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So, the Barcelona Half Marathon successfully completed on Sunday!
Saturday was crazy - sightseeing all day then off to the football Saturday night with a late finish! Not the best final preparation but this is not a tale of excuses, but a tale of success!
Great support in training over the past year from my Fetch buddies and from Caroline to get me ready for the great day.
Walk down to the start, not a warm up jog - as Simon explained to Ross, Dad has 13.1 miles in those legs, and no more!
Very exciting being in the pen before the start, even if it was over 500 metres from the start line at the back with the "silver surfers" = the 2 hours plus brigade.
Incredible experience running in the streets of the city with 12,000 other people!
Simon was a great support. It was his birthday and he had volunteered to spend his run nursing me around which was likely to reduce his chances of a new PB!
The splits tell the story (as ever) - so you can skip the rest of the text if you like!
Set off too fast with the excitement of the big occasion. Simon kept encouraging me to "dial it down a bit" - so at least it was in the 6min - 7 min per km range and no quicker for the first 5k. Took time to look up at the magnificent buildings we were running past and relish the moment.
Then ticking over nicely from 6km to 15km with times running around 7-7.5 mins /km.
16 and 17km and we are now getting to the edge of the "comfort zone".
In the two longest training runs with Luke and Simon (17k and 19k), I learnt that the secret was the art of re-fuelling during the run.
Unfortunately, I just could not force the stuff down me on the big day. Simon kept offering crunch bars, wine gums and water, but I kept refusing.
The splits show how the wheels came off after 17km. What was going on "behind" those numbers of 8.23, 9.15 and 9.44 was that I was running ALL the way. I NEVER stopped and NEVER walked, but I was being passed by other runners who WERE walking.
At one point the route doubled back on itself and we could see it: the Grim Reaper about 1km behind us. The ambulance, the retirements bus and two police cars sweeping up the back markers and coming to get me!
Simon stayed calm and encouraging "you're doing great, just keep moving, go on have some fuel". Inside he was thinking, "oh-oh, maybe he will blow it!"
I hung on in there. I never asked "are we nearly there yet?"
But those km markers just would NOT appear - km 20 took nearly 10 minutes!
Then Luke and Gareth appeared as we approached the final straight - joining in and cheering me on. Round the final bend and there was this huge red arch over the road.
"Is that the finish?" I ask in near delirium.
"Not quite", says Simon, "there are just 600 m to go to the clock".
"Well, knock me down with a feather" says I (or something like that).
Simon thought
"Gosh, he is actually mentally finished. He is going to stop at the 21 km marker and sit down on the kerb!"
But, I dug in and zoomed off (look at that sprint finish!)
The faithful supporters were cheering but I had barely a smile or wave for them.
"Why is he ignoring us and just staring straight ahead?" they wondered.
Because all of his remaining energy is focused on those last few metres. And then I had a Forest Gump moment and kept running past the finish. Why? Because the Garmin ALWAYS measures short and I was NOT going to be just under 21.0975 - hence 21.44km
So the major stats:
Official time 161 minutes 54 seconds.
3 minutes and 6 seconds before the cut off - loads of time!
Placing 12,072
(Ross finished 160 and Luke 2,332 to put that in context)
But there were 43 people who finished behind me (excluding Simon who was only so far back as as running coach!).
And there were 226 people who were caught by the Grim Reaper - DNF
Most importantly?
I don't REALLY care:
About the finishing place.
About the time (much!)
About how many finished behind me
About how many Did Not Finish
But I DO care that all of my running mates and the whole of the "cheer squad" were so genuinely thrilled for me.
The trouble is, with all that positive energy you start thinking:
"I wonder if I could go sub 2 hours 30?"
Avg 7.36
Rank 2413 (2344 Start 1660)
Split Summary
===
1) 1km - 6:38(6:38/km)
2) 1km - 6:43(6:43/km)
3) 1km - 6:58(6:58/km)
4) 1km - 6:57(6:57/km)
5) 1km - 6:41(6:41/km)
6) 1km - 7:26(7:26/km)
7) 1km - 7:02(7:02/km)
8) 1km - 6:56(6:56/km)
9) 1km - 7:02(7:02/km)
10) 1km - 7:11(7:11/km)
11) 1km - 7:36(7:36/km)
12) 1km - 7:21(7:21/km)
13) 1km - 7:15(7:15/km)
14) 1km - 7:34(7:34/km)
15) 1km - 7:42(7:42/km)
16) 1km - 8:11(8:11/km)
17) 1km - 7:45(7:45/km)
18) 1km - 8:23(8:23/km)
19) 1km - 9:15(9:15/km)
20) 1km - 9:44(9:44/km)
21) 1km - 8:32(8:32/km)
22) 0.44km - 3:13(7:16/km)
6:38 6:43 6:58 6:57 6:41 7:26 7:02 6:56 7:02 7:11 7:36 7:21 7:15 7:34 7:42 8:11 7:45 8:23 9:15 9:44 8:32 3:13
Haha already contemplating new targets.great write up of a great achievement.
A fantastic write up, as I said on the day I am very impressed with your determination, spirit and transformation over the last year. You have made the improbable (never impossible) HAPPEN and you deserve a huge amount of credit for that! To complete a half marathon is a massive achievement and you deserve a huge amount of credit and are certainly getting it from me. On a practical side of things, you somehow need to re-fuel, anything above 90 minutes of exercise really needs some sort of energy being replaced, sounds like smaller, lighter options would be a lot more practical than bars or wine gums. Experiment, and find something that does work. A massive well done though and keep up the good work, and the answer to sub 2.30 is a definite YES from me.
Good work Dad - what a great write up of what sounds like a fantastic day! I wish I had been there for Si's 30th and to see you cross the line 3 minutes and 6 seconds before the grim reaper! 2:30 definitely sounds doable... you should check with Mum first though! I could find us a race in Sydney if you need it?!
Fetch definitely needs a like button.great comments guys.group hug!
Fantastic write up dad. As I said to you in Barcelona I genuinely think that this ranks up there with LEJOG as an achievement. Running has not come easily but you have made huge strides (literally). Congrats again.