Mont St Michel Marathon and Jersey Half

In the last month quite a bit of racing has happened, I had the Mont St Michel Marathon on Sunday May 13th which was a really well organised marathon. I went over with a few running friends and we stayed in St Malo the day before and it was a beautiful weekend. On the morning of the race, it was sunny and crisp and we took one of the shuttle buses from St Malo to the start at Cancale. Not really knowing too much about the course except that it was flat with a hill at the start we set off in the 3hour 30 pen jammed in like sardines to begin with. The race soon spread out though and I hit my pace of 7:30 min miles. I was planning to maintain this for as long as possible and then slip down to 8:00 when I fatigued. However this was to be one of those days when everything went right and I felt good. I was able to maintain the pace and I got through the race with a new PB of 3 hours 18 mins. This was 30 mins off my previous marathon PB which I got last Oct here in Jersey. As you can imagine I was very pleased with this. I thoroughly recommend the MSM Marathon, very well organised, very well supported and a great course for a PB.

The week after was mainly about recovery for me. I didnt run all week as I had pushed it hard during the marathon. I did however naughtily enter the Jersey Half marathon the week after, as it is a race I generally do every year. I was feeling a little nervous having run a quick marathon only a week previous and I wasnt sure how my body would react. The weather conditions were the polar opposite; Rainy windy and cold! However it was a good opportunity to meet up with running friends and catch up. It again was a quick course with a tail wind for the first 6 miles or so and I went out at a ferocious 6:25 min mile pace which I maintained for quite a while.. I was within reach of the lead pack and felt ok for most of the race but started to run out of gas towards the 8 mile mark due to the previous weeks exertions. I did however record a new 1/2 marathon PB of 1 hours 27 and came in 26th place overall in the race which I felt marked real progress for me, and now provides the spring board for my next race which will be Jersey's Round the Rock Ultra Marathon in July. I completed this last year in 9 hours 25 so hope this year to complete in sub 8 hours. Training will be starting in earnest over the next week or so with some large mileage runs factored in and lots of cliffpath training!