After entering the St. Albans Half Marathon, the first time last year and found it tough and hilly and the weather was too warm, we decided not to go back this year. Then we changed our mind and entered again this year. And guess what? The course is exactly the same as last year and the hills are still very much “alive”. The weather was as warm and humid as last year if not hotter. The only difference was I am a year older which might have some negative contributing factors in the time department.
With both the London and Milton Keynes Marathons took place on the hottest day on record in their respective histories, I kind of have learnt how to tackle running long distance in hot weather. This time, I made sure I had my baseball cap on. I also ditched my compression socks this time. Lesson learnt from the London Marathon, they are just far too hot to wear even though they claim to improve blood circulation, reduce muscle cramp and injury, improve performance etc etc.
I also carried a bottle of water from the start. I paced my consumption of the water and only finished it when I saw the first water station at Mile 2. I picked up a new bottle of water, had a sip and carried the bottle with me to drink until the next water station at Mile 3.5. Due to the hot weather, the organiser had added extra water stations. Therefore, instead of every 2 miles, we had water approx. every 1.5 miles. I must admit the organiser did their best to hydrate us. Even the locals came out to feed us water between the official water stations. Throughout the race, I always had my water with me. Although holding a bottle of water while running might distort my time but I must be sensible and flexible, be kind to my body and adjust my expectations for time when needed. I saw several runners treated by the St. John’s Ambulance by the road side. They looked like they were suffering from heat exhaustion as they medics were putting ice pack on their forehead.
Last year I was able to maintain sub 10 minutes a mile pace almost the entire distance and finished in 2:11’55” with 10’01”a mile average split time. But this year, I couldn’t. When I tried to push hard, I was only able to maintain 10’12”a mile pace but this didn’t even last long. On those uphills, my pace slipped to over 11 minutes a mile. I was only able to make it up when descending. Even the descending became slow from mile 12 onward when my legs were aching. When I crossed the 12-mile mark in 2:04’, I kind of gave up physically and mentally and expected to cross the finish line probably in 2:16”. When I did cross the finish line in 2:14’51”, I was quite surprised to have run the last 1.1 mile in 10 minutes. I suspect the measurement of the last mile not accurate, but the overall distance was accurate as my GPS watch showed I had run 13.14 miles.
The post-race ice lollies were godsend. I had 3 of them. They instantly cooled down my body. After getting my well-earned finisher’s medal and t-shirt, I waited for John to take photos of him. John finished in 2:38’26”. We were both slower than last year with me nearly 3 minutes slower and John more than 6 minutes slower. We were just grateful that we survived the heat and the humidity. For full results, please visit:
http://results.eventchiptiming.com/results.aspx?CId=16202&RId=8099
The tough hills will still be there next year. I’m not sure about the heat as weather could change. Would we go back? Let’s see!!
