Swansea Half

Finally writing up my Swansea half marathon review.

The day was perfect for running. Not too hot (to start with!), no rain and a slight breeze. I had stayed at my parents' house so they drove me near to the start line and I gathered in the runners' village. Lots of people milling around waiting for the off. The village was well organised and I saw that a nearby Sports Direct had opened up early, a bit of opportunistic trading never hurt anyone!

Runners' village

With about 10 minutes to go I headed to the start line and found my pen (1:45). I visit Swansea once or twice a year to see my parents but don't often go into town. I was surprised and slightly depressed by the decline in the town centre. Too many boarded up shops and a general run down feeling pervades everywhere. I guess the recession from a few years ago bit hard. Hopefully it will turn around. I guess locals go to Cardiff to shop and visitors bypass the centre and head straight for Mumbles or the Gower.

Waiting for the start

The gun went off on time and I ran over the start line. My ideal pace was going to be around 5 minutes per kilometre but my optimism took over and I thought I could go faster. About 15 seconds per kilometre faster but enough to hurt me later on. Also, the clouds broke and the sun came out. It got quite warm quite quickly. Nevertheless I continued to pound away at my optimistic pace and headed onto the Oystermouth road for the next five miles towards the halfway turnaround point in Mumbles.

Support was good, the weather had brought the crowds out. I even managed to see a friend of mine who I hadn't actually seen for about 15 years!

Finally we hit the halfway point and headed back towards Swansea along the cycle path that skirts the seafront. By now the sun was definitely out, I felt hot and my pace was hurting. I had to slow down a bit. Still managed to keep my average under the 5 minute per km that I was aiming for but my thoughts of this being a nice easy fun run disappeared. I had to start digging deep.

I focussed on a fellow runner about 10 metres ahead of me running at my pace and decided that I was going to beat him. With about 11 miles we turned into the marina before heading back to the finish line (same as the start line). 12 miles went by and I ran up Wind Street, the new centre of drinking and eating. Quite nice as long as you avoid Friday and Saturday nights!

My "rival" was still 10 metres ahead so I upped the pace and started closing him down. With 400 metres left I drew level. Maybe if he knew I was racing him he'd have given a better fight but as it was I eased past and started sprinting towards the finish.

I ran across the line in 1:43:46. Well under my goal but it hurt a lot more than I had planned!


Would I recommend this race? Yes. It's well organised, well supported and flat as a pancake so perfect for a PB. If I wasn't still shattered from my marathon effort maybe I would have broken mine.

Since the race I've been ticking over until marathon training starts again in mid July. It's a lot warmer in the mornings at the moment but I suppose that's better than running in the cold! Lighter mornings also mean that parks and canals come into play.

I've planned a few pre marathon races, a couple of 10k races and the Ealing half marathon. I definitely will not be racing the half marathon for a PB since it is a week before Chester so I'll use it as a training session, it's a good marathon well liked by the running community. It always does well in the running surveys and awards. I'm looking forward to it.

Springwatch along the canal

Canals are great for running. Flat, aesthetically pleasing and you get to see all sorts of birds. Even sometimes a rabbit or two!

Sunday morning was a beautiful, bright day. It wasn't too hot and the wind was cooling. I hadn't a plan of where to go so I let my legs decide. They took me to the canal. Four miles down the Grand Union from Hanwell to Brentford. There's not many better runs than those where you have no idea where you want to go and let the wanderlust take over.

Lock-keeper's cottage on the Grand Union

Down the canal I stopped to take a photo of a family of coots. They were taking a breather on a log.

Coots

As the canal path ended at Brentford I ran the remaining three miles back home along the roads. The rest of this week is a small taper until the half marathon on Sunday. Tomorrow I'll run an interval session just to get some speed through the legs. I'm still determined to run it for fun rather than time. I might even take my iPhone to get some snaps as I go around.

My middle name

Hubris. That's my middle name. If I've learnt one thing recently, it's that I should not expect to be able to race a 10k four weeks after a marathon and get a PB.

To be honest the number of runners didn't help either. The BUPA London 10k is very popular and thousands of runners turned up. I was in one of the first few waves released but that didn't give me any advantage. Nor did the fact that the course had been rerouted due to roadworks on the Embankment where the course normally runs. This meant that the course went up the Strand which is a lot narrower than the Embankment and I found myself zig-zagging for the first two or three kilometres. But my legs weren't ready for the race either. By the end of the race they felt very heavy.

The weather conditions were perfect and the organisation was excellent as you can see below.

A lovely day in London, perfect for running

Lots and lots of runners getting ready

The streets were crowded with loud supporters and the odd band or two. I do recommend it for anyone wanting a great day out with a race included. Just don't expect to post a brilliant time.

In the end I managed to run 45:16 which was just over two minutes short of my PB and my hopes of getting under 43 minutes were pretty much dashed from the get go due to the amount of runners, heavy legs etc. etc. (see above!).

I was hanging on at the end and as I passed the 100m to go sign I checked my watch and saw that I needed to run it in less than 10 seconds to get under 45 minutes. I'm certainly no Usain Bolt and I think even he would have struggled with that after running 10km. To be fair my watch said that I actually ran 10.25km in total so morally I got under the 45 minutes for the 10k but my race result is what matters.

I've been away in Madrid on business for the last week and wasn't able to fit my running kit into my carry-on luggage so haven't run for six days. I went out for a 7 miler this morning to blow the cobwebs away and felt fine. With the Swansea half marathon next weekend I'll have to add a few more sessions before then including a tempo and interval session. But as I have learnt I am not now expecting to beat my PB and will run it for fun. I'm hoping to get in under 1:45 which is basically my marathon pace so am hoping that won't be too taxing. Anything better than that will be a bonus and it will be nice to run in Swansea. The last time I did was four years ago when I got my 10k PB. It's a very flat course along the seafront and if the weather is good then it will be an absolute joy.