It was a cold, damp and windy day in Cornwall for the Duchy marathon.
The plan was an 8.30 min/mile pace to finish in approx 3.44, but the conditions weren't good for my asthma so I was keeping an open mind.
I got into a fairly comfortable pace and I tried to keep it that way for all of the first lap so I could work out what I would need to do in the second lap when it was likely to start hurting a bit more.
Just before the 8 mile marker there was a sharp left hand bend where you went straight up a hill into a strong headwind. That was also going to be the 20 mile marker on the second lap so I thought to myself that could be interesting!
I went through my usual 'bad patch' at 16ish, although it didn't last as long as usual, which was encouraging.
As we approached the sharp left hand bend on the second lap I was mentally prepared. Sure enough the wind was even stronger than it had been on the first lap, and the hill felt steeper! But I maintained pace as much as I could and began overtaking.
When we got to the top, I took a gel and prepared myself for the next climb, which was much longer. At the top of that climb I knew that I only had mild undulations left in the last 3 or so miles so just kept pushing on.
With 2 miles to go, and still overtaking people, it was into the headwind again. There was a couple of short inclines but the wind was so strong that my quads were burning with what I was asking them to do, which at that stage was not a good sign, so I took a very brief walk break to settle them down while I had a drink and then picked it up again.
I had a couple of runners in target...male and female, but they kept the pace up and it was a struggle to catch them. Inside the last mile I caught up and tucked in behind, then when I was confident that I had enough of a finish in me I overtook... I heard her gasp and he said "Where did she come from!"
Another couple of bends and then an uphill to the finish line! I've since looked at the results and I must have overtaken about 20 runners in the last 6 miles.
My finish time was 3.42.49, which is just 2 minutes outside my PB, and that was set on a flat course (Abingdon) in good conditions.
Even better I got the prize for 2nd LV40! :d
Next race....3 weeks time is Oakley 20, and then FLM