(in fact, 344 days!)
And
there you have it, my beloved aficionados. The 100th Half Marathon of 2013 has
been run.
Those
who know me will know I like my stats… so, before getting all emotional, here
are some cold, hard, boring numbers from these one-hundred sometimes cold,
sometimes hard runs. You’ll be delighted to know I’ve segmented my 13.1mi and
above runs by:
- Date
- Time of Day
- Type
- Distance
- Hillage
- Location
- Time
“Time
of Day” shows you how much of an idiot I am. “Location” shows I’ve not lied in
bed on work trips. “Time” just about means something. The rest have no value
whatsoever.
(Oh,
and sadly, I resisted the temptation to undertake any cross-segmentation
analysis. I know some of you will be disappointed… yes, YOU! You know who you
are!)
(Yes you do, Mr Cranswick. I might e-mail you The Spreadsheet.)
n.b.:
I could have calculated percentages but thought I’d leave you to work them out…
(think about it, the denominator is 100… one for all the accountants out there!)
1. SPLIT BY DATE:
Jan
|
5
|
Q1:
16
|
1H:
31
|
2013:
100
|
Feb
|
5
|
Mar
|
6
|
Apr
|
4
|
Q2:
15
|
May
|
6
|
Jun
|
5
|
Jul
|
17
|
Q3:
41
|
2H:
69
|
Aug
|
13
|
Sep
|
11
|
Oct
|
9
|
Q4:
28
|
Nov
|
13
|
Dec
|
6
|
You
can tell from these numbers I did not begin the year chasing this goal…
otherwise I’d have run more than 31 in the first six months!
I
made the most of the long, dry days in July and August, getting out there early
yet still in daylight. I carried on into September but dropped off in the
build-up to High Peak 40 on September 21 and not really picking up again till
after Chester Marathon on October 5. Only then did I realise I’d got myself
into a subconscious state where a week without a couple of 13.1-milers felt
lazy… and I got back on it in November. That’s when I did the sums and realised
a ton wasn’t that far-fetched a goal…
2. SPLIT BY TIME OF DAY
n.b.: time shown =
start time
03:00-03:59
|
1
|
68
|
04:00-04:59
|
9
|
05:00-05:59
|
58
|
06:00-06:59
|
10
|
26
|
07:00-09:59
|
11
|
10:00-11:59
|
5
|
12:00-14:59
|
3
|
6
|
15:00-16:59
|
0
|
17:00-19:00
|
3
|
What
can I say? Turns out I might just be a morning person after all…
…not
least because, by getting home before 7:45, my runs don’t impact the rest of
the day too much. They don’t impact my time with the family, other than I’m not
around for breakfast (but I’m always around to help The Boys brush their
teeth!); and they don’t impact my work. I’m fortunate enough to work from home,
so running never compromises my getting into the office…
…so
94 runs have begun in the morning. Well, “before noon”, anyway. That 3:32 start
in Nice, heading out up the Alpes Maritimes and heading back into the city as
it awoke… that was truly special. Of my solo runs, easily my favourite of 2013.
C’est evident.
Incidentally, morning runs have become so embedded in my daily routine that I
find them completely normal – even the longer ones. It only hit home that it
might be somewhat unusual when last week Nic
said he was thinking of “running a half” in the morning. My instinctive
reaction was one in which I viewed him as a fool, until it dawned on me what
the implications for me of such an assessment were… Anyway, he stayed in bed
and listened to The Ashes instead, therefore selecting pleasure ahead of pain.
Oh hang on… come to think of it no, he went for pain!
Oh,
and those three post-5pm starts… one was for Longest Day Run, when I
figuratively picked up the baton from the guys Up North to run a marathon into
the evening of June 21; and the other two, they’ve been in November, my
personal quest to escape the prancing, song-murdering and bug-eating televisual
delights that have been known to be watched in our house around this time of
year!
3. SPLIT BY TYPE:
15mi and under training runs
|
63
|
15.1 mi-19.9mi training runs
|
11
|
20.0mi - 26.1mi training
runs
|
15
|
26.2mi and above
non-competitive runs
|
3
|
official Half Marathons
|
5
|
official Marathons
|
2
|
organised Ultras
|
1
|
That’s
right – eight competitive races, ninety-two training runs. 11.5 training runs
to every 13.1mi or over race. To be honest, it felt like more!
4. SPLIT BY DISTANCE
13.10-13.49
|
46
|
13.50-14.99
|
22
|
15.00-19.99
|
11
|
20.00-20.49
|
10
|
20.50-25.99
|
5
|
26.00-26.49
|
4
|
26.50-39.99
|
1
|
40.00 & above
|
1
|
5. SPLIT BY HILLAGE (a.k.a. ELEVATION
GAIN)
0-99 ft
|
2
|
100-199 ft
|
2
|
200-499 ft
|
17
|
500-749 ft
|
33
|
750-999 ft
|
22
|
1,000-1,249
|
14
|
1,250-1,999
|
7
|
2,000-3,999
|
1
|
4000+
|
2
|
These
are absolute figures rather than ft:mi, so it’s hard to assess… but, on the
whole, I like to think these suggest I’ve not been shying away too much from
the occasional incline. Indeed, the top three runs by hillage all made my
Top Five, a clean sweep of the podium only denied by the Greater Manchester
Marathon!
(And I know at least one of you out
there ain’t too sure about these hillage stats… well, I’m just going by Garmin’s
assessments!)
Oh
gu on then… here’s a split by ft:mi… proper hillage stats!
(Andrew – in what stead would this have
kept me last February?)
0-24 ft:mi
|
17
|
25-49
|
37
|
50-99
|
40
|
100-124
|
4
|
125+
|
2
|
6. SPLIT BY LOCATION
UK
|
89
|
Italy
|
3
|
Ireland
|
2
|
Sweden
|
2
|
USA
|
2
|
Denmark
|
1
|
France
|
1
|
No
surprises at the top. Italy comes second, with two in June and an epic run with
Michele in October. Then Ireland, Sweden, the US on two, and Denmark and France
on one, all when away for work: in and around Limerick, on that flat route from
Lund to Dalby, in and around Needham, along the Copenhagen canals… all lovely
stuff (especially my first Lund-Dalby
run, in February), but nothing to match that 22-mile run in Nice in July.
7. SPLIT BY TIME (over sub-13.5mi runs
only)
sub-1:30
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
46
|
1:30'00"-1:32'59"
|
0
|
1:33'00-1:34'59"
|
1
|
9
|
1:35'00"-1:39'59"
|
3
|
1:40'00"-1:44'59"
|
5
|
1:45'00-1:49'59"
|
3
|
15
|
37
|
1:50'00"-1:54'59"
|
2
|
1:55'00"-1:59'59"
|
10
|
2:00'00"-2:04'59"
|
9
|
22
|
2:05'00"-2:09'59"
|
8
|
2:10'00-2:19'59"
|
5
|
OK
– so this is the one that really matters!
My
fastest Half Marathon of the year was the Sheffield Half Marathon, on May 12 – 1:33’44”.
Good, but not great. My other race times (with links to Strava activity and
official results page – like you care) were:
Bath
was good. Bristol was disappointing: I set off too fast and my pre-race dinner
of fish&chips surprisingly didn’t allow me to maintain that pace as I spent
the second half watching people go past me. Weston wasn’t as bad as the time
suggests, coming the week after High Peak 40: my only true regret is not
running it with Rich, who ran 26mi
to get to the start line… I ended up thirty pointless seconds ahead of him, but
should have run with him regardless. Portishead was the toughest course of the
lot, in terms of hillage, so I’m not disappointed with the time. All in all,
though…
…as
a pack of five, it’s not a great bunch of results. Granted: Bristol came a week
ahead of HP40, Weston a week later and Portishead at the end of a week spent in
the US. Nevertheless, speed was lacking in all three of those. It’s all well
and good chalking up the miles, but I really need to be getting them in faster.
Which is easier said than done on my 5:40am runs, the body still waking up. But
that’s not to say I shouldn’t try! Indeed, that’s not to say I don’t owe myself
the duty to try and the pursuit of success!
No
sub-1:40’ training runs doesn’t make for great reading. However many training halves
I run next year, that’s something that needs rectifying. Sure, I do cover a
fair amount of hillage on my runs: but then most of them aren’t as hilly as the
Portishead Half and I got round that in 1:39’07”. Although the biggest
difference between that run and my training runs is probably the lower speed at
which I tackle the downhill bits in the dark…
Adrenaline,
daylight, the desire to do well in front of my adoptive crowd: all elements that
were there on October 20 that I cannot recreate on a training run. But if 2014’s
going to represent progress, that’s one thing that’s got to change. That and…
…that big, fat zero in the sub-1:30’
row!
I’ve
set myself three
goals for 2014 and a sub 90’ half is one of them. As things stand, I only
have two halves on my Mrs S-approved racing calendar: and the Cheddar Gorge Half didn’t
earn its place thanks to PB potential! So I’m going to have to go for it in Bath on March 2. There may be scope to add
Weston, Portishead and indeed Clevedon (geographically between the other two,
it’s meant to launch next autumn) in 2014: but they won’t be PB courses either.
I should really run Clevedon out of respect for Philip, a previous inhabitant:
we’ll see. But, given I hope to run HP40 again next September, as well as
Chester and York Marathons in October, it’s hard to look beyond Bath for a
sub-90’ half…
…will
I make it? Will I be able to train for that target whilst getting my body ready
for the Highland
Fling in its 53-mile glory? Should I manage to combine the two, will I have
a shot at a sub-3:30 marathon in
Manchester in between?
In
a nutshell, my friends, therein lie the three questions that I am taking with
me into 2014. Those are my three over-riding goals: everything else needs to
serve that purpose. At the forefront of that, of course, comes training. I
actually think I trained sensibly for most of the year, quite possibly the
first nine months: things just got a bit silly after that with all these
halves. I don’t regret the overall mileage itself: I regret the lack of truly
long runs. 21 runs of 20 miles or above is not bad: but a few more, and a fair
few less 13.1-milers, with more speedwork (including hill reps and laps) would
probably be no bad idea. Not that I’ve given the matter any thought whatsoever,
you understand, or that I’m contemplating options for a weekly routine. Not at
all.
I
expect to be back one final time before The Holidays, hopefully with some
non-running-related words of inane stupidity. But, just in case… have a great
time! Whatever non-alcoholic spirit you do or do not believe in, I hope the
season brings you more than just stuff to open up and wrapping paper to throw
away.
As
for today’s half…
…it
wasn’t spectacular. It wasn’t unusual. I don’t have a “usual Wednesday route”,
but if I run 13.1mi on a Wednesday I do like to make it down to the Lake
Grounds and acknowledge the boot campers. Although I must have been early today
(again) – they were nowhere to be seen! And not just because of the fog! That
and I like to make it down to the waterfront anyway. I specifically wanted a
‘routine’ run. Part of me would have enjoyed waiting a couple of hours and
running down the country lanes to Clevedon, as I did on Saturday
– maybe even with the Coast Path thrown in, as well as a little trail through
the Nature Reserve. Nice 15-mile route, is that. But I’m not keen on it in the
dark and Mrs S has plans for us during the daytime anyway… my company gives us
the day off on our birthday so I can spend some time sorting out the house!
Besides, I had that treat on Saturday. This one was about normality. About what
this ton has been mainly about. I just made it 13.8 because… c’mon, work with
me..!
Oh,
one last thing before I stop going on about halves…
…at
least the best one of the lot was in Sheffield. Means summat to me, does that.
Which is not to say I wouldn’t have liked to beat that time in Bristol: that is
NOT why I had the fish&chips, honest!
Shame
I won’t be back in Sheffield for another PB attempt next spring. They went and
scheduled it for the day of the Greater Manchester Marathon. And sure,
Sheffield is the greatest of the two – whatever the races’ names. But… my
favourite mara vs a half? Sorry Sheffield. I’m sure I’ll see you that weekend
anyway. Or when I’m up for the HP40. Or maybe York Marathon, if I get in. Who
knows…
…for
now, thanks for reading. It’s no big deal, by the way. I’m no wiser for having
run a hundred half marathons in the year. I’m just delighted to have had the
time and health to do so, although granted, I often ‘made’ the time when sane
people were sleeping and whether I run because I’m healthy or I’m healthy
because I run remains a moot point. But I’ve not changed the world. Maybe it
was just all a waste of time. In a week when Mandela died, who knows. After
all, he spent twenty-seven years in a confined cell (which I’ve had the fortune
of seeing), and look how fit he was… Oh and yes, he made a difference to the
world. I’ve just worn out some of the tarmac on Down Road. Not quite the same.
(Does that sound like the sort of
question one asks oneself on a late-thirties birthday? Hmmm, there might be
a reason for that…
By the way – I’ve got a 10k race on Sunday. My only organised
10k of the year. And Mrs S is baking a cake because it’s my birthday today. The
Boys will help decorate it. What can I say? I hope it keeps till Sunday…)
