Hi all,
So this weekend Annelies and I went off and decided to run a half-marathon (13.1 miles) in a sleepy little town called Mablethorpe (Northeast of London on the coast of England). It was a bit of a coordination challenge to figure out how to get there (we took a 1 hr train to Peterborough and then rented a car to drive 2 hours to Mablethorpe...), but that wasn't too bad compared to the several months of running training that we put in leading up to the big day! With the aid of our trusty little running logs, I calculate that Annelies put in over 266 miles of training and I put in about 221 miles. Whew, I'm tired just writing that!
Anyhow, Mablethorpe was a teeny tiny version of Coney Island/Brighton, with little amusement centers and decidedly British beach huts. We were just lazy on Saturday, walked around a little bit, ate our pasta (for carb-loading before the race!), and watched some silly British TV shows and movies. At 10:00 we were tired from a day of relaxing, so we went to bed, dreaming of the long run the next day...
To start off the morning right, we had breakfast downstairs in our little bed & breakfast. We sat next to a few other groups (two guys in their mid 50's and a couple in their late 50's). Munching on our toast and cereal, Annelies and I looked at each other in awe when they mentioned that they planned to run the FULL marathon in just over 3 hours and 10 minutes!!! (that's faaaaast).
Anyhow, we didn't let their show-off-ed-ness frustrate ourselves, as we walked over to the race start around 9:30. After a warm-up jog, some stretching and a shot of our Power Goo energy gels, we were ready to begin! There was an aire of excitement as the 263 people got ready for the half-marathon!!! The little town of Mablethorpe sprang alive on this day and everyone was out to watch (tractors from the nearby farms and all!)
As we started off, we both revelled in the sounds of the pitter-patter footsteps of runners all around you. That atmosphere, together with the adrenaline and carbo-loading of the prior week propelled us to a quick first mile (a little too quick as we were about 45 seconds faster than our expected pace). We settled in to a tad slower pace and kept running through the town. The miles started to tick off as we ran through residential areas, then through farms, and finally through a few wind-farms. Around the half-way point, the heat of the day started catching up to us (the residents of Mablethorpe said it hadn't been that hot since July!). With a few swigs of water and another power goo downed, we had the energy needed to finish. Somewhere in the second half of the race, a bit of a gap opened between Annelies and I as we both pushed forward in the heat. With about 3 miles left to go, the course ran parallel to the ocean. It surely was a pretty site, but I was too focused on dodging the tourists/locals on the boardwalk to really notice. :) There were no collisions however as I finished for a time of 1 hr 46 min 45 sec and Annelies kicked butt with 1 hr 48 min 44 sec. Just a bit slow of our race goals of 1 hr 45 minutes, but we can blame it on the heat and the smell of manure from the farms :)
Here's the really cool part: Annelies placed THIRD in her age group (women under 35) and was the 8th woman OVERALL in the race out of 99 female runners! I fared a little worse, clocking in as 28th in my age group...
Once we had finished the race and downed a few water bottles, we really felt awesome and that we had made a nice achievement. We're hooked on running and are already planning the next half-marathon in November with a goal of a marathon in April/May next year.
We hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to hear from you! We're excited for our upcoming visitors: this weekend George is coming into town for a few days. The week after, my Mom is coming into town for just over a week! Can't wait to see you! Love,
-Jason & Annelies
George went as baby spice/elvis outfit....
