Valiants Half Marathon

For the record, 1hr 29min 17s - this was my best effort at a half marathon in a long time. So good not to have to do twice the distance, 21km is the distance for me! It was the inaugural Valiants half marathon, a super flat course on the Fylde plain in Lancashire.

2014 Results

KM	Pace	GAP	Elev (m)
1	3:53	3:54	-2
2	3:56	3:57	-2
3	4:01	4:00	0
4	4:06	4:03	2
5	4:04	4:04	0
6	4:10	4:10	0
7	4:10	4:07	2
8	4:14	4:15	-2
9	4:18	4:14	4
10	4:27	4:26	0
11	4:25	4:20	3
12	4:17	4:19	-3
13	4:16	4:14	2
14	4:19	4:15	4
15	4:20	4:22	-2
16	4:33	4:29	4
17	4:23	4:24	-2
18	4:21	4:29	-9
19	4:22	4:22	0
20	4:17	4:14	-6
21	4:13	3:41	7

Paris Marathon

After Tokyo marathon at the end of February, I certainly arrived at the start line for Paris Marathon with fear of the damage I could be  about to unleash on my body. Mainly with that thought, I decided to stay with the 3hr 30m pace setter for the majority of the race - I stuck close by up till 25km, when I made a brief attempt to escape ahead up the road, but inevitably tired and he came back to me about 35km. At the 40km point I had to stop for refreshments, and after that I just couldnt get back on the pace. Not rapidly disappearing in the distance, but clearly I was tired and could not longer keep the 5min pace which at the start had felt so easy and a gentle jog. But thats what the marathon is about, a cruel grind beyond what I ever do in training, so the finish was tough but not in pain and suffering like Tokyo.
A slower time, but as 3.5hours is my target its good enough for me. More importantly it felt much more satisfying to be able to walk up and down stairs in the metro on Sunday and even Monday, so with that it was a great success. Nice weather, classic scenery and apart from narrow and crowded in several sections this is one of my favourite marathons.

5km 24:22
10km 50:04
15km 1:15:11
20km 1:39:43
21,1km 1:45:2
25km 2:04:27
30km 2:29:04
35km 2:54:17
40km 3:19:09
42km 3:30:45