1:58:33...

36 hours since my very first half marathon... and I am still feeling the after-glow of pride and pleasure. I had said before that I would be proud no matter what the outcome, but beating my stretch goal certainly makes it all the more satisfying. Not that I ever doubted it... but now I can savour the outcome of what it is like to invest daily and slowly towards a goal that I couldn't see before. And I was lucky because I was relaxed and positive for most of the week, and managed to stay quite cheery even at the start line as you can see! Way to go - a vast improvement from my 10k race just a couple of months back!


It was an early (and not very bright) start... was up at 4am and out the door by 4.45. Arrived at Hong Kong Disneyland by 5.30am, which left me with just the right amount of time to get ready. It was a very nice 19-20 degrees celsius - I reckon anything between 15-20 degrees is optimum, easy to get warmed up and acceptable when standing in line without a sweater on, but not too sweaty/toasty by the end of the run.

My plan was conservative - go out nice and easy at a pace of between 6 and 6:30 (min/km) for at least the first 5km and then just play it by ear (hopefully at least holding pace or speeding up depending on how I felt). I don't recall much of the first few km until we hit the waterfront next to the Airport Express trains - this was around the 5-6km mark when I was starting to wonder about where the first water stop was! I stopped at the water stations around 6km, 9km and 15km (the first and last roughly coinciding with my slowest splits), skipping the one in between because I was feeling slightly lightheaded and nauseous around those few kilometers. Fortunately, that came and went for about 5 km before going away for good, after which I was able to step it up - my last 6 splits were comfortably under 5:50 (which, adjusted for the inaccuracy of my footpod, would have been under 5:35).

Here's me powering down the final few hundred meters. Looking nice and strong huh? You miss the painful scrunched up face from this view! :) All things considered, I was feeling good enough to give it a real push!


Very pleased after the finish...
Note on kit - Running Room vest, Lululemon tights (note to self - there was a threat of inner thighs chafing just below where the shorts ended, may need longer tights in longer races), smartwool socks, Mizuno LSD shoes, Nike running pack (for my ipod Shuffle and my Clif bloks).

Time on my watch... (notice the distance, which was about 5% off). Just finishing would have been a PB, so this was a PB with a big smile! This can really get addictive! :)

I haven't been feeling too tired since the race although my quads and knees have moaned a little going up and down stairs. Other than that, I feel like I could be back to my regular schedule in a couple of days... not the best idea, I'm sure. Today and tomorrow are complete rest days, before a light gym session and 3-4kms on Weds. I'm going to start working in earnest on my marathon training plan - I have a few weeks to play around with before it all starts for real again! :) 26 weeks counting down now... the next couple of weeks will be 'training on paper' - finding the best amalgamation of plans that will become MY plan... I'll mainly work off the Runner's World and Furman plans, while picking up tips from Greg McMillan, Hal Higdon and Running Planet etc.

Next up -
Clearwater Bay Chase 10km in Jan 2011
Sundown Marathon in May 2011

Whee!!!!