Leicester Half Marathon

It’s almost perfect conditions for the Leicester Half, if perhaps a little cold but it’ll warm up I'm sure. We again used the 'secret' entrance to the car park actually on Victoria Park where the race start. Please don't tell anyone, let's keep it a secret.

This race has come on a lot since I last ran it two years ago but it does still feel like it’s being organised as a small local race rather than a big city one that it currently pulling 2,500. At least race packs were posted out this year and we don’t get the timing chip fiasco of 2013. There’s nothing really wrong with the race, it could just be ran a lot slicker and I really wish they would do away with the drinks in cups. This cost me at least a minute as I can’t run and drink, so have to slow to a walk.

That said I liked the course back in 2013 and did a good time. It doesn’t appear to have changed, so I like it just as much this time.

I get a good start as we head out along the Melton Road and out of Leicester. The first half is all on main roads then at 6 miles we hit Watermead Country Park where the race splits and the full marathoners are sent off somewhere. I know not where.

Us halfies do a long stint through Watermead and other assorted Leicester Parks before ending up at the National Space Centre at mile 10 and then onto Abbey Park. Mile 12-13 takes us through the pedestrianised shopping centre before the tough last mile up a persistent incline back to Victoria Park.

I cross the line with an official chip time of 1:40:01, very pleased with that. Over two minutes off my time at Derby two weeks ago and a similar amount off my time here in 2013.

Oddly, according to my watch I was actually behind my Derby pace at all the mile markers bar the last one. I was apparently a minute down at times, even at mile 12 I was still 22 seconds behind. Then suddenly at mile 13 I was 70 seconds up and the last .1 took 60 seconds where at Derby it took an alleged 4:36! The vagaries of mile markers....

The medal and long sleeved technical T-shirt aren't great but they did put crisps in the goody bag for the dogs.

Derby City Half Marathon

Apparently it has been 19 years since a half marathon went through the centre of Derby but today they are putting that right. This was something I expected the resurrected Ramathon to deal with in time but they have been beaten to it by the new kid on the block, the Derby City Half. This is a new race from Sporting Futures, the charity who organise the Derby 10K. There is even talk of a full marathon in the future.

With the involvement of Sporting Futures it is perhaps not surprising that huge chucks of the 10k course are used, although in reverse. The race itself starts on Derby University’s Kedleston Road complex and incorporates three city parks into the race.

The field is relatively small with around 600 in it. I’m not sure if this is deliberate for year one but it’s actually not a bad turnout considering the lack of advertising. If it causes traffic chaos then it should achieve sufficient publicity to massively increase its numbers for next year.

First up on the route is Markeaton Park where it’s all twists and turns on gravel paths before we’re heading back past the start and off down Kedleston Road which is straight and slightly downhill. So it’s a fast start and I’m already up on schedule.

Then we are straight through the centre of town, which is nice and with plenty of people out supporting including my nearest and dearest.

The route incorporates the good bits of the 10k course but also the bad bits e.g. it’s a long dull drag across Pride Park to get to Alvaston Park then a long dull drag back alongside the A52.

We then head out to the third and finally park, Darley Park, taking in part of the course of another Derby race, the Colin Potter 10k, before heading back to the city centre and then back to the University.

All the way through I am comfortably up on my pace, I was looking for a 1:44 but should smash that. However throughout the mile markers left something to be desired and the 13 mile marker arrived with around half a mile still to run which they crammed into the alleged last .1 of a mile. Several people reported that even then it was only 12.9 miles but I can’t confirm that.

The finish was seriously uphill but other than that it was pretty flat and I finished in 1:42:49. I'll take that.

Loved the race and I'll be back next year. It’s on a great date as well, midway between the other local city halves at Nottingham and Leicester. So hopefully they won't move it. It throws down the gauntlet to the Ramathon, Derby's other half despite a cheap looking medal and t-shirt. There was also a lack of drinks stations, luckily I had my partner on hand producing extra ones for me.

Nottingham's Robin Hood Half Marathon

Today is my fourth attempt at my home town half marathon and the third different course I’ve ran it on. After the dark days of the last three years where they made everyone explore industrial parks that even us local residents didn’t know existed, then made everyone run two miles up and down the Embankment just to make up the distance, this year we are back to something far more interesting.

Key are the return of the loop around the Castle and the re-addition of Wollaton Park. If you’re a marathoner you even get to run through the Market Square. They have also added a few hills. Nottingham is hilly, so embrace it. They have.

It’s the first time I’ve not driven and parked at the start but attempts to get there by public transport seem a total no starter. All the buses have been rerouted and the tram isn’t running. So L tries to drop me off and we get the first inclining of the traffic chaos to come when we find the QMC roundabout shut from 5:30am rather than the usual 8.00am. No idea why.

L drops me off as close as she can and I walk the rest of the way to the race village whilst she heads home to go line the course. The whole of the Embankment is already one big toilet queue with lines of people snaking off in all directions. I hunt out the secret unmarked urinals which I know will be there somewhere and where they’ll be no queue. If only they advertised these with a big sign and put a load more of them in then it would remove the majority of the men from the portaloo queues.

I do a warm up, then strip and dump my excess kit in the baggage tent before heading to the start in the ‘red’ zone, which is quite near the front. Now to find out how much I’ve over-tapered.

The morning had started out quite cool, in fact the Embankment was shrouded in fog at first but that is now lifting and it looks like it could be a sunny one.

The wheelchairs get a head start, as do the elite (not sure they need it) and then we’re off. Time to check out this new course. The first two miles are great, if a little evil. A short, steep climb up around the Castle, a lot of it on the cobbles where it was also a bit narrow and congested. Then downhill into the Park estate before climbing up out the other side on to Derby Road. This is quite a hill but most likely the highest point of the course.

Surprisingly, as there’s been talk of how hilly the route is this year, from mile 2 onwards it’s pretty flat. Not pan flat, slightly undulating with a few bridges like Abbey Bridge to cross that involve a small climb but nothing really to disrupt your pace much. Even the bit through Wollaton Park is flat as they avoid going anywhere near the hall itself.

I miss a drink station in Wollaton Park which upsets my fuelling strategy slightly but I’ve got a steady eight minute pace on now, as planned. Only problem is that I dawdled to nine minute miles on the first two hilly miles and I never get those minutes back.

I pass L and the boys at four miles but miss them at seven when apparently Doggo decided the correct way was the way I went and not the short way to meet me at the next point as I head back out for a loop alongside the University Lake.

It’s great to do your local race and know large chunks of the route, and this year I certainly do. Unlike on the old course where even I didn’t know where I was at times and the crowds are fantastic this year. I don't think there is a section of the course that doesn't have spectators on  it unlike before when in some places it was just us and the tumble weed.

The University had gone to town by providing their own cheerleaders who gave us all a rousing cheer, wave their pompoms at us then for good measure flashed their chests and knickers as well. Utterly disgusting and incredibly sexist of course but exactly what you need eight miles into a half marathon. Although, I probably don’t speak for all the female competitors when I say that.

I see L and the boys again at ten miles as I kick on towards the finish. I feel I’ve really got the hammer down now but then clock 9:25 between miles ten and eleven. What??? Now that’s demotivating. Then I do 7:10 for the next mile, clearly an impossible feat at that stage of my race and then 7:30 for the next one, all without adjusting my pace. So I think someone put that eleven mile marker in the wrong place.

Finally, the first of three finish lines loom into sight. The first one turned out to actually be the start line again, which we run back through. Then we turn right and run through a big inflatable arch, which wasn’t the finish either but was actually to mark the 13 mile point. Then finally THE finish and they are not lying this time.

My time of 01:47:16 is two minutes outside my planned pace but as I said, I lost those two minutes right at the start and never got them back. Never mind, it’s a good marker before I do the new Derby City Half in two weeks’ time.

I grab my kit and join the massage queue. Sadly I’m allocated a big bruising bloke with tattoos to unlock my calves as does the chap beside me. However the female masseur with the impossibly tight leggings working away at the next table lifts our spirits somewhat.

Then I crawl towards town, walking down the middle of the road between the two rows of stationary traffic. Oh dear, this is going to generate many column inches in the local paper. I pick up the Marathon route on Stoney Street and cheer through those hardly souls doing the Full. The route then takes them right through the Market Square, where they get some fantastic support from the public. I meet L here and then we follow them up Derby Road which is a killer hill to have 20 miles in. We have a pint in the Hand & Heart, then a couple at the Borlase, all the time offering our increasingly drunken support.

The new Marathon route is truly inspiring and I vow to do my first ever Full in my home race next year if I can stay injury free. That is if they keep the same route, which is a big ‘if’ as they seem to have made a bit of a mess of the traffic management. Not sure why Derby Road still needs to be totally shut for a single file of Marathon runners.

Having seen the last runner through, we have a final drink in the Blue Monkey before heading home.

Lichfield 10k

For once it is L not me who arrives pre-injured for a race. I have serious doubts about her completing today’s Lichfield 10k but she proves me wrong and does a decent time too.

I’m sort of happy with my own performance but not happy that Lichfield turns out to be far more undulating than I expected. Actually I had expected it to be very flat, how wrong I was. So this is my excuse for my time of 47.09, which really isn’t great.

Vitruvian Triathlon

Today is the 13th running of the Vitruvian Triathlon, unlucky for some perhaps. The weather dawns pretty good and race day stays dry throughout. This is usual for me to say the least.

Having registered last night and set up my bike in transition at the same time, I probably took it a bit too leisurely on Saturday morning and ended up rushing the few things I had left to do. Not that you can rush much when transition at 5am is a place full of zombified folk who aren’t fully awake yet but will turn into fully honed athletes once they are dipped in reservoir water. I miss part of the race briefing due to my over leisureliness.

The first swim wave is off at 6:15am, I am off in the 5th and last wave at 6.50am. Clearly they are worried about me if everyone else requires such a big head start. They needn’t have been.

The swim is two 950m laps and it's the first time I've done a two lap swim that requires a brief exit from the water and a 25m run back long the 'beach' before getting back in.

I get involved in a few scuffles in the first 100m or so which throws all my breathing and heartbeat out, which means I end up resorting to doggie paddle for a while before moving up to first backstroke and then breaststroke. Eventually I attempt to reengage with front crawl but it takes most of the first lap to do so. I also have blinding cramp in my left calf, not good. I am hauled (helpfully) out of the water by the armpits after the first lap and sent staggering on my way before plunging inelegantly back in.

24 minutes for the first lap isn’t great. The second lap is better in that I manage to swim most of it properly but with the field now well thinned out maintaining direction becomes the new problem and on being hauled out of the water by my armpits for a second time I’m appalled to find that my second lap is no quicker than the first. I will put this down to poor direction finding and the fact that I did drag both legs all the way around due to the calf cramp.

A total swim time of 50:25 is my worst yet. My transition also needs work, 4:03 is pretty terrible really. I ought to be able to halve that but at least now I’m onto the bit that matters most. The 2-lap bike course. I have done this course twice before in the Dambuster Duathlon and this is the first time it hasn't been excessively windy.

Without the wind the terrain doesn’t seem quite so hilly and I also discover to my surprise that the course has some downhills. Previously the in-your-face gale negated these and the nice smooth tarmacked roads are a joy, I hardly see anyone fixing a puncture. 

At the end of lap one I hurl by Outlaw Half branded water bottle at L before picking up a fresh one. I didn’t want my souvenir bottle to be reused and handed back out to someone else.

Lap two goes just as well as lap one and I thoroughly enjoyed minute of the 2:57:06 ride, which is nicely inside the hallowed 3 hours even if it was short. As in 85k rather than the usual 90km for a half iron distance race.

So to the 10.5km out-and-back run along the edge of Rutland Water dodging the ‘tourists’ who really didn’t give a monkeys whether they got in anyone’s way or not. In fact, I think most tried to be as disruptive as possible.

The whole run is a bit of a limp as the cramp in my calf has not eased one bit on the bike, usually it does. So it’s a case of being careful so that it doesn’t turn into a tear. I had already worked out that a 2:05 half would get me in under six hours. I review and recalibrate this at every km mark. Yes, they have km markers here which is about the only thing they did better than the Outlaw. That’s not a criticism of the organisers, it’s just the Outlaw sets the bar very high.

At the end of the first lap I pause for a brief hug with the boys and girl of the support crew before another lap of tourist dodging beckons.

I hold my pace and run a 2:02:16 half finishing in 5:55:50. A mere 1:33 behind the winner but I’m happy with that. I’m called a Vitruvian, handed my medal, t-shirt, crisps for the boys, a biscuit for L and a flap jack for me. Then I’m handed a pint of Erdinger, sadly alcohol free. After writhing in agony on the grass for a while, then being reunited with the support crew, I pass my Erdinger to L and head off in search of any available petite blondes who might wish to massage my legs. They are all booked up apparently but a hulking great male offers to do instead. Beggars can’t be choosers of course and he does a brilliant job of reintegrating my calf with the rest of my body. Then I borrow some money off L to pay him before grabbing another Erdinger, sadly still alcohol free.

Life Cycle 5

Today it’s Life Cycle 5 which is a low budget Cycle Sportive running from Nottingham University and in aid of dementia research. There are two road routes, a 75 miler and a 50 miler. I do the 50 which heads out westward to the north of Derby before heading back.

I am on the front row when we start and end up being in the lead for quite a while as others decide to pedal slowly. Then a guy who has been shadowing me decides I’m also pedalling far too slowly and leaves me for dust. I’m also one of only a few making use of the two feed stations, a lot choose not to stop at all. Personally I can’t pass up on a complimentary flapjack.

L comes to meet me as I cross the line in 3 hours 12 minutes, which is not really the sort of pace I was looking for pre-Vitruvian next week. Then again it was hilly but then so is the Vitruvian.

I have a novel post-ride massage with one masseur on each leg, which is great idea except they are both doing totally different things to me at the same time. So I may walk oddly afterwards.

Notts 5

Having not injured myself in Friday’s 10k, I opt to have another go in tonight’s Notts 5 which starts and finishes on the Embankment.

I still opt to cycle to and from work though, which gets the legs going.

L won’t be wearing the new running shoes I got her for her birthday. They are too squeaky but having spoken to the brilliant Wiggle they have confirmed that they have a manufacturing defect and a replacement pair are already on their way to us.

I run a decent 36.10 five miler. Which is faster than both 2013 and 2014 but some way short of 2011. Like two and a half minutes short. Then there was 2007 but that was a different life.

This year’s time was helped by racing against a girlie who clearly had no intention of letting me beat her and obviously I had no intention of not beating her. We ran the second of the two laps side by side and both sprinted for the line before collapsing in separate heaps after a brief friendly handshake of course. I won by the way, just. When I come round, I am yet again handed a bottle of beer, I could get to like this new trend.

I crawl to the car, get the boys and then we all cheer L across the line before going for a recovery drink in the Navigation.