Liverpool Half Marathon

After my experience at the Stafford 20 I was a little apprehensive and worried that I would struggle through the race    , it does seem a little daft considering am quite experienced at running this distance, but Stafford 20 taught me never to under-estimate a race, make sure you prepare correctly!! 

So in the run up to Liverpool I was drinking plenty of water at work, on the Saturday I may have gone over board, but better safe than sorry!  We were car hunting on the Saturday so at virtually every garage we stopped at I was familiarising myself with the facilities . Finishing the day off with a good healthy tea with protein and complex carbs (well my take on complex carbs, Steak, Mushrooms, Cheese and Chips!)

Sunday did not start well it was cold, grey and pouring down in Stoke , so I got straight on to twitter to asked people what the weather was like in Liverpool and made sure I had a top for every eventuality. Although  I needn’t  have worried my twitter friends had posted pictures and there where blue skies over the pool!  Unfortunately it took a little longer than expected to get to Liverpool and with stopping for a pre race pit stop I was a little late to the start  I couldn’t get in a pen and I didn’t catch up with my running buddy Sharon .  I had to filter in to the side of the pen and it was quite sometime before I crossed the start line and then I was off.  As I said I was a little worried about how I would fair on the race, but I had agreed with myself that I would just go out and run, not worry about a PB just see how I feel.  The weather was now on my side, blue skies and sunny, with a slight breeze , although it is billed as a flat race there were  couple of hills but nothing I couldn’t cope with.  

All in all it was a nice race , I can’t say it was easy  and there where points I wanted to stop, but I carried on, even with…. butt ache … around 3 miles in I started to get a pain in my right butt cheek but I carried on. I made sure that I took on water at every station and even managed to get a couple of my jelly babies, although a lot did end up on the floor.  There is  a lovely stretch along the sea front which was lovely, flat with a nice sea breeze and then before I knew it we were rounding the corner and the finish was in sight, I wasn’t sure if had a BP or not; I was just happy that I hadn’t stopped and I was enjoying it in some small way.

The T-shirt and medal where lovely

Stafford Half Marathon

What a race! It was a lovely day  and I was on a high after completing Liverpool Half successfully the week before .  I was really looking forward to the run, I remembered it was last year and was looking forward to  running the route again, there is something about running around your old neighbourhood.  There were a number of Potters Trotters taking part in the race and for a couple of them it was the 1st half marathon;

 Liz Tideswell was running for cancer research and looking to achieve either a sub 2:15 or 2:00 time and she managed to smash her estimations and cam in at 1:58, check out her race report on her blog http://rosedawndesigns.blogspot.co.uk/ 

and

Sara Goodwin, Sara was hoping to get around in around 3 hours but for Sara it was mainly to achieve her goal of achieving a half marathon before she was 40, Sara finished in a chip time of 2:51, managing to smash both her goals in one go! 

Well done girls 

The other person who was running this distance for the 1st time was the husband of a colleague from work, Andrew Williams, he was running to raise money for MS and I had agreed to pace him for the 1st couple of miles, he was worried that he may start off a little too quick and wreak his race.  We started in the 1:50 pen and before we knew it we were off and running a very comfortable 8:30minute mile pace, however I had forgotten how flat it was and before I knew it I was running at 8:00 minute miles ! not good as I was meant to be pacing Andrew, but he was taking it all in his stride. 

Mum and Dad came out and see me again around Knowle Road mark and had some much needed Lucozade drink and jelly babies as I slowed down to see them, Andrew carried on at a comfortable place, after waving like mad at them and picking up my supplies I carried on.   My race carried on at a comfortable pace,  each time I over took a runner with a “W” on their back I sped up a little more, Tixall Lanes seemed to be a little tougher than I remembered and just as I was getting a little weary of them they finished and I was heading back in to Baswich, over half way done..

I was feeling great, the sun  on my back, great music  in my ears and the finish was closer than the start . 

Just as I passed the 12 mile maker I noticed another “W” runner in front, she was wearing a blue Cheadle running singlet;1st place must be between me and her, that was here that I managed to find a little more energy, I caught up with her and over took her coming through Doxy and in the park is where she took back the lead, but I stuck to her heals and followed her step for step.  Just as we came out of the park and back into Stafford Town centre I retook the lead and was feeling strong, I was getting tired but I knew the finish was close and she was hot my heals.  As we round the corner by Costa the finish was in sight she came passed me again, the world closed in and there was just 2 people in this race and I wanted to win and at the same time we both broke out into a sprint for the finish line and I would say that it was a photo finish. She have me a hug and we said thanks, both wondering what the league result was going to say!

I do have to say a big thank you to my nemesis, or Rachel Beardmore as I have since found out, I managed to achieve a personal best and  knocked off a good 2 minutes, I don’t think I would have managed it if we hadn’t have been battling to the finish!!! As for who won the points we are still waiting for the league results to be published, our gun time was the the same at 1:53:22 however my chip time was 1:51:15 which was quicker,  perhaps this is what the holding up the results .

Stafford 20 – not my day – but I triumphed & finished!!!

Well it has finally come around to the Stafford 20 road race, it all seemed like a good idea when I entered a few months ago!!  It is a 3 loop race around Stafford, Weston, Salt, Hopton and surrounds, the 1st is the longest for 8 miles and though hilly Salt, the next 2 laps are 6 miles, less of a climb but you will have to run past the county showground again another 2 times .  The actual route can be found on Map My Run  Stafford 20

Although I thought I had prepared well for the event but the actually day was a different story  The weather was great and the sun was out .  Met up with my running partner Sharon and also caught up with the other Potters Trotters, some of the Trentham lot and Mark ( my twitter friends) and we wish each other good luck  .

I was a little daunted by the distance but thought that I had put in the training and I could easily achieve my goal of finishing in 3 hours, the start was good Sharon and had agreed to run together and our aim was 9 minutes miles, however the 1st hill was my downfall.  I started to slow down and told Sharon to carry on, 3 miles in and I was done for  I felt sick, I needed to go to the loo and putting one foot in front of the seemed to be impossible, so I stopped took a minute, plugged in my head phones decided that I would make it around to Sean (near the Uni where the finish was) and give up there.

I made it round to Sean (7.50 miles), nipped off to the loo (the less said about that the better) had some more water and words of encouragement (from Sean) and carried on, determined to complete at least one more lap .  With Jelly Bellies in hand with another bottle of water I started out again , the 2nd time pasted the county show was difficult  but I didn’t stop it was pretty and it wasn’t quick but I made it, just passed Hopton I scoffed down the and it was like been turbo charged!! and I made it back around to Sean.  This time I was ready to give up, I had a good run made it around and completed 14 miles, then I saw a Potter Trotter top and decided yes I could make one more lap, I am not a quitter I WILL FINISH!!!  and finish I did; the time wasn’t great but I have a well earned mug , which I have not stopped using yet!!

Lap 1Lap 2Final Lap

Has this put me off running, nah my next run is Sunday and it is the Liverpool half….and before you ask yes I have already started looking for my next 20 mile race so I can beat my official race time of 3:28