On Sunday my dad completed his first half marathon, it was the Stevenage half marathon run by Fairlands Valley Spartans. I was going to write a little congratulations to him on my blog but then I realised it would be interesting to find some more details and so I did a little interview. I should also mention that he is 61 years old and finished 9th in his age group!
Hi Dad
Well done on Sunday! Thank you for agreeing to do this interview!
How long have you been running? - I did my first organised 10k run in Oct 2007 but before that it was mostly 1/2 hr sessions on the treadmill in the gym. Very little road running.
Have you done many other organised runs? - To date 3 10k runs, 1 10ml run and 1 3k as part of a triathlon
How did you train for your run? - I try to do one outside run each week and I built up to 13 miles just to make sure that I can. I normally run by myself and I tend to be too slow. The rest of my running is in the gym.
Did you have any other preparation? ie food, equipment - I bought a small Camelbak with a water bottle as I can not get used to picking up plastic cups and drinking water while running. I end up throwing the water in my face. I tried using a sachet of gel half way round but I could not take on the water to wash it down quicker enough and it made me feel sick. The night before I had a large plate of pasta and for breakfast I had cereals with plenty of bran and banana. Oh, and no beer on the Saturday night
Did you get any advise? - No, I am not good at following set training regimes so I just do what I feel I need to do to achieve the goal.
You had to pull out of your last half marathon, can you tell us why and did you do anything different in the lead up to this one - The first 1/2 marathon that I entered was in March this year and I strained a calf muscle 10 days before and I had to pull out. I was very conscious of any twinges in my calfs this time but I made sure that I stretched them well before and after every run and I bought some compression trousers to run in. I brought compression socks but I found that they slipped down.
Did you have a race plan? what time where you hoping for - I was very keen to break 2hrs. I worked out that I had to do consistent 9 min miles. I hit the first mile marker at about 8 mins 30 secs and maintained that pace throughout. Whenever I felt that I was slowing I just pushed a little harder.
What was your race nutrition? - About 8 jelly babies and a sachet of gel, of which I only managed to get about half down my throat. Water at regular intervals from my Camelbak.
What were the positives and negatives of your chosen race - A definite negative was no medal at the end. The weather was remarkably warm for late autumn but ideal for running. The course was not too hilly but some of the underpasses had quite steep exits. There were only 750 entries so it was not too crowded. Not bad for a fast time. The final few hundred yards was round a running track to finish in front of the stadium which really encouraged a last push for the line. Another positive was watching a 75yr old finish in a very respectable 2hrs 15mins.
What was your final time and what how did you feel about it? - I managed a chip time of 1hr 52mins 6secs which I was really pleased with. My target of 2hrs was well and truly beaten.
Did you have recovery techniques? - A good stretch and a hot bath. It probably should have been an ice bath but I thought that I deserved a hot bath.
What are you future athletic plans? - I want to break 50mins for a 10k run. My present pb is 51min 01sec but that was running with a large field. On a reasonably flat course with about 500 runners I should be able to achieve a sub 50min time.
thanks.x - my pleasure.
