I'd not really managed any specific training for this Half as I'd been
concentrating on trying to ride my bike faster the previous few weeks. I
felt pretty good on the morning though and the TomTom had led me a
hassle free drive to the start down some twisty A road and by what I
guess was the concrete cows. Met Keith and Sharon and Andy and Peter
and others at the start and it felt like a solid veggie presence. I was
warned of a possible bottleneck start and that the many short cycle track
ascents may seem like hills towards the end.

I had to beat a retreat to the other end of the field when the 'warm-up'
started as it was rather too loud even for someone who isn't averse to
treating the neighbours to a bit of Motorhead. I suspect some of those
who threw themselves into what looked like a 15 minute aerobics session
would have liked a bit of that energy back come mile 10.

One of my targets was to manage a PB which meant beating 1:53:57 and
shouldn't be too hard on a flat course. Even more important though was
to get the pacing right so I'd got the energy to finish with some form.
I plonked myself in the middle of the 1:45 - 2:00 start group and
was a bit surprised to find lots of runners passing me in the first mile
or two. According to my Garmin I was running sub 8:30 miles though so I
just let them go.

A varied course, with lots of twists and turns, all well marshalled when
I went by but I later learned a group of fastuns had missed an
unmarshalled turn earlier and added several minutes to their run. We
ran through subways, through parks, by lakes, along a tow path, various
surfaces but nothing unpleasant. I though we were going round in
circles for a bit as I kept seeing the same supporter but after the
third time realised he was driving from point to point to cheer someone
on.

The long, flat bit around mile 8 I'd been warned about didn't worry me
but I was slowing a bit by mile 10 and then it seemed to be going
slightly uphill by mile 11. Quite a few runners were slowing more than
me though and a few were walking. I tried the tactic of focusing on
someone ahead and slowly catching them then repeat with another runner.
This worked mostly though in a couple of cases my victim sped up
unexpectedly. I thought I was recognising runners who had overtaken me
in the first couple of miles now flagging enough for me to pass which
was a boost.

I made the last mile and a half into hard work by glancing at my Garmin
too often and counting down the yards. Peter was waiting with the
camera by the finish though with Keith and Andy so I put on a spurt.
They had managed some impressive times. Was pleased with my 1:52:27
which put me in the first half of the field.

We waited for Sharon to finish and chatted a bit then a few photos and
then headed off. I got lost in the process despite my attempts to
memorise landmarks on the way to the start but was maybe a good thing as
I think the extended walk saved my legs from cramping up on the drive back.

A look at the mile splits when I got home showed me that I'd done the
1st mile at 8:08 and gradually slowed to a bit under 9:00 with a sub
7:00 spurt at the finish. So getting better but still needs work.

Nik