Friskney Half Marathon

Gorgeous day, 7 mph wind, sun covered by thin veil of cloud, and a nice fast flat course - what's not to like about my 2nd Half Marathon of the year !

This is a nice little low key gem of a race - a record field of just 170 stood on the line today which is a shame for such a good race. All the local clubs were represented, so it was a good competitive field.

I managed one of those quick warm ups where you pretend to know what you're doing and then lined up to be set away at 11.00am.

Ready, Steady, Go ! Were off ! should have gone nice and steady, but no, went off like its a Parkrun and ran a 6.50 first mile, 2nd mile dispatched in 7.07, and then regretted my fast start as it was so hard to keep up with the guys I was running with. In fact, the first five miles were really tough pace wise, however, this was because I was running them a minute quicker than I ran the standalone Bassingham Five last year !

At mile 6 I had a really bad stitch and lost touch with the guys I was with. I slowed to something just above a walk (or felt like it) and hoped it would wear off. I was getting overtaken but knew I had to be careful. By halfway through 8 I was back on it though and started to make back some places. Took a gel just after the 9 mile marker and made a mental note to start a countdown to the finish. The next miles were some of the best of the day as I felt settled again and I suppose knew I was getting to the finish with a good PB on the cards.

The 2nd gel was dispatched shortly after mile 11 and it was then a case of holding on to the finish. I only got overtaken once more and could see that overall I was catching the folks that had dropped me earlier. All I could do was count the miles down until I could see Friskney in sight again. I felt much better than I did at Sleaford and had something in the tank for that last bit where I could see that I had a sub 1.40 in sight.

Crossing the line in 01.39.53 to become a sub 1.40 half marathoner - not half bad !