The Lliswerry 8 Road Race Blog... Finally!

I'm ever so slightly (very) late posting this blog about the Lliswerry 8 road race which was on Sunday 29th January. The truth is that I was injured before the race so just wanted to test out the injury as I'd been struggling with it since New Year. Basically it hurt like a mofo for the whole race and I haven't been allowed to run since. Bring on the sulking!

Until this morning! I did a slow and steady 2 mile run and had no pain for the first time in ages so I'm a happy bunny again. I need to be sensible and slowly increase my mileage for the next few weeks then hopefully I'll be injury free and able to take on my half marathon sub 2 hour goal.

Ok, enough about that - here's the Lliswerry 8 blog (finally!!)

The race is organised by the Lliswerry running club and based in Newport, it has a limited number of participants so sold out very quickly. I'd never done this race before but there's always a lot of buzz about it so I thought I'd give it a go. I didn't manage to get a place but luckily for me Sarah from Pegs got a place but couldn't go so transferred it to me.

We all arrived at the Newport stadium on a very wet Sunday morning and were eager to start the race. We came well prepared with the latest hi-tech running kit to ensure we stayed as dry as possible until the last few minutes.

Pegs sporting the latest in bin bag fashion

It's never too cold to whip out our Pegs vests

Everyone discarded their bin bags hi-tech running kit and the (very soggy) race began. Luckily we have quite a few Pegs who are a dab hand with a camera. 

And we're off...

I really enjoyed starting the race with these ladies, it's not often I get to run with them as they're speedier than me so this was fun.

Not loving the rain!

It wasn't raining as hard as the forecast predicated but it was still very soggy and cold. I also forgot my gloves which didn't help.

All smiles for the camera!

Rear view Pegs *wolf whistles*

After the first half a mile I could feel my hip starting to twinge a bit but was hoping it would settle down as the race went on and I warmed up. I decided to just take it easy and try to last the 8 miles. Usually I can distract myself in a race or run with the scenery or I'll just let my imagination run riot but the discomfort in my hip kept me in the moment and it was all I could think about. I threw a big pity party to keep me company throughout the race.

The race is 8 miles of flat road except for the one "hill". Luckily it was downhill and basically a small bridge.

This Peg loves a downhill!

I watched the miles tick by and couldn't wait for it to be over. I was cold, wet and in pain but I knew there was cake at the finish line!

The finish line is in sight. Lead me to the cake!

The amazing thing about being in a running club and the fantastic running community is that there is always someone to cheer you through the finish as well as waiting for you after the race to tell you that you did well, even when you don't feel like it.

We all walked back to the stadium to get warm, grab a cuppa and scoff some cake. 

A warm Peg is a happy Peg

Usually after a race I come home and take a photo of Winston wearing my medal but the Lliswerry 8 race doesn't give you a medal. Instead you get a long sleeve technical t-shirt and this is a big reason why a lot of runners love this race. Every year the colour of it is kept a secret so there was much chit chat about what colour people thought it would be. Luckily for me it was white, I had been shopping the previous day to buy a white long sleeve t-shirt to wear under my Pegs vest but couldn't find one.

Back to Winston. I tried to get him in the t-shirt but I lost the wrestling match, it would have made a great photo but I decided it was much better to keep the t-shirt in one piece. I took a photo of my cupcake instead. 

It tasted great by the way

I now understand the hype about this race, it's a lovely nice and flat route so you can really give it your all. I'm hoping that next year the weather is kinder and I can see the sights a bit more, it was wet and grey so the view wasn't the best this time.

Next up for me is the Newport half marathon on Sunday 5th March and I'm hoping that I'll be injury free. I know I haven't got time to get my mileage up so am relying on my fitness to get me through it. I'll take it nice and steady and just listen to my body on the day. Wish me luck!!

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!