I have a tried and tested pre-race ritual I’ve used for a while now. It’s nothing incredible, but it’s seen me through 3 marathons, a handful of halfs and countless 10k races without too much of a hitch. At 6:30am, I devoured a strong coffee (no sugar), a banana and a toasted bagel with nutella and peanut butter. The breakfast of champions for sure, and perfect race fuel for the day ahead – this time a half marathon attempt at Dorney Lake, a purpose built rowing lake just outside of Windsor, owned by Eton College and a 2012 Olympic venue. I’d run 20 miles there last year and knew the course reasonably well. After letting my gorgeous, pregnant girlfriend Yasmin lie in for an extra half an hour (there’s love right there), Dad picked us up and we were off to the race at about 8am.
Such is my organisation for important races, or lack thereof, I realised I’d forgotten to grab some gels from the kitchen after about 10 minutes, so Dad spun the car around and I ran back in the house to get some, bypassing the confused dog and completing an impromptu warm up. I needed to be at the venue between 8:30am and 9:30am, so nerves began to set in that I’d be late and rushing around before the start.
I needn’t have worried, though, as the journey was reasonably quick and we arrived within plenty of time. After a quick toilet break (when the portaloos have no queue, use them!), I picked up my race pack, attached my number and took a few pictures. The weather was great on Sunday, for running at least; sunny with a cooling breeze. From a spectators standpoint though, it was a little chilly so we decided to make our way up to the on-site café for a coffee. The facilities were really good; a large seating area inside that wasn’t too busy and a good selection of food and drink to look forward to. Yasmin and Dad tucked in to a delicious bacon roll as I jealously slurped a coffee.
Now let’s talk race preparation. Remembering my first half marathon – the Hampton Court Half 2018 I believe – I ran it as hard as I could have at the time and at the end, suffered from chaffing in some of the body’s more private areas. This is of course easily remedied pre-race with some sort of lubricant (I choose Vaseline) which I personally apply before I put my running gear on and leave the house. It’s not like it’s going to evaporate before the race begins or anything. Failing that, you’d at least take yourself away to the privacy of a toilet cubicle to apply it. But at Dorney Lake, for some unknown reason to anyone sitting down in that café, a bloke decided to stand up in the centre of the room, filled with perhaps 50-odd other runners, and vigorously apply his anti-chafe remedy in a very public way. I saw a bollock. It wasn’t pretty and actually quite terrifying. We decided to leave immediately.
A duathlon was taking place as we made our way down to the starting area to warm up. I’ve never been much of a cyclist, but watching these guys speed in on their bikes and swiftly park up and change into running shoes, it left me with some food for thought. Perhaps one day I’ll give something like that a go. A triathlon may be too much of a stretch – I’m not a great swimmer – but I could certainly give some cycling a go.
A quick stretch and jog later, I said goodbye to Yasmin and Dad and took myself off to the start line. There were 263 runners so not huge amount of bodies, and I was able to get quite close to the front. I hate being stuck behind slower runners at the start of a race who’ve stood at the front and having to weave through them to find my race pace, so it was nice to be able to get going without much issue. I hadn’t planned to run a PB, instead choosing to use the race as a glorified long training run, but after the first couple of miles, I’d hit a really decent pace and felt great, so the competitive side kicked in and I decided to crack on a go for it. The course involved for laps of the lake, roughly 5km each. This meant I was able to spot Dad and Yasmin a few times who, as well as providing support, also became my race photographers for the day. They gave me an extra boost each time to kick on and really go for that PB. My last, a 1:34 effort around the Velodrome in the Olympic Village in Stratford, London, had been over a year ago and I was confident I’d be able to better this if I kept going at the rate I was.
At mile 11, though, the legs started to have other ideas. I’d perhaps not run the most intelligent race up to this point. I’d been working on banking precious seconds in the early stages, running harder than I should have in the hope that the legs would be strong enough to see me through later on, but I hit a wall and started to slow. It turned out that the extra time spent going back and grabbing gels had been a great idea, as I forced one down in the hope that’d it would give a me a kick to finish the race which it did, and by mile 13, I was able to run my third fastest mile of the day, feeling reinvigorated. I love you, Caffeine!
I crossed the line in 1:30:57, grabbed my medal, felt sick and collapsed on the grass as Dad and Yasmin sauntered over. I’d done it – knocking nearly 3 minutes off my previous best and confirming that my marathon training is doing the trick.
This race represented the third PB I’d achieved since training began across 5k, 10k and half marathon distance. Only the Marathon is left and the result at this race has left me in little doubt that, if all goes well and I can avoid injury and keep up the intensity, I’ll be able to add a Marathon PB in November in Istanbul. Bring it on!
The race itself was a good one. Dorney lake is a great venue for a flat, PB-worthy half marathon and RunThrough yet again organised a great race, though the repetitiveness of laps became a little monotonous by the third. All the race stewards were very encouraging and the pre- and post-race village was great, with a few different stalls and lots of goodies to pick up after crossing the line. I look forward to running many more RunThrough events in the future and recommend them.
That’s all from me. Cheers.
JM
Moody Running 
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