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This is my personal site where I note down my thoughts. Enjoy!
ING Half Marathon
ING half-marathon completed. Swoosh! 👟🔥
Today I completed the ING half marathon in 2:37:47, at a pace of 07:23.
Congratulations to me! 👏👏
My overall position was 7487 out of 8479 classified finishers, (5171 in the male group, 350 in the M50 age group). Overall I gained places from position 7915 at 10km, to about position 7700 at 15km and then to position 7487 at the finish.
Very good for someone who only started the C25K program in June last year and hadn't made an effort in a competitive race since aged about 13.
Whilst my joints and muscles were aching by the end, I wasn't as exhausted as I thought I would be, after my struggle a couple of weeks ago in Kirchberg.
Turns out refueling with water, energy drinks and snacks along the course are a good way to keep going. As does having other people around you to keep up with. Apparently some forms of doping are allowed. It also helped that it was a little cooler at around 21°C thanks to some rain at the start.
A couple of other thoughts:
- The irony of my headset saying low battery for the last 2km!
- The Nike Running Club app I use overstimates the distance by about 7%, it said I ran 22.69km. This makes all my other jogs on my running page inaccurate!
And to wrap up: Right at the start I was queueing for a final pee before the race. I was actually in the portaloo when the starting gun went for the professionals. As we then made our way to the start line, I saw rows and rows of men peeing in the bush on the side. In that case, why don't they reserve the portaloos for the women, and make all the men use bushes!
A challenging 20k
20k in Kirchberg done. Just! 👟
Today I was practicing for the upcoming half marathon at the end of the month, by running a rough copy of the course. The idea was to complete a half marathon distance, but I had to stop running around the 18k mark then walked another 2k before giving up.
I completed the 20k in 2 hours 46 minutes and 45 seconds at a pace of 8:20. Walking the extra kilometre would have taken me close to the 3 hour cut off mark for the race, but I would probably still have made it. Just. (Do. It.)
Lessons learned
- I have been practicing mainly on flat ground, but the course is quite hilly.
- Most of my long runs took place in cool temperatures below 15°C, today it was 25°C.
- Until now I have never taken water or other energy supply with me during the runs, I will need to pay attention to the refueling stations during the race.
Half Marathon
Half-marathon done. Swoosh! 👟🔥
Today I completed a half marathon distance in preparation for a half marathon race at the end of May. The last 3k were a real challenge. They seemed to take forever!
On race day I need to complete the course in under three hours. I managed this one in 2 hours 42 minutes and 43 seconds. Just over 15 minutes to spare. The challenge will be that this run was flat whereas the race will significantly up and down.
Well done me! 👏👏
