Bath Half Marathon - Race Report

So, three months of hard training, did it work? 1hr 35mins 38 seconds says yes - an improvement of 7 minutes since last year. I'm very pleased.

I was, to be honest, nervous on the start line because of the task ahead - to run non-stop for 13.1 miles at a fast pace, a pace I know I am capable of but one that really hurts. Then, as I crossed the line, I knew I was in for a good race.

Apart from one loo stop and a stop to get rid of a stone from my left shoe (praise be to elastic laces!), I coped very well with the pace and, dare I say it, I could have pushed it a little harder in the second half. I reckon I could have saved 30 seconds by upping the pace slightly. But that is experience talking!

I stuck to my plan of a negative split and increasingly faster times in the last three. Splits were as follows:

7:16 - fast start
7:28 - composed myself
7:13 - found my pace
7:53 - loo stop! (GEL)
7:09 - Lucozade
7:22
7:18
7:10 - GEL
7:40 - stopped to get stone out of shoe
7:16 - Lucozade
7:19
6:51
6:46 - UPHILL FINISH!

Average pace: 7m 18secs
Average Heart Rate: 178
Heart Rate Max: 195

New shoes performed well, felt the benefits of a lighter model from 6 miles onward. The two gels did their job and the on course Lucozade provided the fluids needed to maintain the fast pace.

A great day all round really, Bath Half is a great race in a lovely city. Friends of mine also did well, including Terry who knocked a good 10 minutes off of his PB to come in at 1:55:55.

The endurance training has been spot on, with hill work a definite bonus. Swimming and cycling (done at a hard pace) has been very beneficial. It will be interesting to see how things go from here, but I'm taking a week off running!