The next steps

Ok, so the program was finished, our coach had gone and I was on my own, sort of. Luckily, we had a great group or runners in the program, as well as some 'veterans' who had been through the program late in 2005 and were in training for their first half marathon (HM). Whilst there was no further support from the club or coach to depend on, a number of us were quite determined to continue running and progress, albeit at various levels.
My next opportunity to complete 10k in an event, was the Greenbelt 10k/Hm in early May, and this race was also going to be the first HM effort for our 'veteran' group members David, Leslie, Deb & Garth, who had been training for some months in preparation. Phil, another vet, and part of the original inspirations to join the club as I had been exposed to it through him at work, unfortunately got injured the week before and couldn't make it, although came out to support the rest of us on the day. I have to say that this is one of the things I have really enjoyed about the running community, whether our little group of 10 or so, or all the folks on Coolrunning, everyone is very supportive and genuinely interested in helping each other, regardless of ability. Makes you reflect on the quality of the human spirit, really does.

Talk about a tough race to break your cherry! The morning of the Greenbelt dawned cold & wet, and got worse from there! The weather was shocking, it actually hailed on us a couple of times and rained heavily during the race, not to mention the bloody wind, which never seemed to be at your back! The 10k was hard enough but and I managed to finish in 1:02:37, which I was quite happy with given the circumstances, but those in the HM were real champions. Imagine getting hailed on at the start of a race and still grinding out 21.1k as the conditions got worse. At one point a few of us joked that we should have worn a bike helmet for protection! Anyway David came in under 100 mins, great for his 1st half, and the rest of the team were between 2:25 and 2:30. Everyone who finished that half deserved a medal I reckon.

So I had finally run a 10k but was very keen to crack the hour mark, so check the next instalment of the Chronicles of Ward to find out:)