It took me most of yesterday to decide whether or not I was going to bother going to Milton Keynes to run this half marathon. I wouldn’t be racing it so soon after the marathon, but I would still run it - I’d have been running 8 or 10 miles today in the cold anyway, so I may as well do the race I paid for, even if it means spending out on fuel and parking for it too. I was up at 06:00, and then after clearing my windscreen I was on the road before 07:00. My car was showing -2C, but there was a couple of hours until the race start, and the sun hadn’t yet risen, so it could be warmer. Last year I’d worn shorts and t-shirt to this race, crazy for December, but now the cold had definitely made a return.

Once I reached Willen Lake my car was showing the temperature had dropped to -4C. After I’d paid the £4.00 for parking, and collected my race number, I then sat in my car for a little longer. The temperature hadn’t budged. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant run. I was going to take it slowly since it was still a week since the marathon, and I knew that meant I wouldn’t warm up as well as I could. I still expected it to take 1-2 miles to get comfortable though.

About fifteen minutes before the race started I left my car and wandered around the race village. I was looking out for Gary and Rose, or Chris and Laura, but could see neither couple about. I’d thought I’d locate them by their Racecheck visors during the warmup, but I couldn’t see anyone wearing one. So, I made my way into the start pen for the 09:00 wave and decided I’d stay towards the back of the pack.

When the race started it felt strange to be going so slowly during a race, but it was comfortable. My fingers weren’t though, they were sore from the cold air blowing over them, despite the thin gloves. Going at this slower speed it felt like it took an age to reach 5K, but it could equally have been because I was colder, and thinking about that. After the first two miles were done I was for the most part feeling warmer though, and hoped my hands would catch up soon enough.

Quite often I’ll walk briefly after that first 5K, but this time I didn’t as I wasn’t pushing myself hard enough to need to. I was however still overtaking a number of people as I’d started perhaps a little further back than I should have.

Having spent so much time in my car, I’d not gone for a proper warm-up, or used the loos, so around 5K I was thinking it’d be a good idea to stop and use the ones at mile 6. I’d have liked to have continued on without needing to, but as I reached mile 5 I realised I’d have no choice - it was uncomfortable enough to need to walk a bit.

After several minutes stopped at the loos, I got going again, and was now amongst the red wave - the blue wave I’d started with were long gone. Most of the people I overtook now, did overtake me again in the remaining miles as I switched to a run-walk strategy to finish off the race. The first couple of miles after this felt like I was trying to catch up back with where I’d been, but I could feel my legs were a little tight still, and realised I should take it easier to avoid injury.

Most of the paths were clear, but whenever I hit an area of heavy frost I knew my legs were feeling tenser, just in case I needed to be prepared to find my balance. Most areas that were definitely ice were avoidable, but the frost in places couldn’t be. I reminded myself that before the race they’d said they’d sent a bike around the course to make sure it was safe for running on. As the bike had made it back in one piece, it must be okay. Marshalls did point out when areas paved with bricks might be slippier though.

Before the race I wasn’t sure if some of Willen Lake was frozen or not, it’d looked like it could be, but along this route I could see sections of canal, and small lakes that were definitely frozen over. Maybe I’d had some very cold training runs back in January or February, but this was definitely the coldest race I’d have in several years at least, or perhaps ever.

Falling back into my original mindset that this was not a race for me, just a gentle run to ensure I got some more distance in, I took it much easier again after that initial burst after the break. If at any point I felt I was exerting myself, I walked for a bit. There were down hill sections when perhaps I should have walked a bit to slow myself down, but, they’re always a bit of fun so I figured it wouldn’t matter too much.

I had no idea what time I’d finished in, or what place, but for the last stretch I found I was consistently running whilst reading the 12 days of Christmas (or 12 days of running!) signs that they’d got on the lead up to the finishing straight. Thought that was a really great idea - anyone who was struggling at this point would have something to keep their mind off it, so they could keep on going that little bit longer.

After the finish I wandered around the race village for a few minutes, and then bumped into Chris Jones - I’d not seen him in some time, so had a chat with him, and then Lloyd. I kept the conversations brief however as I knew with how cold the air was I’d need to get back into the warmth soon. With that my races for 2022 were over, and it’d be a few weeks until I need to get back to racing with a 10K in Leicester, the penultimate postponement from 2020. For now though, I could enjoy the break from a nice year, and look forward to the promise of the next.