Bristol Half

Well once again the weather forecast got it wrong, and instead of strong winds and tropical storms, we had sweltering heat and blazing sunshine.  A bit of cloud cover couldn't have hurt, but overall it was a good day.

We had to get up this morning very early, the general recommendation given to runners is to eat about 3 hours prior to the run, and after getting quite bad heartburn on some of our training runs, I was willing to trust this advice.  So after our early breakfast we drove to Bristol, yes drove, for some reason no-one thought to lay on extra public transport, and as the earliest train didn't even leave Bath until half an hour after the starting time we were left with no option.

This got us to Bristol very early but this was a good thing as it enabled us to have a good warm up and stretch with the aid of an over enthusiastic gym instructor.  After our warm up we joined the queue for the starting line.  As part of the first wave we didn't have to wait long before we were crossing the starting line and the half marathon had begun.  No going back. 

The Bristol half marathon goes over a nice scenic route that takes you up the Avon gorge before heading back over the floating harbour.  For the first 6 miles B and I managed to run together, I even slowed down a bit to let B catch up after he had a toilet stop.  By the 6 mile mark B's foot was hurting and so he slowed down a bit and it wasn't long before I lost him completely.

Most of the course was relatively flat, until around the 11th mile when it suddenly had a steep climb, a cruel and unusual way to end a half marathon.  At the top I had to slow down, and got to the point where I didn't think I was going to continue, I already had to large blisters, one on each foot.  Still I managed to keep going and I crossed the finish line in under 2 hours, better than I could every have hoped for, and it was only about 7 minutes later that B did the same.

I can't believe it was only back in March that I was congratulating B for completing the Bath half marathon, and swearing I would never do something that foolish, yet here I am with a finishers medal of my very own....and a complete inability to walk.

Adam