Half Marathon a Month Challenge #37 - Central Lancs Half Marathon - January 2017

Central Lancs Half Marathon -  8th January 2017

This was our second trip down to Preston in early January for a Half Marathon to blow away the Christmas and New Year cobwebs. Of course last year I didn't actually participate due to injury, although I still attended the event to give Chris moral support. 

This year the event took place a week later than previously, so it fell on an FA Cup weekend. It just so happened that the local team Preston North End were playing Arsenal on the evening we were arriving, and as it's rarely unenjoyable watching Arsenal in action I contacted PNE to try and organise some tickets. Everything seemed to go smoothly until we turned up at the ground before kick off and they had sold them! Oh well, we would just have to go to a pub and watch the game there.

We started walking from the stadium into town and spotted what looked like a suitable place for a pint. It was called the Olde Blue Bell and turned out to be quite a bizarre establishment.

It was as if you had been transported back about 60 years, based on the pub's clientele and the sight of an old guy in what seemed like a full 1950s Royal Navy uniform going round the tables collecting empty glasses.

The whole 1950s feeling was reinforced when we approached the bar and saw that both Light Mild and Dark Mild were on offer!

One pint was quickly supped and we headed back through the time portal and into the main part of town for a drink at some more modern establishments. We also went back to the excellent East Z East with its generous number of poppadom dips.

Fed and watered we decided to have a reasonably early night in preparation for race day.

On the morning of the race we had a nourishing breakfast at the hotel and took a taxi to the start in Lea Town. It was during this journey that I had a weird moment. For some reason I had a mini panic attack thinking about running the race. I briefly thought that I wouldn't able to go through with it. This hasn't happened to me before or since, and the feeling soon disappeared. No idea what caused it.

At the start HQ (school hall) we took in our surroundings and found an official UK Athletics route map. Useful for me but not so much for Chris, who had run it already.

On reaching the start line we took the usual selfie and then mingled with the rest of the waiting runners.

All that was left to do was to run the race, and for me it was really really tough. My fitness issues had been exposed in December during the '5 Pubs' Half M and lack of training, and much indulgence over the festive period made things even worse.I had to employ a walk / run strategy after only 8km. I finally hobbled over the line in 423rd place, but amazingly still 33 places off last.

It was another lesson in how difficult a Half Marathon can be if you haven't prepared properly for it. Once again I vowed that this would not happen at the same event next year. 

As for Chris, he wasn't in top form, but he still breezed in 20 minutes before I did.

Results:
Chris -  02:05:22
Frank - 02:25:55