On Sunday, it was decided I would run the local inaugural Hoad Hill 1/2 Marathon. Origionally I was supposed to be running the full marathon however after deciding to take my running more seriously back in June, it was decided that I would not run anymore marathons this year, and focus on recovering fully from the busy first half of the year and develop speed to take into a marathon build-up next year.
The Hoad Hill Marathon/ Half Marathon is a new local event in Ulverston, Cumbria. It involves a mixture of road, trail and beach, as well as the steep climb up to the Sir John Barrow Monument at the top of Hoad Hill. I'm not one to shy away from hills however this event was going to be something completey new for me, since I am by no means used to running on trail/ through overgrown fields!
I decided to use this "race" as more of a training run, since there wasn't going to be a high caliber of "elite" runners in the field, I raced last weekend over 10 mile in Lancaster and the route would not allow for fast times. This meant that I had 0 taper before the race (apart from a short 6 mile shakeout the day before) and had covered just under 78 miles on the legs in the previous 7 days plus a week of walking in the lakes with Amy - not the most ideal "race" prep.
Upon waking on Sunday morning, a quick glance out the window shown not ideal weather. The rain had been coming down all night and it was continuing into the morning, with no signs of stopping. This meant I opted, last minute, to wear the inov-8 trail shoes. If it was dry, I was told I would probably get away with road shoes, which would have made me feel a little more at home. A quick breakfast and I was off to the start.
It was good to be at a race where I knew a lot of the participants - a bit like at the Kewswick to Barrow. A lot of local runners, supporting the new event, as well as some from as far as Austrailia! There was 300 people registered in the half marathon and 170 in the Marathon, so not a bad turn-out for a new low key event!
After a warm up, inspecting the start of the route through Ulverston town, I watched the marathon set off and then got myself ready for the race. TORQ kit on, race number pinned, and race tracker (courtesy of the race director Gaynor Prior and Open Tracking) secured to waste gel belt and I was ready to go. 10:00 am soon came and we were off!
Nobody came with me from the start, which meant I could use it as a training run afterall and wouldn't feel tempted to push the pace too much. I went out at a comfortable tempo effort and held it at that all the way. I knew, given the terrain and profile, I couldn't go off pace to judge my effort and therefore just went off percieved exhertion. This became immediately obvious since I went out the first half miles at roughly 5:25 pace, yet by the end of the first mile, with a climbing and a short offroad section along the Cumbrian Way, that slown to a 6:09 first mile (Strava Grade Adjusted Pace estimates this as 5:24 pace if flat).
The first 3 mile were all country lanes and a little undulating, but what im used to I suppose. The 3 mile marker though brought the first sections of farmers fields, which with the rain, had become quite difficult to run on. It was hard, as expected, to keep the pace going however as planned I kepted the same percieved exhertion with a couple of slower miles, including the climb up onto Birkrigg Common.
I was passing a lot of Marathoners at this point and I had to shout my way past some of them, although it didnt greatly slow me down, as the trail was wide enough to pass pretty easily. It was decending from Birkrigg towards the coast that I fell for the first time. The mixture of a tight turn and wet grass, seen me hit the deck and slide along the grass, onto the gravel path. Apart from a few slight grazes and a banged knee though, I was fine and jumped straight back to my feet, exited the field through the gate and decended Birkrigg, dodging other marathoners on the narrow trail, whilst still securing a 5:23 min mile.
After Birkrigg, brought a stretch of coastal path. This entailed a mixture of gravel, trail and beach for approxiamately 2 miles, and was 1 of the narrowest sections of the course, thereby occasionally getting stuck behind some marathon runners and hence slowing me down slightly. The section along the beach pebbles was especially tough because no matter what effort you put in, your legs didn't seem to take you anywhere! The mile times here increased to 6:09 and 5:58.
Following the coastal path was a 1 mile section of road before joining the canal path, which was a flat section of tarmac for 1 mile followed by another 1 mile section of country lanes and a little trail, which would potentially allow me to open up the legs a little again. Plans were to get back to a decent but comfortable tempo of between 5:20 and 5:30 pace here, however for the same percieved effort, my legs would only allow 5:46, 5:43 and 5:38 splits.
Approaching the end of the canal path before a small section of trail - Thanks to Helen Marr for the photo!
I was now 12 miles in, which meant 1 thing. I had the accent of Hoad Hill to battle before a descent back down into Ford Park for the finish. Knowing I had a strong lead, I didn't push too hard for this. Parts of the climb get to a gradient of 27% (according to Strava data), so it was obvious I was going to slow down...a lot! But I also didn't want to wreck the legs by racing up and back down it - The descent being the bit which could cause the most damaged and DOMS to the legs. I plodded up, over taking a few more marathoners, with a mile time of 7:40 - the 13 mile point clocking over on the watch at the final incline before the Sir John Barrow Monument.
Descending the Hoad - Picture taken by Milton Haworth
The descent from the Hoad was steep to say the least and very wet and slippy under foot! I fell to the ground on 2 occasions and went off track once or twice, not being able to get traction to turn at the technical parts. It became a game of a balancing act, as can be seen from the picture above, but I managed to make it to the bottom in one piece! At the bottom, I was through the gate and opened up the legs slightly for the final 2-300m to the finish line where I was greated by an abundance of family members and friends! I crossed the finish line in 1 hour 22 mins, 12 minutes ahead of 2nd place, which I was pleased with considering everyones garmin clocked 13.8 mile instead of 13.1. My garmin clocked me through half marathon in 1hour 19mins, so on that terrain, at a comfortable tempo pace, I've got to be pleased with that, plus I managed to get some cracking free photos of me in the TORQ team kit too! (thanks to my sister Claire, Milton Haworth and the offical Hoad Hill Marathon photographer!) !
I also managed to get some more mantle piece decorations! :)
Many thanks to my sponsors because they make it possible for me to do what I do!
TORQ Fitness - Nutrition
Altura - Custom Clothing
Camelbak - Podium Bottles
Tifosi - Eyewear
Zeropoint - Compression wear
Thats an 80+ mile week clocked this week, with 2 hard session and a tempo race, so allowing me to keep consistent milage and intensity. A slightly reduced mileage week is planned this week of 70 miles, with slightly reduced intensity to aid recovery and because I am on shift at work but I am now going into a Half Marathon Specific training phase for 4 weeks before a weeks taper for Great North Run and will try to update you all on my progress and training week by week!
- Grant
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