Bluefin Flora London Marathon 2009 Team Blog by Bluefin

Sunday was the Reading Half Marathon.  13.1 miles from Green Park, through the grounds of Reading Univeristy, to the town centre and finally back to the Madejski Stadium (before an evil turn back through Green Park).  It was, as always, a very well organised event - plenty of portaloos and decent changing facilities with bin bags and extra pins supplied just in case.

After having gotten all my kit ready the night before (leaving nothing to chance, especially with the clocks going forward) I awoke at stupid o'clock on Sunday, threw on my kit, toasted a couple of bagels and headed to Reading.  With an iPod full of tunes I sang myself hoarse in the hour it took me to get there.  I parked up in the Blue Car Park, called Jan who was already there, and made my way over to the stadium.

Weather was slightly on the chilly side and the toilet area was completely empty, so Jan and I decided to make use of the facilities before the rush.  Afterwards we headed over to the Lucozade tent, picked up some pace wrist bands and then made our way to get changed.  Walking through into the changing room we were hit by the familiar aroma of deep heat...nice!  I tend to stear clear of that stuff, not because of the smell, but the fact that you feel that your muscles are warmed up before they really are.  Once changed, it was kit in, bin bag on and off for a final loo stop before heading down to Green Park for the start.

We found our pen (red) 1:30 - 1:40ish finish, which we then proceeded to do some sort of Mr Motivator warm-up with a couple of trainers from the local Kinetic Fitness Centre.  By the time the start came, the weather had warmed up enough to remove the bin bags and before we knew it we were moving over the start.  It was the last I saw of Jan until the finish - he was off like a whippet!

The course took us towards town, via the University grounds, before the Oracle and up into the centre.  As soon as we made the centre, it out again along the Oxford Road and up the hill towards Prospect Park before heading back along the Bath Road and down onto the A33 for the final stretch back to the Stadium.  It can be cruel when running Reading for the first time as you see the Madejski in your sights before being sent an extra mile at Green Park away from the stadium.  But for me, I crossed the line in stadium with 1:45 on the gantry (official time 1:43:10), which pretty much as planned (somewhere between 1:40 and 1:45).

The medal was pretty good, and I was liking the bag of Ready Salted Crisps in the goody bag along with the mars bar.  I met up with Jan, who was already changed - the Flying Dutchman had romped home in 1:28:57...excellent stuff (certainly on target for his London goal).  I got changed, said our goodbyes and it was back on the road to Bristol for an afternoon with the family.

It's Amalie's 3rd birthday this weekend coming, so I'm going to try for an early start so I can fit in my long run before everyone gets up...It's the only chance I'll get so I'm going to have to bite the bullet.

I'll let you know how I get on in due course.

Cheers

A.