Halstead Marathon Race Review

May 8th was a lovely day across most of the UK, temperatures in the mid 20s, bright strong sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. A brilliant British summers day, a lovely day to spend in a beer garden, out for a country walk, sitting in the garden, lounging by a pool, relaxing with a cold drink, a lovely day to do anything a part from run a marathon. 

And what was I busy doing on May the 8th? Yes you guessed it I was running a marathon, my 8th marathon, a marathon that I had trained well for, a marathon I was in good shape for, a marathon that had the potential to bring me my long awaited sub 4 hour finish. Unfortunately as it turned out a marathon that almost reduced me to tears, turned my skin a lovely shade of beetroot and really challenged my resolve to finish.

The day started off so well, my running buddy Tony picked me and gave me a lift to the small picturesque Essex town of Halstead around a 40minute drive from where I live. With a race start at 10 am it was quite a leisurely start to my morning and I rather enjoyed being chauffeur driven to the race start, thanks Tony! 

Arriving at race HQ we found a busy mass of eager runners and a well drilled large number of marshals and organisers. Parking was achieved with military efficiency thanks to the assistance of local cadets and number pick up and bag drop off were similarly completed with minimal fuss. 

We sat inside the sports hall for as long as we could to stay away from the heat outside as the temperature was already rising, but before long it was time to venture outside to conduct a brief warm up and to line up with around 400 other runners to take on 26.2 miles of Essex countryside. 

My thoughts before the race start were of excitement at the race that lay ahead as it is regularly rated as a top ten race in the UK by readers of Runners World, trepidation as to what affect the heat would have on my race performance but anticipation as well at what I was capable of as I knew I was potentially in good shape to run a good time.  

I had scheduled in the first few miles to be gentle at a little outside 4 hour pacing and these were achieved with little effort or note other than a procession of classic cars that rolled past runners on their way to a classic car show, quite a surreal site.

After around mile 3 the first warning sign reared its head via a pain in the ball of my right foot. Its a pain that I have experienced a few times during periods of high training mileage but never during a race. My taper had been the most restful of any marathon preparation so I thought it was odd to get this pain and probably not a good sign.

I tried to put it to the back of my mind and pressed on with the race, soon enough the first 10K was up which I completed in around 56 minutes, perfect 4 hour pacing!

It was at around this point that I started to become very conscious of the heat and it started to creep into my mind that the weather might play a large part in my race performance. 

After around 12 or 13K I decided to try and shift up a gear to take the pace into sub 4 hour territory which felt OK for a short while but soon felt too taxing in the heat. Meanwhile the pain in my right foot began to worsen to the point that it was affecting my running. 

I kept on at a good pace probably just outside 4 hour pacing feeling comfortable until around mile 11 when things took a turn for the worse. Quite quickly things didn't feel so great and the heat was really starting to hit home. Over the course of a few hundred metres I went from feeling OK to feeling like I had run over 18 miles and I was in the later stages of a marathon. I don't know about other marathoners but there is a certain level of fatigue you start to feel at around the 18 mile stage and I start to get a shaky, tingling feeling it was then that I knew I was in trouble and the remaining 15 miles were not going to be pretty. 

About a mile later I caught up with Tony who had gone out at a slightly faster race pace than I but had similarly been struck down by the heat. When I met him he was walking and talking about how close he had come to pulling out so tough was he finding running in the heat. We managed to encourage each other to keep pushing on and alternated between a few hundred metres of running and marching at a brisk pace. After a mile or two we started chatting with several other runners and before I realised Tony had pulled away into the distance. 

I kept up with another mile or two of fast paced walking mixed with regular bouts of running. 

However my next low point occurred pretty soon at around mile 16 when I started to experience significant discomfort in my quads and thighs, they simply had nothing left in them. The thought of walking 10 miles in the heat was an awful prospect.

I will be honest and say I did walk the vast majority of the remaining 10 miles, I just didn't have the energy to run in the heat and my legs just felt zapped of strength and power. 

Most of the remaining miles were characterised by an ongoing battle between the good angel on one shoulder that was urging me to keep walking until I felt strong enough to run again and the devil on my other shoulder who kept trying to convince me that walking was not helping and a nice lie down under the cool shade of a tree would reinvigorate me to run the remaining miles. Luckily my will power prevailed as I knew that once I sat down it would be so hard to get up and continue. 

All thoughts of finishing times had gone from my mind and the battle was just one to get to the finish, I have never been in that position before other than in the final miles of Beachy Head Marathon where a combination of poor training and the brutal seven sisters hills almost destroyed me. 

Its funny how your mind works though as my mentality changed when I reached mile 24 where I managed to start some jogging and then again at mile 25 where I was able to almost run most of the remaining distance. 

The finish couldn't come soon enough and the off road hill in the final half mile I found particularly cruel! 

I crossed the line with little adulation as the only thing I had to celebrate was the fact I didn't have to run any more! 

My finishing time of 5.19 represents my slowest ever marathon and although Halstead is certainly a hilly challenging course its nowhere near as tough as Beachy Head or even Vanguard Way marathon which takes in part of the North Downs Way, it was just the heat which had defeated me on this occasion.

My disappointing performance has led me to some stern reflections which have resulted in the following conclusions;

• Firstly that I was in great condition and on a flat course in good conditions I could have rivaled a 4 hour finish, if it hadn't been so hot I would have been more than chuffed with a 4.30 finish at Halstead.
• I am too much of a typical Brit to perform well in the heat, I tire at the best of times when the weather gets hot let alone when trying to run a marathon.
• Lastly my running performance is significantly affected by my enjoyment of a run. I wasn't let down by my physical preparation or my mental attitude but as soon as I stopped enjoying running, because it was just too hot for me to run, I struggled to perform at my peak. 

Anyway enough of me moaning about a disappointing run how was the actual race?

It is very easy to see why Halstead is rated so highly, it is superbly organised and administered from the car parking, to the bag drop, the marshaling and the drink stations. Tony and I summarised it as an excellent example of a grass roots running event, the community really seemed to come together to support the race and really wanted to be proud of putting on a great event for runners to enjoy.

As for the course its certainly not PB potential as the course has one large hill and several decent climbs as well as always seeming to be on a slight incline or decline. However if you can handle the heat and the hills then the scenery and landscape are really spectacular. Rolling hills, patchwork fields as far as the eye can see, quaint thatched cottages in peaceful villages and quiet country lanes, every example of picturesque English countryside was on show and it was a pleasure to experience it on such a beautiful day. 

I have saved the best to last, for a modest entry fee the race provides an awesome medal, a generous goody bag packed full of snacks for the journey home and a really attractive T-shirt. 

If your looking for a spring marathon next year why not stay clear of the big city options of Manchester, London and Brighton and come and see what lovely Halstead has to offer. Th

Marathon crunch time

It's getting towards the business end of marathon training. I have about four weeks to go to marathon number eight, this is it now, a few weeks of the hardest training left then taper time.

Rather than giving you my unqualified advise as to what I think you should do to successfully train for a marathon, I'm going to tell you about my training in the hope that it will interest/educate/enlighten/guide/confuse/amuse you (delete as appropriate). 

First off this is my first spring marathon, the big negative associated with a spring marathon is the rain, the cold, the wind and the dark, training during the summer months for an Autumn marathon is much more fun!

The big advantage for me though had been that my marathon, Halstead on the 8 May, comes a few weeks after several big events, Paris, London, Brighton etc. This means my training has been a few weeks behind the masses of people running these events and sharing their training on social media so I have been quietly lurking in the background watching and learning from other people's experiences. 

Six weeks out from a marathon seems like a perfect time to get new trainers, that and the fact my current pair have done well in excess of 500km. 

So these are the pair that are (notice there is now hopefully added in here, I am trying to engage in more positive thinking) going to take me to sub 4 hour glory. 

In the last few weeks I have been racking up the miles and on top of the three half marathons I have done this year I have completed two 15 milers and a 17 miler. I am planning two more long runs in the region of 20 miles so that should take care of getting enough mileage in.

The long runs have been paired with a decent amount of speed work as well with regular early morning track sessions over at Regents Park.

I reckon my training has been better than previous marathons with a definite case of my training having been smarter if not necessarily having been harder or longer. 

So what do I have to do now to get me to the marathon start line in tip top condition:

Sleep - Plenty of rest to maximise the benefits of training.

Protein - Increassing the amount of protein I am including in my diet so plenty of hummus, natural yogurt, protein shakes, nuts, peanut butter, milk and the old faithful chicken for me. Its also lucky that USN recently sent me a free goody box of products to try out and review.

So far I have tried out, pure GF1 a tasty, rich, creamy protein shake packing a whole 40g of protein, pretty perfect to help recovery after a long grueling run. 

Trying out new carb loading options - I recently read an account from a runner who reflected that while training for an event so many runners will priotitise eating well, cutting out refined sugar and processed food only to get to race day and then start consuming sickly energy gels down their throats to help power their run. This really hit home with me so I decided to try out some more 'real food' options. I stumbled across whitworths shots (other dried fruit snacks are available) as a great way to get some carbs on board while out running. So far they are working really well, the main difference being that they take a bit of time to chew and swallow as opposed to gels which just slip straight down your throat. 

Not eating any puddings - Cutting out sweets, cakes and other sugary snacks is usually on most runners pre race preparation list and I am no different as I have a particularly sweet tooth and the problem is heightened by the fact that I get free lunch and work. Not just free lunch, but free lunch with a great range of puddings, cheesecakes, fruit crumbles, sponge cakes all the good things you can imagine! Cutting these out is fast becoming a major challenge! 

So here we go 4 ish weeks to go, lots of hard work to go but only 2 weeks before things tail off and its taper time! 

If you are running any of the great range of marathons in the coming weeks I hope your training has gone well and you have a great run! 

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.