Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Inverness Half Marathon 2024
by Russell Turner - 12:56 on 11 March 2024
The forecast was cool with a light breeze; on the day we got cold with occasional very cold wind. At least it didn’t rain. The hard cases wandering around in just vest and shorts were impressive, although they were going to be running for an hour less than me so maybe it didn’t matter to them.
My third Inverness Half Marathon began well, despite the usual scrum in the sports hall to reach bag drop. Ten minutes later, I realised that inside it I’d left the two energy bars intended to supplement a light breakfast. Bugger. I didn’t feel hungry, even 30mins before the 12.30 race start, but later on might be another thing. Fortunately I was fully stocked with Tailwind.
I cowered inside the hall for a while, away from the cold, and chatted with a guy wearing a Bedale shirt who turned out to be a regular Yorkshire Marathon runner. He despised the Dunnington spur too.
When it could be avoided no longer, I joined the shivering crowd in procession to the start line, led by a pipe band. We are in the Highlands, after all. There I found my place in the 2:10-2:30 start section – my modest aim for the day, hopefully to be achieved at an easy run that left me capable of more. More start line gossip took place, some with a nervous first time couple.
Then we were off, and I immediately realised there was something else I’d forgotten: after setting up Garmin’s Live Tracking function for the first time, so Matchgirl and Ex-triathlon Cathy, could follow me, I’d neglected to turn on the 6:1 alert I would use for using Tailwind. Plan B was to take some bigger slurps every mile. This seemed to work because there was very little left at the end of the run.
I set off at my intended easy pace, not panicking as everyone streamed past me. It was just a training run for Landmarks and virtual London, after all, and I wanted a comfortable day. The weather thought otherwise. Despite that, I maintained a reasonable pace for the first eight miles, even up the incline that features in the first five. After that it was more of an effort as pace dropped and the runners around me thinned out. I passed a few but many more passed me.
A walk break was considered briefly, then discarded, and I plodded on to a 2:24 finish – not much outside my target time but much more tired than I’d hoped. That was 7mins slower than last year and 17mins slower than my debut in the heady PB-setting days of 2020. I wasn’t too disappointed. Matchgirl was there to greet me and I got my medal biscuit, the real thing still on the high seas between the Cape of Good Hope and the UK. Also there, a minute ahead of me, was the first-time couple, looking much happier. I felt like a grizzled veteran, even if the Over-70 category was won in 1:30. He must be a freak. The winning man took 1:05 and the female winner set a new course record of 1:11. The weather clearly suited some people.
Today, my ankles are stiff but recovering well, as is the rest of me. There’s a light training week ahead, ending with the Alloa HM where I intend to compare yesterday’s effort with a 6:1 run/walk. My HM r/w PB is 2:11, at the Virtual Great North Run 81 in 2021 (also a good PB year), so maybe I’ll get my comfortable sub-2:20 run there.
But time doesn’t really matter – it’s just another training run.
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