This was the 1st event since starting running that I decided to take seriously. After the horrific feeling post Edinburgh half marathon plus having to have my foot x-rayed as I thought I'd broke it during the recovery week, enough was enough & I decided to contact Craig Baines who I'd met at Edinburgh.
The initial chat with Craig was good & it seemed like we would get along. July 2022 saw me at the start of my first ever training block for the half marathon in Glasgow. It also prompted me to buy a Garmin watch as the fitbit that saw me through the initial stages of fitness wasn't as good for running workouts & sessions that I would become familiar with.
The training went so well to the point during the block I went beyond the half marathon distance and up to 24.5km, an incredible distance I never envisaged undertaking at this point! This really boosted my confidence for event day & the closer the event came the more confident I was that I would achieve a PB.
I had set A, B & C goals - my A goal being 2:15 (which was a total moon shot in my eyes), the B goal was around the 2:20 mark & the C goal to finish the event without the horrible feeling of Edinburgh.
Event day arrived really quickly & jumping of the Instagram trend of the 'flat-lay' I posted my 1st one.
I didn't post a flat-lay for Edinburgh as I didn't feel trained enough (I wasn't!) but was delighted at the responses of good luck from the community.
Getting ready that morning I was really nervous about it as I had put in the work for 3 months & didn't want to perform poorly or let myself down.
The start pens were really busy as always but met a couple of friends who put my mind at ease as we shuffled along to the start line. Crossing the start passing the cheering crowds right onto the hill up St Vincent St was really cool. I remember smiling at this point.
One of the coolest sights on this event is you get to cross the Kingston Bridge to get a good view of the River Clyde & the squinty bridge which you later run across. You can also see some of the people from the 10km finishing their event running alongside the Clyde from the bridge.
At around the 6 mile mark you run through Pollok park which is a nice break from the city views. It's all still on tarmac but on this day the highland coos were on the field which I managed to get excited about!
I don't remember at any point during this run it feeling too difficult & the pace felt right. I had set myself 'comfort breaks' on the watch where I could dial the pace back to preserve energy, but I didn't feel I needed to use them too much. I was also comfortable enough to take photos and short video clips during & was really enjoying it.
When coming onto Paisley Rd West I spotted the 2:20 pacer & decided to step it up a gear. I was about 6km from the finish so in my mind almost done, but forgetting 6km is still a fair distance when 15km in! I didn't stop & really dug deep. Passing over the squinty bridge & passing people was a confidence boost.
The Clyde side felt like it was going on for ages but still not letting up on the pace. Just keep going, almost done. I turn into Glasgow Green & look down at the watch. Oh my goodness it's sitting at 2:13 - RUN NIKKI!!!
I sprinted (or I thought I did!) down that finishing straight, proper tunnel vision to get that 2:15, passed the finish, stop the watch. I look down.
I couldn't believe it. I filmed myself to upload to Instagram but was in complete shock. I done it! A 15 minute PB & the splits were so consistent!
Even now, I feel this is up there with one of my best executed runs & I will always have Craig to thank for this for the support & the training plans. That was it & I was hooked.
Hooked to the point I signed up for the Falkirk half marathon which was only 6 weeks later. I had the intention of doing that one for fun but Craig saw potential & ran with it. I'm glad he did!
Here was my review of this one on Instagram:
THE GREAT SCOTTISH RUN HALF MARATHON 2022
Just writing this today as yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind! What an incredible day!
During the week I'd told about 3 people, 2:15 was a dream time (I didn't think I would get it realistically), if I paced well to my watch I'd get about 2:17 but would be happy with anything under 2:20.
I did my absolute best not to get giddy at the start and sprint up the St Vincent St hill of doom, I managed it and the downhill again was great.
The support on the way round was fantastic and the high 5s were plentiful. My personal highlight was the amount of highland coos 🐮 there were in the field at Pollock Park, and in spite of it being a slight hill there, it was lovely to run through.
Bellahouston Park put me in mind of doing cross country at the local park in primary school 😂.
Then it came really down to business. I saw the 2:20 pacer ahead of me on Paisley Rd West and wanted to catch him up. It was a bit early admittedly to be speeding up with 6km left to go but I went for it and tried not to let up. I was shocked I managed have enough left.
When my watch finished the 21km workout I'd planned, there was about 400m to go, I looked and it said 2:13 😳 and I bloody well went for it with EVERYTHING I had left in the tank. That was my @eilishmccolgan commonwealth moment!
Its by no means a world record, but to me, I must have felt the same way @kipchogeeliud felt breaking his. This run meant a lot to me and I smashed it!
Thank you for getting me prepared for this @rwb_coaching
#greatrun #greatscottishrun #halfmarathon #halfmarathonpb #running #glasgowrunners #peoplemakeglasgow #rwbcoaching #distancerunning
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