So I (mostly) ran a marathon recently and for a complex series of reasons (read pride) I already want to run another.  As luck would have it Andreas, my boyfriend and main running companion during long training runs – without whom training would be really hard if not impossible – has already agreed to go along with my continued running insanity.  However, because he is not as fond of the idea as I am, it does come with a catch.  In order for him to participate he has stipulated that we must first be able to run a half marathon in 2 hours. His logic is simple, running for 6 hours, he says, is absolutely brutal and just unnecessary. He has a point, standing for that length of time is tough enough let alone running as well. On the other hand, running for 4 hours, is, he says, tolerable. Not exactly a rousing endorsement but I’ll take it.

A 2 hour half marathon is the new goal then.  So where do we stand?  Well, fortuitously, terrified I may never want to run again after the marathon, I already had a half marathon booked. The Bedford Harriers Half Marathon (06/12/15) formed part of my birthday celebrations and was meant to be a fun, easy kind of run just to keep me motivated and moving post-marathon.  Nonetheless, it’s as good a point as any to get an idea of our baseline time.  I had not trained enough to get an amazing time but I was hopeful that after the full marathon just a half would feel like a walk in the park – and thus maybe we could surprise ourselves.

So 10 am from Wootton High School we are off.  The course is basically an anti-clockwise hilly loop from Wootton out to the surrounding villages and back. The roads were not properly closed but country lanes on a winter Sunday morning are not that well-travelled anyway and there were plenty of race marshals warning you about the traffic. The weather looked cold but actually as soon as I start running I was cursing my long sleeved top as I warmed up quickly.  The wind was the worst of the weather – at some points it forcibly knocked the breath right out of you – but thankfully it only seemed to be that bad on one particularly barren incline!

Wootton is no Lisbon or Liverpool but even so, there is for me a childish charm in the rolling hills, pretty ponies and Christmas tree farms that we pass.  It’s nice that the runners seem to be kind of at our level too – we run in a group that becomes familiar by mile 3 and I am secretly competitive by mile 6.  I very much want to beat another running couple – he is really tall whilst she is wearing short shorts with a fluorescent yellow hem – we seem about evenly matched as we have been running together for much of the time.  Andreas and I overtake them only to be overtaken each time we stop to have a drink or energy gel.  We can beat these guys, I think, but I don’t accelerate like crazy, just relax and enjoy the moment – something I had been unable to do in Lisbon.  The run was turning out to be quite fun, the uphill, downhill, wind barrage was keeping it interesting and my body was coping well.  I didn’t have any aches or niggles, if anything I was just a little out of breath, and maybe a bit hungry.  Of course the breathlessness might also have been the small gales which popped up occasionally swooping at you just before the apex of a hill.  On the descent I feel like a rocket, letting gravity do most of the work and gliding along.  I even have energy to spare – chatting to a guy pushing another grown man in a wheelchair.  What a legend.

By mile 12 with the other running couple far behind and despite the gradual incline I could tell we might just get a new personal best.  The finish line comes into view and I can see the gun time is still on 2:26:-something so I decide to sprint like a lunatic for a big finish.  I immediately feel nauseous but like a trooper I carry on and get across the line at 2:27:03 which is great because that means we’ve definitely beaten the Clacton on Sea half time of 2:27:11; the question is by how much?  A few hours later we get our official chip time via text – 2:25:33!!! I am happy with this – more than a minute off without training is great.

Of course, it’s no Andreas Marathon Qualifying time, but it’s the starting point.  Now I just need to train up for it and somehow shave another 25.5 minutes off that time.