I have been so looking forward to this day all week, I had found a really nice route on running club website I am a member off, I had altered it slightly to suit my needs. I knew the area I would be running in but still I had to remember the whole route, I managed it pretty well, no wrong turns.
I bought myself a new Kalenji Trail Running Backpack 10L from Decathlon, another club member suggested it and it turned out to be brilliant, I had a 1ltr water bladder bag in the back and two 500ml soft bottles with 2 gels in the front. This rucksack also had room in the back for my poncho. This was so easy to use and comfortable as well, no rubbing on the shoulders.
OK I got everything on, all pumped up and ready
I got one foot out the front door and then it hit me, Wow it was freezing outside! I quickly retreated back indoors, after taking all the gear off I put on my thin jacket and running tights. When finally ready again I went out for my lovely afternoon run.
Walking up the road I realised I forgot to do my warm-up routine beforehand, too late now, I just went a bit further on my warm-up walk and then took the first 2 miles at a slightly slower pace. I did push myself on the last 3 miles though and especially the last mile I was really running hard, That probably explains why my muscles are so tense now lol.
So this run was a total of 13.35 miles in 1:55:30 Average pace was 8:39 Minutes per mile but Strava.com tells me that my half marathon time (13.1 miles) was 1:53:00, This is my best time ever for a half marathon so I am very pleased with it, my previous best was in 2010 with 1:55:25.
I would so love to run this route again just to see if I can match or beat my running time, Maybe next time I get a Sunday off from work 🙂
Life of Dave 