The Kingston 16 mile race

Avoiding every temptation to go down to the pub to watch the rugby on the Saturday (what a result!), I kept myself firmly sat on the sofa, drank some water and enjoyed the game. While getting up before 7 is bad enough any day of the week, there's something particularly nasty about doing this on a Sunday. I'd better get used to it, as the marathon day will be no different, in fact, slightly worse.

The 16 mile race takes in two circuits of the Hampton Court-Kingston river loop, which I've run on several occasions during my training, but never twice! I felt prepared for it though. A week of rest had helped, but not cured, my achilles and the new aerodynamic marathon hair cut was bound to help. But I hadn't banked on my running watch/heart rate monitor running out of batteries on the morning of the event! Fortunately, I had a backup one on my bike, so I carried that round with me (not the bike).

We started at 8:30am and I was aiming to cross the finish line at 11am, I went off with the pack and a couple of miles in realised we were pacing it. I'd read about this sort of thing, going off early and suffering the consequences later. I checked my pulse and I was only in the 150s, so I decided to stick with it. I'd set off near the front, by fluke, and was now being passed by people who looked like proper runners. I didn't mind and I stuck with the 5min to 5min 30sec kilometre pace we were travelling at.

One lap and 8.5 miles in, I felt strong enough to pick up my pace closer to 5min pace and begin slowly overtaking some folk along the stretch back to Hampton Court. I think I was on a bit of a high after running through the town with the crowds as my strength began to dissolve rapidly around the 12 mile mark. This is where I had to dig really deep. When you start feeling like that, every pain and niggle prompts your brain to think whether you should stop, start walking or even sit down for a while. Admittedly, I hope not to reach this point so early in the full marathon, but I'll be ready for it. I'd not run at such a pace for such a distance before and it took all my mental strength to take me through to the final couple of miles.

Strength in style!

With two miles to go, you know you're going to make it. And to help me along some uplifting tunes popped onto my ipod. I'd created the playlist so that I'd get a lift at about this point. Problem was, my body reacted by picking up my pace further still! With 1.5 miles to go, I was starting to stride past people who'd passed me earlier in the race. It would have been too embarrassing to admit I'd gone off too early and see them pass me back, so I stuck with it until the finish. A real mental dig.

I finished in 2hrs 12mins. I was very pleased with this time, given I thought I'd be closer to the 2:30 mark. However, I do not expect to set this pace for the marathon as there's no way I could have slogged out another 10 miles!