Also running alongside me was my cousin Matty, running his second Leeds Half-Marathon, my mate James Hunt running his first and also Ryan Goodfellow, also running his first.
My preparation the night before probably wasn't ideal but I actually felt pretty good about the race. The night before me and Matty went out to see some friends, then went to bed for a couple of hours before waking up at 3:45am to watch the Amir Khan fight, so we probably only had around 3 hours sleep. On top of that, I began with some diarrhoea the night before and the morning of the race, so I was a bit worried I may have been dehydrated.
Sunday was also the first time I have ran since running the London Marathon in a disappointing (for me) time of 3:04:44 but I felt I had given myself a good rest and I have had a few strength and conditioning sessions and core strength workouts to keep myself fit and active in other ways.
I was as ready to have a good run anyway...
As it was my testimonial Leeds Half-Marathon I wanted to really enjoy it. Bar one or two of the 9 other Leeds Half-Marathon's I have run, I have always really pushed myself hard and especially in the last four or five years I have pushed my body on this race. This time I wanted to enjoy it and get a decent time without having to push myself so hard that it takes so much out of my body.
The last few years I have set off right at the front of the race and to be honest I haven't had the best of starts, especially last year, I set off way too quick last year. When you start right at the front it is so easy to get sucked into running with the elite amateurs the first mile, and I am not at that level.
This year I started quite a way back from what I normally do, easily 500 people back and I think that benefited me 100%. My first two miles were very reserved for me and I had a reasonably slow start, in fact, I actually started alongside the 1:40:00 pacer but by mile 2 I had overtaken the 1:35:00 pacer very comfortably.
I knew that my pacing is very consistent usually and despite being a good 300 position behind I didn't worry or panic, I knew I would gradually start popping them all off one by one, I even made a joke to myself in my head 'it's a half marathon not a sprint - pardon the pun' (yeah even my jokes to myself in my own head are shocking).
I know this course very well now after running this race 10 times, I definitely feel like I am a Leeds Half-Marathon 'veteran' now, and I'm still only 31, I have plenty more left in me yet, as I have all this experience I used that to my advantage. I knew to not go off too quick and to pace myself until I got to the top of hills before hitting the Moortown Ring Road section of the race route. It was from this point where I really started to up my game big time.
I absolutely smashed my way down the ring road and powered my way up the hill up to Lawnswood, I felt on fire and I overtook so many runners during this stretch. It was about 5 miles in however, when my left hip began giving me pain again, then due to overcompensating my left hip due to the pain, my running posture began causing problems for my right I.T. Band so I began feeling some sharp pains in the side of my right knee. I have a very good pain threshold while I am running and the adrenaline soon wore the pain off.
I knew without wearing a stopwatch that my pace was easily around 1:28:00, I felt so comfortable the whole way through, don't get me wrong, it wasn't all easy I had a few moments where I had to dig in and use a bit of my heart and grit but I felt so comfortable at this pace I really did and I haven't felt that confident going into the final 3 or 4 miles Kirkstall stretch, I just believed in myself that at this pace I would not struggle or get into any difficulties and I was right. Although I know I didn't push myself no where near as hard as I could have done, and I did get overtaken by a couple during the last two miles, I felt happy and I felt strong.
Coming up to the final turning and stretch to the finish line, I put on a bit of a show as always where all the crowds were and knowing that my friend's Simon and Emma were there filming me and cheering me on as always I did what I needed to do for the camera. I always get a few butterflies and intense nervous energy when I'm coming up to the finish because I know there are a few thousand people watching and I never want to be overtaken by another runner at the finish and I like to show I'm a really good finisher.
See my highlights video from RJ Sports TV:
MY RESULT:
Chip Time: 1:27:45
Position: 132nd out of approx. 9,000
Kirkstall Harriers Position: 1st
I can honestly say that my 10th Leeds Half-Marathon was one of my all-time favourites, I made a special effort to enjoy it, after really not enjoying it last year and I knew I could do that by running at a measured pace, but a pace good enough to get me a decent time and a decent position.
Two year's ago I earned my current half marathon PB of 1:22:45 on this very race, and I had a painful I.T. Band injury, I really pushed myself all the way in that race, I finished in a high position of 35th out of 10,000 runners, I was buzzing and it is something I am still very proud of till this day. Last year I thought I could match that time or maybe even beat it, but how wrong was I? I struggled from start to finish and was brought crashing back down to earth with a disappointing time of 1:26:00.
Although 1:26:00 is one of my best times in the Leeds Half-Marathon, I knew that I was better than that but last year I think the London took a lot more out of me than I realised and if I am honest, I felt awful the whole way through the race, especially in the first mile or two, I have never felt that bad before, my heart was racing, I was blowing really hard, I just wanted to stop but me being me carried on, gathered myself and powered through. This year I really wanted to forget about that and just get some enjoyment back out of the race, it's my favourite race after all, it's my home town race and my first road race I ever ran.
The crowds this year were amazing and they came out in force, I really believe that the warm summer weather conditions helped this. There were people sat on deck chairs in their front garden's drinking beer cheering everyone on, handing out oranges, gummy bears, energy drinks, water - the lot, even some were spraying us with hose pipes, it was truly an amazing race experience.
The day was great, I saw loads of people I knew in the crowds who gave me a lift and a boost and one of the funniest was when my mate Tom from work drove past me on Kirkstall Road shouting 'Go on Joycey lad' , haha was class. It was also funny that I saw one of my running friend's (who'll be reading this blog I'm sure) Andy May who normally runs this race and is usually up there with the elite finishers, he was running past in the opposite direction on a training run, made me laugh and he was shouting us all for support.
PROUD OF MY COUSIN & FRIENDS:
I'm glad my 10th Leeds Half-Marathon was one to remember and it was also one to remember for some of my friends too. James ran his first half marathon in a time of 2:16:00, Ryan ran his first in 2:08:00 and my cousin Matthew ran his second half marathon in a new PB of 2:23:00 after a really tough race in hot conditions, I am very proud of him, well done Matty - you did amazing.
Next for Matty is the Yorkshire Marathon in October, it is a huge step up and it is one that Matthew is not going to take lightly, we will see how training goes over the summer, I am going to help him train from my past experience. But more importantly, he has to work out in his head whether he really wants to put his body through a full marathon after only previously completing two half-marathon's. I'm sure we will work it out.
You can watch the video footage below what I filmed of James and Matty finishing the half marathon.
After the London Marathon I seriously questioned whether I want to put my body through that anymore and I have had some mixed emotions and thoughts about it since. I'm only 31, I'm still at my physical athletic peak, I think? Although I have to say the last two year's have not compared to what I achieved in 2014 when I was 29, so maybe I am actually past my all-time best?
The marathon, I have done seven of them now in five years and five London Marathon's in a row, I would love to get up to ten marathon's, which mean's potentially I may do three London Marathon's over the next three year's, one of them I would love to try and break the Guinness World Record for the 'fastest in a monk outfit' (I have experience in running in a monks outfit, I have ran the Kirkstall Harriers' 7 Mile annual race as a monk four times now) and it is achievable for me. I would also love to run a marathon or a big race abroad at some point but there is no rush.
What's important to me is my future health and being content and although I do have some marathon ambitions left in me, If I decide I don't want to put my body through it any more then I won't I am very happy and content with what I have already achieved and to be honest, I have achieved more than I set out to do. I originally wanted to become a sub 3-hour marathon runner, I have now achieved that twice, as well as becoming a five-time 'Good For Age' marathon runner, so I am happy anyway, but I do like to have a reason to get super fit and challenge myself physically.
In terms of half-marathon's, I have ran 18 of them now and I have now ran 10 Leeds Half-Marathon's in a row. My ambition after a couple of years after running this race, I decided that I wanted to run it 20 years in a row, I am now half way through and I want to complete my ambition, nothing will stop me, I have even ran several Leeds Half-Marathon's with painful injuries, I am determined to reach this goal. After 20? Who knows how many more? Even if this is the only race I run every year, I want to leave myself a legacy, I want to be in the paper as a 60 year old who has ran it something mad like 40 times - that is a vision I have always had.
Half marathon is definitely my favourite distance and I think I will always run this race, maybe for me the full marathon is slowly starting to have less significance for me and one of my main ambitions over the rest of my long distance running peak years is to run a sub 1:20:00 half marathon. I know that once I run a flat course and I am going into the race 100% fit that I will achieve this, it's just a matter of time.
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT :-)
As it is my testimonial year, here is my Leeds Half-Marathon history, since my first race as a young, fresh innocent and very inexperienced 22 year old to my veteran Leeds Half-Marathon age of 31.
2016
Time: 1:27:45
Position: 132nd
Health: Very fit, slight hip pain
AGE: 31
STATUS: Kirkstall Harriers
2015
Time: 1:25:24
Position: 106th
Health: 100% fit
AGE: 30
STATUS: Kirkstall Harriers
2014:
Time: 1:22:45 (PB)
Position: 35th
Health: I.T. Band injury
AGE: 29
STATUS: Kirkstall Harriers
2013:
Time: 1:25:52
Position: 61st
Health: Right Achilles injury
AGE: 28
STATUS: Kirkstall Harriers
2012:
Time: 1:27:34
Position: 95th
Health: Right calf tear injury
AGE: 27
STATUS: Kirkstall Harriers
2011:
Time: 1:31:36 (PB)
Position: 160th
Health: Right foot turf toe sprain, no training
AGE: 26
STATUS: un-affiliated
2010:
Time: 1:45:12
Position: 778th
Health: Illness, no training
AGE: 25
STATUS: un-affiliated
2009:
Time: 1:32:09 (PB)
Position: 280th
Health: 100% fit, no training
AGE: 24
STATUS: un-affiliated
2008:
Time: 1:42:22
Position: 673rd
Health: 100% fit, limited training
AGE: 23
STATUS: un-affiliated
2007:
Time: 1:41:56
Position: Unknown
Health: 100% fit, no training
AGE: 22
STATUS: un-affiliated
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