John Fernandez and I did the Hemel 17 miler on Sunday, again expertly organised by the Gade Valley Harriers Running Club to help runner prepare for the full Marathon. The weather was a lot warmer than the Hemel 12 miler 4 weeks before. The sun cra
cked through the clouds early in the morning and slowly things generally brightened up for the rest of the morning. I think it was about 12˚C to start with then it crept up to mid-teens as it got closer to noon (can always ask for a bit warmer as my breathing has definitely improved with warmer weather). This time I didn’t even need my turtle neck base layer or my neck warmer.
To avoid the congestion at the stairs from the Boxmoor Cricket Club to the Grand Union Canal, John and I both started a little earlier than the official time of 9:30 (well we both started at 8:45am to be precise). After the heavy downpour the day before, the towpath was a little muddy but not like the mud you see in those “Tough Guys” events. The open roads were absolutely fine with only a few baby puddles.
I bought a new TomTom GPS watch as my old TomTom is already 3 years old. It’s still working fine but I am not sure whether the battery can last beyond 5 hours – just in case if I need more than 5 hours to finish my Milton Marathon in May !! Since I had only been training on the treadmill recently due to the cold weather and my asthmatic condition, it was the first time I used my new TomTom watch. It comes with a Bluetooth earpiece to connect to the phone to listen to music but I didn’t use it. I don’t like listening to music while running for safety reason. The display font is bigger so I can see my split time easier although the watch size remains the same. It also captures my pulse. Based on my age, my maximum heart rate should be about 165 per minute (ie: age 18 = 200 beats then subtract one beat every year older). Any higher than that might give me a heart attack. ???
I finished just under 3 hours and my average split time is 10’36”. If I can keep this split time in the marathon, I should be able to finish under 4 hours 45 minutes (ie: 180 minutes ÷ 17 miles x 26.2 miles = 4 hours 37.4 minutes). I think I will just be very grateful if I can finish under 5 hours. I should have a better idea next month in the Hemel 20 miler as it should give me a better indicator how I will perform in the Big Day. John finished in 3 hours 23 minutes. He said he will still do the Hemel 20 miler next month even though he is not running any Marathon event.