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March 18, 2007
Come Hail, Snow or Sunshine
I ran a half marathon today and experienced 4 seasons in one day.
We got up at 7 this morning and got ready to leave at 8 to get to Silverstone by 10am for the Adidas Half Marathon 2007 at Silverstone. The race only started at noon, but because there was 9000 athletes running, we figured the traffic would be murder and wanted to be there early rather than late.
When we got to Silverstone, it turned out that we might've been the only people thinking like that. We got out of the car, a 7 degree day with a really strong wind blowing from the North. This was going to be a cold race. I laced my timing chip through my laces, put on a long-sleeve top and started walking towards the race area. We had to walk about 1km and within the time it took to get there, my hands turned blue. I knew that Adidas would most surely have some form of shop / expo and I could only hope that they would be selling gloves as mine was back at home... 80 miles back.
Thankfully they did. They also had a very comfortable pair of shoes and a long-sleeve top that I simply loved... so when I lined up at noon, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be cold. I had a cotton shirt on, a ClimaCool top over it, gloves, short tights and a pair of longer tights over the short ones.
Noon arrived and with the wave of a checkered flag, we were off. I stood between the 2h20 group, noting that just a little bit in front of me, was the pace leader for the 10 minute milers and thought that it'd be fun to stick with them. Unfortunatly my right calf decided it wasn't to be - it started cramping as I crossed the start line and heard the familiar beep as my timing chip registered that I was now in the race.
Within the first mile, the sun came out and in the back of my mind I thought just my luck - I'm geared, and NOW the sun comes out. As it turns out, I didn't have to think that for too long. A mile and a half into the race it started snowing. Yes. You read it. SNOWING. I thanked my lucky stars that I was coated in two layers and shuffled along, the crowds still not having spread out enough to really run. Just as soon as it started, the snow stopped falling. The sun peeked out for a few minutes and then hid away behind the clouds.
Just after the 3 mile mark I realised that I was covered too much. I stopped and removed my long tights and one of the tops that I had on and carried on running, feeling a lot better without one layer.
At mile 4 I suddenly realised that my right calf wasn't cramping anymore. I nearly skipped with joy.
I went through the 6 mile mark at 66 minutes - a little slower than I wanted, but as I was supposed to only treat this as a training run, I wasn't too upset. It was at about this time that we got another shock to our systems. Suddenly I was getting battered and bruised by very little white pellets. Hail was pouring down and with strong gusts of wind throwing it against us, you could hear many athletes yelping and saw them trying to cover any naked flesh. I tilted my head and tried to keep as much off me as possible, but the right hand side of my body couldn't hide. My nose got properly beaten and I think it might be a few days before the bruising disappears off my right cheek. As this happened, you could hear a 'Ooooooooooohhhhhhh' rise from the spectators that were sheltered by the stands. The commentator wanted to know what was up with the weather, but we all could only hope that it would stop soon.
It was 5 minutes that felt like 15 while the hail fell, but it did stop. And as before, the sun came out for a few minutes. It was also around this time that I suddenly realised that I was feeling a lot better and managed to settle into a very nice and steady pace. I found myself thinking about wanting to pass at least that person... then the next ... then the next.
With 2 miles to go, I passed the 10 minute milers. I thought of slowing down and staying with them, but then realised that I was feeling good and didn't want to slow down. I carried on past them.
With 1 mile to go the hail started coming down again. Thankfully not as much as before, but just enough to hurt. This time it was straight from the front as well and I was thankful that I was running with shades - hail in eyes would not have been fun.
I finished the line in 2:05:34. I'm VERY happy with that. Not only does it mean that I ran my last 7 miles faster than I did my first 6, but I also realise that I'm stronger now than I have been in a while... and I had a GREAT day :)
pictures to follow
Posted by karinm at March 18, 2007 6:41 PM
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Comments
Sounds like a crazy day, well done for fighting the elements and getting such a respectable result.
Posted by: Angela at March 18, 2007 9:36 PM
Well done on a great effort. I've never run in snow & hail before but can imagine it would be no fun all!
Posted by: Bruce at March 19, 2007 9:57 AM