the front.
- Not enough segregation between runners and spectators at the start
- No mile markers until mile 3
I now have a couple of weeks off before the next event which is a cruisey 5k night time Hallowe'en run in Reading... dressed as a skellington :)
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