Confessions of a Marathon Runner: Double Race Weekend!

What's better than a race at the weekend? Two races at the weekend! Yep, on the 15th and 16th February I ran the Garmin Race Your Pace (RYP) half marathon at Dorney Lake and then jumped on the train down to Brighton, for the Brighton Half Marathon! Fast courses, not to mention the haul of medal-bling on offer. Why two halfs in two days? To practise running on tired legs - I'll need to do this to run both Brighton and London Marathons.

RYP was up first. I wanted to push myself on this one, and redeem myself after the Watford Half (a disappointing 2.30 finish time). I was also really keen to see if the interval training was paying off, and whether I could achieve an average of under 11 minute miles. The race is specially designed for runners to think about their pace and try and achieve a PB or target pace/time, and the course is 4 laps of the lake, and pancake flat. There are pacers for every minutes, from 6 to 12. I chose the 11 minute mile pacer.

The most challenging part of the race was the weather! It was dry for most of it, but we did get rain. However, it was the very strong wind that made things particularly challenging. Every 4th lap, we had to run into wind for 2km, before turning 180 and enjoying the downwind section. This made it feel like there were 4 hills! There was a great atmosphere among the runners, and our pacing group stuck together until about the third mile. It is surprising how much easier it makes running, as when you are all in a little pack you tend to keep up the pace without realising. Plus, there's more shelter from the wind and people to chat to! The group spread out a lot later on, and it was soon obviously we were running faster than 11 min miles, but I stuck close to the pacer as much as I could. I pushed hard for the final 2km stretch and sprinted the last little section - and was very happy to finish in 2.19.04! A 10.37 min mile average! Thanks Pacer, you were awesome! I love the medal, which shows a little tortoise and hare - but the tortoise has a rocket strapped to it's back and is overtaking the hare!

After driving home from Dorney lake, it was straight to the train station and down to Brighton for the next half marathon. This was a much bigger race, which I'd done last year. I really wanted to beat my time from 2013, and to be honest, even if I took it fairly easy it probably won't be too difficult as I'd finished in 2.29 last year which I was disappointed with (I was starting to get a cold and felt faint half way through). The plan was to run just over 11 minute miles, and steady, so easier than RYP but still hopefully inside marathon pace.

Brighton also went very well - although the legs were not too keen on being pushed yet again and started to do their own thing at mile 5! It was a fabulous day, very sunny and mild, and there was a great atmosphere among runners. I actually really enjoyed running, and not just afterwards I'd finish - actually while I was running. This is quite rare for me as I tend to just enjoy it once it's all over and done it - it does hurt, after all! I did take it fairly slow for the first few miles, but was still feeling good so was happy to go faster than planned. Also a mostly flat course, there was no strong wind to contend with this time but we got a nice, refreshing sea breeze instead. Annoyingly, I had not charged my Garmin the night before, and the battery was going fast. At mile 10, I decided to switch off the GPS and go by timer only, knowing I had only 5k to do, and could base my performance on this easily enough. I was thrilled to finish in 2.22.21 - only a few minutes off the previous day's race! The medal was awesome, very large and chunky - similar design as last year but much thicker!

I had a lovely walk along the beach while eating the chocolate from my goodybag, then took the train home and enjoyed a lovely bath. I was also pleased to see that my latest Virtual Race medal had come through - from a successful 10k done that week - bringing the bling count that week to three! Finally, I headed off to a couple of friends' house for dinner, to catch up, check out their new place and meet their puppy! The pup certainly had more energy by that point that I did!

Garmin Race Your Pace bib number and race pack