I ran this without GPS and without looking at my heart rate monitor - I put masking tape over the heart rate read out. Mind you I had a very useful gadget with me - Bety! That's not her actual name, but that's how she appeared in the results. 'Bety' and I ran the whole way, both unsure of the pace, but we both had really good PB runs. Bety pulled away from me up the last hill, as I faded slightly, but despite what I thought was a clear gap between us we were both given the same finish time. Thankyou Bety!
There are some quite hilly bits to cope with. This was one reason I decided to go by feel rather than telemetry. Pacing is a problem, as there is no way you can run the whole thing at even pace. There are a couple of mean drags up hills in the last 2 miles and very few flat bits. To beat my PB by over 4 minutes, then, is extremely pleasing - a vindication of my base training method. That's nearly a minute/mile pace improvement in 18 months. I'm not seeing any sign of a plateau, so long may it continue.
The event is a really nice friendly event. I've had some stick from male friends about the need for women's events, but I think they work well. For the slow runners, there isn't the fear of placing at the rear of the field, although someone of course always has to finish last. For the faster runners (me!), you can start well up the field knowing you are competing equally with those around you. It's nice to feel competitive!
It was a good day for it. After starting cloudy, a mile later the sun came out, and stayed with us for the remainder of the race. OK, maybe a tad warm, but you can't have everything! The shade of the trees while running the last of the big uphill sections was very welcome.
The only detraction, was a rogue dog half way round. I'm sure the collie thought it was being playful, but the runner ahead of us wasn't so impressed. The dog was jumping up her back clawing at her shoulders. I think she was quite frightened. Once it had had enough and came bounding at us, I tried shouting loudly and aggressively for it to get down, but it didn't seem to make much difference. The only effect was it had more of a go at Beth (that's her name in case you hadn't guessed) than me. Fortunately it gave up on us as a marshal came running up, presumably to try to restrain it. Dogs have been a feature of my running lately!
I think my pace judgement was OK, but I did fade a little up the last hill. As stats are a feature of this blog, here they are:
| Mile | split | ave HR |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7:07 | 146 |
| 2 | 7:25 | 153 |
| 3 | 7:41 | 155 |
| 4 | 7:35 | 156 |
| 5 | 7:38 | 155 |
My HR dropped a bit in the last mile as I couldn't quite keep pushing so hard, but I paced it quite well, particularly as it got hillier as the race went on. Maybe the first was a tad quick though?
A good day at the office as they say!
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