North London Half Marathon

Today I ran my 13th Half Marathon at the North London Half Marathon, a race boasting to have 'the greatest finish line in the world' as the race finishes inside Wembley stadium. 

For me I was really excited to run this race as I don't tend to do too many mass participation races and the idea of finishing in one of the most iconic sports stadiums in the world really appealed to me.

I have been training hard in the last few months and having ran half marathons in the previous two months I was in good shape to hopefully run a PB. The elation of a PB finish in Wembley stadium, what's not to like? I have missed the chance of scoring a winning goal in a cup final so this was my chance of achieving a small piece of sporting stardom. 

My less than ideal race build up

The race didn't quite go to plan though, more to the point the race build up. Here's what went wrong:

Firstly my last effort run on Thursday night finished with a sore throbbing in the ball of my right foot. Later in the evening this led to some swelling in my foot and I struggled to be able to put any weight on it. Ouch! Some painkiller and some ibuprofen gel made a big difference though but it still didn't feel right during and after a gentle jog on Friday. I was apprehensive how it would feel for 13 hard and fast miles in North London. 

Secondly I managed to tweak my back on Saturday, I didn't even do anything to it like lift something heavy or fall over, I must have just sat awkwardly on the sofa when visit family as when I got up it felt so tight and stiff. Come the evening it had worsened and I was struggling to walk straight, I must have done something to affect a nerve as I was also getting sensations through my legs. So going to bed on Saturday evening I wasn't 100% sure I would be running in the morning.

    

Morning of the race 

Sunday morning came around and my back felt OK so off we set for North London, big thanks have to go to the wife for getting up at 6.30 on a Sunday morning and agreeing to drive me to and from the race. I wasn't sure how my back would respond to running so it was going to be a 'see how it goes' kind of race. 

Additional niggles included a tight left thigh and a painful knot in my left calf which had worsened over the last few days, the joys of running! 

Pre race was the usual thing you expect with large races, queuing in traffic to get anywhere near where you want to go, queuing to park and then the final inconvenience of queuing for the toilet as I had the need to do an unmentionable before I set off. 

That left me very little time to warm up and then to squeeze into the starting pens, I could only manage to find a gap in the middle of the 1.45-2.00 pace group but I thought that would be good for my early pacing strategy. 

The race was soon underway and I gingerly set out to run the first few k's at a steady pace to see how my back felt and then reassess my race strategy from there. 

The first section of the race was quite congested as you would expect which helped my pacing. 

Despite starting and finishing at Wembley there was a realisation that North London wouldn't offer much scenery to view for the rest of the 13 miles. To be honest I was quite pleasantly surprised with what the race provided. After the first mile or so we were basically in the country with a road flanked by fields and roadside verges covered in daffodils. At around mile 3 there were a few thatched cottages (I know near Wembley in north London, who knew?!) and there was also the RAF museum we passed twice where you could see a few planes on display. Sure there were a few grim parts, some non-descript residential areas, some dull industrial areas but by no means a soul destroying backdrop. 

The half way point was marked by a lap around Saracens Allianz park which had a great atmosphere and running on the running track there literally put a spring in my step! 

It was at around the halfway point I knew that I had a decent chance of getting a good time as I had covered 10K in around 50minutes, my back felt OK although my foot felt sore but I decided to increase the pace for the next 5K. 

Being a there and back route I felt that the race went really quick, I am not sure if it was knowing the route back to the finish or the distraction of watching runners stream the other way on the other side of the road. 

In the last few miles I thought I was on for a time just outside of 1.40 but this turned out to be out of my grasp as I finished in 1.42.33. This is my second fastest half marathon time which is cause for celebration and seeing as I view my PB as a complete fluke you could say this is a kind of PB?! 

Race review

In terms of my review of the race as an event I suppose it would get a solid 7/10.  

My observations were that the course was very congested, I think because of only using half the road at any one time. The support on the course was very poor, not much of a turn out and any people out on the street were more bemused at the spectacle in front of them rather than supportive. Such a contrast with Run Hackney last year which had phenomenal course support. 

As for the hills the course is by no means easy and certainly has more hills than you would expect for a city event. The hill at around 10.5 miles is particularly horrible, one because of its place in the race and secondly because it's a sneaky one! As you start heading towards Wembley there is a gentle climb and then you can look down and see the stadium below you so you automatically assume it's all downhill from here to the finish but no the sneaky hill appears out of nowhere! 

The course is nowhere near as hilly as other events I have down before and pales in significance to Tunbridge Wells where I got my PB so I would actually say it's a reasonably fast course with decent PB potential. 

The end

So how did 'the greatest finish line in the world' workout? Not great if I'm honest, I knew it wouldn't be the greatest but thought it would still be pretty great but in reality it was only a good finish, but then I can be a hard man to please.

My reasons for this are that you run down Wembley Way (which was phenomenal, great support and brilliant to have the stadium in view ahead of you) towards the stadium but instead of heading into the stadium you run about half way around it before heading into the stadium itself. Even then you are running in the dark bowels of the stadium before finally emerging for probably less than 200m onto pitch level. 

I still enjoyed my small taste of sporting stardom in front of several hundred spectators despite a non PB finish. Finishing in the stadium certainly provides  some unique race memories and provided some great photo opportunities. 

Upon getting home I was really pleased with the great race goody bag, a cool medal and a brilliant looking Tshirt which I am looking forward to wearing soon.  

Thank you as always for all the support I have received in the build up to the race, next stop a marathon PB at Halstead in May...

I received my place in the North London Half Marathon courtesy of Urban Massage.

Looking forward to the North London Half Marathon

This weekend I will be crossing the greatest finish line in the world along with 9000 other runners when I finish my 13th half marathon in Wembley stadium having run the North London Half Marathon. 

It's a race I am really looking forward mainly for the reasons that I really loved Run Hackney which is also a Vitality organised event and starting and finishing a race in one of most iconic sports stadiums in the world sounds like a great idea to me! 

I also feel I am due a good run and a good result. Just like a striker in football who goes a few games working hard for the team and playing well commentators love to say going into the next match  'he's due a goal now', like wise I have been training hard and have raced well in my two recent half marathons without coming away with a time I felt I deserved. 

My training in the last few weeks has been a mixture of marathon training, ahead of Halstead in May, continuing to work on my 5K pace and more specific half marathon training. 

Recently I have done some hard track sessions with either 400m or 800m efforts, two long slow runs of 25K and some split pace work as well. All in all I am feeling good and getting fitter and stronger. 

My last two half marathons have seen good improvement, in January at the Runthrough event in Victoria Park I posted a sub 1.50 run of 1.49.56 and I followed that up a month later also in Victoria Park at Innovation Sports run running a 1.45.39. So a 5 minute improvement in a month, can I take another 5 minutes off this month? 

My PB remains 1.39.01 from Tunbridge Wells in 2014 so that is my real aim to beat as I come into finish under the Wembley arch. However further motivation comes from an amazing run from training buddy Chris at the Runthrough event in January where he posted a 1.38.35. So my targets are all lined up ready for me to hit! 

In terms of my preparations in the last week or so things have gone well. I have eaten well and have actually been sleeping a lot. However I decided that last week needed to be a big marathon training week in which I covered 64km and to be honest I am feeling that this week. As a result I have listened to my body this week and toned down a few sessions this week both in terms of distance and intensity. 

I do feel full of niggles at the moment though and I think that is partly to the high mileage last week and partly due to a little pre race paranoia. My main concern is the ball of my right foot which started hurting during last nights run . I will keep icing it and taking painkiller and I should be OK, fingers crossed.

With 12 half marathons under my belt I know what I am letting myself in for and should be experienced enough to pace myself to the best time I am capable of running on the day. 

The final countdown

So with less than 48 hours to go, the route for Sunday morning is planned, my kit is ready, my pre race nutrition planned and all I need to do is look forward to finishing on the greatest of finish lines come around 10.40. 

North London Half Marathon I am ready for you! 

I received my place in the North London Half Marathon courtesy of Urban Massage.

A new gym experience at Puregym

After several months of waiting my gym finally reopened this week after its refurbishment. Previously it was a LA Fitness gym but now it has reopened as one of the increasing number of gyms owned by the no frills chain Puregym. 

I was curious to find out what a Puregym would be like and what a 'no frills' gym experience was going to be all about.

The build up to the opening of the gym this week has been pretty impressive and hard to ignore, Great Portland street tube entrance has been plastered in advertising, there have been people distributing leaflets right, left and centre and mobile adverts going around being pulled by bikes. 

And thats on top of the regular emails I have been receiving bigging up how great the reopening is going to be.

A new gym boasting 220 shiny new bits of kit in brand new fully refurbished premises, it was hard not to be excited to come and check it out.

Giving it ago

I decided to ignore the opening evening as I thought it might be a bit too busy full of eager beaver types so I popped in for an early morning session on the second day after opening. I wasn't really looking for a hard gym session as I was meant to be on a rest day but I thought it would be a good opportunity to just check out the new gym and to see what was like, heres how I got on...

The gym is certainly impressive, its new, fresh and shiny which makes a change from the usual drab and dirty central London gym experience.

The first noticeable change with the gym experience I am used to is the entrance, no reception, no receptionist, no membership card but instead a pin number pad and some weird Dr Who type capsules that you enter the gym through. 

To be fair the process is simple, each member has a PIN number which they enter onto the number pad, the capsule door then enters, you step in, the door behind you closes and when its closed the door in front of you opens and off you go.

I liked the experience, not just because it felt like being in a sci fi film but there was no fake customer service from a disinterested receptionist and no having to remember your membership card!

On entering the gym its clear to see a good job has been done on the refurbishment as everything is clean and crisp.

I like the motivational sayings plastered over some of the walls, especially this one:

The only slight glitch I encountered wondering round with another first time gym user looking for the changing rooms as there were no signs to point anything out, a minor issue which I am sure will be rectified soon. 

As for the gym itself its pretty impressive, well set out with plenty of kit without everything being crowded on top of itself. 

You forget about the 'no frills' aspect as everything is so impressive and it feels the same as any other gym chain with the usual kind of up tempo music and people sweating and gurning in every corner. 

Its only when you get to the changing room that you realise the effects of the no frills aspect as the little things like no shower gel and no plastic bag to put your sweaty kit in are a bit of an annoyance, and thats on top of having to bring your own towel. 

For £29.99 on a flexible no contract membership though you cant really argue with the service being provided for the modest amount being charged.

I look forward to being a regular visitor in the coming months and incorporating some gym work into my routine can only help my running. 

And I cant wait to knock out a few miles on these bad boys!

Innovation Sports Half Marathon in Victoria Park

So my second half marathon of the 2015 and my 14th overall but for South London running organisers Innovation Sports their first event in East London and Victoria Park. 

I arrived far too early as I had over estimated the efficiency of Sunday morning public transport. I still arrived to see the finishing touches of the race village coming together. Race number pick up point, registration point, bag drop off tent all the usual things you would expect at a race along with less regular features such as a mobile artisan coffee seller and a pet food stall courtesy of race sponsors Pooch and Mutt.

The events race compare was soon on the mic providing enthusiastic cajoling for the small bunch of runners gathered for the half marathon (later start times saw a 5K, 10K & a children's race). 

It was a very cold wintry morning and one of my biggest running challenges presented itself to me in the guise of trying to attach my timing chip to my trainers laces with my cold and numb fingers. 

It was an arduous and difficult task that was ridiculously painful on my freezing fingers, they don't mention these kind of things when they talk about the joy of running do they?! 

It was soon time to start gathering on the start line so I took my place in a small field of around 100 runners as the race compare encouraged runners to make there way to the start line. I noted quite a happy mixture of both seasoned runners and what looked like fresh faced first timers which made for a happy atmosphere. There seemed to be a few late running stragglers so we duly waited until all the runners were in place.

After a slightly protracted start the race was underway and we embarked on four laps of the park. Having run the RunThrough half marathon in the park only four weeks earlier I was eager to compare the two events and courses. Runthrough had opted for a six lap route running a simple lap of the perimeter of the park with a lap of the running track to finish. Innovation however opted for a more twisty turny four lap route which included a small section over grass on each lap.

I much preferred the Runthrough six lap course however the Innovation Sports way did provide much better views of the park and of the surrounding East London area. The innovation course was far too complicated though and doubled back on itself at points, which made it hard to run a fast time and could also be mentally challenging. 

The other problem was that the course was looooong, I and several others (according to strava) measured the course quite a bit in excess of 13.1 miles. I'm sure the organisers did their best to ensure the route was accurate but all the twists and turns might have added a few extra metres either in actual distance ran or 'virtually' according to the inaccuracies of strava.

The course though was very well marshaled with several marshals positioned in the key spots to direct and cheer on runners. There were one or two girls stood out on the course who were of incredibly cheery disposition despite the bitter cold, hats off to you guys your support was awesome! 

As for my actual run, I really tried to focus on consistent pacing following my recent attendance at the running works seminar. Although I didn't manage to maintain my desired pace I did feel a lot stronger than my run in February and was able to enjoy the run itself a lot more. I over estimated my strong finish though as I kicked for home a bit too soon (at about 18K) thinking I could finish with a few quick kilometres and I soon struggled to maintain a strong finish in the final kilometre. 

Post race a medal, a tshirt, a bottle of water and a cereal bar provided satisfactory race loot. The attendance of a mobile coffee vendor then came into its own as I was able to purchase a nice hot caffeinated drink to warm me up and give me a post race boost. 

Overall an enjoyable mornings running and I am very much starting to love running in Victoria park. As for innovation sports I don't know if I am that likely to run another of their events purely as I don't see myself venturing over to their regular Clapham home anytime soon, but if you happen to be based a bit closer definitely give one of their races a go as they are an enthusiastic bunch aiming at putting on fun and enjoyable races.