Having successfully completed my first 10km race I was buzzing along on a runners high. So what do you do when riding the buzz? You register for another race of course. This time I thought it should be longer, a half marathon at 21.1km seemed achievable. It was the end of 2015, so coming into summer where the big events are few a far between. So I picked Run Melbourne in July 2016. This gave me plenty of time to train.
I planned to complete a few shorter runs along the way to help with my preparation. In Melbourne during March they have the Run For The Kids run, this is a fund raising run that varies in length by a small amount year to year. In 2016 it was a 16km event, perfect! Sign me up. They close one of the major tunnels and bridges which gives runners the chance to run in usually car only locations.
Being held in March, R4K can be quite a warm run. I enjoyed it, especially running though the 1.6km Domain tunnel. Man it was warm in there. Everyone was chatting for the first half which is downhill, then the gentle climb begins, everyone starts breathing hard and noticing how warm and humid 16,000 people can make a tunnel. Shortly after the tunnel we ran over the Bolte Bridge, another car only structure. Plenty of people took photos at the high point before continuing on. The run then heads off the freeways and on to surface streets as you head towards the finish line via Docklands. 1:48:17.
This is about when I started my official training plan for the upcoming half marathon. I searched the internet and magazines for plans. They were all pretty similar. Run 4 to 5 times a week with one being a longer run, each week the longer run increased by about 10%. The shorter runs are a mix of fast, slow, sprints and other efforts. So I picked the Garmin one as the activities could be sent to my Garmin watch.
Along the way I completed the Traralgon 10km run. Traralgon is about a hours drive away from home. Being in a country town the run is quite small, being in winter it’s also quite cold. The 10km race is an out and back, which means the same course both ways. The run was all on suburban streets with the 21.1km runners turning onto a trail just after we turned around. It started to rain in the last km and shortly after finishing it really poured. Time, 58:08 which was a nice improvement on my first 10km event.
I continued my training towards the 21.1km Run Melbourne race. My longest run was about 18km two weeks before race day. I walked a couple of times during the 18km, but overall I was happy with my preparation.
Two weeks before half marathon day is the Sydney Harbour 10km run. I’d been watching this run and keeping an eye on airfares in the lead up. Cheap flights and a cheap hotel room later I was in Sydney for one night to run in this race. This was my first visit back to Sydney CBD since 1998.
I was one of those runs, I felt good in the morning, but by 7km my calf was cramping and I just wasn’t happy. Time 62:10
Half Marathon Race Day 24 July 2016
It was cold, for Melbourne. Being ready to run 45mins before start time is great, except when it’s under 10C and you’re standing around in shorts and t-shirt. Huddled together we waited and shivered and waited. The clever ones were wearing old sweat pants and tops, knowing that just before the start they could dump them on the fence and they’d be donated to charity. We were not the smart ones. Next year I will be warmer.
The run winds around Melbourne, South Melbourne and Docklands. It’s a mostly flat course with only a couple of gentle hills to deal with.
My plan was to finish in under 2:30, with the back up plan of a sub 2:15 if I felt okay. My aim was to keep my pace just over 6:00/km for as long as I could and then just keep going. As is always the way the queues for the toilets near the start were huge. I figured I’d wait and use a on course toilet. The first couple had queues almost as bad as the start line ones. As we ran past the huge exhibition and convention centre another runner tried the doors, open! Bonus! Clean warm facilities with no queue. I lost two minutes with that little detour.
About halfway though I caught up with a Instagram friend, we had a quick chat about how we’re going and our plans before I resumed my slightly faster pace. I was still cold. I’d never not warmed up on a run after the first couple of km. On this run I still had cold feet and hands after 10km.
Not knowing the route or the area particularly well I wasn’t sure how much further I had to go. I didn’t want to look at my Garmin just in case it said I had a long way to go, and I had tried not to look at the distance markers along the route. I remember seeing the 16km one and thinking, ‘just a parkrun to go. So when a random person cheered me on saying the finish was just around the corner. I assumed they were being smart and encouraging but in no way did I think the finish was about 300m away, which it was. Being surprised at the closeness and with the crowds cheering I even managed a bit of a sprint to the finish. Such a happy moment, first half marathon done, no walking and just a quick toilet stop along the way. When’s the next one?
Time 2:14:11 or 2:12:14 if you take out the toilet stop.
