Well, I say Windsor, it was actually at Dorney Lake, which is apparently where the rowing for the Olympics was held.
Unusually it was at midday on a Saturday this time, which meant we could go up in the morning and have a decent evening out without having to worry about the run the morning – which was nice.
About a one and three quarters journey, so arrived at the cold, wet and windy venue around midday, went to check in and was actually shaking with cold. After a while we set off, and I ran with Mr 1:45 for the first 3 or so miles, which is about a 8 min mile pace, but then I found it increasingly difficult to keep the speed up, so slowly but surely they left me behind.
The course was around the lake four times, and it was quite good really, each lap was something I could focus on, trying to keep the pace up and knowing how far things were. I didn’t keep looking at the gps, as I knew I was still in front of the 1:50 dude, and a lady I kept up with seemed to be trying for a 1:50 also, so that helped.
The temperature was probably pretty ideal, there was a little wind now, and some rain, but all in all it pretty good conditions, and was really very flat – so I got it into my head that this was the one to get under 1:50 – push lad!
Got to about 11.5 miles, and I thought that if I kept in front of the other runner, I was in with a chance, so I left her closed my eyes and pumped those legs. At this point my legs were heavy, and every step was an effort, but I pushed and pushed not daring to look at the clock, just saying one more mile, one more mile. The last half mile seemed to take an age.
Just after half a mile to go I heard lots of footsteps and I knew MR 1:50 and his dudes were baring down on me, not far now, keep ahead. AT the bottom of the final straight, they caught me – and I thought I had another 200 meters to go, but luckily the finish was just around the corner, I think I yelped with joy, and sprinted the last 20 meters!!!
Looked at the watch, was it under 1:50? It was 1:49:36 – woohoo, did it!!!
I was pretty sure that my timing was slightly over, but it wasn’t until I got in the car that I had the official confirmation: 1:49:26 – That’s fast enough for me…
Back to the hotel, then on the train to Windsor for a half a lager and an expensive curry.
Tidy Darts.