Dear Diary: The Eternal Ramblings of Trevor Watson

Last Sunday saw my second go at the Sheffield 1/2 Marathon. Last year was my first go at it, and I ran a PB (Personal Best) time of 1:30:29. This year I think I am less fit, but I paced myself better and ran another PB of 1:30:04!

Throughout the whole race, I was convinced that I was on a 1:31 pace, so it was a significant surprise to me to see the clock showing just past 1:30 when I was trying to sprint down the finishing straight. The clock showed just 1:30:12 when I crossed the line, but since the race organisers were using chip timing, my time was corrected to 1:30:04. If I'd known how close I was to getting under last year's goal of 1:30, I'm sure I could have found another few seconds in the last two miles, which is when I slowed up.

I'm very pleased with the outcome though. I think I can do better than that when I run the Bristol Half Marathon in September, and with a bit more focussed training, might even be able to take off more than just a few seconds!

My next scheduled race is a 5-miler next Wednesday evening as part of the South Yorkshire Road Race Championships. This is a club-only event, so the competition is much more severe, and instead of being in the top 10%, I'm nearer the bottom 10%, but they're fun events with a great turnout from my club, so I don't really mind where I finish.