Bournemouth half marathon is just over two weeks away. This week’s weather in the UK is being affected by the remnants of hurricane Lee out in the Atlantic. This is set to be followed by hurricane Nigel later in the week. (There was an intermediate hurricane Margot, following the alphabetical naming convention, but that dissipated and was downgraded to a cyclone). My long run at the weekend was in a thunderstorm. There were progressively less and less people about as the puddles deepened and those with any sense headed indoors. At first I tried to dodge the puddles, but eventually I gave up and just waded through.
My concern was to keep going before I embark on tapering sessions 10-14 days ahead of race day. The theory of tapering as it has been explained to me is that there is nothing one can do in the last two weeks to make one run faster. The aim is to arrive at the start of the race fit and uninjured. Therefore the intesity of the training sessions needs to reduce and the length of long runs likewise need to reduce. Also by maintaining the same diet, with reduced exercise, there will be a natural period of carbo-loading.
That’s the theory. So I will do my last tempo run on Friday and my final long run on Sunday before scaling things back.
What other obstacles might get in the way? Poor race strategy. It has been suggested to me that the half marathon should be treated like 4 back to back Parkruns. The first two parkruns should be run at a steady pace, without getting carried away with the adrenaline and excitement. Then the effort should be maintained or increased in the third parkrun. (Bournemouth has a hill at mile 8, so I’m hoping my hill repeats will help me here.) Then the advice is to throw the kitchen sink at the final 3 miles/5k.
My time will not be fast, but barring injuries I will finish. I just hope that the rain won’t cause my rebel red hairspray to run.
Have you run a half marathon? How did you get on? Have you got any advice for how to approach the last two weeks? What worked for you? Would you do anything differently with the benefit of hindsight?
Thank you for reading and for the support.
Stephen's Wildlife 