"It's All Downhill From Here"

So today was the first big test for me and what a test it turned out to be!  The City of Newport Half Marathon, to use its full title was set to be my first half marathon and also my longest ever run by a good 3 miles.  I took the “don’t over train” advice very seriously!  Luckily, I wasn’t going to be alone for this test.  Like last week with the Pontypool 10k, I’d drafted in help in the form of my Dad.  We’ve done a bit of training together and it was going to be nice running a new route that neither of us knew, rather than the now overly familiar training runs where we know every turn, bump and hill. 

The route itself was quite a nice one, heading out from Newport’s International Sports Village and essentially following a foot/bike path along the river to Caerleon and back again.  There were a couple of little hills, but compared to Abertillery, nothing too daunting.  Before we started though I was feeling a little nervous as the furthest I’d ever run before was around 10 miles and that was only once.  The doubts as to whether that had been a particularly good day were playing heavy on my mind and it took me a while to settle into a pace and get my breathing sorted.  By the time I’d done that we were around 5-6 miles in but this uneasiness must be a good thing as it was a PB for that distance!  By this point as well, the front runners were already passing us on their way back to the finishing line.  If any of you happen to be reading this, hats off to you because never in a million years would I be able to achieve that kind of pace, let alone maintain it over that length of time and distance.

The return from Caerleon can only be described as bloody hard work.  The final 3 miles were torture with my calves feeling like they were being electrocuted as the crap set in.  In the end, we made it around in 2 hours 26 minutes.  I had aimed for around 2 hours 30 so was really pleased with that, even if it was just under.  I also had a mixture of feelings that my Dad had done it with me.  Pride that we had completed it but also a bit of embarrassment that despite him having nearly 30 years on me, he was still taking it easy to let me keep up!  I’ll have to get some more training in to put that right at the Cardiff Half Marathon in October!  That said, this is how I feel now that the run is over, this is really just a starting point for me in terms of training.  I now need to maintain and improve on my running whilst also incorporating swimming and cycling ready for the half Ironman in June.

In case you are wondering about the title of this post, that became my Dad’s new catchphrase during the run. When I first started running it was “push yourself!” However, today, “it’s all downhill from here” took its place. From the turnaround point Caerleon back to Newport, that is all that Dad said, even when we were looking up a hill!

With that explained, all that is left to do is put the obligatory photograph here:

 And to say that I now have a weekend off where I will be combining Mother’s Day celebrations with my birthday (I can’t believe I’ve got to share it this year!) before the next event, the St David’s Spring Bike Ride in Caldicot the weekend after.

Also, don’t forget you can sponsor me online at www.justgiving.com/huw2013