My First Half Marathon!

I did it! I ran a half marathon today.  

Pretty chuffed with myself. I think I paced it nearly perfectly (although I did slow somewhat in the final third) as when I finished I didn't have anything more to give.

The run was along the river, out and back.  It's quite exposed in places and the southerly winds were pretty brisk!  I'm not sure what the temp was for the race but it was 6deg when I left home at 9am.  Once we got started though, I didn't really notice the cold.

My goal was to average 6:00min/km for the distance.  My GPS told me I did exactly that (but also recorded the distance as 21.4km!) so something was a bit off there... 

My unofficial mat time was 2:08:30 so not quite the 2:06 I'd hoped for but I'm still happy!

Actually a photo after I'd finished (once I'd had something eat and drink!) Should've
stood on the other side for the 'FINISH'!!

Split timings from Runtastic are below.  First half or so was great. I felt strong.  Then I got a splitting side stitch at the 9km mark. A quick fuel and some water at 11km marker and I felt better after that.

Sadly I ran out of steam a bit after around 15km! My mental game started to falter a bit.  That's the hard thing about 'out and back' runs I reckon. You can see just how much further you've got to go... Had another bliss ball and perked up a bit.  

The last 2km were pretty horrid.  So close, yet 2km is still 2km!  The final push up to the finish line was a fairly short but still pretty steep hill (you can see it in the elevation profile below). I had to just keep plodding, one after the other, to get to the top.  My husband and three boys were at the top to cheer me on and it was the best thing ever.  Hubby told me to sprint.  I just laughed.

Split timings from Runtastic.com

GPS Elevation and pace from Runtastic.com

It was a great event and I enjoyed it.  Especially the start and the finish! Hard not to feel enthusiastic taking off with a couple of hundred other keen runners.  Bit of a buzz.  At this stage, I'm thinking it's something I'd like to do again, and soon :)

Looking forward to some Dominos Pizza for tea tonight and a long hot bath once the kids are in bed.  (and on that note, a big thanks has to be said for my hubby for doing his best to support me in training by looking after the kids when needed.  You're the best, hun!)