We had an action-packed month of January 2018. We did the Hyde Park New Year’s Day 10K, Regents Park 10K, Fred Hughes 10 Miler last Sunday and last but not the least the Hemel 12 Miler today.
Although this event, as well as the Hemel 17miler at the end of February and Hemel 20 miler at the end of March, are training runs to help those preparing the London Marathon in April, other runners also use these events to help them prepare for the Brighton and Paris Marathons (both will take place 2 weeks before London). There are also runners who just use these events to keep fit without signing up for any Marathon race. John is one of them.
After the snow storm last Sunday in St. Albans in the Fred Hughes 10 milers, the weather in Hemel Hampstead this morning looked comparatively balmy. By 9am it was 7oC – how summery!!
The official start time is 9:30am but John and I started earlier at 9 because we are slower runners and by starting earlier we avoid the congestion on the stairs from the Boxmoor Cricket to the canal towpath.
The weather was pretty perfect for running. It was not brutally cold and it was not raining. The first 3 miles on the towpath was very muddy though. When trying to avoid those muddy puddles, I felt like I had to use some of my non-running muscles to criss-cross the towpath. I managed to do 10 minutes a mile pace and by the time I came out of the towpath, it was just over 30 minutes. Then here comes the hill. The first hill was tough. It stretches a mile long from mile 4 to 5. I hate hills. I guess I just need to get over it. My pace dropped significantly to 12 minutes a mile. I picked up my pace a little bit during the downhill from mile 6 to 7 but I only managed 9 and half minutes a mile. If my pace is 10 minutes a mile on flat surface, in order to make up the lost time during the uphill when my pace has slipped to 12 minutes a mile, I should have done 8 minutes a mile pace when dashing downhill. Sadly, the reality doesn’t work this way. I can never totally gain back the lost time. The 2nd hill between mile 7 and 8 was not as bad as the first one. It was still a long stretch but it was rather a gentler incline. I was so happy when I saw the jelly babies stop because: (1) only 3 more miles to the finish and (2) the last 3 miles are all downhill and flat. I picked up my pace a lot from mile 9 onward. I maintained sub 10 minutes a mile pace. By the time I crossed the 12 miles finish line, my watched showed 2 hours 4 minutes something. I didn’t press to stop my watch. I continued to run to the bottom of the stairs. I finished slightly over 12 miles in 2 hours 5 minutes and 47 seconds. John finished in 2 hours 25 minutes 20 seconds. When I looked at my time a year ago, I was pleasantly surprised I finished a bit faster than last year. The snow running last week has definitely helped me deal with challenging events.
