October 7, 2013

Cardif 1/2 Marathon 2013 - Race Report (my first half marathon!)

In December I decided to sign up for the Cardiff half, knowing that it was ages away and I had loads of time to train.  Brewer Half and MTB ben also debated signing up, and we 3 all had different approaches to training.

I downloaded a training guide and started following some running bloggers

Brewer half joined a running club and started running with his running friends

MTB Ben ran as far and as fast as he could, then did the same the next day, then did the same the third day when he heard a pop in his knee and decided running was stupid.

So Brewer half and I entered the half, and 10 months later it was yesterday.

I had not done much training.  I ran about 3 miles once a week for a month before the race. August I did 41 miles in the whole month... September I did 15.

I was not prepared at all, and found myself googling "how to run a half marathon with no training" the day before the race.

Either way, we go to the start line at 8am and Brewer half got a coffee
We got into the pens at 8:30 (I was yellow: 2hr+, Brewer was Green: 1hr 45+)
I couldn't really hear the starting gun but as we headed out there were loads of people so I wasn't tempted to go too fast and kept a steady pace.

There were lots of stations along the route with music and water and energy drinks, and tons of people out cheering which made everything way more fun.

At around mile 6 I started to feel bad and I had a side cramp and I was thinking about what a stupid idea it is to run a 1/2 marathon with no training but then I found a power station and got a gel and saw a camera and everything was okay again.
Raceface is not prettyface!

I took little sips of water and poweraid at all the stations but tried not to drink too much. I felt pretty good, and even managed to smile at the 12.5 mile camera!
I crossed the line at 2hr 45 minutes but my chip time (because it took a while to get to the start) was 2hr 33 minutes, which is a dang fine result!

After the half my legs hurt a lot so I put frozen peas on them.  

Then I ate everything.
Mission Burrito opened this weekend in Cardiff! I think it's because the first time I had Mission burrito was after hungover-ly watching the Bath Half and dreaming of doing a 1/2 then eating a Burrito - and so a lifelong (er, 6 month) dream was realized when they opened a restaurant just for me!  Thanks guys!

Then my cake tummy was still empty so we went to Pettigrew Tea Rooms for cake.  Chocolate Almond cake yes please!

Cardiff half was super well organized and well marshaled.  Cardiff is a great city for running and there were no boring parts on the route - I think I liked the parts around Cathays best because all the streets were closed. the barrage and bay were gorgeous, weather was great - I couldn't have asked for more and I'm already looking forward to my next half! (Santa to Sea in California....?)

What an awesome day!

3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks! I want to sign up for another now! :-)

      Delete
  2. WOW--You beat almost 2,000 people! Some of whom were only partially crippled!

    ReplyDelete