Warwick Half Marathon

Sunday 2nd February was the date for this year’s Warwick half marathon. I love this event for so many reasons, its local, loads of teammates from my running club are there (I think about 26 of us this year!!), I can drive to the start within 10 minutes as its so close and the route is lovely. The course is undulating with a few decent hills along the way taking you through the town then out onto the country roads with a fast downhill finish back to the racecourse. Its organised by RunThrough events which are pros at putting these things on and making it all a very slick operation.

I was treating this race as a training run for my Manchester Marathon prep so was very relaxed with regards to trying to get a certain time, saying that I always have pre race nerves no matter what. As long as I finished feeling good and not injured, I would be a happy gal!

The night before the race me, my son and my husband went out for a Thai meal, not something I have ever done before an event so I was careful about what I chose to eat for obvious reasons!! Sticking to spring rolls, chicken, rice and noodles all was good with my tummy the next day when I woke up.

Two hours before the race I had my usual, porridge with a blob of peanut butter, banana, water and the most important item of all.... a cuppa in my festive mug. All of this always seems to give me enough energy without being over full so why change it???

After faffing around as usual looking for safety pins, gloves, car keys etc I make my way to the race. I park just over half a mile away and have a very slow warm up jog down to the Warwick Racecourse. The morning is gorgeous, sunny, no wind but very cold! I was so grateful to have chosen the extra layer to run in and my gloves as I hate being cold. After going for several nervous wees (I think all us runners do this!) I make my way to the start where I manage to see quite a few familiar faces which was so lovely.

A few minutes after 9am the race starts. The support in the town centre is always fabulous and with the weather being so nice it seemed there were more people cheering us on than previous years, or maybe I was just more aware as I wasn’t focussing on trying to stick to a pace and I could soak all the atmosphere up.

My plan was to take a gel on the start line but because I was chatting, I completely forgot! Must remember this for the marathon.

The first 2-3 miles felt the toughest. For me they always do but on this particular course you do encounter quite a lot of uphill initially, so my quads were feeling a bit tired from the previous workouts I'd done that week. This is ideal as it is good to see how you cope with tired legs especially in the last 6 miles of a marathon.

The miles then ticked by nicely and I decided that although I felt good I should take a gel before I felt I needed it. This method served me well in Berlin so I thought why not stick to it. I took a caffeinated gel at about 3.5 miles in. I use the Veloforte gels and have done for a long time. I love that they are not full of any rubbish and made with real fruit and natural ingredients meaning they are very light on the stomach not causing the dreaded runners trots like some other gels can. I don’t carry my own water for a half as I don’t feel I need it as I don’t get that thirsty however I do force myself to have a few sips of water at each of the 3 water stations to avoid any sort of cramp that you can succumb too if dehydrated.

Passing mile 10 is always a nice feeling, other runners declaring 'its just a park run to go now' is always a welcome thought. At this point in the race I still felt really good. Being sensible and not going off too fast meant I was in great shape for finishing the race faster than when I started, a negative split. Mile 11 sees the dreaded by some 'Hampton on the Hill' clue is in the name! To be honest though, it’s never as bad as you think, and you know that not long after that the last mile and a half is downhill.

Running down to racecourse the finish line is always great. The barriers are full of supporters cheering you in encouraging you 'one last push!'. It was also great to see some of my club mates, the fast ones who had already finished! cheering us on down the home straight ready to collect our water, snacks and a rather chunky medal.

Warwick half marathon you were great! Maybe I biased because this is my local event, and it feels really friendly because there are so many team mates there but I can honestly say the organisation and the course are fab and I would recommend this event to anyone looking to do a slightly challenging route without really severe hills.