Even cowgirls get the blues
Can Rhalou run three half marathons in one month? Hell yeah she can!
Monday, 12 September, 2011
The second in my September half marathon trilogy, with only two minutes to shave off my time in order to break two hours, the pressure to succeed at the Bristol Half Marathon this weekend was on. I’d put the training in, and I knew I could cope with the distance, as I’d done it only one week before. I just needed to run two minutes faster and I’d get a great PB and sub two, simples! Alas running is never simple. I arrived in Bristol the night before feeling well prepared. I’d done three small runs in the week, so I hadn’t pushed myself too hard, and I felt ready to take on the distance again. I went to university in Bristol so I knew the city well and felt familiar with the route and ready to rock. I woke up on race day feeling refreshed and ready to run. I’d done all the right things including carbo loading (perhaps a little excessively but what the hell) tapering, and eating a hearty porridge breakfast. I’d also spent the entire week talking my game up massively on Twitter, so I was insanely overexcited. I did have a niggling concern at the back of my mind that I might be expecting too much of myself to run two half marathons on two consecutive weekends, but I’ve always been a determined woman, so I pushed any doubts to the back of my mind and resolved to run hard!
Running cowgirls Alice and RhalouThe race started well. The baggage storage on College Green meant a short walk up the hill, but the views of Bristol city centre were so breathtaking it was worth a little slog to see them. The whole city seemed to be alive with race day expectation and eager runners were stretching, chatting and limbering up as far as the eye could see. The sky was a perfect blue and the sun was already quite warm for 9am, but the weather reports had all been terrible so I kept my fingers crossed for a cool run.My friend Alice and I shuffled into our packed starting pen at just before 10am and got ready to run! Alice has two kids, runs her own business, does minimal training, and still runs much faster than me, so she was a great race partner. I’ve known her since we were nine years old and she’s always been exceptionally badass at most things. It was Alice’s first ever half marathon so it was odd that she was in fact the one pacing me for the most of the way, but I honestly don’t know if I’d have gotten round alive without her gentle encouragement! I’m not sure if it was the sudden heat, the gentle incline on the road running under the suspension bridge all the way to Ashton Gate, or the fact I’d run a half only seven days before, but despite being prepared in every way imaginable for race day, from as early as mile four it became apparent to me that it was going to be a long hard slog to cross the finish line. I felt heavy, I felt tired, I felt hot, and I felt like crying for rather a lot of the 13-mile route. Even the picture perfect views and absolutely brilliant crowd support couldn’t shake the niggling feeling that I just wasn’t going to be able to make it in sub two.I tried all the mind control tricks, and had a couple of adrenalin bursts when I saw the boys from Run Dem Crew run past me, but despite maintaining a good pace and pushing myself hard, when we got to mile ten I hit the wall and insisted that Alice run ahead and leave me to die on the roadside. I was absolutely gutted not to keep up with her, but I had the funny feeling that if I tried to run any faster, I wouldn’t make it to the finish line at all. I didn’t stop though; I ploughed on slowly through, albeit dejectedly, convinced I’d screwed it up completely. So no one was more surprised than me to discover that I’d actually made it round the course in exactly the same time as last week, to the minute! So while I thought I’d messed up, I’d actually maintained a consistent pace.I’m frustrated not to have made it round in less than two hours, but also strangely satisfied at the symmetry of two identical race times on two consecutive weeks. As I’d prepared so well for race day, I’m just not sure what I can do to stop the fatal wall rearing it’s ugly head at mile ten of my next race Run To The Beat in two weeks. I’d ticked all the right boxes in training, so I suppose all I can do is rest up and hope for the best. Typically I made the most fatal mistake of all after the Bristol Half actually ended. I went straight to the pub in my race gear, drank my body weight in beer and completely forgot to stretch, so I’m walking like a cowgirl today as well as feeling a bit sorry for myself. But even cowgirls get the blues. Here’s hoping this cowgirl can finally conquer her half marathon time at Run To The Beat on September 25th. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Fortunately it’s the music half marathon and there promises to be several sound systems to keep us going, so if all else fails I’ll line dance my damn way round...
Running cowgirls Alice and RhalouThe race started well. The baggage storage on College Green meant a short walk up the hill, but the views of Bristol city centre were so breathtaking it was worth a little slog to see them. The whole city seemed to be alive with race day expectation and eager runners were stretching, chatting and limbering up as far as the eye could see. The sky was a perfect blue and the sun was already quite warm for 9am, but the weather reports had all been terrible so I kept my fingers crossed for a cool run.My friend Alice and I shuffled into our packed starting pen at just before 10am and got ready to run! Alice has two kids, runs her own business, does minimal training, and still runs much faster than me, so she was a great race partner. I’ve known her since we were nine years old and she’s always been exceptionally badass at most things. It was Alice’s first ever half marathon so it was odd that she was in fact the one pacing me for the most of the way, but I honestly don’t know if I’d have gotten round alive without her gentle encouragement! I’m not sure if it was the sudden heat, the gentle incline on the road running under the suspension bridge all the way to Ashton Gate, or the fact I’d run a half only seven days before, but despite being prepared in every way imaginable for race day, from as early as mile four it became apparent to me that it was going to be a long hard slog to cross the finish line. I felt heavy, I felt tired, I felt hot, and I felt like crying for rather a lot of the 13-mile route. Even the picture perfect views and absolutely brilliant crowd support couldn’t shake the niggling feeling that I just wasn’t going to be able to make it in sub two.I tried all the mind control tricks, and had a couple of adrenalin bursts when I saw the boys from Run Dem Crew run past me, but despite maintaining a good pace and pushing myself hard, when we got to mile ten I hit the wall and insisted that Alice run ahead and leave me to die on the roadside. I was absolutely gutted not to keep up with her, but I had the funny feeling that if I tried to run any faster, I wouldn’t make it to the finish line at all. I didn’t stop though; I ploughed on slowly through, albeit dejectedly, convinced I’d screwed it up completely. So no one was more surprised than me to discover that I’d actually made it round the course in exactly the same time as last week, to the minute! So while I thought I’d messed up, I’d actually maintained a consistent pace.I’m frustrated not to have made it round in less than two hours, but also strangely satisfied at the symmetry of two identical race times on two consecutive weeks. As I’d prepared so well for race day, I’m just not sure what I can do to stop the fatal wall rearing it’s ugly head at mile ten of my next race Run To The Beat in two weeks. I’d ticked all the right boxes in training, so I suppose all I can do is rest up and hope for the best. Typically I made the most fatal mistake of all after the Bristol Half actually ended. I went straight to the pub in my race gear, drank my body weight in beer and completely forgot to stretch, so I’m walking like a cowgirl today as well as feeling a bit sorry for myself. But even cowgirls get the blues. Here’s hoping this cowgirl can finally conquer her half marathon time at Run To The Beat on September 25th. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Fortunately it’s the music half marathon and there promises to be several sound systems to keep us going, so if all else fails I’ll line dance my damn way round...