Last Big Effort

33 Days to Go

Final big warm-up race today and like the Black Country Half a fortnight ago, the weather put paid to a really quick time. I headed up the Fylde Coast to sunny Lytham to take part in the Windmill Half Marathon and although the temperature had dropped from the last few days, there was a really strong headwind to contend with.

The course was almost pancake flat, so good practice for the terrain at Reykjavik, but the wind was about 20 mph and thanks to the race being two laps meant that just over half of it was run straight into it. It became pretty apparent after about six miles that this wasn't going to be a PB day - in fact checking Strava afterwards, the wind-less sections were well ahead of my best time, but were cancelled out by the windy ones. 

So I ended about 45 seconds off my PB, but I wasn't too disappointed given the conditions. Most importantly I managed to pace things properly, wasn't overtaken by anyone, and finished strongly. Two more weeks of hard training and then the blessed relief of the taper. Overall, I'm feeling quietly confident of a decent showing on the big day.

Actually, the best thing about today was the amazing medals they were giving out to all finishers. I'm pretty sure that you'd have to go a long way to find a better one..