October updates-The Cardiff Half Marathon!

Following the Dale Half Marathon and a slightly disappointing time I resumed training with some shorter ‘faster’ runs of 4-5 mile, some good training runs with the TROTs on the regular Thursday evening sessions and a longer Sunday run of 12 miles. I completed the long run in 1hr 33 minutes which is my fastest time over this hilly course and this gave me some encouragement to try the Gwent League Cross Country event at Bridgend on the 12th October. Not sure if this was brave or foolhardy as most of the runners are substantially faster than me and even if I aim to use this as a training run one inevitably gets sucked into the race. Add to this an unusually hot day and my peculiar talent for going the wrong way it turned into quite a draining experience. On the final lap I was focused on my rhythm and turned left after going through a gateway only to hear shouts of ‘Oi you’re going the wrong way mate!’. I turned to see the group of five I had previously been leading now leading me. Furious, I managed to carve my way back through the group to stagger across the finish 270 out of 330.

Not the first time this has happened. I run without my spectacles, following the shady characters in front and the bright green direction markers. On the Goodwick 10K I once followed one of these green arrows pointing down a narrow lane. When I retraced my steps I found to my dismay that I had been heading for a jolly afternoon of course fishing. Considering I am a trained geographer and a member of the Towy Running and Orienteering Team I should be ashamed of my navigational abilities.

Anyway, on to the Cardiff Half Marathon on the 19th October, an important yardstick in my early preparations. Stayed overnight with my sister and arrived bright and early for the start. There seemed to be a huge entry this year and the course proved to be winding and very crowded which makes it difficult to maintain a steady, economical pace. I spotted the Runners World pacer for 1hr 40mins and decided to see if I could hang on to him. I managed to stay within 15 yards up to 12 miles and the pushed on to finish in 1:39:17, my best half marathon time since 1988. So I am sitting at home now feeling pretty pleased with myself and enjoying the postive outcome. Stage one completed, the next difficult task is extending the mileage which takes quite a time commitment.