Category: Running

Last year I did the half marathon (with my Dad, it was great), but they also offer a 10k which starts a bit earlier (always my preference) and I could not decide which one to do, so I left the decision until after running Cambridge. I was pretty tired all that week, I picked up a cough which mostly affected me at night, and I was ill one weekend so I decided that the 10k was the most sensible option. The half marathon is a two lap course with the 10k being one lap (slight deviations in both cases as a half isn’t double a 10k), so I thought at least I would see all the pretty scenery.

I was more worried about driving there than the run- I was up early to have a piece of toast and some nuun in water, and had plenty of time to drive and park. The journey was actually fine and I had plenty of time to collect my number, use the toilets (there are real toilets as there is a cafe on site) and chat to a few running friends.

I took my jacket off and tied it around my waist so I was just wearing my vest, but it was really cold. The start was delayed by 15 mins due to queues inside, which I didn’t realise until I’d been waiting for 10 mins, so I got quite cold stood around, but soon we were off and running around the park.

I wasn’t going for a pb, but I wanted to push the pace a bit. I’m not good at racing 10k’s as I think I should be able to go faster but I hate that feeling of pushing hard. I was aiming to get in the low 9 min per mile, and ended up hovering around that mark (9.25 as the first mile was quite congested, then 8.59, 9.02, 9.04, 8.56, 8.52 and then 8.01 for the final bit) which I was pleased with. The route is pretty flat apart from some bridges that you run over- some of them are fairly gentle but some are pretty steep so a bit tough when you are trying to run fast.

At times the route curved around and so up ahead I could see runners and then their colourful tops reflected in the waterways. I tried to take some mid-run photos but I didn’t want to slow down too much! At one point I caught up with a runner from our club so chatted to her briefly, and then later I was overtaken by one of the speedy runners from our club- she’d started right at the back so had been working her way up the field for the whole race. I wondered if we would see any half marathon runners, but as the routes were a tiny bit different we didn’t end up getting lapped.

The finish felt long- you run through the field where the cars were parked, over a bridge and then down towards the main centre- everyone was saying “nearly there, final push” but then you seemed to go away from the finish a bit, veering around the building and through a small car park. I think I started my “sprint” finish too early.

As I finished I got given a medal and picked up a bottle of water and a banana. I suddenly felt really hungry, but then that piece of toast was a long time ago.

I chatted to the runners who had finished ahead, and we waited for the others to come in.  After a team photo we all headed home. On the way back there is a big retail park with a Starbucks in it, so I decided to stop and get a cinnamon roll and a chai latte as a sort of brunch as otherwise it would be a 30 min + journey and time was getting on.

When I got home I had a lovely hot shower and then looked up my results. My chip time was 56:23 so I am pretty pleased with that.

All in all a good race, although I think next year I might do the half marathon there as I did really enjoy the route and it seemed to finish really quickly this year. It would be such a good place to go for a walk too, as there are paths everywhere and lots of spots for picnics and things too.

Do you like lapped routes?  Are you good at driving to new places?  I was more nervous about the journey than the actual race!

On Saturday there was still plenty of snow on the ground, but the main roads looked clear, so in the afternoon we headed to Cambridge. I didn’t think the race would be cancelled- the cynical part of me thought that a big company like that wouldn’t want to deal with the fallout, but also the race takes places on closed roads, and the traffic does a good job of clearing snow away. The Welwyn half marathon was due to happen on the same day, but they postponed it (until September) on Friday as it is run on pavements and paths so they couldn’t clear it all.

After leaving our bags in the hotel, we walked into the centre, to the race HQ, and around some of the parks. There were loads of very sad looking ducks wandering about on the grass and it turned out that the rivers were frozen solid- poor ducks!

We went out for dinner (pizza) and then to the cinema, to see Ladybird (which I really enjoyed). The cinema were trialling new recliner style seats, so there were only 8 seats per row. The seats had buttons to recline them and lift the footrest up, and even a huge tray to move around (a bit like when you are on the exit row of  a plane) and rest all your snacks on. We’d smuggled in a few m n m’s, but the people next to us took up the entire tray with very noisy food like hot dogs, nachos, and something in a foil wrapper.

When we got back it was time to get my race kit out.

I had packed a range of clothes as I could not decide what to wear. Initially it was due to be milder but raining, but by Saturday evening the rain wasn’t due until gone midday, and as the race started at 9.30 I should be OK. (I’d spent ages looking for my gloves with the flap cover as those are waterproof, and could not find them anywhere- they turned up in the boot of my car on Wednesday so they must have been there since a parkrun)

I found my OH Snow top, which was made for the London Winter run- I thought  it was appropriate!

I opted for a long sleeved top, the vest (and number) over the top, a long sleeved zip up to tie around my waist, and a headband to keep my ears warm. I wore my rain jacket to the start and Andy took it off with him (we had read that last year the bag drop queues were horrendous and I didn’t want to be waiting for 45 mins after finishing).

I had a bit of malt loaf and a nuun tab in some water for breakfast. We’d timed the walk from the start to the hotel, so we left at 9am and had plenty of time in the race village to find the start pen (there were big inflatable arches corresponding to the colour of your bib).

I was fairly warm on the walk there, but I got quite cold stood around in the pen. They had been handing out foil blankets but I thought I was OK with my extra top, although I took it off at 9.30, thinking we would be heading off promptly. When I crossed the line the race had been going for 12 minutes already so I was a bit colder by then.

I had decided to be optimistic and aim for between 2 hours and 2.05, similar to my time at Brighton last year, so I needed to keep between 9 and 9.30 min miles. The first few miles wove through the town, around fairly big roads with lots of crowd support. I thought it would thin out but it was very busy until around the 4 mile mark. For a lot of it we were running on one side of the road, with only cones separating us from the traffic on the other side, and at one point a guy jostled me with his elbow and nearly pushed me out into the road. I could manage the rather British response of muttering “excuse me” under my breath. I was already getting warm and so I rolled up my long sleeves and took off my headband and I did wonder if I had overdressed with the two layers- time would tell.

Miles 4-6 saw us running out of Cambridge and into the countryside toward Grantchester. There were some very empty parts, but then as soon as you got into a village there would be a big crowd of people cheering, with people playing music. The business of miles 2 and 3 had slowed me a little, but I picked up the pace once it thinned out a bit, and the various music stations lifted the spirits too.

Miles 7-9 saw us running back towards Cambridge. The route was fairly flat with a few gentle ups and downs but nothing taxing, just enough to get a bit of variation. At around mile 7 (over half way!) I bumped into Paula from my running club, although we only briefly ran together as she had a bit of a stomach ache from a gel. Of course there was the obligatory steel pan band, playing Octopus Garden which then got stuck in my head for the rest of the run (there are worse things to hum). At times we were quite exposed to the winds, and there was still snow on the ground in places- my worries about being too hot didn’t come true and I was fine with just me sleeves rolled up.

The final few miles were back in Cambridge, some of the beginning was run in reverse, but there were a few bridges to go up and down.  You always hear someone saying “only a parkrun to go” now, which does make me smile, and I started to visualise our parkrun routes although I am not sure if that makes it feel shorter or longer. At one point we ran through some meadows with wonderful views of a big building (either a college or a church). By this time my quads were really stiffening up and I was worried I would get cramp. I passed the final water station (close to 11 miles I think) and had a couple of sips of water, and then got a bit of a stitch. I spent the next mile feeling rather grumpy- the race handed out water bottles with the silly sports caps, and the little plastic wires from around the tops were all over the floor. There were big recycling bins and runners were trying to aim them into the bins, but they were also being filled with gel wrappers so the waste is probably contaminated anyway. Had there been cups I could have chosen a cup with hardly any in it, but instead of that the rest of the water in my bottle went to waste. I did consider carrying it, but it was so cold that it made my hand ache. Anyway, rant over. The crowds in the centre were big and so I occupied myself crowd-watching. I saw my favourite sign; “Pain is just a French word for bread” which made me smile and helped push me on to the end.

I knew that I wasn’t close enough to 2 hours, but that if I kept pushing I could get under 2.05, so I tried to use my arms as much as possible. As I came up to the final corner, lots of people (walking past wearing their medals) were saying “just around the corner and the finish line will be in sight” but in fact it wasn’t! The finish straight felt so long, and it took a while to even reach the 13 mile marker.

I crossed in 2.04.40, and pretty much as I crossed the line I got a text message confirming it. Then you had to walk for a bit down the finish funnel, through another funnel and finally to collect a bottle of water, a goodie bag, medal, foil blanket and can of (alcohol free) beer. They were handing out cups of beer too but I didn’t fancy any- I was ready for breakfast!

There was a banana in the goodie bag so I ate that while we were walking- I always love a banana once I have finished a race.

The field was a total quagmire of mud-  my legs were a bit jelly like at that point and it was hard to walk across the field to the hard path- I think all of the snow had melted  overnight and so the ground was totally sodden.

Andy met me on the path and we walked into the centre to Bill’s as we had booked a table. I changed clothes and then enjoyed pancakes and tea, we shared a carrot and ginger juice, and Andy even gave me some of his sweet potato fries- they make a good addition to the pancakes.

We had a walk around Cambridge after, and I was excited to find that the Cambridge Hotel Chocolat has a cafe (their hot chocolate is the best). This was an Easter special and even came with a little chocolate bunny- the lady in the shop handed it to me as I don’t have the cream on top so there’s no-where for it to balance.

Then it was time to walk back to the car, drive home and have a shower. I thought all of the walking was helpful, but by Sunday evening my legs were feeling pretty sore. I made sure to do plenty of foam rolling, but they only started to feel better after yoga on Wednesday.

Goodie bag with a graze box, Eat Natural bar, quavers (so weird- took them to work), beer and a man’s razor (did some bags get female razors? It seemed a strange item to be in there)

Overall I enjoyed the Cambridge half marathon. The route was varied enough, well supported, and it generally seemed well organised. I didn’t use the bag drop but I didn’t see big queues so hopefully they have sorted that this year. It was nice to be able to get home fairly quickly (it’s about an hour drive), and of course having the hotel was a bonus. I’m not sure I would do it again, but it’s probably got pb potential as it is fairly flat, you’d just need to try to avoid the crowded parts. They did have pacer runners but I didn’t see any in my starting pen (and I am sure they ran to chip time as a  2 hour pacer finished a little behind me). When I finished I did think that I would like to run Brighton again next year- there is something about running by the sea that I do really enjoy.

Do you like to run the same routes/races again, or do you prefer to run new ones?  Did you have much disruption from the snow this weekend? What is your ideal post-race meal? What do you like to see in a goodie bag?

On Friday night I made the last minute decision to visit Letchworth parkrun. I had messaged my dad, but he was away for the weekend (and ran at Bakewell parkrun)- next weekend I am volunteering as it’s the day before the half marathon, and then they are off on holiday for a bit, so I decided to re-claim Queen of Herts, as this was the newest Hertfordshire event. They launched at the end of January to a big crowd (388) but since then numbers have levelled off a bit (135 last week, 136 this week). I’d seen pictures and it looked like a very muddy course, so the frost this weekend also added to my decision. It’s not my NENDY (nearest event not done yet)  as I live too close to London, so using the parkrun tourist tool (google it- you can add in your parkrun number, it looks at your location and shows the parkruns nearby) I still have 8 that are closer including Ally Pally) but it is the easiest one to get to (no idea what acronym that could have)- I just need to drive up the A1 a bit further than Stevenage.

Thankfully the parkrun flag was on the verge by the road to direct runners into the park.

Of course as it was a last minute decision I hadn’t even looked properly at where to park. Their website showed a small car park, but when I looked into it, it was for 25 cars, so I didn’t think I’d find a space. Nearby were what looked like residential roads so I thought I would leave plenty of time and once I found the car park, drive away from it and find a space in the street. Of course I left later than planned, and had to scrape my car. Google maps thought it would be 30 mins, so I was going to leave just after 8am, but by the time I’d scraped my car it was 8.15, and then when I plugged in the satnav it said it would take 40 mins which was cutting it very fine. In the end the journey was quick, and as soon as I realised (by the road name) that I was on the road for the car park, I found a space and ran along- I was only a third of a mile away so no need to panic, and when I got there the car park had loads of spaces. It was a bit like a flashmob parkrun- at 8.50 there were hardly any people about- I chatted to another tourist for a few minutes (he’d come from Wimpole), but then as we headed across the field to the new run briefing, the field was suddenly packed with runners. The weather probably had a lot to do with that- I had on three layers and kept them all on for the run as it was freezing, and I would have waited in the car for longer had I known how close I was.

The course was really enjoyable. The run briefing started on some playing fields, but to start we walked through a gap in the hedge to farm fields. The route was two laps, running down the side of the farm fields (with lovely countryside views), along a track, then up the other side, then through some trees, a short section across the playing fields (I think this was a change from previous weeks as they were still working on the best route and welcoming feedback) before running along a path lined with trees at the edge of the field (then repeat). The ground was very rutted in places, with some huge icy puddles, and I would imagine that on wet days it would be really slippery and tough. A few people ran through the puddles and must have been in up to their ankles. Even when I was walking back to the car, any grass in the shade was still frozen solid and crunchy. I quite like two lapped courses as for the first lap the scenery is great and everything is new, and then the second lap you know you only have this and that to go before the finish. I stopped a few times to take a few pictures too, and was pleased to get in under 30 mins with 29.41. I’m sure I’ll be back as it is one that Dad would enjoy too- we like less laps and less busy ones.

Onto the Very Good Idea. A few weeks ago, walking back to my car after running at Panshanger I saw someone sitting in their car drinking from a hot flask. What a good idea! I usually take water with me, and although these parkruns do have coffee vans, the hot drink is then too hot to drink and so I would end up taking it home, where I may as well make one there.

This time I made a cup of tea before I left – I use these cups at work and usually make my tea at about 6.45 and drink it at about 10/10.15 and it’s still nice and warm.

It was waiting for my in my car (not with the lid off…)- it did fog up the windscreen when I took the lid off though! I’d taken a jumper with me to put on after, so I put that on and had my tea quickly before driving home. It was so good to have something warm so soon after I had finished running- I shall be doing this again I am sure.

The other thing I liked was that Letchworth had new style finisher tokens- they are purple and say “I belong to parkrun” on one side, and “please return me” on the other side. This seems a good idea to me seeing how many tokens get lost each week.

After breakfast we quickly walked into town to get a few bits. I had a fair amount of work to get through, so I took my laptop into the dining room so I could look out at the garden (it’s also warmer there than in my office).

This may make the work take slightly longer as every time I would see something flitting about I would stop and look at it (the wren came back!) but it makes it more enjoyable.

Sunday was the final long run before the half next weekend. Ideally I wanted to have done another 13 miles (or maybe 14) in training, but last weekend I only did 10, so I decided to do 11 this week. I am terrible at knowing the routes at the moment, so the one I did ended up being 11.5 miles. All nice and slow (although according to Strava I have run it already and this time was faster)- once home I had a short amount of time to shower and have breakfast as we were off to see I,Tonya (which I found very interesting).

So, another parkrun visited and I re-gain being able to say I’ve done all of the parkruns in Herts. However, I didn’t need it for the parkrun alphabet as I already have already been to Linford Wood (Milton Keynes).