On Sunday I joined a bunch of Pegasus and SMR runners at the Newport Half Marathon. I’d signed up at the end of last year and didn’t want to let a little thing like being injured and hardly running since January put me off.
I had done a few 3 mile runs and a 5 mile run since end of January and that was about it. I decided to run it anyway and told myself that I would run/walk or just walk if my glute/hip started hurting again. What’s the worst that could happen??!!
The journey
My running buddy Sarah picked me up and we set off in the pouring rain for Newport. We were following her tomtom which seemed to want to add a bit of drama and mystery to the route so took us through the lanes.
This was fun until we got to one part that basically had a lake in the middle of it. Swear words happened. We looked at each other and decided to just slowly drive through and keep everything crossed. It worked! We didn’t kill the car or drown. Bonus!
We got to Newport, parked the car and joined the Pegs in the leisure centre for pre-race chit chat and about 3 visits to the toilet.
We all said good luck to each other and split into 2 groups. The speedy-pants-Pegs and the not-so-speedy-pants-Pegs.
The start
I started the Newport Half Marathon with Sarah, Wendy and Clare as we were all going for about the same finish time.
The start of any race or run for me is the worse part. It takes about 3-4 miles for my body to settle down and find its stride. Add recovering from injury into the mix and I was seriously doubting my bright idea to run this half marathon.
Clare and I got into a nice pace together and around mile 8 we rounded a corner then I shouted “PIGS!!”. On the side of the bank were 2 big pigs just going about their pig business while nearly 2000 people ran past them. We decided to stop for photos.
We carried on along the path and as we were coming up to mile 10 I could hear bagpipes. I said to Clare “can you hear bagpipes?” and luckily she said yes. I was a bit worried that I was hearing things due to overdosing on energy gels and jelly babies.
Scottish dancing
We decided to stop again and have a selfie. Clare also did a bit of a Scottish jig which he seemed to very much enjoy. It also entertained a few runners who looked at us like we were crazy and didn’t realise that we were running a half marathon.
The last 3 miles of the race were a bit of a blur. My legs were on fire and I don’t actually know how I kept going but Clare and I dragged each other through it and finally we were very nearly at the finish.
A marshal shouted “sprint finish” and off we bolted. We were lightening quick. Or at least that’s what I felt like I was doing. I was probably only going slightly faster than a shuffle at that point.
Finishing together
We managed to meet up with Sarah just before the finish which was lovely and we came through within a few seconds of each other. Once finally through the finish arch we all hugged, congratulated each other and held on to each other for dear life and fear of falling over.
We walked through the runners village and collected our goody bag, medal and finishers t-shirt. We were also handed a foil blanket and a chocolate bar. Or maybe I just mugged someone. Who knows.
The medal
The Newport Half Marathon medal is MASSIVE! It’s slightly bigger than my Manchester Marathon medal and I only had to run half a far to get this bad boy.
We were one of the last of the club to finish but somehow were the first ones back to the leisure centre so compared race stories and took some photos.
It wasn’t a long wait until a load more Pegs and SMR arrived so we huddled together for a group shot.
Now no race day blog would be complete without a picture of my boy Winston and my Newport Half Marathon bling…
I am very happy to report that my injury seems to have settled. I didn’t get any pain at all during or after the run. The worst pain I had was the general aching all down my legs from running 13.1 miles when I’d hardly trained for it. That’s nothing a few painkillers and a hot bath followed by yoga the next morning didn’t fix!
By 4pm I was on the sofa wanting to go to bed but I managed to stay up until 8.30pm when I admitted defeat and took myself off to bed. I was exhausted.
The day
All in all it was a great day. The sun made an appearance a few times and the rain held off. I couldn’t have asked for more. My finish time was 2 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds and I am very happy with that.
It’s not my fastest half time but is 10 minutes quicker than my first half marathon and only a minute slower than the Severn Bridge half marathon that I did in August 2016.
So what next I hear you ask… well I’ve just signed up for the Swansea half at the end of June with a finish time goal of sub 2 hours and 15 minutes which will knock nearly 10 minutes off my PB.
It’s an achievable goal but means I need to focus on my speed work, hill work and I need get my long run distance back up into the double figures again. I’m totally up for the challenge and very excited to start my new training plan.
Wish me luck!
