Tomorrow, Sunday 27th June, looks like being one of the hottest days of the year so far in England. Temperatures are forecast to reach 26 degrees Celsius. That's just perfect for drinking cold beer and having a barbie whilst England take on the mighty Germans once more in the World Cup. For me it is a disaster.
In the morning I face the last of my 20 challenges as my gap year officially draws to a close. The challenge is to run a half marathon (13 miles/21km) in under 2 hours. To achieve this I have entered the Humber Bridge Half Marathon.
My training has gone well. I ran the Humber Bridge 10k in just over 50 minutes 3 weeks ago. That's by far my personal best and 6 minutes faster than the same race last year. My training runs have also gone well, the longest being 12 miles, which I ran in 1 hour 45 minutes. So, on paper, I am on target to complete the final challenge successfully. The problem, of course, is the weather. My 10k race was run on a cool day with a lovely light drizzle to keep my temperature down. Once the heat begins to rise the running gets more and more like moving through treacle.
All I can do is turn up for the 10.30 am start fuelled up on pasta, porridge and lucozade sport and enjoy the run, whatever the outcome. Just to finish will be a significant achievement for someone like me who was not built by my creator for long distance anything. I have even slimmed down further for this race and I am now at the target I have been working towards for 18 months. If I don't make it tomorrow then it won't be for the lack of proper training and diet. Maybe being fit enough and healthy enough to enter the race was the real challenge. But a time of 1 hour 59 minutes and 59 seconds will make my gap year complete.
In the morning I face the last of my 20 challenges as my gap year officially draws to a close. The challenge is to run a half marathon (13 miles/21km) in under 2 hours. To achieve this I have entered the Humber Bridge Half Marathon.
My training has gone well. I ran the Humber Bridge 10k in just over 50 minutes 3 weeks ago. That's by far my personal best and 6 minutes faster than the same race last year. My training runs have also gone well, the longest being 12 miles, which I ran in 1 hour 45 minutes. So, on paper, I am on target to complete the final challenge successfully. The problem, of course, is the weather. My 10k race was run on a cool day with a lovely light drizzle to keep my temperature down. Once the heat begins to rise the running gets more and more like moving through treacle.
All I can do is turn up for the 10.30 am start fuelled up on pasta, porridge and lucozade sport and enjoy the run, whatever the outcome. Just to finish will be a significant achievement for someone like me who was not built by my creator for long distance anything. I have even slimmed down further for this race and I am now at the target I have been working towards for 18 months. If I don't make it tomorrow then it won't be for the lack of proper training and diet. Maybe being fit enough and healthy enough to enter the race was the real challenge. But a time of 1 hour 59 minutes and 59 seconds will make my gap year complete.
Hope it all went well for today, I heard all the traffic passing as I lay in my bed.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting for all the wrong reasons. I'll fill in the details tomorrow.
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