Another 'last half marathon' and other things

 A year ago I ran the Zodiac Challenge in my home town and I was adamant that I wasn't going to do anymore half marathons ever again.  That was until a few months ago when I spotted a simply adorable bit of bling being advertised by the See York Run York running company.  It was for something called The Tea Party Challenge and it was coming to my neck of the woods.  I tried to ignore it, because I was trying to be frugal and not enter any events, but it just kept appearing on my newsfeed, as if to say, "come on, you know you want to."  As I have always been a huge fan of all things Alice in Wonderland, I just couldn't resist earning myself a medal with a White Rabbit on the front.  When I realised that the event was on the same day as my husband's Golf Society day out, my mind was quickly made up.  This would be my treat (if you can call a 13.1 mile run a treat.)  Just like the Zodiac Challenge, this was an event taking place in my town, along the Trans Pennine Trail where I run regularly.  How it works is you run as many 6.55 mile loops as you want over a 6-hour period.  It's ideal for those who are doing long runs in preparation for a spring marathon or those, like me, who want to see if they've still got a half marathon in them without actually committing themselves.  As long as you complete one loop, you still get a medal, so it takes away some of the pressure on the day and you can just see how you feel, knowing that you can stop at the 10K point and still not come home empty-handed.  I find that quite a relaxed way to approach an event, a win win situation. (And yes, they really did put on a tea party for the runners afterwards!)

So, I signed up and, as usual, I hadn't followed any sort of training plan to prepare me for a half-marathon.  I haven't run one since the Zodiac Challenge and I haven't been doing regular long runs either.  The only thing I've done of late which could be described loosely as 'distance training' was run 15K (9 miles) last month to earn a Garmin badge.  I wasn't too worried though because I had no goals about finishing times or anything like that.  If I managed to complete a half marathon, I would be very happy with that, regardless of how long it took me. 

Spring arrived just in time for race day and I was in a skort and vest for the first time this year.  (I'm so glad I didn't opt for leggings and long sleeves as I did get very warm.) My plan was to run a 'cautious' race and not do what I nearly always do, i.e. set off too fast for the first 10K and then find myself flagging.  I had told myself that if I could find a comfortable pace, I would be able to keep going.  It sort of worked, but I also learned that you can only slow yourself down so much.  There comes a point where it begins to feel unnatural.  I also learned that even when you are running slowly, your feet are still going to hurt after about 10 miles.  There's just no way round it, especially on such a warm day.  I remember feeling every single twig, stone or bump on the trail as I dragged my weary butt along.  My feet felt hot and the tips of my toes felt tender.  The last 3 miles, the 'just a parkrun' bit of the race were as hard as ever.  But I made it.  I earned my stunning bit of Wonderland bling and I was and still am immensely proud of myself.  It wasn't a fast time, 2 hours and 11 minutes, but it really was all about finishing, about triumphing over the temptation to stop and walk.  Not that there's anything wrong with walking, we all know that, but for me personally I find it very hard to get going again if ever I take a walk break, so I like to find a sustainable running pace. 

Will I do another one?  I'm not going to say never again, because I said that last year and then changed my mind.  All I know is that I'm quite happy not to do another for a good while.  Once a year is quite enough for me.  Each time I do a half though I become more and more sure that I most definitely don't want to do a full marathon.  I can just about get away with my slapdash approach to training for a half, but I would have to get my act together for a full and I really can't see me ever being that organised.  It's a lot easier when you are doing it with somebody else, but I think I would absolutely hate going out for long runs on my own, having to be out there for several hours in all weathers.  With a half you know that even if all you ever seem to do is 5Ks, as long as you have a good level of fitness you will probably be able to make it round 13.1 miles. 

March has been a good running month.  It began well with the excitement of a pilgrimage to Bushy Park.  It's been on our parkrun wish list a while and it happened to be my husband's 50th different parkrun venue.  It was also his birthday weekend, so a joint celebration was definitely called for.  We caught up with family and a good friend and had a wonderful time.  I completed it in 25.22 which I was very happy with.  It was a very different parkrun experience.  There were over 1000 people and although I prefer the smaller events, there was something special about being there at the home of parkrun.  It made me very proud to be a runner.  After we'd finished our run, we explored the park at a more leisurely pace.  I was so excited to see lots of deer and a heron, Egyptian geese and some parakeets.  The camera was out and I was snapping away.  We also had a delicious pizza, which we ate al fresco amongst the trees.

Roll on April and the Yorkshire Wildlife 10k, which I'm really looking forward to.  (There's nothing like a half marathon to help me rediscover the love of the humble 10k!)  I'm just as excited about the trip to the zoo though, with free entry to the wildlife park being part of the deal.  Let's hope it doesn't tip it down with rain like when we ran the 5K event there a few years back. 

I still need one more new parkrun venue to get to my 50 different ones, so I shall have a think about which that might be. We have a bit more tourism planned.





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