So with a huff and a puff and by the skin of our teeth, Leeds Utd were promoted back to the Championship yesterday and I couldn’t even have a drink to celebrate with this morning’s race ahead of me.
I had a dreadful night’s sleep, waking up with pre race nerves several times through the night and waking up in the middle of a nightmare at one point where I was dreaming that I was locked in a dark room and couldn’t see anything. I actually woke up, covered in sweat by the bedroom door, yanking it open to let some light into the bedroom.
As a result, I wasn’t feeling too fabulous when I got to the start line of the Leeds half this morning and was contemplating even trying to beat my previous time of 1hour 49 minutes.
When the race started though, I actually felt good and flew around the first couple of miles at a really fast pace. Unlike most of the other races I’ve taken part in, Leeds seems to be attended by loads of proper runners from clubs at the like and I guess I must have been pulled along by their pace.
One thing I hadn’t done was spend too much time studying the route map and simply relied on advice from my pal Steve Swift, who was also running today and who I went to the game with yesterday. Steve’s ran Leeds a few times and had said it gets slightly uphill from about 3miles on and doesnt head back down hill to about seven miles from the end.
Well he wasn’t exagerating… as we left town, the road got steeper and steeper and the sun got hotter and hotter and I was so out of breath, I almost completed knocking it on the head around the three mile mark as I felt absolutely shot.
My last card, I figured was chugging the first of the three Maximuscle Viper Active energy gels I was carrying in my shorts pocket. I ripped the top off with my teeth and and drained the small pouch, grabbing a bottle of water from one of the drinks stations to wash it down.
Somehow it did the trick and I managed to carry on going, gaining a second wind at about four miles.
While the next two miles were still up hill, I managed to do them at a fairly decent pace and was glad to see the half way mark and the fact it was all down hill from there.
By this time I knew I was on for a fairly decent time and was hoping that I could beat that 1 hour 29 minute mark, providing I carried on at the same pace. Of course, the carrying on for another half of the race at the fast pace I was running at was going to be the challenge.
Around here, my iPhone started playing up, skipping through tracks and so I ripped the ear phones out and kept plodding on, thanking the organisers foresight in having sponge stations – where you’re given sponges dripped in ice cold water – along the route.
I took my other two gels at 8 miles and 11 miles and was managing to keep up a decent time. By the last mile though, as I came back into town, I was just about going, getting through to the finish in Millennium Square with gritted teeth.
Tee shirt, goody bag and medal in hand, I bumped into Steve who coincidentally finished just ahead of me and a chap I know from the Waccoe football forum who I know only by his user name, Storry. Great to see them both and see they’d done such a decent times.
A sports massage later and we were off to Laura’s mums where we’re stating tonight, just in time to get my chip time texted to me by the race organisers: 1:45:32, a full four minutes better than my PB. Now I’ve just got to beat it again next time!
Other facts: I was ranked 802 in the race and 95th in my age group! Pictures will be posted tomorrow…
Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a route map and full details of the race
Miles today: 13.11
Target: 696
Miles to date: 922.87
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