F-F-F-F-Freezing Liversedge Half Marathon

The weather forecast for Sunday didn't look too good earlier in the week. There was a reasonable chance of heavy snow from 9 a.m. onwards on race day. Training had been sparse to say the least, with only the winter handicap being a constant, unless you count the one that was cancelled. I'd done a long run on Thursday from Langsett towards Bolsterstone. I think it was about 8 miles in 88 mins, a seriously slow run in less than ideal conditions underfoot.
The forecast changed by the hour and Saturday evening saw the heavy snow set to fall around  3pm the next day.
Alex and myself had pre-entered at the last moment and had just managed to get in. It tends to be a favourite with unattached runners as a warm up for London.
Sunday came and an hour's walk with Willow first thing just about cleared the cobwebs away. I phoned Alex to see what he thought, light snow was falling but not sticking. I really wasn't bothered about going, lack of training had meant lack of motivation. Alex said that we might as well give it a go, I'm really glad that he persuaded me to make the effort.
After ditching the idea of a sat nav, our journey there took a lot longer than we'd anticipated. It was cold, really cold. The car park was quite a distance from the registration centre. We picked up our numbers and made the obligatory toilet stop or two, or three in my case. Back to the car and changed, no point in getting out yet as it is so cold. The weather was anything but inspiring and the decision was made to wear a waterproof top. Running in wet gear wasn't something we really wanted to experience. WIMPS!
Time to line up. The usual variety of gear, from vest and pants to Antarctic survival. I suppose that we were somewhere in the middle of this range. Nearly time to go, Alex picked a spot nearer the back as his training had been even more sparse than mine. I set myself at the back of about 100 runners.
The targets (in order of difficulty as I perceived them) I'd set myself were as follows:

• Complete the race
• Achieve a time under 1hr 40 mins
• Be in the 1st 3 V60 runners
• Achieve a time close to 1hr 35 mins
• Win the V60 category and win a prize
• Beat the PFR V60 time for the half-marathon

And we're off... Take it steady, not too fast. An easy thing to say but 6:16 for the first mile hardly makes sense. It felt so easy, so effortless, more like 7 min miling really. The first hill approaches and the time at mile 2 makes more sense. With no-one around me that I knew, it was time to go into the zone. Each mile was ticked off and compared with the long 12 miler to the windmills. Mile 2 to 3 - Oxspring to the greenhouse on the top road. Mile 3 - 4 - greenhouse to the wall at Hoylandswaine roundabout. With 4 miles gone, I'm one-third of the way through the race. I hadn't run this distance since October 2011.
Splits for the first 6 miles:  6:16  7:13  6:44  6:56  6:58  6:39 You can spot where the inclines were. 40:48 for 6 miles was quite good. Could I dare to double this and add a 7 min mile on top? That would be 88+ mins plus the bit on the end. 
A sharp turn left and a bit of a steep climb, STEEP - 8:17! Ah well, it was billed as a toughie. The next 2 saw a steep climb over the M62 to the top of the hill. Both miles saw 7:30 min miling and a sub 95 mins was going to be tough. The one thing about calculating possible finishing times is that it keeps your mind off the pain. Just two to go, that's Cross Lane end back to our house. More climbing and more climbing. The signpost for 12 made for wonderful reading. Just one to go, but it was one of the longest I've ever run. It seemed to go on for ever and ever. AND it was uphill! Consistent last 3 miles, 7:02  7:03  7:08. The finish was in sight and I tried to sprint but my legs just wouldn't respond. There was NOTHING left. Thank god it's over!
Alex crosses the line and looks as bad as I did. Really cold now, t-shirt and water and time to change. Beginning to visibly shiver and layer after layer goes on. We'd seen a nice cafe on the way to registration, Alex went to get the butties and I went to see if a V60 prize was in the offing. Ist prize with £15 to spend at the gear stall and a very nice coffee mug. Top chosen, time for the off - a nice bath and a kip to follow. The buttie had more sauce on it than a Carry On film but it was oh so tasty. Home to the usual, "How did you get on?" It's difficult for your other half when they don't really want to listen to a mile by mile run through of the race.
I felt really pleased with the way I'd run and on such a small amount of training. Hopefully, things might get even better but it will depend on whether I can keep the motivation going.