My PB Smashing Cardiff 10K!

Sunday 11th September was the Cardiff 10K and, as usual, I was like a kid at Christmas on race day. My running buddy Clare picked me up and we headed into town. Clare was running with her Mind Cymru work colleagues so I wished them all a good race and went to meet my Pegs at the museum.

Our regular race meeting point... right by the toilets

Last year I finished the race in 1:03:35 and was happy to do this years in 1:05:00 or 1:06:00 ish as I hadn't been running as quickly as last year during training.

Pre-race selfie, I can't start a race without one!

Once all the Pegs had arrived, we lined up ready and waited for someone to walk by and take our photo. We were so excited when someone did that we broke out the jazz hands!

Jazz hands!

After all that excitement we made our way to the start line.

Pre-race joy... you just wait!

I was feeling great, ready to take on the race and give it my all. The start was crowded and the pathway wasn't very wide so it seemed to take forever to get into a bit of space. 

There seemed to be runners everywhere and a lot of people were weaving in and out trying to get ahead of the pack. I tried to keep out of the way as the weavers didn't seem to care who they nearly took out in the process. I thought it would ease off as we got further into the race but it didn't until about 7km in.

Trying to hitchhike to the finish line

I kept an eye on my Garmin as I had a rough idea of what pace per mile I wanted to do. I was surprised a few times when I realised I was running faster than the plan but still felt good.

Not long to go and still smiling

At about 8km I realised I was actually doing a good time and there was a chance I could finish closer to last year's time. I decided to really go for it and see just how fast I could do it.

Every bump in the road felt like a hill and my legs were objecting. I could see the finish but it seemed like miles away. I kept on pushing and somehow managed to beat my PB!

I finish in 1:02:44 - nearly a minute quicker than last year!!

New edition to my bling

I was buzzing! I didn't think I would get close to last years race time let alone beat it. I made sure I told everyone I saw!

I found some of the Pegs and we queued for our bags, this was the perfect time to exchange race stories.

Post race chit-chat

Once everyone had picked up our bags we posed for yet another photo... we never get tired of this!

Those Les Croups get everywhere!

My employers, Spire Healthcare, provided the sports massages for the event so I popped over to see my friend, colleague and physio Pippa. She is the person who fixed me after my IT band injury and she got me back running better and stronger than ever! Faster too!

World's Best Physio!

One of the best things about being a Peg is the social side of the club. We all get on so well and it's tradition to hit a bar and talk even more about running.

Post race drinks and cwtches for the boys

This race is what I needed to keep my confidence high and to keep me excited and motivated about my running. Next up is the Cardiff Half Marathon on 2nd October and I can't wait!

Severn Bridge (Very Very F**king Hilly) Half Marathon!

I'll set the scene for you. It was Sunday... it was 4:35am and my alarm was making a racket... it was raining outside... I had to try to wake up, get my arse out of bed, sort the dog out, get showered, dressed, fed and out of the house to pick up some of my running buddies. All this because we were running the Severn Bridge Half Marathon!

Looks a lot flatter in this photo!

At 7am the coach picked us up and we were on our way. We were a combination of Pegasus and Seriously Mad Runners (SMR) and a surprisingly quiet bunch, there was no singing or dancing in the aisle, I think the race day nerves were starting to set in.

#PegsOnTour with our SMR buddies!

Once we arrived in the race village, we collected our numbers, dropped our bags off then joined the queue for the toilets.

A club that pees together, stays together!

We'd been told there was a bit of a walk to the start line and that the race was starting at 9am prompt so we ditched our support crew and headed off.

Don't want to get the two mixed up!

Excitement was kicking in as we reached the start, we are a club that like to take a lot of selfies and Julie did the honours.

Peace out!

The start line was split into predicated finish times so a group of us said "good luck" to the speedy Pegs and SMR then made our way to the back of the queue.

Life's more fun at the back of the start!

Just a handful of runners

And then we were off, England bound!

Sally, Tracy and I making sure we covered the whole photo

The main reason I signed up for this race is that I wanted to run across the bridge, it's approximately 2 miles each way but I still had to do the other 9.1 miles apparently. Also the idea of running in both England and Wales during the same half marathon appealed to me (I'm English but I live in Wales - for those of you who didn't know that).

Luckily the weather had cleared up and the sun had come out so the views were gorgeous.

If you squint you can see the other bridge

Very soon the Pegs split up and we all ran our own race. I have a habit of killing my runs by shooting off too quickly in the first mile so I didn't try to keep up with anyone and watched my Garmin as much as possible. I was very sensible and did a normal paced first mile. I know, I'm still in shock too!

*waves bye to Pegs*

Once we got off the bridge, we headed into a little English village (can't remember the name). I loved this part as it was an 'out and back' so I got to watch the fastest Pegs fly past me on their way back towards the bridge. An 'out and back' is a good distraction, it keeps my mind off what I'm doing as I try to spot familiar faces and check out the *coughs* running 'talent'.

On my way back home to Wales!

The hardest part of the race for me was coming back over the bridge, I had started to feel tired and the bridge seemed to last FOREVER! I was only 5-6 miles in at this point so decided to take an energy gel and see if that helped. As soon as I got off the bridge I felt my energy return and started to overtake some runners who had passed me earlier.

I'm not sure what's worse. Suddenly coming to the bottom of a hill and realising you have to run up it or running down a long hill knowing that you have to run back up it again. We had to do the latter. Running down was awesome, it was an 'out and back' again so I saw loads of my Pegs. We high 5'd and cheered each other on, some were running and looking like they thought it would never end and some were walking up it. That bit was great! 

One of many but the worst of them all!

We got to the bottom and ran through another lovely village but then ended up back at the bottom of the hill again. I think there comes a time in everyone's race where they think "F**k it, I can walk uphill quicker than I'm running it!" and so they stop shuffling their feet and hiked up that bad boy like it was Pen Y Fan. They had definitely saved the worse hill for last... bastards!

The next mile was downhill again and I just let my legs do the work, the race was nearly over and I couldn't wait to get my shiny race bling and see my Pegs and SMR buddies.

My Garmin beeped at 13 miles and there was only 0.1 to go! Yay! But wait... what the hell is this? A hill? Another hill?! 

My thoughts exactly!

I looked up and saw a couple of my Pegs towards the top and I knew I just had to get my arse up that hill. At the top I could see the finish and I just pelted towards it. As I got closer I heard the cheers of my Pegs and SMR so out came the "wooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooo" as I whooshed past them.

It was over! I had survived!

My chip time was 2:33:46 which was 10 minutes faster than last year's Cardiff Half, it was a really hilly route and only my 2nd half marathon so I'm very pleased with that. Cardiff is pretty much flat so I'm planning on knocking some more time off in October.

Bling bling!

My work buddy, Carol

As you know, I run to eat and I like to eat all the stuff that's bad for me. Luckily Graham had brought a tray of donuts and was dishing them out.

Carb loading!

We had all brought food with us so settled down to eat, compare race stories and cheer on the last few runners coming through the finish.

Now you can't get a camera out without us lining up and having our photo taken, it can get a bit awkward when we do this in front of people who probably didn't want to take a photo of us but hey, we just don't care!

Steve and Laura about to do some showgirl style high kicks

After the coach trip home, I drove back to my house to see my boy. He was very happy to see me and quick to tell me that I needed a wash.

Wearing the latest fashion from the Severn Bridge

Once I was clean and presentable (and had passed Winston's inspection) I popped open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate my achievement and invited my 2 favourite men round to watch a movie.

Hello fellas! *hic*

Apparently completing this half marathon guarantees me a place for next year and I'm really excited because they're doing a marathon using both Severn Bridges, it's probably going to be a one-off so there's no way I'm missing out! I've also entered the ballot for the London marathon 2017 so if I get into that then I'll be doing 2 marathons next year. Yikes!