Swansea Half Marathon, 9 Jun 2024

The comeback is always stronger than the setback.

 Oh it feels good to be writing a race report again!

Back in March I sustained a knee injury which resulted in me cancelling my two big race openers to the year - Bath Half and Newport Marathon. I was absolutely devastated. I have never had a DNS to my name due to injury, let alone two. It took me weeks to rebuild and the most frustrating “return to run” I have ever had to do. Yet I kept plugging away, making sure I did my physio exercises, strength work and trying to keep my aerobic base going on the x-trainer, erg and in the pool. I kept Tim updated on my progress and we gradually re-introduced bike sessions again. Finally I was able to run for more than 30mins and I could build some intensity back. Sadly this joy did not last long as I was wiped out by a horrendous virus I picked up at work (the occupational hazard that is working in A&E!). This unfortunately set me back again but gave my knee a bit more recovery time.

After my enforced rest, I was back and raring to go! The Catenary Coaching training camp in the Peaks got me right back on track and it’s been an upward journey in training since then!

So back to the race report. Swansea Half, a beautiful, flat, closed road, seafront course in the boyfriend’s home town. A race I’ve wanted to do for a while and I’m so pleased I made it to the start line! I had a good think about my goals going in to the race. Although I had managed some really good VO2max, threshold and tempo work in training, I knew I didn’t have quite enough consistent weeks behind me to be aiming for a PB. Instead my aim was to enjoy being back racing again and finish with a smile on my face. I planned to go out with the 1:30 pacer and “see what happened”, expecting to be likely dropped…. However the legs decided to surprise me!

After a glorious rendition of the Welsh national anthem and a puff of pink smoke, we were off! As per usual I got caught up in the excitement and found myself quite far in front of the pacing group, oops. However I felt good, relaxed and the legs were turning over nicely so I kept it going. As the miles ticked by I kept glancing down at my watch knowing that 6:30-6:35min/mile pace was ambitious. As I took on my first gel at the 10k mark I knew I needed to slow down a bit so I relaxed the pace. There were crowds lining the entire seafront, cheering as we carried on towards Mumbles. Kids wanting high fives, handing out sweets and a multitude of amusing signs. It’s not often I enjoy the crowds but for once I really appreciated it! The turnaround point was at 9 miles and as we looped around, the 4 miles straight back to the finish suddenly seemed a very long way. I could see the 1:30 pace group behind as we looped back and was really worried that I had messed this up in true Megan style and was going to get caught. But that helped me to get my head down, dig deep and really work with the people around me to keep the momentum going. A lot of singing and number counting (in my head!) was required to help pass the time, where was this finish line!?

Suddenly I realised there was only one mile to go and my legs found some speed again. I weaved around the men in front of me and as I realised I could make it in sub 89mins, I hit the accelerator even more! I crossed the line with a smile on my face, legs in pieces but a shiny new PB of 1:28:34. 

Absolutely over the moon. Finishing with a smile on my face - tick. New PB, absolute bonus! Onwards to the rest of the summer season, next up Cardiff duathlon!

Megan Powell