longest run EVER (aka as a HALF MARATHON!!!! )

Well, its official, I am no longer a half-marathon virgin :)


On the morning of the half I woke up at 4.30am. I'd actually slept really well from about 9pm till 2.30am when I was woken up by some guys street racing out the front. I shut my window but couldnt fall back to sleep again straight away, deciding to break the cardinal rule of never trying anything new on race day, I ate half a muffin, drank some more water and went back to bed. Dozed for about 2 hours until 4.30am.

Jumped out of bed, got the kettle boiling and had a shower, just a quick one to wake up. Got the coffee made and had some more water, before getting my race gear on. At 5am I called MJ as agreed the previous night, she was cooking oats in preparation for her Marathon, so I left her to it and did some stretching. I must admit I wouldn't usually do too much race stretching until I got to the site, but given the need to be cautious I spent 10mins just doing some key stretches. Drank some more water, ate some sour worms, chocolate coated coffee beans and finished packing up my bag.

5.30am I met up with MJ and Puntermatt to walk the ten minutes to the start. The atmosphere was huge, almost festival like really. We walked around until we found Pats tent and before I knew it, it was time to get to the start and find my 1.50 pacing group. The race started quickly, or perhaps now its over it felt like it went quickly, bit dream like really. Took about 40seconds for us to get over the line and watches were started. The first K or so was a bit uncomfortable for space, as people got in to their pace. The morning was beautiful though, cool but not cold, light but not too bright. We reached the first K in 5.10, perfect pacing by our lead pacer, the second K was 10.18, I definitely felt the pacer had things under control and was glad I'd opted to follow the pace group. At about 2.5km I took on some water and actually took my earphones out to have a chat with a couple of cool runners who had collected in the 1.50 group. We got to the 5km mark at 26mins, completely on target for a sub 1.50 run. I was getting a bit frustrated with all the bumping around, feeling like I was taking more side-steps at one stage than forward ones. To compound this the course had been narrowed to one side of the street so that the wheelies and super-quick guys who would soon be on their way back could make their way through easily. I chatted to a couple of runners I knew, drunk some gatorade that I was carrying and really begun to enjoy myself.
At 7km I was still frustrated by the crowd and decided to run just slightly ahead of the pacer to give myself some more space. Immediately I felt better, I wasn't stepping on anyone, or being knocked by people trying to squeeze past. I took on some more water, did a quick check, pacer was about ten meters behind and I while my leg was feeling slightly sore, it wasnt getting any worse and I was happy with how things were going... so happy in fact I must have picked up the pace, as I got to 10km 30seconds under 1.50 pace time. In fact, I must have been really happy with how things were going, as soon after the 11km marker I couldnt easily spot the pacer behind me anymore. Things were going well right up until the 14km marker, suddenly I started to get the sharp pain I'd been experiencing the previous week in my leg. NOT happy. I tried lots of mind games, you name the game, I played it. I drunk some water, drunk some gatorade, turned my music up, told myself it didnt really hurt, played 'catch the person in front', anything I could think of to take my mind off it. I was (almost) considering stopping when I had one last thought; I found my favourite track on my mp3-player and turned it up loud... loved that song and made a big effort to singalong (in my head) to the music. It worked, I was distracted long enough, that the next thing I knew I was at the 15km marker and in almost 90seconds under 1.50 pace time!
It didnt get much easier after 15km, but I continued with the mind-games, I was too close now to give up! At 20km I hurt, but there was lots of CR cheering, including a huge cheersquad, which definitely put a smile on my face. As I turned off the road and on to the park I put a couple of quicker steps down, wasn't going to happen though, there was to be no speed finish today. I crossed the line, the clock said 1.48 and some seconds, my watch was stopped at 1.47.59, will have to wait for the official times to be published. Who cares though, first half is done... sooooooooooooooo happy!!


After the run we cheered on the marathon runners, before meeting up at Pats tent again for a couple of drinks. Spa recovery back at my room, and then off for drinks with some of the CR's which was great fun also. All-in-all, a very tiring but enjoyable day!