The Power of 10

As well as being a Half Marathon PB for me, Norwich also marked another milestone in my running to date, it was my 10th Half Marathon. So I thought I would muse over my various attempts at the 13.1 mile distance.

The Races

1. 14/06/09 - Southend - 2:17:48 (PB)
2. 06/09/09 - Bristol - 2:08:50 (PB)
3. 18/10/09 - Cardiff - 1:50:58 (PB)
4. 07/02/10 - Great Bentley - 1:39:32 (PB)
5. 07/03/10 - Bath - 1:41:54
6. 13/06/10 - Southend - 1:45:40 (CR)
7. 05/09/10 - Bristol - 1:36:21 (PB) & (CR)
8. 19/09/10 - Great North Run - 1:40:28
9. 06/02/11 - Great Bentley - 1:35:04 (PB) & (CR)
10. 13/03/11 - Norwich - 1:34:13 (PB)

So in 21 months I have tackled 10 Half Marathons at 7 different venues. Gained 7 PB's in that period and knocked 43 and a half Minutes off my PB. The 3 venues which I have returned to, I have manged to improve my time on each occassion.

10 Mini Race Reports

1. Southend - (104 miles in 90 days prior to race) - Just 6 weeks training for this and a longest run of 5.5 miles. Super hot and undertrained, it should have been no surprise when my two hour target was missed by some distance.


2. Bristol - (106 miles) - Had all good intentions after the pain in Southend to train harder and better. But failed. An embarassing 24 miles ran in the month of August. Got a 9 min PB though but still someway short of the 2hour mark.


3. Cardiff (151 miles) - A marked improvement in my training volume an increase of nearly 50% and I reaped the benefit. Nearly an 18 minute PB. Also the first HM that I managed to run all the way in.


4. Great Bentley (240 miles) - Another leap in the mileage and those extra 89 miles lead to a further 11 minutes being taken off the PB. The flatest and fastest course so far. But still a big PB.


5. Bath (244 miles) - A big disappointment. Was hoping to PB again a month after Great Bentley. Lost time in the first two miles as the streets were crowded and wasted alot of energy. Lead to me getting a stitch at about half way, and my race never recovered from there.


6. Southend (290 miles) - Another bad race for me. A big Course Record and a 32 minute improvement on my first Half Marathon a year earlier. But I had hoped for a PB, was another hot day by the coast as it had been in 2009, again a stitch at halfway scuppered anything quicker.


7. Bristol (235 miles) - A 3 min PB which was heavily aided by running with Pete for the last 10 miles. 3 mins was now a big PB, the days of 10 or 15mins being taken off each time were long gone. Also beat the 2009 attempt at Bristol by 33 minutes.


8. Great North Run (230 miles) - No expectation of a PB here with the race just two weeks after Bristol. Ran well in a touch over 1:40. A good race, but didn't live up to its big billing for me.


9. Great Bentley (251 miles) - Back to the fast course in 2011 and took 4 and half minutes off my 2010 time. Was also a PB by over a minute. Was nice to be back in the PB groove.


10. Norwich (304 miles) - Another PB this time by a little under a minute. Went off hard and got excited that big things could be on the cards. Wasn't able to sustain the pace. But another PB and another step in the right direction.
    

So as you can see I've covered alot of ground since those first tentative steps into running in the summer of 2009. The sub 1:30 Half Marathon is now my immediate goal, with the long term target a 1:20, with the hopes that will enable me to run a sub 3 hour Marathon. I imagine it will take me significantly longer than 21months to achieve that though!