Yesterday, I completed the Potters 'Arf - my second half marathon and a very tough experience, especially the last two miles. But I did it and also within my 2hour target, so I could pick up my bronze medal...
In the build-up to the race, I was a little bit nervous. I'd had a really mixed experience with my training - I didn't run properly for about 2 weeks after a cold/cough amidst the dreadful weather and had only managed 2 of my planned 4 long runs. I'd also missed out a couple of scheduled hill sessions, which I knew I could cause me problems on the Potters 'Arf route. However, I'd managed a really good training 10-mile run with Liz and Jo from Potters Trotters on the 31st May, then a fast Hanley parkrun on the 2nd June and also a good mid-week speed session in which I did my fastest ever kilometre. By Saturday night, I was a little bit more relaxed and ready to run... bring it on!
Given that the start / finish line for the Potters 'Arf is only about a five minute walk from home, it was a very stress-free start to race day... get up, check the weather, eat porridge and banana, drink coffee, check the weather again, get dressed (I was glad I opted for shorts even if its not a particularly glamorous look for me), walk up to Hanley! I met up with several of the other runners from Potters Trotters in McDonalds for pre-race chat... the main topic of conversation was about how to survive the hills and a reminder not to go too fast at the start.
After that, I wandered up towards the start line and bumped into lots of familiar faces from Hanley parkrun, as well as some more of the Potters Trotters. There was quite a relaxed atmosphere as we walked up from the City Centre, round onto the Potteries Way to the start line. Following advice from Bobbie and Liz, I managed to get relatively close to the start line - the gun time decides what medal you get and I didn't want to miss out my a couple of seconds.
And then we were off, running a loop round the Potteries Way before coming back through the city centre and on to Lichfield Street... this was a great point in the race for me, as I could look down Lichfield Street and up Victoria Road to see all the other runners streaming off into the distance. I also spotted Mr T sporting his highly visible red and white Stoke shirt and waved for the camera as I passed. After that, it was on up the deceptively steep Victoria Road and on towards Longton.
The main thing everyone talks about with the Potters 'Arf are the hills - especially Anchor Road and Milton Road - the sign at the bottom says "Welcome to Heartbreak Hill". But the whole route is just constantly up and down - the picture below is the elevation chart from my Garmin... there are no flat bits! You can make up time on the downhills but then its not too long before there's another uphill section to slow you down.
I felt ok going up Anchor Road - that's the steep bit at just after four
miles. I was slightly ahead of my target pace and kept it going down through Bentilee and along Fellbrook Lane - where I was cheered on by the Blurtons and caught on camera yet again, almost catching up with my fellow Potters Trotter runner Kirsten too... then it was along Leek Road and Baddeley Green Road where there was more encouragement from Andy and then Jo - thanks for the jelly babies and the cheers! I felt a little bit tired at this point and consciously slowed my pace a little bit... there were still some hard miles to go!
Cheered on by Meg as I reached the final steep climb and it was Heartbreak Hill / Milton Road at Mile 11 - this really was the tough point everyone said it would be. My legs were tired, it was hot and the hill just seemed to go on forever. I slowed to almost walking pace but was determined to keep running if I could - encouragement from some familiar faces from Hanley parkrun at the midpoint helped me to keep going and eventually I got to the top. My legs felt like jelly and my running pace slowed considerably - I kept checking my watch to see if I was still on target for sub 2hrs. The closer I got to the finish line, the more relaxed I felt. I knew I was going to make my target.
Then suddenly I was coming down into Hanley and the noise was incredible - I managed a smile and a wave for Mr T and a slight increase in speed for the last quarter of a mile. And then it was over - bronze medal in my hand, sub 2hrs achieved, big hugs from some of the Potters Trotters helping out in the finish area. I felt exhausted but elated - I was so pleased with what I had achieved. It was then back to the finish line to cheer home the rest of the Potters Trotters - actually one of my favourite parts of race day as they all achieved something special!
The Potters 'Arf experience concluded in Weatherspoons - catching up with lots of the other runners and exchanging stories of triumph and disaster. And enjoying a not quite so healthy lunch - never has ham, egg and chips tasted so good! Then it was home for a hot bath and a lazy afternoon... I really enjoyed my tea too - toast, chocolate pudding, fondant fancy and a packet of monster munch. When you've burned over 1,300 calories, I think it is ok to have a few naughty but nice treats afterwards!
The only disappointment of my day came later when I discovered my time was not listed on the official results site - after a brief meltdown "its not fair" moment, I sent an email to the results co-ordinator with my race number and my watch time. Within an hour, I received a reply to say my chip had not registered at the start or finish but they would add in my "gun time". Next time I checked, my name was listed and my official time is 1:56:04. I'm happy with that!
A big thank you to my official photographer and chief supporter Mr T for dashing round the route to cheer me on from Lichfield Street, Fellbrook Lane and the finish line - I think he covered almost as many miles as me.
And now its on the next challenge - once I've decided what that is!
Happy Running!
LizT
PS The title of this post is taken from the One Day Like This by Elbow... the lyric playing in my head as I battled to the finish yesterday was "One day like this a year 'd see me right"... I definitely wouldn't want to take the Potters 'Arf route very often, but for one day a year, that's ok with me!
Given that the start / finish line for the Potters 'Arf is only about a five minute walk from home, it was a very stress-free start to race day... get up, check the weather, eat porridge and banana, drink coffee, check the weather again, get dressed (I was glad I opted for shorts even if its not a particularly glamorous look for me), walk up to Hanley! I met up with several of the other runners from Potters Trotters in McDonalds for pre-race chat... the main topic of conversation was about how to survive the hills and a reminder not to go too fast at the start.
After that, I wandered up towards the start line and bumped into lots of familiar faces from Hanley parkrun, as well as some more of the Potters Trotters. There was quite a relaxed atmosphere as we walked up from the City Centre, round onto the Potteries Way to the start line. Following advice from Bobbie and Liz, I managed to get relatively close to the start line - the gun time decides what medal you get and I didn't want to miss out my a couple of seconds.
The main thing everyone talks about with the Potters 'Arf are the hills - especially Anchor Road and Milton Road - the sign at the bottom says "Welcome to Heartbreak Hill". But the whole route is just constantly up and down - the picture below is the elevation chart from my Garmin... there are no flat bits! You can make up time on the downhills but then its not too long before there's another uphill section to slow you down.
Cheered on by Meg as I reached the final steep climb and it was Heartbreak Hill / Milton Road at Mile 11 - this really was the tough point everyone said it would be. My legs were tired, it was hot and the hill just seemed to go on forever. I slowed to almost walking pace but was determined to keep running if I could - encouragement from some familiar faces from Hanley parkrun at the midpoint helped me to keep going and eventually I got to the top. My legs felt like jelly and my running pace slowed considerably - I kept checking my watch to see if I was still on target for sub 2hrs. The closer I got to the finish line, the more relaxed I felt. I knew I was going to make my target.
The Potters 'Arf experience concluded in Weatherspoons - catching up with lots of the other runners and exchanging stories of triumph and disaster. And enjoying a not quite so healthy lunch - never has ham, egg and chips tasted so good! Then it was home for a hot bath and a lazy afternoon... I really enjoyed my tea too - toast, chocolate pudding, fondant fancy and a packet of monster munch. When you've burned over 1,300 calories, I think it is ok to have a few naughty but nice treats afterwards!
The only disappointment of my day came later when I discovered my time was not listed on the official results site - after a brief meltdown "its not fair" moment, I sent an email to the results co-ordinator with my race number and my watch time. Within an hour, I received a reply to say my chip had not registered at the start or finish but they would add in my "gun time". Next time I checked, my name was listed and my official time is 1:56:04. I'm happy with that!
A big thank you to my official photographer and chief supporter Mr T for dashing round the route to cheer me on from Lichfield Street, Fellbrook Lane and the finish line - I think he covered almost as many miles as me.
And now its on the next challenge - once I've decided what that is!
Happy Running!
LizT
PS The title of this post is taken from the One Day Like This by Elbow... the lyric playing in my head as I battled to the finish yesterday was "One day like this a year 'd see me right"... I definitely wouldn't want to take the Potters 'Arf route very often, but for one day a year, that's ok with me!
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