Delivering On A Promise

To round off the season I took part in the Robin Hood Half Marathon, an event I enjoyed last year and one that happened to fall on my birthday this time around, so it was only fair I gave it a good crack. My family are used to me doing stupid things to celebrate my birthday, as I do not like parties, so it has become a bit of a running joke in our extended family.

This year my son decided to set me a challenge by writing his time prediction in my birthday card. Below his lovely birthday wishes was the nicely worded challenge of completing the 21.1km run in 1:35. This would be a new OPB for me by a couple of minutes. By the way, OPB stands for Old Man Personal Best. I ditched all my personal bests when I turned 40 after spending years chasing times I was never going to get anywhere near, as they were set in my 20s and early 30s when I was a bit of a machine.

Anyway. This would be tough going two weeks on from completing my first 70.3 triathlon, and the Robin Hood course is a good run but not the fastest, with a rather large hill at 5km and another around 10km, but I am not one to shy away from a challenge.

It would be lovely to say that the inspiration meant I sailed around and easily came in with a new OPB, but it was more or less the reverse. Starting in my yellow pen just behind the elites I stuck to the 1:25 pacer for the first few km, feeling quite relaxed, but by the time I came down the other side of the 5km hill and the road began to flatten a bit, the 1:30 and then the 1:35 pacer had gone by. I kept 1:35 in my sights though, never more than a minute ahead, something I could close with a push over a couple of km, but by the end of the second hill at 10km I was struggling a little.

My on-course energy gel did not quite hit the way it usually does, and when I glanced down at my Garmin the pace was still OK but the heart rate was reading a lot higher than it should have been. By 15km I had all but given up on achieving my externally applied goal and was concentrating on not letting my pace slide. There was no pressure here to deliver on the prediction, but I felt I owed it to myself to try.

I managed to battle back to within touching distance of the 1:35 pacer in the last few km. I really could have done with a second gel around 12km, my legs were screaming at me to slow down, and for I think the first time ever some cramp was setting in to my calf. When I rounded the final bend and saw 1:34 on the timer I felt the emotions rise in me, and crossing the line in 1:34:57 and delivering on the promise filled me with joy.

It felt so good to get this done, but I have told him never again.