Smashing targets and pre-race races

Well, I went out on another lunchtime run with Mike today, determined to beat last weeks effort of a touch over 30 minutes, we made it round in 28:04 so that was a target well and truly smashed.

Well done us. I even cajoled Mike into a bit of a sprint finish at the end.

The thought crossed my mind today that it would probably be a good idea to sign up for some races pre-marathon, although I'm not a race virgin, it would still be of benefit to practice the race day routine, and the to perfect the art of maintaining a steady pace despite the pressures of running in a crowd.

I've been trawling through the web and there's a few half marathons I've found leading up the marathon:
-Silverstone Half Marathon
-Fleet Half marathon
-RNLI Coastal Half Marathon (Portsmouth)

All of these are popular events, and are deliberately well timed for the London marathon. Still not sure about which one or two of these I will do.

It goes without saying that for a Formula 1 fan, running around the Silverstone track will be an amazing experience, but it is a bit of a drive to get there. The RNLI one is a good course that has been well received by a few friends of mine who have run it, but it is a little wet/muddy/off-road in places. Think I'll give it a go though. Oh and the Fleet half... no idea what it is like. (Any comments on it would be appreciated if anyone has run it!)

I also thought it might be a good idea to find a nice 10k run to target about December time, as a nice little race to keep me on target, and focused on training. Last year I ran the RNLI 10k a few weeks before the great south, and was gutted to finish with a time of 50:04, agonisingly close to the 50 minute mark. It was the run I've enjoyed the most though, largely helped by perfect running conditions, dead flat and no wind, but it was also very well organised.

Imagine my joy when I found another 10k run, organised by the same people on the 15th December. I will definitely be running it, and I've even convinced Mike to run it with me, which will be awesome as I will have a training buddy for this race.

...Oh, and we have to dress up as Santa.

Should be fun. Feel free to sign up here if you want to join us!