Milton Keynes Half Marathon

Well, that was different. The hottest early May Bank Holiday on record and it had to be the year when I had chosen the MK Marathon Weekend for my annual attempt at 13.1 miles. It was not just the temperature, around 25 degrees, but the sun was relentless. And there was no shade for most of the way. Starting off after 10 am meant that I ran when the sun was at it's highest, finishing not long before 1.00 pm.

So, what happened? This was the first race where I didn't run all the way. I had decided to start off slowly. For the first three miles I was already running at my slow training pace of 10 minute 45 seconds per mile. But the sun soon got to me and by 6 miles I had slowed to an average of 11 minute 20 seconds per mile. But that meant for the second three miles I was running at 11 minute 55 second pace. Little more than jogging. I knew that these six miles were mainly uphill, so in these conditions it should not have been a surprise.

When I had reached 8 miles, my legs just gave up. My heart rate was now in the mid 160's, crazy having run so slowly. I'm normally running under nine minutes a mile to reach that HR. So I knew I had to stop running and walk. Alternating walking and running had two benefits. Firstly it brought my heart rate down to mid 140's when I walked, and then I could run at a reasonable pace instead of jogging which felt so difficult. I must admit that thinking I had another five miles of this was quite daunting. So, in the end I found out just how much the sun and heat can effect my body. Whether that's my age or simply the unusual conditions. But I wasn't the only one. There were many around my pace who were doing the same run/walk.

I had a little left to be able to run the last half mile, waving to Alison and Hannah who were there on the main road before the turn into the stadium. My time was 2 hours 45 minutes and 30 seconds. My pace was 12 minutes 38 seconds per mile which meant that for the second half of the race I was averaging 14 minutes per mile!  There were ten mad 70 plus runners, all male. Two had excellent times, the rest of us were a lot slower. I came in seventh out of the ten. What a difference when  compared to the MK 10K I ran in March when I finished first out of five in the 70 plus, running at a pace a fraction over 9 minutes per mile, and last year's half marathon in March, again first out of five, at 9 minute 50 seconds pace. What a difference to yesterday! This has brought me down to earth with a bang.