Janet's National Half Report

National Half Marathon, Race Report by Janet Clancy

I found the route of this half fairly good, although, of course it felt much tougher while running it! But, looking back on it afterwards, even though there were hard up-hills there were two nice long downhill stretches on it also. As I was trying to watch my pace starting out on this race, I was a bit frustrated that I didn’t take more advantage of the first downhill instead of holding back. However, this may have helped me in the long run, later in the race.

I felt I was doing good enough until I got to about 7.5 miles where, for the first time in a race, I actually had to stop and walk with a very bad stitch. It was one of those ones that you get right under your rib cage - which makes it very hard to take good deep breaths, and I know that’s what you’re supposed to do with a stitch. I’m very grateful to two women who had been on my tail for the previous mile or two - who made me jog on and helped me with my breathing until I felt half way right to carry on. Luckily, there was no more sign of the stitch after a few more minutes. I kept a steady enough pace for the rest of the race with help from Deirdre and was also glad to get a helping run in from Ray for the last 500 metres, which I nearly felt was the toughest. Although, I think it was just that I had someone to complain to.

One thing that I would change for my next race would be to take in more water/fluids on the morning of the race. I felt very dehydrated from around halfway into the race and was just dreaming of drinking cold water for the last couple of miles. Plus, it was a very warm/sunny day as well. In the morning I just had a big bowl of porridge and a glass of water. Nothing else really after that as I didn’t want to be running to the toilets every five minutes as there’s usually a queue a mile long before races. I’ll know again. As for diet, I try not change to anything out of the ordinary in the build up to any race, only to eat a bit healthier and drink plenty of water.

Although I hadn’t originally planned on running the National Half I had the training done as I had just run the Galway City Half the previous Sunday. My training usually consists of a rest day on Monday, track on Tuesday, a long(ish) run on Wednesday (8 to 10 miles), a rest day on Thursday, maybe a short run or cycle on Friday (if I can fit it in), the usual 9.00am run on a Saturday morning and a long run Sunday with Maeve and Deirdre (14 to 16 miles) on Sunday. They keep me on my toes!

Overall, I’m pleased with my run and also getting the experience of a few half marathons under my belt. And I used to think that 8km’s and 10km’s were never-ending before this!

Reports

Porridge,NO.

If your ever wondering what to have the morning of a race make sure it aint porridge or bananas,they take forever to digest,will cause a serious stitch,i know everyone is different and all that,but heavy foods like porridge take a slower process in breaking down.heres my tip,before ANY morning race i have my breakfast at 8:30pm or 9pm the night before,will have a carb type of drink two hours before race(maybe a sneaky coffee)and water up to 30mins before race,with a medium to hard sort of warm up and a little bit of dynamic streching,still see so much doing static streching before races,whats that about,if you want a slow race wondering why your legs feel heavy,refer to pre race static streching.well someone might see something of use here,it all works for me and i run around 5:25 for 5ks and 6min for half marathons.

Well done Janet

Great race report, maybe youd find some of these tips helpful!

I think you only realise the role of fluids and foods in 10mile and halfs and over.. races are all different and the amount of fluid and food required is so dependant on the individual, the time and distance of the race, the weather etc.. but dreaming of water is a good sign that you need more alright:)
research shows that people who drink isotonic drinks in the run up to the race need to go the the bathroom less before the race, drink more fluid overall, and take more carbs on board than those who drink water, they also go for longer!!
But the most important thing is to practice your plan in training!
its perfectly right to focus on increasing carb intake in the days leading up to any event over 90 mins and during these events taking carbs and fluid during the race will improve your speed, reduce fatigue (both physical and mental) but again practice on your long runs. dont underestimate the amount you need, anywhere between 30 - 60 g Carbohydrate per hour which alot when you think most gels are 20g, 500ml isotonic 30g and banana ~20g. (as a rule of thumb i normally recommend a gel every 30 - 45mins taken at a water station for half marathons)
Focusing on fluid in the days running up to the race also helps aviod dehydration during the race
Hope that helps as you continue with the long runs!!and well done!
happy training
Ruth

HAIR RAISING STUFF

From looking at the team photo taken in Carlow last Sunday I'm sure ye'll have guessed we didn't have any luck with the team prize in the Jedward sponsored 'Best Mens Hair Style' at the post race banquet.As we were missing our star performers Mick Rice and James Lundon from last year thats our excuse and were sticking by it