This was my first race of my marathon season for 2018 and there are another three races to go. Since I ran my first marathon in 2012 I have always ran the Liversedge Half Marathon as one of my build up races and aside from my 2016 season, it’s always been the first race.
I’m not lying to you when I say it is one of the toughest half marathon road races around and that coupled with the often freezing conditions it is always a tough ask for competitors. The only tougher and half marathon road race I have ran which has even more hills is the Yorkshire Wolds Half Marathon, now that is tough.
Traditionally I have always performed well at the Liversedge Half Marathon, my course record is 1:24:15 and my worst course record before this year was 1:26:03, which was in 2016.
Going into this year’s race I am nowhere near the speed, pace and running fitness levels I was two years ago. After the London Marathon 2016 and having just managed to qualify for a Good For Age place again with a time of 3:04:44 (a time I was disappointed with) I decided after five years in a row of the marathon that I would take a year off in 2017.
Since the Leeds Half Marathon 2016, I have only ran two races until this year’s Liversedge Half Marathon. I ran the Leeds Half Marathon in May 2017 (in which I was not fit at all after having to cut my training after an Achilles injury and I finished 15 minutes slower than my PB) and the Kirkstall Harriers Kirkstall Abbey 7 Trail Race in September 2017 dressed as the Mad Monk.
Although I announced I was taking a year off the marathon in 2017, I did not plan to stop running races completely, it was just a rest from the marathon. I was going to concentrate on half marathons and try and run a sub 1:20:00 as I was only 2 minutes 45 seconds from breaking that time barrier. However due to life changes and career changes etc I ended up taking an unplanned rest from running completely. Over the past two years I have gone out on some sporadic runs and jogs to keep fit generally but nothing substantial.
I tried to get back into my running properly last September when I had six weeks off work between jobs, I had a 6 week training camp regime which included road running, football comeback, weight training, boxing and strength and conditioning in the gym.
2017 has really been a year of getting myself fit again and working on my strength and conditioning but after a stuttering start to the year I finally began to see the old peak fitness come back towards the end of the year.
Going into the start of 2018 I felt very fit and strong and I started my marathon training on the 8th January.
My speed and pace in itself is no where near where I was two years ago and is a little bit depressing sometimes but I’m a positive guy and I am also not stupid, I’m not 28-29-30 anymore at my physical peak where it all comes back so easy, I’ve had two years off and lost all that momentum. I’m 33 years old now and as much as we don’t like to admit it our metabolism does start to slow down ever so slightly in our early 30s, so it will take longer to get that speed back I guess. The most important thing at the moment is that I have the endurance in me.
So, I was feeling ready to tackle the tough Liversedge Half Marathon for the sixth time since I ran my first one in 2012.
I felt deep down that as I knew this race inside I know how to pace the race and I had some hope that although my speed wasn’t there during my half marathon training runs (I ran the Leeds Half Marathon route both ways, which is also a pretty tough route with some hills in parts) that I could push myself enough to shave a good few minutes off my training times, which running them comfortable to medium, I was around 1:38-1:40.
So, first 3 miles (5k) I thought I would just gage at what pace I felt comfortable at and the first 5k I felt good and was fairly close to the front, easily within the sub 1:30 pack of runners. As I pushed towards 4 miles I felt a slight decline in my pace but I felt comfortable and decided to stick with that pace for now as I would rather become stronger later than tire later. My fellow Kirkstall Harrier Adam Moger flowed past me before 4 miles and I could see his pace was a bit too much for me on this day and decided not to try and keep up, he ended up coming close to beating his course PB.
Liversedge in the middle miles is very up and down in terms of hills and you can both make up ground and lose ground depending how you use the hills, I always use the big down hill section to make up as much time as I could which I did this time too.
Miles 6-7 is very tough there’s a huge hill too and I must admit I slowed down a lot at this point which disappointed me as traditionally I’m usually really good on hills and my legs are very strong and explosive at the moment, maybe the explosive muscles in my legs is causing too much lactic acid? Anyway, once I got to flatter ground I began to push on again.
The last three or four miles were okay I was overtaken a few times which was depressing for me a bit as two years ago I wouldn’t have been getting overtaken but I just had to accept it. I tried to run my own race but in the last mile I was constantly looking over my back to ensure no one overtook me in the last 500 metres and as I always do I had a strong finish in me, usually I have footage of my sprint finish but my camera phone didn’t work this year unfortunately.
I was reading an article from Buzz Run about improving breathing techniques for long distance runners and I read that we sometimes worry too much about our breathing when running. I read that you don’t need to worry and waste energy on concentrating on breathing in long distances as breathing fast and heavy is a natural automatic reaction from our body’s. I kind of understand that now and whenever I was breathing heavier and or of breath at all I decided not to emphasise it and worry about it, I kept telling myself, this isn’t pain and it isn’t anything to worry about - the faster breathing is automatic - you don’t need to think about your breathing - the body does it for you automatically and I think that definitely worked for me. I’m glad I read that article now just a few days before.
If there is one thing I did notice during the race and I will take from it is I definitely felt a bit too bulky up top and maybe for the remainder of the marathon season cut down on certain aspects of my gym session and stick to just cardio and being lighter on my feet rather than explosive.
MY RESULT:
1:35:04 in 82nd position out of approx. 500 runners
Although at first I felt a bit gutted I was 9 minutes slower than last time I ran this race in 2016, having had time to reflect on it I am comfortable with it now.
I enjoyed it, although there were some tough moments as there always are at Liversedge, I generally felt comfortable at that pace and I have to realise that I have just made a proper comeback after two years and I’m not 28 anymore, I’m 33 years old, it will take longer to get back where I was before and it’s not an overnight job. I have a good base to work from and I am excited about the rest of the marathon campaign.
Next up for me is the Spen 20 Mile Race on March 12th which is a similar route to this race and is known as one of the toughest 20 mile road races. I have ran it before twice and my best time on the course is 2:15:04 I believe. The last time I ran a 20 mile race I finished 2:14:13 and was a PB.
Realistically after looking at my Liversedge Half Marathon time, I am currently looking at a marathon time at London on a flat course between 3:15 and 3:20 which means realistically a good goal for Spen 20 is 2:28 to 2:30ish, I must also remember that I am aiming to peak at London Marathon not Spen 20, I will always keep this in mind during the hilly race.
After London Marathon I will finish my marathon season with the Leeds Half Marathon which will be my 12th Leeds Half Marathon in 12 years.
2012:
RACE TIME: 1:24:15 (PB)
POSITION: 18th Position out of 467
KIRKSTALL HARRIERS POSITION: 1st
2013:
RACE TIME: 1:24:17
POSITION: 21st Position out of 455
KIRKSTALL HARRIERS POSITION: 1st
2014:
RACE TIME: 1:25:23
POSITION: 27th Position out of 490
KIRKSTALL HARRIERS POSITION: 1st
2015:
RACE TIME: 1:24.54
POSITION: 24th Position out of 425
KIRKSTALL HARRIERS POSITION: 1st
2016:
RACE TIME: 1:26:03
POSITION: 27th Position out of 417
KIRKSTALL HARRIERS POSITION: 1st
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