The White Horse Half was my first half marathon back in 2004, I finished in 1:57 but it hurt a lot so I didn’t run another till 2008. This year I was looking forward to revisiting it but, as I’m concentrating more on cycling this year, decided not to go for a PB attempt but instead leave the car behind and ride there and back.

I rather foolishly rode out with just a long sleeve cycle jersey, cap and mitts over my running vest and shorts. It was cold and my fingers and toes were most uncomfortable, I had to stop to consume an energy gel as I couldn’t get my numb digits to grip the thing properly. It was a dry and sunny morning though with the hedgerows full of birds so I tried to appreciate it between shivers.

I arrived at the start in Grove near Wantage with 40 minutes to spare and hung about inside till it was time to jog the few hundred metres to the start by which time the sun had warmed things up nicely.. There were no chips or predicted time markers for this small race so I guessed halfway between the back of the pack and the white line in the road. No fuss or speech that I noticed – dead on 10am and we were off.

The plan was consistent 8:15 minute miles but no surprise really that I found myself running sub 8s the first half hour. One of the many runners participating in the London Marathon the following weekend asked what time I was going for – I said 1:48, he said 1:52 marathon pace, but he would run along with me for a bit till he needed to slow up. I bounced the first water station at 3 miles as I’d drunk lots before and I didn’t want to end up visiting the hedge in later miles. My companion seemed to be gaining speed as I settled into pace so I let him go. It was getting warm by the mile 6 water stop when I ate a gel and was grateful for a drink.

Despite this being one of the flattest courses and there being no real wind I found my self flagging a bit by mile 8 and the next water station seemed too far away at 10 miles. I noticed I’d worked up a proper sweat and it was actually get a bit too warm for comfort for the first time this year. I eased up and put things in perspective by recalling my cold extremities not 2 hours earlier and how 7 years ago at this point my poor legs had hurt so much I’d feared I done some long term damage.

I accepted the reduced pace for the last couple of miles and refused to be surprised by the way that last half marathon 0.1 miles always feels more like half a mile. Finishing in 1:48:08, 204th of 458 runners, I drunk plenty and collected my mug then wandered back to HQ in the company of an older chap who was happy with his 1:52 but recalled his PB 0f 1:08 in long gone years. Only getting a minute slower each year was how he measured progress nowadays he reflected.

The ride back was slow and achy. I’d failed to eat more than half a flapjack at the finish and had used up my energy reserves in the race. The too hot for running was pleasant for cycling though and I reckoned the ride back would be good for training my body to burn fat at it had little choice. I did manage to drop the old guy on the tourer who almost caught me when riding back over Boars Hill, didn’t have much choice really as I can only go so slow with a 71″ gear. A total of 38 miles cycling on top of my 13 miles running was quite enough for the day!