First post-injury race. And what a race!

On 23 March 2014 I ran my first competitive half-marathon of the year, and immediately was taken out by sciatica which derailed my plans for the year’s fund-raising work.

Thankfully through work I was able to get some intense physio which has at least got me through it. Even during that phase I managed to get out and do a few runs, although they were short and I tired very quickly.

I’d managed to talk a friend into running his first 5k at the RunWales Run Fest in Rhyl which took place today. I think he was bouncing between wanting to prove he could do it and wanting to kill me, but run it he did and raised some money for the Wales Air Ambulance Trust, which was a great result.

During all of this I had intended to run but there was the underlying fear that some injury would leap out and bite me again which I really didn’t want. Of course this is a self-perpetuating situation and one I intended to avoid. So with 3 months between races 1 and 2, I went for it.

RunFest is a wonderful idea – 4 different distances (5k, 10k, half-marathon and full-marathon) so there’s something for anyone wanting to run and it gave me the option as to how far I should push myself. Common sense was that as I’ve been generally working  towards the 10k distance, this was an ideal time to  throw caution to the wind and run a half-marathon instead.

If you’ve been reading this over a period of time, that conclusion will not be a surprise to you….

What was a surprise was that despite setting out nice and steadily, the run was fast.

Very fast. 41s away from PB fast.

At Wilmslow I was pleased to go sub-1h35m. At Rhyl today I managed 1h33m24s. My PB, set at Tatton in 2012 of 1h32m43s very much in sight!

End of RunFest 2014

End of RunFest 2014

It was designed as a PB course, there are pancakes out there with more undulation. But I’m not in that shape (fitness-wise, not pancake shaped, although that’s true as well) or at least I didn’t think I was.

It was my first race in veteran class (courtesy of the BBW) although they clearly got my age wrong as I was still classed in the OPEN class. Perhaps I’m not as old as I thought I was 🙂 Either way, I was 31st overall which is amazing given the 2014 season I’ve had!

So a couple of weeks to recover before the next bike ride. I’m still not sure what’s next on the running front. I’m ecstatic that the legs are working again, and a bit protective over them not going wrong again. So whilst the plan is still to tackle Chester in the autumn, I’m nervous about committing to it.

3 Comments on "First post-injury race. And what a race!"

  1. This friend definitely wants to kill you lol!! Great result Simeon!! Good photographer by the way 🙂

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