I have entered a half marathon in February. So I have been doing a bit of running.
Work is five miles from my home so running in and out makes good base training. I have tried doing intervals, but until I am well past Waterloo the pavement is often a little too crowded (particularly in the evenings)
The event I am training for is the Endurancelife Coastal Trail Series -South Devon (Half Marathon). Here are the details;
| Average Time M | 02:10:36 |
| Average Time F | 02:27:12 |
| Fastest Time M | 01:34:08 Ceri Rees (12) |
| Fastest Time F | 01:46:39 Anna Bartlett (12) |
| Slowest Time | 03:30:06 |
| Distance | 13.6 Miles |
| GPX Data | |
| Ascent | 1,996 ft |
I successfully ran my first 10 miles by the end of the first week of training ( I have good aerobic fitness from cycling) and I am confident I can deal with the distance. However, I have been concerned that the hills of Devon will be my undoing as my muscles are not acclimatised to this sport.
To test this point I gave myself a 7 mile road circuit on New Years day. The weather was atrocious – cold, windy, rainy and dark. The roads were empty but there were some very steep sections and it was either up or down – no flat.
To add to the terrain challenges I was also almost forced to turn around by a farm dog who felt he owned not only the farm yard but also the adjoining roadway – I had to slink past, right by the hedge.
Luckily I came into this run fresh as although the distance was shorter the climbing was much higher! My body complained the next day.
Pretty unadvisedly I then decided to do my local Park Run on Saturday. I was still tired from my epic on Wednesday and very soon my calves were arguing.
I shall need to become very comfortable with half marathon distances and start getting more accustomed to hill running otherwise my event in February won’t be much fun!
