DGTri Athlete Report - Simona Carena

Hinckley Half Marathon

Hinckley Half was my 3rd race of this season, second half marathon and the last event before going in to the Triathlon season proper. I was aiming at another PB after the good run at Milton Keynes in March and the Duathlon in April, before shelving the long runs until next year as I felt confident that my running has been coming along very well.

The race its held in a rural venue, is extremely well organized and marshalled by the local running club, and has a short travelling distance from home. With timing chips, 5 water stations, very friendly crowd, car park within 2 minutes of the start/finish lines and low cost entry it is hard to ask for anything more! The course is undulating and from previous experience it suits me down to the ground and I was very keen to compete here. However the plan had to change as after the Duathlon in April an old injury on a knee flared up, and left me wondering if I would be able to take part in the race at all.

Thankfully Dermot came back within minutes with a changed plan, and a catalogue of suggestion that would allow me not to loose any fitness. The last 3 weeks saw me floating vertically in the pool besides the usual swimming, biking and conditioning. My trust in Dermot’s ability is such that although in my mind I could not quite comprehend how aqua jogging would maintain running fitness I literally jumped in at the deep end with the “belt of shame” and got on with “gusto” to the annoyance of other pool users and lifeguards… ;-)

Race day dawned and I have to confess that I had still some reservation about competing as only been able to string a few short runs in the previous week to test how the knee reacted. The plan in my head was to run without pressure and get a lift back if at any stage things got too uncomfortable.

I was very conservative in the first mile, boxed in the crowd anyway, as the course winds it way along narrow country lanes with a field of one thousand runners, but after that I made up a bit of time as surprisingly my knee had settled at race pace. Also I felt I had bags of energy due to such a long rest from running... or was it frustration?

Things seemed to be on an even keel so I kept going and only after 6 miles I started to feel a bit tired. My HR was higher than normal and possibly causing the feeling of slight fatigue but the legs were fine on dry land!

Dermot suggested in the last week also a bit of specific strengthening work on the knee, and I felt both leg strength and added flexibility that I can associate from the work in the water.

Up to mile 7 my splits were very good but I somehow figured out that later on things would change as after all specific tempo and speed sessions have been missed in the last weeks. Equally I was just very happy to be running and hopefully completing the distance. The sun was shining, the breeze was fresh and so I was just enjoying the feeling of being out there and trying to be as smooth and fast as possible without overdoing it and blowing up, hence I decided to ignore the watch and just try to do my best.

All the positive mind frame can only do so much over matter and by mile 9 to 11 life got a bit hard up the hills as the missed run sessions presented the bill: I was consistently slowing down, and feeling heavy legged. After mile 11 the course is mostly gently sloping downhill and that somehow help me to perk up. I started thinking of the finish line and managed to ignore some minor cramping and work to get my average speed down.

To my surprise I did cross the finish line with a PB of 7 seconds, which was not expected at all: Dermot said I would maintain, not improve my fitness!  Overall I finished just in the second half of the mixed field some 350 places in front of my last race here, and 93rd out of 332 ladies.

Credit has to be given to the coach for adapting the plan and coming up with so many good suggestions that help me stay focused and allowed me to stay positive and fit and grab a third PB in a row!

Simona