Running a half marathon

It sounds easy, put on your shoes, run for 13.1 miles and you are done.

Anyone who has done any running will tell you that they wish it were this simple.

I guess the first question that should be asked is WHY?...What would make you think that running this kind of distance would be fun?

Well, for me it was a personal challenge and also a message of support.  One of my good friends had decided that he was going to run a Marathon.  This was to be his second Marathon and he was also going to return to make a second attempt at the same race.

I have to admit, I was a little surprised as last time he completed this he said he was never running another marathon in his life.

So, one day we were chatting and he mentioned his entry to the Malta Marathon and kept telling me what a beautiful country Malta is and maybe I should have a look.  He then mentioned that it was in February and that they did a half on the same day.  As I was mainly running 10K races this sounded a little more achievable so I started doing a little training and it felt good.  I actually felt comfortable doing longer distances.  Eventually October came and the registration opened so I signed up (the hotels and flights had been booked for months but until registration day I could have just been going to see Danny cross the finish line.

The months passed by and the training went well but it was all done in the UK winter temperatures but Google kept telling us that Malta wasn't too hot.  15 degrees was mentioned a lot and that seemed like a reasonable running temperature.

We landed in Malta a few days before the race and were pleased to find that the temperature was nice.  16 degrees, a little cool in the shade.  Nice day but carry a coat just in case, day 2 was cooler and it rained and day 3 was just like the first day.  Perfect running weather.

By now Danny and his family had arrived, the finish line has been put in place and there were loads of runners going up and down the marina.  The atmosphere was amazing and all was good because we had a plan.

Over the last few months we had been comparing our pace and Danny had worked out that with the start times he should be heading around to the final 5k of the Marathon at about the same time as I would be hitting the same distance.  Even if we were a little out we would still have a great chance of meeting up somewhere along the route or maybe even crossing the line together.  This made me feel a lot more confident knowing that I'd have a little extra support just when I needed it. I was already looking forward to seeing my wife at the finish line but to have Danny there too was a bonus.

The night before the race we all went out for Italian food.  Carb loading! I had a few beers as I have always been told not to do anything different before a race and I have never found a beer or 4 to cause any issues on the next days run.

The dawn of the race day arrived and I woke up to the sound of people moving about outside our room, there were the Marathon runners with their early start.  A few hours later and it was my turn.  I met up with Danny's wife and we caught the bus to the start point.  I have to mention that Clare herself was taking part in an amazing event.  She was actually walking the 13.1 mile course.

When we got to the start line we met up with the other 2 girls who were joining Clare for the half marathon walk and stood chatting for a while before the warm up.  The atmosphere was amazing by now so we headed down to the start point and headed off on my own leaving the girls to gather their thoughts and allowing myself to get my head ready for the task ahead.

By now the initial chill had burnt off and I realised I may not need so many layers.  I had my normal running shirt, a second layer and a hat.

The first section of the course was stunning and we had to start off slow due to the amount of people taking part but this thinned out after a little while. I took this time to enjoy the scenery. It looked like we were on top of the world. I'm not exactly sure how long we were running downhill but it was certainly a good way to start the longest run I had ever done.

The first 5k was brilliant. A lovely run on a warm day and the pace felt good but by the time I'd reached 10k the heat had really started to become an issue. I had to stop and take off a layer but that wasn't enough and the hat also had to come off. I realised exactly how hot it had got when I took this off and found it was soaked right through. At 11k I did the stupidest thing ever and decided to have a little walk.  if you have ever done any running you will know that once you take a walk it's difficult to get going again and this is exactly what happened. It was walk/ run for the next half of the half. I took on water at every station and this helped but it was really starting to get hot now. 
 The atmosphere was fantastic though. The crowd were all very vocal and encouragement was rife and there were bands playing music all the way around.

Pretty soon we were in Valletta and I knew this was the home stretch. You could see the finish line on the other side of the water.
Just a few more miles to go. It was here that I started to look out for Danny. He had planned to either over take me at this point or run the final stretch with me so I was looking forward to a little company.

I thought I'd found him a couple of times but it turned out to be just another runner. As we turned into the last stretch I saw my wife in the crowd. She called me over, gave me water and probably gave me some encouragement but I really cannot remember. A little further down I saw Danny's family and they cheered me on. Still no sign of my potential finish line buddy though.

Eventually I crossed the line and grabbed my medal, a banana and water.  There were so many people at the finish line and I just had to get out. The heat was unbearable and I really thought I was going to collapse but I made it out and found Danny's family and my wife. 

At that moment I swore that I'd never run this distance again. This, was of course, a lie but I did not know that yet.

Life in the Big Apple - Part 3

On the morning of the 14^th we woke up at the normal time and headed out for our next adventure. As we had packed so much into our first few days we kind of felt like we had done everything but we were in New York and it always has more to offer.

Earlier in the week we had been offered a Boat Trip and as no Holiday is complete without going on a Boat that was very high on today’s agenda. We also had a few other things to find so once again we headed Downtown.

Our first stop was for breakfast and after unsuccessfully trying one or 2 places we decided to try Applebee’s.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing; if I lived this day over again then I’d go somewhere else.

Next on the list was The Ghostbusters firehouse, the Hook and Ladder.  We had already looked this up on the map and were convinced we’d walked past it a few days earlier but it had not jumped out at us so we set out to find it.  We knew from the Map it was in Tribecca so off we set.  

Our new trick of Starbucks Navigation came into play a few times (if you have a smart phone stand outside Starbuck and use the free WIFI to view your maps).  Eventually we found it.  Well, we found the location.  The maps were telling us we were right by it but we could not see it.  We ended up walking all the way around the block and back to the original spot before we noticed a sign outside the boarded up building telling us that Hook and Ladder was undergoing maintenance.  Someone had very kindly drawn some Ghostbusters type logo’s on the pavement for us though so at least we could say we’d been there.

We knew that our boat trip was still on the agenda and we realised that we were still a good distance away from South Quay so we decided to brave the Subway rather than try to walk again.  First we needed to find the right station.

We walked for a little while and on the way we found some more of the notifications for parking restrictions.  This time it was for filming of The Blacklist.  This was exciting news for 2 reasons, first because we had been fans of The Blacklist since the very first episode and secondly the filming was due to take place the following morning. 

After this little flurry of excitement we found our Subway station and eventually (after trying to work out the ticket machines and train routes) we made our way to South Quay to get our boat tickets.

The boat trip was brilliant; it took us from the Quay up the Hudson River and past the Statue of Liberty, I have never really seen the Status of Liberty properly, even when I did the helicopter trip many (many) years ago I didn’t see it as well as we saw it today.  We stopped for a decent photo session before heading uptown.  The views of Manhattan were spectacular and the commentary gave us some real insight into how New York has changed over the years.  They even pointed out the part of the Hudson where the Pilot had landed his plane in the River.  The only real problem was that it was so cold.  We decided that we would get off the boat at the 911 memorial rather than go all the way back to South Quay.

After another look around we headed uptown again for something to eat in Chinatown before heading back to the Subway.  That was the plan anyway.  We took so many little twists and turns through Chinatown that we didn’t really know where we were heading as we wandered uptown.  We found ourselves by the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge.  We had to take a moment to enjoy the spectacular image but we then decided that we needed to carry on and get our bearings again so we kept heading uptown until the streets started to have numbers instead of names.  Eventually we reached 2^nd Avenue and decided it was time for a beer or two.  Strange things happen in New York City.  As we sat enjoying our drinks we noticed that it was getting very busy outside.  There were Lorries pulling up opposite and people started to mingle just a few feet from the door to the bar and trolleys carrying equipment we dragged into view.  It turns out that we were watching a film crew setting up for a shooting of the TV drama Madam Secretary.

Feeling fully refreshed we braved the Subway and headed uptown again, this time we decided to exit the subterranean transport link at Times Square as we had a little time to kill before our appointment at the Top of the Rock.

One thing you learn on a visit to The Big Apple is that some New Yorkers can make being rude into an art form.  They obviously have a great deal of experience in doing this and can seamlessly integrate this into their working life.  I’d say that this unique skill must be a requirement if you wish to apply for a security position at the Rockefeller Centre.  The views are spectacular and it is well worth a visit but I came away feeling like a naughty child because I had not fully understood that we did not need to put our coats into the tray for the X-Ray machine or for wanting to stand in a certain place to get a picture of the Empire State Building. 

The Morning of the 15^th saw us preparing for our Journey home.  We were happy that we had crossed so many things of our list but there was still time for a few more so after we had packed our cases we headed out on the search for breakfast and for another Movie landmark that we had both spotted on the way back from the Airport after our Niagara visit.

Instead of heading downtown, this morning we were heading east.  After a quick photo of Bloomingdales we reached our target, East 60^th street, and the setting of one of my favourite Chick Flicks, Serendipity.  The shop is called Serendipity III and sadly we were too early to see it during opening hours but I was happy with a photograph.

As we had still not managed to get breakfast we decided to just pop into a Deli for something quick that we could eat on the go while we made our way to the next location on our list.  I think we must have hit the jackpot as we were faced with so much choice.  We opted for a bagel and if we had known how big they were going to be then we may have decided to share one.  This would have been a mistake as they were just too delicious to leave.

After a little bit of Starbucks navigation we found our way to the Subway station and headed to our next adventure.  Next stop was Tribecca where we hoped to find the spot where they were doing the filming for The Blacklist.  We had covered so much ground on the previous day that neither of us could remember exactly where we had seen the signs but as we approached yet another Starbucks we saw that some of the pavement have been blocked off and there were people stood around with camera equipment.  At first it looked like they were packing everything away but it turned out that they were just making adjustments so we decided to hang around for a little while to see if anything happened.  We decided to try to see if we could see any better from the other side of the road and it became apparent that they were filming inside a little bistro.  We could see a waiter stood in the window dressed in Black and White and sat at the table was what appeared to be the female lead but we could not see her face well enough to say for sure.

My wife started to get a little nervous about being there as the crew kept glancing over and she was certain we were going to be asked to move so we switched back to the other side of the road where we stayed for a few minutes just watching.  We were just about to leave when my wife pointed excitedly at a guy in a hat that was walking towards the building.  At first I wondered what I was looking for then I spotted James Spader walking towards the Bistro door, raising his hat in the trademark Raymond Reddington style.  These brief few seconds managed to add the final topping to an already amazing New York City experience.

Half Marathon Training part 2

After the illness and the holiday I returned to the training plan and really needed to buckle down and get back on track.  Tuesday saw us completing the normal short off plan run so that the old legs were ready for a longer stretch on the Wednesday but this was the day where the mild weather gave way to a real torrent.
We decided that going out for a run would be a really bad idea so decided to pay a visit to the gym instead. 
I have no idea how I used to spend so much time on a treadmill. 
This hour of my life was a hot, humid and incredibly unpleasant experience that I have no desire to repeat.  I only managed to do 10 of the 12 Kilometres I was supposed to complete on this run and I could easily have stopped after 8. 

Luckily the weekend was a much better prospect so my 16K run went according to plan.  My wife had decided that she was going to get a lift to work on the Saturday and then run home so I set off from home about 30 minutes before she was due to finish and ran to meet her.  By the time we met up I had done nearly 7k while she had clocked up nearly 3.  It all worked out perfectly.  By the time we got home I had completed my 16k run at a comfortable pace and Mrs B had clocked up another 12K.

The following week we took our off plan Tuesday run (now nicknamed BTRC, Beewell’s Tuesday Running Club) up a level and ran a 5k instead of the normal 3.  This gave my wife her second best time at this distance, I am sure we can accomplish a PB in the next few weeks.

Saturday saw me complete my greatest distance yet.  The plan said I was to complete a 12K comfortable paced run but I was feeling much more and ended up getting home with 18K behind me.  It felt good!!
After that it was kind of business as usual, planned runs with a couple of unplanned runs thrown in but noting to special worth writing about until one of our off plan runs occurred on a Monday.  On paper this run had disaster written all over it.

On the Sunday night / Monday morning we were rudely awoken by an alarm from a Van parked in our street.  In the space of the next 3 hours the alarm went off 4 times in total meaning very little sleep.

The Monday evening we were both really tired and a little grumpy but eventually made the decision to get the Tuesday run completed a day early so we had more time the following evening to get stuff done.  Neither of us really felt like a run and when we got outside it was starting to rain. Sometimes though good things happen when you least expect it.  I knew at about the 2K mark that we were making good time but didn’t say anything to Mrs B as I didn’t want to jinx it.  At the 2.5 marker she was struggling so we slowed down the pace and then gradually picked it up.  The 4k point showed that we were still having a good run despite the slowing pace earlier and we finished the 5K with another PB in the bag for Mrs B.

Actually, she has demolished her previous PB by taking over a minute off her 5K time.