The original plan had been to fly out with Moll and to enjoy a long weekend away together, along with the rest of the running clubs participants. Unfortunately this time my lucky mascot was unable to join me due to commitments at University.
The only positive about this fact is that it meant my mind was fully focuses on he main event and the race at hand, but needless to say I would obviously have much preferred her alongside me - a fantastic weekend would have been made absolutely perfect if Moll had been able to join in the party. There is always next year though I hope...
This was week six of my increased training mileage, however on the back of last weeks Half marathon win at the Valiants race, I decided to reduce my training down slightly before a second crack at the distance in a short 8 day spell.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday saw me complete early morning easy sessions of 4-5 miles jogging at 7:00 pace. It is something that I have tried to add to my programme as a way of topping up the mileage and also helping my body become used to running on tired legs on the back of tougher evening sessions. I have tried these type of mornin runs in the past, but have never been able to motivate myself to get up at that 5:40 am alarm regularly on previous occasions. Hopefully this time around it can become a real fixture in my training programme for the future. After 4 weeks I seem to be getting settled into the routine ok.
Monday's evening session saw my usual progression run at the club night for Wesham Road Runners. We did 9 miles, starting at 7:00 pace and working down to finish at 5:35's. I felt surprisingly fresh after the previous weekend's exploits, although I did take a spectacular tumble after 7.5 miles and despite a nasty knock on the hip I got off relatively lightly having failed to spot a divot in the pavement.
Due to work commitments and a late finish, I was unable to make my group track session on the Tuesday, so instead had to make do with a makeshift short tempo session by myself. I did this down Kirkham bypass and it consisted of a 2.5 mile warm up, 4 miles tempo at 5:20 pace, followed by a 2.5 mile cool down. It was hard work motivating myself to try and run fast on he back of a 12 hour working day and knowing it would be gone 9pm before I got home to make my tea! So I was really happy with the effort I put in to this session all things considered.
On Wednesday, another late finish at work saw me decide to give myself the evening off to rest up for the following night's group tempo run and with the following weekends race also in mind.
Thursday's session with Affleck, Buttler and Joe Monk was pleasing, as in comparison to how hard it had been to maintain 5:20 pace on my own the other night, this time around with company it seemed so much easier. We are getting a good little group together now and everyone seems to be benefitting from these sessions and enjoying them too, which is pleasing to be a part of.
Friday evening saw me packing and making final preparations for my journey - my first ever flight on my own(!) - and so I was unable to find time to squeeze in any last minute training. Saturday too was a long morning of travelling and taxi-ing around Palma in order to pick up my race number and pack from the registration and expo. I felt shattered from all the hectic travelling the day before the race and so had an early night and avoided the bar!
Sunday was race day, and despite concerns earlier in the week about the weather (though I was secretly hoping it WOULD rain as forecast!) the sun was in fact shining bright and the early morning temperatures were already hitting 20'C as I completed my warm up and stretches.
On the startline I managed to manoeuvre my way through to the front of pen A, although there were still some elite athletes in another seperate one in front of that (Pen AA!). These runners were the sub 70 minute athletes and also the elites that were competing in the full marathon, which started at the same time as the half.
I didn't really know what to expect prior to setting off, as I had never competed against any of the front runners before and so was unsure what their pace would be from the offset. But I had made my mind up that having travelled all this way I would have a real go at sticking with the pace, whatever it may be, and going all out for a place on the Podium.
As I have already stated, the way the race was organised, the Half and the Full marathon's were both started together én mass, with the 10k runners starting separately, on a second wave twenty minutes later. Finally, the walking race started 5-10 minutes after that. In total, some 9,500 athletes participated in the various events and distances in total. Some 5,000 people competed in the Half marathon.
On the starting pistol, a German athlete from the sub 70 pen went flying out of the blocks and I immediately made the decision to go with his pace and to take him on from the offset. Within a few hundred yards we had already opened up quite a lead over the other competitors, and exchanging some words (thankfully he spoke English - I wouldn't stand a chance with German!) it became apparent that our target times were somewhat similar, so I hoped to give him a good battle!
The first mile was relatively fast, but not beyond my ability at 5:10 pace, so I gained some early confidence that this could be a fast race if we continued to go toe-to-toe. Passing the spectating George Kennedy at around the mile mark was good motivation as he gave me words of encouragement and advice as I went by.
After a pan flat first mile, the second one saw a very gradual incline and the pace settled down to around the 5:20 mark. Then the third mile saw a bigger climb up the race's first proper hill, as you climbed up beyond the far end of he harbour. It was at this point when I opened up a slight gap for the first time and began to run away from the German competitor. Just before the 3 mile mark, you turned around a set of cones and carried on back towards the Cathedral, which was the setting for the start and finish of each of the races. Coming back in the opposite direction I was able to steal a quick glance across to see what sort of a lead I had built up early on, and a stron hill section had opened up a 6-7 second advantage I would estimate.
I pushed on further on return back down the hill and increased that lead further through miles 3-6, as I made an early push for a big lead. Coming back down the harbour in the opposite direction to the other athletes was actually a rather moving experience. The amount of vocal encouragement and cheering and applauding that I was offered by this 9,000-plus wall of runners was unbelievable. The noise was fantastic, and the thought that it was all aimed at me was quite mind-blowing really. Between that and the crowds closer to the Cathedral, and the convoy of lead car and about 4 police motorbikes and cameramen on bikes etc, it was like running at the London marathon all over again!
It was also good to be able to spot some of our other runners, as Wesham had turned out in force, with some 31 of the clubs members in the city for the race, with many running too. Including my mum and dad, competing in the 10k race. To be able to spot them go by was brilliant encouragement too.
As we passed by the far side of the Cathedral we climbed up the second of the courses hills and into the old town section of the race. By now the temperatures had risen to definitely mid-high twenty degrees and I was beginning to sweat lots by now! So it was welcome respite whenever the course weaved into the shade of the big tall buildings. For those of you that have never been to Palma, these streets are very narrow, very twisty and bendy and many of the corners that we were navigating were quite sharp. Many of the roads and paths we were running on were also either cobbled or slicked surface flagging. It became quite impossible to build any real momentum through the second half of the race and through these sections the pace dipped to 5:40-5:45 pace.
Fortunately, I had built up enough of a lead to stay relaxed as the pace dropped, and as my legs began to tighten I knew that this one would not be about the times, but about securing that place at the top of the Podium. I managed to do just that and was fortunate enough to be able to ease up down the final straight and soak up the atmosphere as I crossed the line victorious in 72:23, 59 seconds ahead of my nearest rival on an international Podium, with second and third place coming from Germany and Poland respectively.
The winner of the ladies half marathon race was also British, and the national flag appeared from somewhere and that made for a special photo opportunity on the podium during the prize giving ceremony later on!
It was bizarre afterwards, having microphones and tape recorders etc thrown I front of me immediately having crossed the line, it caught me on the hop and good luck to any Spanish people in trying to understand my Lancashire accent!
Sadly for our members participating in the 10k, for the second year in succession, the course was well too long - despite being measured accurate, it came in at over 6.5 miles! Steve Waterhouse did superbly to finish first in his age category in that race though, so a big congrats to him.
Also to Jason Barlow, who stuffed his brother Lee in the sunshine over the half marathon to come home as King Barlow!
Well done too to Nigel Shepherd and Simon Eaton on completing the full marathon in heats that rose above 30C whilst they were on the course. A monumental effort by both.
All of team Wesham can be proud of our own individual achievements across the weekend, as well as having enjoyed a fantastic time away with a brilliant group of friends and family. I am flying home content in the knowledge that I am blessed to be surrounded by such a positive, friendly, amazing group of people. There truly is no other team quite like Wesham, and long may that continue.
The gamble on doing back to back Half marathons in the week paid off, with both a massive new PB and also two pleasing race wins to boot. Now my attentions can turn to finally nailing that 10k time st Leeds Abbey Dash in four weeks time...
Would I like to come back and defend the Palma title? You'll have to ask Molly!
