First I want to explain the title of this section. One of my former work colleagues nickname is "The Beaver" which is a not so clever reference to his surname. He did the Peterborough half marathon last year in 1hour 37ish. I have completed the half marathon this year in gleaming good weather and a very happy time of 1:23:26! The bragging rights are mine!
I had a plan and it all went a bit sideways when things started going. This week I've been dropping the intensity of my work outs and cutting others out all together in preparation for the run. Monday was fairly bog standard run in the morning followed by gym I was planning to swim a bit but the pool was crowded again and I wasn't in the mood to force my way around people so after ten lengths not going fast or practising my technique I got out. Tuesday was just the bike ride but as I pulled my shorts up in the pre morning gloom I heard the groaning of tortured metal followed by a BANG! Looking in the ensuite where the noise had come from I found nothing wrong but could hear the patter of water I stepped out onto the landing and demanded of my house mate "What the hell was that?" As the words came out of my mouth the ears reported that the sound of rushing water was coming from downstairs. I stalked down there as a grumpy "What was what?" drifted down from the 2nd floor. I gazed in horror at the sight of water gushing out of the main fuse board at the front of the house. A pipe had burst in the ceiling above below the ensuite. Swear words ensued. This got my house-mate up I launched myself towards the internal water stop tap. I took me a moment or two to find the damned thing and was just getting it off as my house mate launched herself at the heating and hot water controls. Given that the water was warm that was sensible to get that system off too. As the stop tap closed the water dribbled to a halt. Mopping and the loading of towels to the floor prevented me from leaving for an hour or so as the building site foreman was dragged across to inspect the damage his deranged plumber had caused with his discount installation.
I was at work in a sedate pace despite being a bit miffed.
Wednesday had sprints at the gym rather than an all up road run to save on energy and I was very happy with the results. On Monday I'd found all the bike seats occupied so had had 15mins on the trendmill at a higher pace. On Wednesday I ran the full 30mins at a faster sprint pace and even turned up the run pace for the last 5mins. I was very happy with that. I avoided the isometric bits on the pretext of keeping it light and stayed away from the cycle. The pool was fairly clear and I even got eyed up by a bikini clad lovely on the side of the pool as I slid into the water. Ok so she could have just been looking in my general direction by I like to think it counted.
All in all a good days training with 50 lengths into the account too.
Thursday was another record time on the bike to work and I left it at that. Friday was a wash as I'd gone in early to work and felt a bit battered.
Saturday was a planned downtime day with a bit of stretching or light stuff just to let the muscles know they would have to do something.
I found I was gleaming with energy and decided to grab the MTB down and service it and the road bike ahead of the week. Somehow a thorn had got into the tire and a slow puncture was there on the MTB. I wanted to quickly nip into tescos on it before I covered myself in oil. Oh well. The new tire irons I got with the road bike worked really well and it wasn't long before I was off again. The MTB felt so different too the road bike. Firm and planted and absorbing all the bumps with only a third of the pressure in the tyres. And SOOO slow accelerating but so in control and can turn on a sixpence or hovering waiting for cars to get through the gaps in Hampton. Over the short distance it was an excellent lesson in the differences between the two disciplines.
With the bikes tucked away it was time to tuck into some pre run nosh. I'd planned to have pasta with egg and some veggies but hadn't realised the cupboard was bare. Opps. Fish and chips with a big bowl full of rice as supper was the best I could manage. Fish = protein Chips =Starchy carbs Rice = Complex carbs. We won't mention the fat. Lots of water and off to bed.
The water thing got me up in the morning and I had my breakfast of cereal and a banana and some more water and was just finishing a sugary Dr Pepper to glucose me up before the start as my father turned up on the doorstep to drive me in. He and my mother very kindly droped me off close to the start as they tried to find a parking spot and took my bag with them. I'd plenty of time but needed the tiolet. The closest ones that I didn't have to pay for (no wallet) were in the queensgate carparks. Doh! Still it gave me a nive warm up as I jogged there. Back to the race refreashed and lighter I started to move forward. I wanted to get as close as I could this time to the front in the 1:30 - 1:45 section but there were just too many people there and I got stuck behind the 1:45 time board. Grr.
Still I just have to bounce forward when we got going. Fortunately the road is nice and wide and unlike the King's lynn 10k event the paths weren't marked off so I was able to free run down the side of the plodders and start getting into my peer group around about the 1 mile marker. I was overtaking people with ease all the way up to the 7 mile marker which shows I was in the wrong place. I was joined at that point by a fella keen to catch up with me and the group in front. I matched his pace and we started slowly dragging people in. An older gent went through and we both tried to hold onto him but he was getting away. A lost cause I went back to pace and fella stayed with me but as the race contnued even the experienced gent was pulled back in. I hit a water point and fella dropped off around the 10 mile marker. I had plenty of bounce per once left and the thought came through. 5K pace. I locked on to the group in front and picked up the pace arms on full pump. The runners in front started to fall by the wayside again. Whether this was because they were tied or I was going faster I'm not sure. Throughout the race I'd been spotting landmarks I knew and the mile markers but I didn't know the route I was travelling so was hesitant about using the full beans but as we took a right at the fengate overpass I knew we hadn't got far to go. I engaged what I like to call terminator pace. If you've ever seen terminator 2 where the T1000 runs after the car I like to think I look like that. Head down arms flashing up to eye level and all the way down and back. Legs just a blur. As I came onto the embankment the path turned to grass and there were crowds of people. The after burners went on and I locked on to a red T shirted running club assosiate. Burning along at full sprint I crossed the line pipping the man in red by a few feet. I bet he was miffed. I lobbed the time chip in the bin and checked the watch. 1:23:26. A damned good time. I knew for the first few miles I was running ahead on pace and thought I was only a minute or two ahead of my planned 1:31:00 time. As I hit the 5K pace I'd dared to hope of a sub 1:30 time but was delighted with the 1:23. I was a it taken aback by how calm my body was. Hardly out of breath and still had lots of energy to work with. Compared with the end of the mock triathlon distance I was fine. Does this mean I should have pushed harder at the half way marker and driven myself more. Curses probably should have but I wasn't sure I wouldn't have burn out further down. Have to stick it to inexperience at the distance and the route.
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