Conwy Half

I raced at the Conwy Half Marathon last Sunday.  After my 10k race the week before I'm actually feeling pleased with my performance at Conwy.

I have done nothing but steady running for the last few weeks with no fast effort sessions and my longest run has probably been a little over 10 miles.  I went into this race with a much better attitude than last week.  I had decided that my lack of speed work and just steady running will suit me better for the half than the 10k and to use it as a race to see where I am now when not on form and know that by March all being well and injury free I can see a big difference.

I started off with a girl I've raced against before at half marathon but decided the first couple of kms were a bit quick so I backed off.  I was now in 5th place but feeling ok about it!  The race starts out flattish then goes around the Great Orme which is uphill all the way up for over 2 miles then of course down hill back then flattish back to the finish.  3rd and 4th place were about 150m ahead of me by the time we got to the Orme.  I took it fairly steady going up and ran within myself.  2 men caught me and were breathing hard.  Every time we hit a flat bit I would overtake them then they would come past me going up the steep bits - all the time breathing hard!  As soon as we hit the down hill I just let myself go and dropped them!  Half way down I caught 4th place and flew past her which was a really good feeling.  I didn't put the brakes on once going down and my feet were slapping the ground.  I could see I was catching 3rd place so just focused on her.  Onto the flat and at the 9 mile mark I caught her.  I ran with her for a bit as I wondered if I had just had a better down hill part and if she was still feeling good.  I listened to her breathing for a bit and decided that she was in pain and it was time to pick it up!  

I had a good last couple of miles and picked off a couple more men.  So I finshed in 3rd and was just 60s behind 2nd (who beat me by just over 60s at last weeks 10k)!  I was really pleased and feel there was more there but I ran the race right for me with a strong second half.  It made such a nice change for me to do a fairly hilly race as so often I pick races that are flat to try and get a fast time.