Matthew’s First Half Marathon
Thank you for the well wishes over Lara’s Twitter and her previous post. It’s been a few months since my last guest posting and we thought Lara’s health-minded readers might be interested in a race-recap.
I made a late decision to enter the race and had only 7 weeks of training. Fortunately I was fitter than I thought when I picked up training. I undertook the same fitness assessment as Lara and achieved “Athletic” scores on the Cooper test. I pretty much followed the Hal Higdon novice half marathon training schedule, picking up from week 5.
The Bristol Half Marathon is one of the largest in the UK, this year there were 11,000 runners! It’s crazy, so many roads are closed in and around the center of the city, and there are people everywhere! We were very ‘local’, yet people from all over the World entered – the Men’s race was won by a Kenyan in 1:03:25!
Race day itself started early for me, unable to sleep in due to nerves and excitement. I was up at 6:30 and passed the time, at Lara’s suggestion, by reading The Fitnessista’s and Leah’s race recaps so I would know what to expect! I had breakfast and readied myself before we made our way from our home to the starting area – it’s maybe a half mile walk.
In the assembly area
I’m circled, in my starting group
The route takes in some of the sights of Bristol as it goes down the Avon Gorge and under the Clifton Suspension Bridge, before lopping around the harbour and past St Mary Redcliffe Church, finally finishing at the Harbourside. In my training, I made sure to familiarise myself with the route, and last weekend I biked it in 49 minutes (I wish I could run it that fast!).
The first 7 miles were easy and very much a blur, other than passing the half way timer, and seeing that I was about 3 minutes up on my target time! It got a lot tougher after that, as the relatively flat port-way (the first 8 miles) ends and we start crossing bridges and winding through the city center.
I hadn’t run more than 10 miles in my training, and wasn’t conscious of passing the 10 mile marker into “the unknown”, something Lara says she experienced in her 10K. My mind switched from “how far have I gone” to “how far have I got left” and for the final 3 miles I was running very much with my heart! I didn’t want to let myself down, and just kept running.
As I approached the final stretch, I picked up my speed to something near my 5K pace, to make up for some lost time in miles 11 and 12. I saw some of our friends cheering me on as I came into the home stretch, and then I could hear it!
“SPRINT! MATTHEW! SPRINT!”
My darling wife was screaming and encouraging me on!
Sprint, Matthew, Sprint!
My time? We’ll get to that! In my head, I knew anything under 2 hours would be great for my first half marathon. In my heart I wanted to do it sub 1:45…
I did it!
…I placed 2,284 out of 10,827 and my official time was… 1:44:59! I did it with one second to spare! I’m hugely pleased and proud or myself!
Post race, I stretched well (which was really difficult!) and had a massage at our gym – they were kind enough to treat me to a free massage! At home, I took a cold shower first, to flush the toxins from my legs, under the advice of my gym trainer. Plenty of stretching and some ibuprofen gel has helped with the aches and pains, but I still have some tightness in my quad’s.
Here are some tips I picked up and would like to share with those of you who are training, or are thinking of training for your first race:
- Train and give yourself enough time
This is something of a given, but there were people on the course who were clearly not fit enough or hadn’t trained enough. I passed at least 5 people being treated by paramedics and saw several people collapse. - Listen to your body
Not just during the race, but also when training. I had a couple of niggling injuries during my training, so took some time off, resting my body and allowing it to recover. I was still clocking up enough miles, that two or three days off didn’t affect me. - Take on fluids
How much you need really depends on the individual. Everybody sweats differently and different amounts. Me for example, I sweat buckets, and took on the entire contents of my water bottle as well as 3 energy drinks and 5 bottles of water during the race. This is something you will find out in your training, so don’t forget it! - Warm up, cool down and stretch
My warm up consisted of a brisk half mile walk, some jumping jacks and plenty of stretching, although not too hard. I used the first mile to ease myself into my race pace, and picked up my lost time in the later miles. Post race, I kept moving to prevent my muscles from seizing, and stretched. LOTS! - After the race, take a cold shower
This is a killer, and really hard! But the cold water flushes out the toxins and will prevent Charlie horses and ease the tight muscles. Jump in the shower with the temperature lukewarm. Then turn it to cold for 1 minute before switching back to lukewarm. Repeat this 4-5 times. - Focus on yourself
You need to realize that you are only racing against yourself, not against the clock, not against the other runners, just you. I tried not to notice those passing me, and managed to maintain my own pace throughout the whole race, which meant I was able to enjoy it a lot more! - Enjoy yourself
This, I can’t stress enough! I know the grimace on my face in the photo doesn’t show it, but I really let myself enjoy it! The crowds were terrific, and I found myself smiling back to those cheering the runners on! If you don’t enjoy your run, you won’t want to do another.
“I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart.” - Mike Fanelli
I owe huge thanks to my wonderful wife, she was my support, encouragement and most of all, my inspiration. Without her, I never would have signed up for the race, let alone finished it!
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Wow! Wow! Wow! What a great guy, and my favorite part of this post is where he thanks you for all you’ve meant to him!!
Thank you for posting this. It’s truly an inspiration to everyone!
Congrats Matthew!!! I LOVE that you made your dream time by one second, that’s awesome!! I hope you did lots of celebrating after. And props to Lara for being so supportive
I promise, I did not add on all the ooey-gooey lovey stuff about how great I am
That was all him!
Susan: I totally agree that it was really cool that he had one second to spare! For some reason that was awesome to me.
Great job, babe!
Oh, wow!! Way to go, Matthew! Congrats!! That’s amazing that you only trained for 7 weeks! Those tips you provided are great – thanks for the recap
Congrats on an awesome half! Great time too! Gotta love beating your goals, even if only by a second. Hopefully there will be many more race recaps to come!
Congratulations!! That’s such an amazing time, especially given how long you trained – you ROCK! Great tips -thanks!!!
Yay for “the husband!” aka Matthew! Congratulations! I cannot believe that you came in 1 second under your goal! Amazing-fate.
Here is the reason I know you are truly British: in one post you used the words ‘familiarise’ and ‘niggling’.
(My “the husband” is also from the UK, so I recognize these tell-tale signs 
)
Enjoy your well-deserved rest day!
Congrats on the awesome run! Amazing that you completed it with 7 weeks of training, and a great time at that
I can’t believe how little time it took you to get ready for it
Congrats!!
Way to go Matthew!! What an amazing time! You look SO happy in that last photo! Congrats again!
I love all of the tips you gave at the end of your post!
Congratulations Matthew! It sounds like you did an amazing job in the little time you had. Wonderful recap
Congrats! That has got to feel so great! Thanks for the recap!
Congrats!!!
Great job Matthew!
Awesome recap! Nice job, Matthew:D
Great job, Matthew! Thanks for the recap! I really enjoyed reading this…
I’m not surprised that you came out as ‘athletic’ on your fitness test: to run a time like that with only 7 weeks of training is nothing short of astounding. You should be so pround of yourself Matthew!
I love that photo of you waving your arms at that start…reminded me of the ‘Where’s Wally?’ books and really made me smile
HUGE congratulations
Wow! Congrats, Matthew! Great recap and tips
Way to go! That would be an awesome time for full training nevermind only 7 weeks!
Love that there was one second to spare – clearly it was meant to be!
-CJ
The best part? Crazy Craig from the gym is taking us out for a fancy dinner! He and Matt had a bet that he wouldn’t break 1:45!
Congratulations!! Your time is fantastic!! I love your big smile at the end. What a great post. Enjoy your dinner with Crazy Craig!
thank you for the tips
i always like to read tips.
Congratulations to you!!! I’m so happy that you got to celebrate meeting your own time goal. Setting personal goals and then achieving them are one of life’s pleasures. You deserve to party!
Loved this post. Great advice at the end. I am running a half marathon in 6 weeks and am going to be stoked to break 2 hours! I can’t imagine doing 1:45!
Great quote at the end there, I really like that! I’ve never run a marathon, or a half marathon, but your tips sound great. Way to go running it in JUST UNDER your goal time!! That’s just awesome. Congrats
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!! That’s an amazing accomplishment, especially with only 7 weeks of training. My first half is coming up in less than 5 weeks and I’m pretty nervous, but I stopped worrying about time and now just want to finish it… which should help with the “having fun” part
Yay, Matthew! Can you talk to my husband now about running?
LOVE that Crazy Craig owes you a fancy dinner! A BIG CONGRATS Matthew for a job well-done! Great post too
Thank you, everyone, for the wonderful feedback. It felt great crossing the line and to do it under my target was fantastic!
Matthew – what an amazing day!!! Congrats to you… loved the photos & the recap…
“I saw some of our friends cheering me on as I came into the home stretch, and then I could hear it!
“SPRINT! MATTHEW! SPRINT!”
My darling wife was screaming and encouraging me on!”
my favorite part…
WOW! Congratulations on your time. That’s awesome…especially for only 7 weeks of training. You look so happy in your pictures.
Awesome race Matthew. So excited for you – how cool you got one second under your goal.
Sounds like you really listened to your body throughout the entire race, and I love that big smile on your face in the last picture with your medal. Also sounds like Lara was a great support – you are a lucky guy.
P.S. – To Lara, oats & Nutella. ’bout time!
AWESOME job matthew! You did so well! And great tips as well, congratulations on an awesome time!
Congratulations!!!! How awesome
I don’t know about a 1/2 marathon for me, but maybe a 1/2 century cycle race. Great post!
wow -what a great recap!!!
congrats on the race, Matthew!
yeah!!!! well done matthew. 1 second – phew! must’ve been the cheerleader on the sidelines…
Wow, that post was so much fun to read! I really liked the information about how much water to bring (just depends, but to know I wouldn’t be alone if I brought a ton!) and the taking a cold shower is very interesting to know. Lots of great tips and just really cute that you two are so supportive of each other. It’s very fun to read a post from ‘the husband’–you two seem to make a great team.
Love reading about all your adventures in England.
Loved reading this post, Matthew!! Such an inspiring story! You have every right to be proud and you SHOULD be! Congrat’s!!!!
Congratulations on your first half Matt and on top of that, to exceed your goal is spectacular!! You also wrote a fantastic post and fantastic tips! I loved the quote at the end, it is so true. So will you do another soon? Full ?
Thank you all, again, for the wonderful comments! I’m still on a runners high – I can see why it is addicting!
@bhealthier: I would like to run another one, although I’m not sure when. Ideally I would give myself a full 12 week training program and aim to get closer to 1:30. As for a full marathon? I gave it some thought when I was approaching 10 miles on Sunday…maybe one day