Sunday, 6 March 2022 Newport, Wales - 21.20km 2:24:00 pace 6:47min/km
Go out with a plan, and boom! I was well pleased with what came out of the box, whilst I didn't hit my plan of pick a pace and run a pace (the hills didn't help that ambition much) I did meet my target time frame. Time frame not goal time note.
The race was fab, the marshalling super, and the Newport spectators awesome. I availed myself of a couple of jelly babies and then some very very nice mini-gems from lovely people at the side of the course, nom nom! The shock revelation was that I found a football style chant of "Pegs! Pegs! Pegs!" popping out of my mouth along the out and back, which was nice!
It certainly isn't every race where you get to hear the strains of the bag pipes on your way around the course - that the piper was playing underneath the M4 flyover did not in any way make the experince teh more unusual! All the way aound the course the support was many and varied, from people on doorsteps in PJs cheering you on, to local run clubs giving it their all, lots of smiley marshalls, a piper, car drivers honking their horns, people playing music outside their houses, charity teams, to name just a few.
The Pegs were relatively few in number but big on performance, with some terrific runs. Colin kindly hung on to see me home which was hugely appreciated, though I was a bit rude in packing down a banana hungrily whilst we were chatting.
Some fabulously funny camaraderie at the finish line was very much appreciated - thank you fellow runners and thank you Lliswerry friends 😊
Some fabulously funny camaraderie at the finish line was very much appreciated - thank you fellow runners and thank you Lliswerry friends 😊
With a month to Brighton marathon I have much to do, but I think today proved a very good test of where I am and where I need to dial my pace down to. In case you were wondering Brighton is "operation complete" and not goal driven... if I get there in one piece it will be a case of go out and enjoy that one, much as today was.
Footnote [no pun intended!] - after the race I found my heels were quite tender and so I have gone and purchased a pair of new running (and a new brand to me of) shoes in an effort to aleviate any issue for covering the marathon issue. More on the choice in a future post perhaps.
The footnote's footnote - this was my 15th half marathon which in of itself is something that makes me smile 😁
