To cut a long story short: No PB for me today. I finished in 1:52:07. This is 30sec slower than my PB from Inverness in March and over 2 min out of my goal to get under 1:50.
Thomas ran with me to try and help me get under 1:50. He has not been feeling too well after the Fling and his return from Germany, probably a virus, (Swineflu he thinks, but as we have been briefed in detail I could just stop him from alerting NHS 24 and raising the swine flu alarm! :-) Men ...) so he offered to keep me company.
What on earth made me think that the Dunfermline Half was a good course to pick for an attempt at 1:50?? Maybe because it is called "City" HM and it is the Scottish National HM Championships where I thought you would pick a flat course? But no, wrong and wrong again! If I called Inverness HM "hilly" I do apologize now as this seemed a walk in the park in hindsight! Please see above course profile! Maybe lame excuses, I know, but I did feel I had a sub 1:50 in me before I started the race today!
The course consists of 2 laps starting and finishing in the lovely Pittencrieff Park. We started with a 5min delay as the major had a rather long speech prepared which kept on going and going. After over enthusiastic applause when everyone thought she had finished, she continued and the crowd got rather restless listening to the problems of the economic downturn and the withdrawal of sponsors! Is this what you want to hear just before a race??
Anyway, we got on our way hitting the first steep incline not far from the start. The sun was shining and it was rather hot. After 2-3M it became obvious for me that this was not my PB course. I felt really low at that point, sweating and panting away on the inclines and managing to hiss out a few swear words. Luckily only Thomas could hear them! I was so disappointed that I am sure I would not have tried to continue as strong as I could under these circumstances if Thomas hadn't been there. He kept saying don't worry this is only a training run, and a very good and hard one indeed, that will set you up nicely for Edinburgh etc. When the first water station came I was desperate for water and Thomas poured the good Highland Spring (still water this time!) right over my head! Ah, that felt great.
I kept working away and eventually we approached the park again after yet another even steeper incline. I just thought to myself how will you get up this one at the end of your next lap? I was sure I was going to walk it.
Somehow finishing the 1st lap and knowing what lay ahead helped me to focus (even though I knew it was not getting any flatter). I had also resigned myself to the fact that there was no way I could beat the 1:50 today and I just wondered if I would stay under 1:55. So the 2nd lap felt better psychologically and Thomas was pleased that I kept working at a steady effort even if the pace changed depending on the steepness of the inclines. The downhills were not helping too much as some of them were so steep that my legs just could not turn over any faster to make good use of them. But from mile 10 onwards I started to overtake a few runners on all these inclines. When I approached "Mount Everest" as one runner called it before he changed into walking mode I did think about walking too. But when I mentioned it to Thomas he just gave me a look that made me continue in my running mode. So another club runner left behind and I felt good about it! The last mile was a bit faster again as we came back into the park to the finish. I even highfived 3 kids as by then I was not bothered too much about the time and was so glad that the end was insight!
I am still right on schedule for my sub-4hour marathon which "demanded" a 1:53 HM, but as I was faster in March before I even started my marathon training I had set myself a different target. So considering the course (and the heat) I am actually quite pleased with this as a hard training run. How glad was I that Thomas had decided to coach me along anyway. Though I usually am quite happy running alone and can't chat in races anyway, his comments and support really helped me focusing. I would probably still be walking along the route now!
The race as such was in fact one of the best organized races I have done so far. It was such a friendly event with the park pavilion providing ample changing facilities, a drop bag service, a cafe and friendly marshalls along the way. A nice medal, T-Shirt, Mars bar, wine gums and water at the end were all appreciated. And as it was so warm and sunny we just sat in the park for an hour after the race enjoying a coffee and chatting to other runners. So all in all a great race as long as you know what to expect on the course!
