Every second counts

I'm You could be mistaken for thinking that only shorter sprint races come down to split second finishes. Sure Usain Bolt needs to make every fraction of a second count as he hurtles through 100m in a matter of seconds but the margins surely are not that tight over long distance races?

Well two recent experiences made me remember that in every race every second counts.

A few weeks back I ventured over to Hackney Marshes Parkrun to meet up my Asics bootcamp buddy Chris Brammer.

We were keen to have a decent run on what is an excellent flat course of PB potential. I was not in the best of shape for any speedy sprinting and Chris was understandably wanting to run well within himself as he had the Paris marathon in a weeks time and subsequently he was therefore in much better shape than I. (He went on to smash his PB and run his first sub 4 marathon by the way!)

I ventured that I could probably crack a sub24 run and this was well within Chris's limits so using his Garmin he paced me round with a view of completing in under the 24 minute mark.

Boom! We crossed the line in 23.59! 

It was a tough race to keep pushing for the whole race but I was glad I did as I would have been disappointed to miss out on 24 minutes by just a few seconds.

My second every second counts experience came at the Hampton Court Half Marathon. The first things to say about this race is that their medal is amazing:

Henry VIII doing a mobot as part of a reassuringly weighty and thick high quality medal, what more do you want?! 

I also got a photo with the king himself and you can read my write up of my race here. 

I ran the race with my brother in law Tom who fresh from beating me at the recent Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon was eager to trump me again, full write up available here.

I didn't end up seeing Tom at the start so wasn't aware of where he had started in relation to me and then at the end had no idea not only of his finishing time but of how his finish time equated to mine.

I found him soon after the finish and we tried to work out if him finishing around a minute before me meant his time was actually quicker than mine in relation to when we both started off. Neither of us are that up to date with our running equipment so no snazzy Garmin or GPS data to inform us who had triumphed.

It wasn't until later that evening when the official times were posted that the evidence showed how close the margin of victory was to be.

One second! 

The thinnest of thin margins!

So close but I was still glad to record a victory after Tunbridge Wells although in reality I know there is no victory in a one second difference. 

So what is the moral of my tale? Give 100% in every second of every race as you never know when you might need that valuable second to help you beat a rival or break a PB!

Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon

Today I ran my ninth half marathon at the inaugural Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon. 

The race might have been a half marathon but the journey was definitely a marathon! 

Situated in and around the grounds of Hampton Court Palace a previous residence of Henry VIII the race enters the racing calendar to join the other events that currently use Royal Parks and Palaces as there setting. 

I was really looking forward to taking part in this event and seeing what the location and race had to offer. However by the time today had swung around I had gone off the idea for a variety of reasons. Firstly health and injuries concerns of not feeling in a great shape after struggling to train well with my ongoing calve issues and also not fully managing to shake off a recent cold and cough. Also the logistics of getting to Hampton Court looked like being a nightmare adding in the clocks going forward and it wasn't an ideal scenario. 

With no trains operating from my local station at Harold Wood my travel plans consisted off leaving at 5.30am (essentially 4.30 with the time change) biking the 3 or so miles to Upminster and hoping on the first tube into Central London as there were no trains running early enough. Getting off at Embankment and walking over the Thames to Waterloo before catching the first train go Hampton Court at 7.27 in order to get there for soon after 8.00. 

By the time I had made my way to the runners village, queued for an essential pre run toilet break and dropped off my bag it was time to head off to the start.

The race really felt like an inaugural event as it lacked the polished event management and direction of an established event. The start was somewhat chaotic and slowing down for the gates and bollards only a few hundred metres into the race was not ideal.

Overall though the course was pleasant, starting off with a nice run along the Thames towards Kingston before meandering our way through the park towards the palace befor zig zagging around the Palace grounds. 

The course was made up of two laps, the first slightly smaller and the second longer with a demoralising circuit of the large lake behind the Palce on miles 11 and 12. The finish did feel like the race organisers were desperate to make up the required distance by taking you away from the finish before doubling back on yourself. 

It was a shame the weather wasn't more conducive to showing off the Palace in its finest glory nor the scenic route along the river and through the park but it was enjoyable none the less. 

So how did I do? My official time clocked in at 1.48.42, 3 minutes faster than my recent attempt at a hilly Tunbridge Wells and my third fastest time of the nine half marathons I have ran. Overall I think it was a fair reflection of my fitness at the moment and I was happy as I know I pushed hard for the best time possible.

My tactic was to go off pretty easy and then to maintain around 8 minute miles and then push for a faster pace between miles 7 and 10. Come the last three miles I was then stronger enough to maintain a good pace and push for home, I was chasing my second best PB of 1.46 but it was not to be.

In summary a tough race were I worked hard after a tough journey to get to the start line both in terms of my training to be fit enough to run as well as the difficulties in the logistics of getting across London today. With a medal like this though it's all worth it!