The race didn't start till 11am so we got the chance to lay in for a bit. We both had our usual pre-race porridge and got into our gear. I decided to go for the leggins and long sleeve top combo, I decision that I would come to regret later because I was too hot the moment we set off!!
We got to race HQ with plenty of time to spare and collected our numbers. The more races we do the more familiar faces we see. We bumped into Hannele who did my sports massage and I reassured her that she had not bruised me too badly! It was great to see a good turn out from the Spen crew! There must have been about a dozen of us!
After my third wee, we made our way down to the start for a few laps to warm up. The atmosphere was very relaxed. We lined up about half way down the pack with some of our team mates and were still busy chatting when the starting klaxon went off.
The first mile (affectionately known as the mad mile) of the course lulls you into a false sense of security, because it's down hill. We went through the first mile in under 7 minutes and the second in not much over that. I did start to worry that we'd gone out too fast and I would implode at about 8 miles, but I decided to stick with Alex and maintain a steady pace.
At about 4 miles you get to a long steep downhill section and if you're not careful your legs run away with you. Speaking of legs, apart from a little twinge at about 3 miles mine felt fine. I was pleasantly surprised when we went through 10k in less than 45 mins but tried not to get too excited about the prospect of doing my first ever sub 1:40 half marathon. There was still a long way to go! Alex and I braced ourselves as we crossed the brook and got to the foot of the 'hill from hell.' This is probably the toughest part of the course and it certainly sorts the men from the boys. So we attacked it, chest up, tits and teeth!! I was certainly blowing when I got to the top but I found it easier than last year, which is a good sign!
There was a drinks station at 8 miles and a road to cross which I got stuck at and had to make sure Alex didn't get away! For some reason we both forgot about the long uphill drag between miles 10 and 11. I remember thinking to myself that it wasn't actually that bad but it did begin to take it out of me after about half a mile. As we reached the top, one of the spectators told me that I was about the 15th lady. I had no idea how many women there were in the race, but 15th sounds pretty encouraging. I looked ahead of me to see if I could make up a couple of places but there were only men in front of me and I checked behind to make sure I didn't loose any places.
As we passed through the 11 mile mark, we were given some encouragement from a fellow participant and reminded that there was only 2 miles to go, that gives us a bit of a boost. Usually by this point my form has totally gone and I have no strength in my legs. Don't get me wrong I was tired but I still had something left in the tank. Praise the Lord for that sports massage!
We both seemed to run out of steam in the last mile (another uphill section) and poor old Bozza was dry wretching (loudly) as we approached the finish. When we turned the corner into the home straight, I looked at my watch and saw that I had exactly 1 min to get to the finish in a sub 1:40 time, so I decided to make my move. The guy in front of us was giving himself words of encouragement and as I passed him he shouted "go on love!"
I realised quite quickly that I might have peaked to early (need to work on this!) because the finishing straight was quite long and my legs were quite tired. I could feel Bozza breathing down my neck and although it aint the mall, there were a few folk watching! I absolutely had to style it out, I'd committed myself. I was expecting Bozza to blind side me at any moment but I just about managed to hold him off.
The race wasn't chipped and my official time was 1:40:23 and Bozza's was 1:40:25, but by my watch you can easily knock 10 secs off that! I was shocked to see that I was actually the 13th woman finisher out of a field of 140. Blimey, that aint 'arf bad is it?!
So it was pb's all round for the Bozza family and to celebrate we took ourselves off to the pub for a well deserved pint of Guinness and a slap up meal. That elusive sub 1:40 is creeping ever closer....watch this space!!
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