Week 12 - after this just 5 weeks to go! 

36.7 miles (including a race pace half marathon - Silverstone) 

Definitely feeling like I'm on the homeward curve now in the training, and with the confidence of a swift half marathon today I think the key will now be to keep up the volume, do a little more intensity work, but not overdo it. Having peaked too early in my past couple of Spring Marathons, I'm keen not to repeat the mistake.  Silverstone threw the Advanced Marathon Plan awry this week (was scheduled for 51-55 miles), but I think the resultant benefit of doing the race will compensate for this.


Tuesday 10th March 

7.32 m @ 8.31 p/m 
1hr 2 mins 
Canals - spaghetti junction 

Enjoyed a contemplative after work evening run with Jack, and shook the 20 miler out of my system. I was hurting on Monday - the build up of lactic acid coupled with a sedentary desk job were taking their toll, so it was good to get out on a mild, pleasant evening. It was also a rarity - a new route! We headed out of town via Aston on the canals and found a great 7 mile loop around Spaghetti Junction that took us back into Digbeth. There was a heavy smell of marajuana at various junctures of the canal, and a couple of burnt out cars, but it was safe enough! Felt good on the run.

Wednesday 11th March 

4.06 miles @ 8.04 p/m 
32 mins 

Planned to do a long run back through Cannon Hill Park but after a long day at work I just couldn't be bothered, and it was a grey murky old evening. Didn't abandon the run though; just took it very easy on  the Summerfield Park route on the swift way home - great to be able to run it again in the light

Thursday 12th March 

Gym - 7 miles inc. 5x800m @ 6.40 p/m 

After James' parents evening, there wasn't really time to go to BVH so a speed session in the gym seemed like a reasonable option. Despite having a faulty tread-mill (that decided to reset itself on a number of occasions) it felt good to knock out 5 800's at 10km pace (9m per hour). Feeling in reasonably good shape

Saturday 14th March 

5.03m @ 8.09 p/m 
41 mins 

An early start to set up the day. Gentle run down the Harborne walkway and it was over before it began!

Sunday 16th March 

Silverstone Half Marathon 
Officially 1.30.14 
6.47 p/m 
319th 

5km splits: 
1st 5km: 21.09 (6.47 p/m)
2nd 5km: 20.45 (6.44 p/m)
3rd 5km: 21.16 (6.52 p/m)
4th 5km: 21.07 (6.49 p/m)
rest: 0.88m @ 6.46 p/m 

I have been looking forward to this race for a while - a new experience, having never raced on a Grand Prix circuit before! Having fuelled on Pizza Hut pizza last night (possibly not the best preparation!), it was an unusually late race start (12.00), but in respect to parking, I left at 8.30, and arrived with a couple of hours to spare. The grounds at Silverstone are extensive; the place was huge! It was a big event too, the entry list was at 10,000 people I believe, but I was pleased to bump into Simon Newman, Anthony Stewart and Kevin Oakes before the race, and join them for a warm up. The day itself was incredibly gloomy, cool (about 6 degree) and with a wind at about 10 mph, but it didn't seem to damped spirits.

It was a slightly surreal experience! Heading out into the sub 1.35 pen, it wasn't too crowded and the race track was wide. The camber on the grand prix circuit was springy, so great for running on, but getting used to trying to run a short line was difficult; after a couple of miles I'd already run about .2 miles too far! I settled into a decent rhythm while Simon, Kev and Sarah Rock sped ahead, as they were holding on to the sub 1.30 pacer. The atmosphere was great, good music at various parts of the course, and after 3 miles of snaking around the GP circuit we headed through a variety of pit lanes and took a tour of the other tracks, offices and inner and outer perimeters of Silverstone. I did my usual race break down (into 5km parts) and wasn't blowing too hard at about 1.30 pace (6.45 - 6.50's) for most of the run, although it definitely wasn't as interesting after we'd left the main track. The race seem to pass by very quickly though, and although the pacer seemed to be pulling away into the distance, I seemed to be passing a lot of guys in the latter part of the race, as we headed back on to the main track for the final few miles.

I caught up with Kevin at about mile 11, and was feeling strong. It may have been that a number of people were starting to struggle around me, but I think with all the mileage of late, it actually felt that I was running at my best towards the end of the race, despite of running into a head wind. Anyhow, feeling strong down the home strait (literally!) and ironically was running at sub 1.30 pace. Unfortunately I ended up running 13.3 miles, rather than the requisite 13.1, so touched down a fraction over 1.30. Having set a sub 1.35 goal at the start, this was great. Delighted for Simon - he ran his first sub 1.30, and both Sarah and Anthony ran great races too, as we all finished within a few minutes of each other.

Interesting goody bag - some rather dodgy Coconut 'water' and assorted oddities, good medal though (quite striking) and another pyjama T-Shirt for the collection. From a confidence perspective, I think this was a good choice to really test the legs for speed, now it's just down to seeing if I have the endurance over the next few weeks. I can't help but think though that I'm much fonder of this distance, over the marathon, and was delighted that the legs weren't hurting too badly at the end. Interesting course and glad i've experienced it but not sure I'll do it again - I think there are more interesting courses around; perhaps it was just too flat!