City Of A Thousand Spires And A Million Cobbles – PW Not PB – I’ll Be Back
What started as a throw-away comment after last years Royal Parks Half had now become a reality. Initially, Hauling My Carcass had vowed to hang up his running shoes as soon as he crossed the finish line of the Royal Parks but, no more than 2 minutes after finishing that race, and with a big (sweaty) grin on his face, he’d asked me “What next then?”. “I fancy the Prague Half” I replied – Prague is one of my favourite cities and the Half Marathon was supposed to be a very good event…
6 months later… we arrive at Prague Airport at 4.30pm on Friday and decide to head straight to the Half Marathon Expo to collect our race packs containing our numbers, timing chips and a very nice Adidas Prague Half Marathon branded running shirt. Once the registration is complete, we’re off to the hotel to get settled before we head out to eat. Talk all night and into the early hours is of the race the next day, of personal bests, of planned finishing times.
The day itself was very well organised, easy to navigate, quick to drop bags, plenty of toilets. We made our way to the start and after enduring Survivors “Eye Of The Tiger” at mind-shearing volume through the PA, we’re off – exactly on time. There are cheering crowds and a group of drummers and Czech TV cameras. The atmosphere is great and the first few kilometres are quick and effortless. I’d agreed to keep up with Hauling My Carcass for the first 10km and his timing strip and my Garmin had us exactly where we should be for the first part of the race – perhaps even a little ahead. All things being well, I’d planned to finish in 1h 58m. The route was mostly flat but the surface alternated between cobblestones, tramlines and uneven tarmac and was proving difficult to traverse – each foot strike took a little additional effort as you tried to correct yourself on the crooked surface. Around about 8km, Hauling My Carcass began to increase his pace a little and I decided to stick where I was – I was 140 metres ahead compared to my Virtual Partner on the Garmin so thought I’d conserve my energy for later in the race.
Just before 10km, I very quickly felt my legs tire and begin tingling with pins and needles. I was back on the cobblestones and had underestimated how much harder it is to run on an irregular surface, I tried to push through it but, although my torso felt fine, my legs had nothing extra to give. I looked at my Garmin and watched my 140m lead shrink to 90m, then 50m, then I was behind schedule. I’d completed the first 10k in 57.20 but now I was slowing, unable to push any harder and unsteady as the numbness in my feet and legs combined with the cobbles to make each step a calculated risk. I carried on but could see my plan of a sub 2 hr finish slowly dwindling.
I needed to make a decision quickly about how I wanted to continue. I could push on and try for a reasonable time but the legs were heavy and I did not want to fall on the cobbles or slip on a tramline and risk not finishing. By this point, the Garmin said I was almost 500 metres behind schedule so took the decision to switch off the virtual partner and just aim to finish. The next 8km were a combination of a couple of kms running, a couple of hundred metres walking to get some feeling back in the legs and then back to the running.
The last 5kms were just me grinding it out, I was struggling but mentally broke the distance down into 1km chunks, if I could just do one more, then another I would be OK. The last km was a left turn at the end of a bridge and then a long slow, cobbly incline to the finish. It was a killer but about 150 metres from the finish, I could see Hauling My Carcass, already finished and screaming at me, willing me on. I pushed hard and hurtled across the finish line, swearing loudly. Hauling My Carcass, grabbed me in our now customary post-race-hug which was sorely needed as he was all that was holding me up at that point.
I finished in 2:09:53 – a personal worst but strangely, did not feel unhappy about it. I’d underestimated how difficult the surface was and the 6 weeks of training that I had managed to grab since my injury had enabled me to go the distance but I was just not physically strong enough to deal with both the distance and the cobbles. I finished knowing that I’d done as well as I could.
The next 2 days were spent eating, relaxing and walking around. There was fantastic architecture, great food, apple shisha, belly dancers… Prague really is an amazing place, both beautiful and bizarre. Whether I return to run the Half Marathon again, I don’t know but I will definitely return.
Soundtrack To This Post: Cabaret Voltaire – Sensoria
