Brass Monkey 2006

This really is a brilliant race - nice and flat, warm starting and finishing area, lots of forumites - and the best marshalls - loads of them and all giving great encouragement - even when they have been standing waiting nearly three hours for the last of us to crawl in

before
mrbeanz and I set off soon after 7.00 - after we (sorry, he) had scraped the ice off the car windows

on to the road and it was foggy, slowing us down a little, but as there was not too much traffic it was not a big problem

arriving in York, we followed the AA instructions to the race course, missing the turning twice before eventually hitting the car park

desperate for the loo after lots of hydrating I lept out of the car - to be greeted by richk who was parked one row behind - a great start!

gradually more of the clans gathered - Xavier Breath (XB), Evil Pixie, RunnyBunny, Northern Snail, Stumpy, little miss happy, mark*w .....

meeting in the underworld of the Grandstand was great - plenty of space - decent loos and somewhere for a photoshoot out of the cold air - pics will be on richk's site soon

all too soon it was time to remove the layers and move to the start - meeting more forumites on the way

and we are off, starting at the back and soon very nearly right at the back, I plodded along, HR 150+ which was higher than intended, but it seems sooo stupid to walk right away - suppose I should have warmed up properly like Pixie - but I did the first mile in 12:16 - far too fast - no wonder HR so high!

my target was just to get under 3 hours - which is 13:30 pace, but I also thought it might be possible to run 13 minute miles at a reasonable HR, so that is what I tried to do - using Trinity's tactic of run the mile, walk any 'slack time' at the start of the next mile and then complete the next mile

worked well for 8 miles - kept the running going pretty well, especially as there were so many marshalls out there, it seems a shame to walk!

after 10 miles it got a bit tough - a felt the threats of cramp in my calf, and had run out of drink

but the cramp never really materialised

a mile or so from the end XB jogged out to meet me and came back in the for the last mile - and there was Pixie and mrbeanz to cheer me in :>))

what a great finish - and I managed to run the last 100 yards too!

After
this is the best bit - back into the grandstand and they are only just doing the presentations - and there is tea and coffee and great flapjack!
So a sit down, warm up and natter with XB and mrbeanz, finding out about their races

XB missed aPB becuase he wasn't htinking about time, just enjoying the race - finishing in 1:50

mrbeanz's calf seized up at 3 miles, and he plodded round in 1:50 just behind XB

sorry we did not gather again with pixie and others :<(

the numbers

Mile	Pace	AHR
1	12:16	149	oops off too fast as usual
2	12:50	150	can't keep up this HR
3	13:10	147	getting better
4	12:52	149
5	13:06	147
6	13:06	146	consistent
7	13:01	145	they are all meant to be like this one
8	12:56	146
9	13:12	144	getting tired now
10	13:25	143
11	13:19	143
12	13:16	143
13	13:40	142	oops chatting with XB!
0..1	11:59	146	sprint finish
13.1	13:04	146	2:52:27

the numbers show that 13 mm should be possible with more tranining, making a sub 6 hour marathon possible too

full results at the Knavesmire Harriers site