The muddy beach

Today I completed the Portsmouth coastal half marathon, my first ever competitive race over this distance. I have had experience of a handful of runs of that distance, and further over the last few weeks as part of my training, but it was really helpful to have this race as part of the marathon build up.

With a field of of 760, it was a relatively small race, but it still provided me with ample opportunity to practise my race day techniques. Pacing myself to keep to my pace when surrounded by other runners, weaving around the slower runners at the start, and of course hardest of all, trying to drink from a water filled plastic cup on the move. I'm pretty sure at the first water station I managed to get more water in my nose than I did in my mouth.

The weather wasn't kind, although the rain held off, there was a very strong southerly wind. For the majority of the race it was blowing across us, and for section we were having to run straight into it. The only time we had it on our backs we were busy negotiating the muddy beach and puddle strewn gravelly path, not really ideal underfoot conditions to make the most of the tailwind.

At the five mile point, I was cheered on by a my army of supporters that had made it out, well my wife and the dog. Seeing them was really good motivation to keep me pushing as I was about to turn back into the wind. It also meant I got some photos of me actually running.

It was great fun to run on a mix of terrain, mud, beach, gravel, tarmac and a boggy field to boot. Needless to say my shoes are no longer quite the bright colour they were, but I'm sure they'll be back to their luminous best after a couple of good runs in the rain to clean them up.

Overall it was an excellent course, well signposted, well marshalled and ample water / jelly bean stations to keep you going. I would highly recommend this race to anyone considering a half marathon, either as marathon preparation or as a target on its own.

With an eye on the conditions, both meteorological and underfoot, I wasn't expecting a great time, and initially I was aiming for anything sub 1:50. However, spurred on by a couple of fellow London marathon trainees, the first telling me to go for the best time possible rather than trying to run at a marathon pace, and the other laying down the challenge of a sub 1:45 time, I decided to go nuts and try and hit the 8:00 minute mile pace required.

The first few miles felt easy and I was averaging slightly faster than that, however the muddy section of the race, followed by the section into the wind, hit my pace hard, and then I was always playing catch up on the pace. With a couple of miles to go I was certain I wouldn't be able to hit 1:45, but 1:46 was well within my grasp.

As it turned out, the finish line came upon me a lot sooner than I was expecting, and as I stopped my watch at 1:45:07, I realised how painfully close I was to the magical 1:45 target. I feel like I'll need to find a nice fast half after London to give me another go at beating that time. I might have to put my running retirement on hold for a bit.

The finishing pack was full of goodies, including plenty of energy gels and tablets that will come in handy as my long runs kick in. Best of all, there was a running snood in there too, which will no doubt come in handy on my colder evening runs.

The training plan must definitely be having an effect. Compared to the Great South Runs that I have previously completed, my legs feel a lot fresher and less achy after this race, and I completed the first ten miles of this race a full seven minutes quicker then my GSR personal best too. Maybe that's another race I'll have to enter again too!

There are now only seven weeks to go until the marathon and it is approaching very quickly. Next weekend I am heading out for an 18 mile run. I think I'll try and avoid the hill this time though, and do a couple of 9 mile laps instead to help me refuel half way round.

On the sponsorship front, my total is now up to £685, so very close to my target. If you are reading this as someone that keeps meaning to sponsor me, but hasn't quite got around to it yet, please take a minute or two to do it now. It really is quick and easy to do at www.virginmoneygiving.com/davidjohns

Thank you so much.