Return to Racing

When I raced on the 15th of March at the Gloucester 20 it was obvious that the next race would not be for a while. Did I think at the time it would take until the 18th of October to return to racing? Definitely not.

Having the whole of the late spring and summer races wiped out has sometimes made it tough to have the motivation to train so I was very happy to see that some races had started to take place again. Whilst there have been virtual races taking place they are just not the same as the experience of a proper race.

Once I saw this I started to look around for one that would suit me. Looking at my PB’s at certain distances I decided that the Half Marathon was the one that I could have a really good go at improving. I was already of the opinion that I should have improved it in the Rugby Half towards the end of last year but on the day things didn’t go to plan and it didn’t happen.

The first race that I found and entered was cancelled as the council pulled the support for the event. This again was disappointing as I had started to get prepared for the date. Luckily I was able to find a different event only a week later.

The race that I took part in was part of the Bedford Running Grand Prix hosted by RunThrough events and took place at the Bedford Autodrome.

The event was very different from any that I have previously taken part in. With the current regulations it was not possible to have the usual mass start, instead groups of 4 were set off every 10 seconds.

I have to say how impressed I was with the organisation of the event, they did everything that they could to keep the runners safe whilst trying to get as close as possible to the proper race experience.

The Half Marathon started at 10:30, by this time a Marathon, 20 mile and 16 mile race were already underway on the 5k track and later two 10k and a 5k race were also held. Having this range of different races all on the same track made it interesting and fun.

Once I started my race (50 seconds after the gun went) I was feeling good, I settled into a similar pace as 1 other runner and we did the first of 4 laps next to each other (with a little distance between). The pace was slightly faster than what I had planned to run at but it felt comfortable so I went with it.

Sometime during the second lap my running partner started to fade and I decided to push on ahead of her. This left me on my own in terms of people that were in the same race but with plenty of other people around that were doing other distances. Using slightly slower marathon distance runners as targets helped me to keep focused and to maintain the pace.

For laps 2 and 3 this is what I did, picking people off, and occasionally being overtaken by the exceptionally speedy leaders of the marathon.

As I started my last lap one of the 10k races had just started and I got caught up in a group that were going about 15 seconds per kilometre faster than I had planned to run. Staying with this group meant that my last lap ended up being the fastest of the 4. Something that I have never done before, I have always been the sort of runner that goes off too fast and fades at the end.

I crossed the line to finish in 1:21:07 in 17th place. This is a massive 6 minutes and 6 seconds quicker than my previous personal best.

Looking at how I managed to make this improvement I have come up with 3 things, the course, the weather and some great coaching.

When I set my previous PB it was on a hilly course on a hot day, this was flat and a cool day with hardly any wind.

The coaching has been a massive help in keeping me focused. I have always trained better when I have a plan to stick to so at the start of September I joined Purdue Performance who offer bespoke training for runners. I cannot speak highly enough of the coaching that I have received.

After the event I immediately started to look for my next race and have already booked onto a 10k at Silverstone in the middle of November.

I am so pleased to be back racing and having events to look forward too. Lets hope we can soon go one step further and go back to mass starts in big events.