The half marathon weekend started on a very, very big high for me on Saturday morning, I woke up to the news that 2 of my best friends had a beautiful little boy, little Josef William Shea. The event started at 10am sharp on Sunday morning, but you could register early to to save some time and stress on Sunday. After writing my previous blog "Running Eve" I decided to have a rice and 3 before heading off to Blackpool to get the early registration.
I got to Blackpool and drove straight to the Hilton Hotel to pick up my race pack, this had my number, some safety pins and my timing chip. I then went to check into my B&B.
I checked in to the Langroyd Hotel www.langroydhotel.co.uk on Station Street, near the Pleasure Beach. I wasn't expecting anything good just a rubbish room in a B&B used for stag do's. I was wrong!!! I arrived at the hotel and rang the door bell and a friendly face invited me in. I went to the bar area/reception and I told them I was here to run in the half marathon, the owners John and Jane were instantly supportive. Jane offered to open for breakfast at 8am rather than the 9.30am usual slot. She also offered to make me a healthy omelette to start my day. I asked John and Jane if it was possible if I could pay for a later checkout so I could have a shower before I went home and they were completely supportive and said don't worry about it and that I could leave when I was ready. I can't say enough nice things about John and Jane, they made me feel really welcome and part of their family. Even when I left Jane gave me a hug.
Saturday evening I met up with Danny and Claire who were only staying a few doors down in another B&B. We went for something to eat and a walk up and down the Golden Mile. We saw the sun set in Blackpool and surprisingly it looked really beautiful and romantic even with all the stag and hen groups being loud.
Sunday Morning… I could hardly sleep Saturday night I was nervous (see the last post) I woke up, showered and got into my running gear and bounced downstairs. I had my early breakfast and met up with Danny. We arrived at the Hilton early but there was not any parking. We drove round for what felt like hours until we found a spot. This was it no turning back now! we gathered in the holding penn and I met up with Kat from work who decided that if I was going to run the half marathon then she was doing it. She had little training but fancied giving it a go. I like to think I inspired her… she claims she was planning on doing it anyway she just left it until last minute to sign up….
10am… As they say in F1 the light are out… GO! GO! GO! instantly me and Danny set off at a lightening pace for me. I secretly hoped that with the hours of training me and Danny did together that we could at least run a small section of the half marathon together otherwise I would have felt disappointed. The first mile felt great, there were over 2000 people around us and a bunch of people on the pavements supporting us and cheering. We ran the first mile in 8.17. I managed to keep with Danny for the first 4 miles, we ran from the Hilton, past the tower, down the Golden Mile (which is just over 2 miles), past the Pleasure Beach, and down to the giant glitter ball and round the loop. About the 3.5miles mark I couldn't keep the high tempo and knew that this wasn't a small 5K sprint and I needed to pace my self so I slowly dropped the pace a little. I was happy that we did the first 4 miles the way we trained. I was even more happy with the time. I covered the first 4 miles in 33min 48sec. I then tried to pace myself which was difficult without any tracking gadgets or the MapMyRun app telling me my pace. I noticed I was running at a similar pace to another runner at the side of me and she had a GPS gizmo, I asked her what my pace was and it was pretty good, I decided if I stick with her then at least I know what pace she was aiming for and that I could keep up. I introduced my self to Vivian and we started chatting, I was telling her that I was keeping a look out for my mum, sister, brother in law and my beautiful nephew Aaryan. I ran the next 3.5 miles with Vivian at a good comfortable pace of about 9.15 per mile. I did the first 10k of the event in approximately 53min. 6.5miles in to the half marathon I saw the site I had been waiting for all morning… My family! to my surprise they were helping the runners by handing out water. Me and Viv ran over said hi and got a quick drink.
About the 7mile mark I felt a sharp pain in my back, I felt like I was having a heart attack, I couldn't breath! I told Viv that I would catch her up, sadly that would be the last I saw of my new friend. After a few minutes the stitch disappeared and so did my pace. I went from running at 9.15 miles per min to 9.53, and to make things worse we left the party atmosphere of the promenade to the lonely section of the run.
Mile 9 was horrible, I hit the wall I wanted to stop, this section was uphill, it was running in the wind and I was all alone, I would occasionally see people running past me but that was it. I had lost my pace tracker and I dropped down to 9.58 for the 9th mile. I kept looking up for other runners on their return but I couldn't see them, then I saw the other runners running below me on the sea front. I could see little cut throughs that would take me down there and cut a mile or 2. The thought went through my head that I should cheat and end this pain, gladly I pushed through and I didn't cheat. The 10mile mark came and it lifted my spirits and I picked up the pace a little, however by this time my new trainers started to rub my feet, my early pace was now a distant memory I was now running 9.46 miles along the sea front. I still didn't have anyone to talk to or pace myself against and I was now in a mental battle with my inner self, all I could hear was my inner self saying "just stop, stop now!"
I got to the 12th mile and threw my arms in the air and let out a little shout "PB" in celebration, I had never ran past 12miles. I got to the 12th mile in 1hr 51mins. I took 3 steps past the 12 mile marker and I got stuck with a horrible cramp in my right calf. I stumbled around for a second and then tried to run it off, I knew if I stopped I wouldn't have started running again so I grit my teeth and ran through the pain. I couldn't fully stretch my calf but I hobbled on. I got to the 13th mile marker and I could see the crowd, this gave me a massive lift and my pass increased again but I was in agony. As I got near the end I heard Danny shouting and then heard my family, it was great and I knew this was the final push. I drew up my last bit of energy and ran the final bit of the course. Unfortunately there was a horrible ramp that moved us from the paved area on the beach back to the road. I imagined I was on Gladiators running up the final travelator, i got to the top, overtaking a bunch of people. I saw some other guest from the hotel who waited to cheer me on and I was on the running the final 100m. All of a sudden my cramp attacked me and I could not feel my legs, in slow motion I came crashing down in front of about 300people. I was lying face first on the concrete floor 100m away from the finish. I just wanted to curl up and stay there. I forced my self to get up and finish the run properly. I could not put weight on my knee properly so I limped over the finish line.
I completed the half marathon in 2hrs 4mins and 53 seconds. I am a little bit disappointed with the time as I aimed for higher, however on reflection I am proud I finished when all I wanted to do was stop. I am proud knowing I gave 100% and I did my best with no regret. I celebrated with my little Aaryan and a plate of fish and chips before heading home.
Mile 9 was horrible, I hit the wall I wanted to stop, this section was uphill, it was running in the wind and I was all alone, I would occasionally see people running past me but that was it. I had lost my pace tracker and I dropped down to 9.58 for the 9th mile. I kept looking up for other runners on their return but I couldn't see them, then I saw the other runners running below me on the sea front. I could see little cut throughs that would take me down there and cut a mile or 2. The thought went through my head that I should cheat and end this pain, gladly I pushed through and I didn't cheat. The 10mile mark came and it lifted my spirits and I picked up the pace a little, however by this time my new trainers started to rub my feet, my early pace was now a distant memory I was now running 9.46 miles along the sea front. I still didn't have anyone to talk to or pace myself against and I was now in a mental battle with my inner self, all I could hear was my inner self saying "just stop, stop now!"
I got to the 12th mile and threw my arms in the air and let out a little shout "PB" in celebration, I had never ran past 12miles. I got to the 12th mile in 1hr 51mins. I took 3 steps past the 12 mile marker and I got stuck with a horrible cramp in my right calf. I stumbled around for a second and then tried to run it off, I knew if I stopped I wouldn't have started running again so I grit my teeth and ran through the pain. I couldn't fully stretch my calf but I hobbled on. I got to the 13th mile marker and I could see the crowd, this gave me a massive lift and my pass increased again but I was in agony. As I got near the end I heard Danny shouting and then heard my family, it was great and I knew this was the final push. I drew up my last bit of energy and ran the final bit of the course. Unfortunately there was a horrible ramp that moved us from the paved area on the beach back to the road. I imagined I was on Gladiators running up the final travelator, i got to the top, overtaking a bunch of people. I saw some other guest from the hotel who waited to cheer me on and I was on the running the final 100m. All of a sudden my cramp attacked me and I could not feel my legs, in slow motion I came crashing down in front of about 300people. I was lying face first on the concrete floor 100m away from the finish. I just wanted to curl up and stay there. I forced my self to get up and finish the run properly. I could not put weight on my knee properly so I limped over the finish line. I completed the half marathon in 2hrs 4mins and 53 seconds. I am a little bit disappointed with the time as I aimed for higher, however on reflection I am proud I finished when all I wanted to do was stop. I am proud knowing I gave 100% and I did my best with no regret. I celebrated with my little Aaryan and a plate of fish and chips before heading home.
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| Me and Aaryan at the finish line - poor little guy was tired after the all the running |
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