But this post isn't about that!
Back in December, a somewhat small covering of snow meant the 35th annual Keyworth Turkey Trot had to be postponed. I'm not going to lie, I was relieved! I hadn't trained enough and it was bloody freezing so it felt like a get out of jail free card turning off the alarm on that cold, dark winter morning. I did run that day, opting for an enjoyable few miles on an unofficial Southbank Club Run instead of a hilly half marathon.
So feeling slightly more prepared and with the postponed race slotting nicely into my London Marathon schedule I woke up with the all too familiar now mix of nerves and excitement that only a race day can bring.
Unusually, I set out to the race by myself, not wanting to drag my family out when it's still cold and with Des working away. But it didn't matter as the friendly faces from my running club were already congregating when I arrived at the school hall ready for the race to begin.
Already a tad anxious and worrying as I often do, I went into an awful panic mode when the person speaking on the tannoy announced that headphones of all types were banned from the race. Despite running more regularly than ever without some background music, I've never done it on a race day and I have been reliant on some of my favourite songs to get through the trickier miles.
After much motivation and encouragement from my family, I reluctantly handed my headphones in at the bag drop, went for one last nervous pee and joined the hundreds lining up on the start line.
Cheered on by the crowds of locals as the race got underway, there was a lovely atmosphere was we made our way through the village with the first mile buzz of energy pushing us along.
Just shy of a mile in I bumped into a lady I know who was hitting a particularly impressive milestone - he 12th half marathon in as many months, raising money for a fabulous local dog shelter. I ended up sticking with Rachel for about the first half with the race, and I was so greatful not to have to face the hills of south Nottinghamshire on my own!
Flipping heck the hills. I'd been told about them, I'd studied the elevation map and they'd been in the back of my mind for weeks. But I don't think all that had quite prepared me (maybe in hindsight some hill training might have been a good idea...). We decided to opt for the charging up them approach rather than running and tiring ourselves out for the later miles. We ran, we chatted and we powered up hills and despite being hard, the miles with Rachel passed by quickly and were a great pleasure.
Not long after seeing my smiling, clapping friend Sarah at about 6.5miles in, I had to start dropping back. After completing the first couple of miles in sub-10 mins which is unheard of for me in a long run. I was starting to get really fatigued and I needed to keep enough in the tank for the rest of the race.
Carrying on at a steadier pace as Rachel disappeared off in to the distance, the next couple of miles were fairly uneventful. Despite that lack of music I'd been so worried about, I was doing OK being alone with my thoughts in the fresh countryside air. Each water station had a very enthusiastic support crew cheering the runners on and handing out jelly babies which definitely helped.
It was around mile 10 it started to get really hard. I was shattered and near the top of a windy hill when the snow started coming. Well I say snow, it had hailstones mixed in too - they bloody come keen as they hit my cold face but I carried on going. As hard as it was, I knew I needed to keep on gong because the more I pushed the sooner I'd be back.
My legs were really starting to hurt now, I'd been out for over two hours and slowly the aches were creeping in. It wasn't just the aches creeping in either - more bloody hills kept appearing. Gentle in comparison to those earlier in the race but seemingly relentless as the numbers slowly crept up on my watch signalling the end was in sight.
That last mile seemed like one of the longest I've ever ran. If it can be called running - I'm not embarrassed to say I walked most of it! It was up hills and my legs just didn't have it in them. But with one final burst of energy as I tipped over the top of the last hill and back toward the school and the all important finishing line I managed to break back in to a steady jog... just in time to be caught on camera by Des who had surprised me by getting back in time to be waiting at the finish. I'm always pleased to see him but after 5 days apart and 13.1 miles of cold, windy hills I was absolutely bloody delighted!!
It was done!! In the respectable time of 2:32:01 (the second fastest of my three half marathons).
Now a blog post on this year's TT Half Marathon can't be completed without a mention of the somewhat infamous finisher's souvenir. The TT is known for it's preference of a novelty memento as opposed to the traditional medal and this year's was definitely original! Handed to by a rather tall elf as I re-joined the other runners from my club was a small black bag with the Turkey Trot logo printed on, containing a small cloth which I've not quite worked out a use for yet but I'm sure I will do.
So in summary, on paper (or screen... check the elevation map below) this should have been a bloody horrible race on a cold, blustery February morning. But with good company, positive attitude and good organisation and spectators on route, it wasn't half bad! And those Trentwrecked fries and post-race pint back at the Southbank after tasted all the better for being hard earned.
But back to the bigger picture... London is now just around the corner and I've still got a lot of miles to find in my legs and a lot of money to get to my target so please if you can, visit my fundraising page!
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| Still managing what can sort of by described as a smile! |
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| This really doesn't do all those hills justice! |
