Carsington Water Half Marathon 2020
February 23rd 2020
Trail half marathon
Puddle-tastic
Trail half marathon
Puddle-tastic
4 months pregnant - sickness still very present :(
Having trained through Storm Ciara, then Storm Dennis, it was no surprise that I woke to a morning of torrential rain and wind. "It can only get better" I thought, and spurred on by the sunny photos on Facebook of Carsington Water by the race organiser, I popped myself in the car and drove the hour or so to the start. It wasn't sunny when I arrived, but it wasn't raining either - happy days!
Having received my number in the post, there was no registration to faff with which made everything more efficient, and three loo trips in 15 minutes later (and £5 down on parking, humph) I was at the start. And then it started, pretty much without warning, and we were off.
I got fairly stuck on the start as it had effectively been three funnels converging, but two wet feet later I had covered a mile already too quickly, at sub-8-minute miles! I blamed this on the tailwind, but once it started to thin out a little I settled on a comfier pace, still posting fairly fast times. The 3.1 mile marker (and turnaround for the 10k-ers) came quite quickly, but then we changed direction and headed south, and I started to get a taste of what the wind would amount to. The course also started to get a few more and much bigger undulations than before, and by 4 miles I was feeling very very tired.
By 5 miles I was turning out onto the dam wall, which was predictably exposed, with what I would call a Very Strong cross head-wind. Gasping for breath, and running with a noticeable lean, I battled on, glad of the shelter of the sailing club at the end. This quickly led on to the car park and visitor centre where we had started, at just over 7 miles in. Feeling unusually happy to be passing the finish, I turned onto the out-and back section that we had already gone out on, rejoicing in the tailwind but slightly dreading the turn.
However, the turn came and I actually felt OK. I had been overtaking steadily for 3 miles, and with "just a parkrun to go" (this is a common race thought for me) I pushed on into the headwind and gusty rainstorm. This passed quickly, and although the last 2 miles felt very long indeed, I was still overtaking and pleased to be certain I could make it to the finish at this pace.
Finish I did, and in 1:46 or so - a time I'm pleased with given I'm currently heart-rated limited my my little baby on board (very nearly 4 months pregnant now, by this time last time I was injured with plantar facistis so I'm enjoying every run I get), and given the surface was a mix of trail, puddles and wind. Indeed my feet had been soaked for the whole race - the very first thing I did after was change my food, even before going back to scoff a few (six) jaffa cakes as I'd not taken any food or water on during the race.
It was so lovely to have a friend there too. Not being part of a running club (for lack of time and skill) I very rarely race with buddies, so I really enjoyed the company!
Having trained through Storm Ciara, then Storm Dennis, it was no surprise that I woke to a morning of torrential rain and wind. "It can only get better" I thought, and spurred on by the sunny photos on Facebook of Carsington Water by the race organiser, I popped myself in the car and drove the hour or so to the start. It wasn't sunny when I arrived, but it wasn't raining either - happy days!
Having received my number in the post, there was no registration to faff with which made everything more efficient, and three loo trips in 15 minutes later (and £5 down on parking, humph) I was at the start. And then it started, pretty much without warning, and we were off.
I got fairly stuck on the start as it had effectively been three funnels converging, but two wet feet later I had covered a mile already too quickly, at sub-8-minute miles! I blamed this on the tailwind, but once it started to thin out a little I settled on a comfier pace, still posting fairly fast times. The 3.1 mile marker (and turnaround for the 10k-ers) came quite quickly, but then we changed direction and headed south, and I started to get a taste of what the wind would amount to. The course also started to get a few more and much bigger undulations than before, and by 4 miles I was feeling very very tired.
By 5 miles I was turning out onto the dam wall, which was predictably exposed, with what I would call a Very Strong cross head-wind. Gasping for breath, and running with a noticeable lean, I battled on, glad of the shelter of the sailing club at the end. This quickly led on to the car park and visitor centre where we had started, at just over 7 miles in. Feeling unusually happy to be passing the finish, I turned onto the out-and back section that we had already gone out on, rejoicing in the tailwind but slightly dreading the turn.
However, the turn came and I actually felt OK. I had been overtaking steadily for 3 miles, and with "just a parkrun to go" (this is a common race thought for me) I pushed on into the headwind and gusty rainstorm. This passed quickly, and although the last 2 miles felt very long indeed, I was still overtaking and pleased to be certain I could make it to the finish at this pace.
Finish I did, and in 1:46 or so - a time I'm pleased with given I'm currently heart-rated limited my my little baby on board (very nearly 4 months pregnant now, by this time last time I was injured with plantar facistis so I'm enjoying every run I get), and given the surface was a mix of trail, puddles and wind. Indeed my feet had been soaked for the whole race - the very first thing I did after was change my food, even before going back to scoff a few (six) jaffa cakes as I'd not taken any food or water on during the race.
Times
Total time: 01:46:10
Standings
Age category: 5/50 10%
Gender category: 21/221 10%
Overall category: 95/445 21%
Total time: 01:46:10
Standings
Age category: 5/50 10%
Gender category: 21/221 10%
Overall category: 95/445 21%
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