The plan for the Reading Half Marathon had been to do the Manchester Marathon then spend a month working really hard to absolutely go for it and get a great time. Obviously when I made this plan, I forgot just how much doing a marathon takes from you mentally and physically – and how much celebrating I had scheduled in throughout October!
So I got to the start line not really knowing what my body was going to do or what to expect. Nerves kicked in a bit and I had to really give myself a talking to the remind me that I more than had the miles in my legs to get through a half, I just needed to do my best to enjoy it and not panic.
Despite being a week into November, the weather was really
pleasant with blue skies and bright sunshine which added to the great
atmosphere in the race village. After a bit of a walk to get to the starting
area, it was time to start the penned in shuffle towards the start line, before
finally getting going not too long before 11am.
For the first mile I cranked the pace up a bit because I
didn’t want to settle too early if I could help it, so there was a lot of
ducking and diving in-between other runners to find space to run. This
gradually got a bit easier as the crowd of runners thinned to a steady flow and
everyone started to nicely find their own rhythm ready for the long road ahead.
I felt quite comfortable as I moved into the second mile, enjoying
taking in the sights and sound of completely unfamiliar streets. What I hadn’t
been expecting was a really sharp steep incline approaching the 5km mark – all
I’d heard was that Reading was a nice flat route! I’m pleased to say I dug deep
and kept running though, determined to do the best I could.
Despite the route flattening out again after that hill, it
didn’t seem to get any easier and I was starting to feel a lot more tired than
I should do just a few miles in. I willed myself to keep going and enjoy the
crowds as I turned off the main road and through the university campus, but it
was taking a lot of willing!
I soon realised I was going to have to put some tactics in
place to keep my head in it and not have a terrible race, as I still had well
over an hour’s worth of running to do. So, as I reached the 10km mark I decided
to slow to a walk, take on a gel and some water and just give myself a bit of a
rest. Then just when I needed it, I started to hear the echos of a drumming
band in the distance which helped me to pick the pace up again.
The next section was really quite nice, running through the
streets of Reading town centre taking in some picturesque buildings and
enjoying the spectators who’d came out to line the street and cheer us on. The
miles started to tick by again, even with some more tough and quite unwelcome
steep and unexpected inclines again.
Getting toward the three-quarters-of-the-way point I was
still feeling positive but starting to flag again so I went for the same walk,
gel, water approach which had given me a boost last time and carried on. Coupled
with a few bits of downhill for a change, I found the energy I needed to enjoy
the next mile – fuelled also by some great songs shuffling through my Spotify
playlist.
The majority of the rest of the race was don a very long
dual carriageway back towards the stadium for the finish. This bit could have potentially
been quite boring but the November sun shone down and everyone was in great spirits
as we marched on, enjoying the sight of the stadium growing closer while
traffic on the opposite side of the road honked their horns in support. Plus it
was nice and flat!
Before too long, the patch took a turn into the carpark
round another corner and finally into the football ground for the big stadium
finish! In my view, the last few hundred metres were the best of the race and
definitely what made it different to any others that I’ve done – the feeling of
running into the football ground and around the pitch watched by hundreds of
spectators was amazing!
All in all I came in at just over 2:14 which I was alright
with, I’d have liked to have shaved a few minutes off that ideally, but my
preparation hadn’t been ideal and the course was more challenging than I
expected. Another one ticked off, but it’s not an event I’m desperate to do
again.
