Notes
It was a lovely day. perfect weather. felt great until 22miles, then the wheels fell off and I stumbled in with an even 3:35. Still a PB by over 3 minutes, but not the 3:30 I was gunning for. Probably went out a bit too fast after starting at the very back of the pack. I really felt recovered after the marathon from 3 weeks ago, but the last 4 miles told me otherwise.
I really enjoyed it until the last few miles then struggled in, took a few walk breaks and could not get going again. I may avoid those walk breaks next time.
No pee break this time, which was good, but forgot to take a gel before the race (does that really matter?) 3 shoe re-ties, 1 to loosen, 1 to tighten and 1 complete removal after getting a pebble in it. A mere 300 meters was on a gravel trail and that was all it took for a pebble to sneak it's way in.
The highlight of the day, other than low sunny temps, was the cab ride to the start. He asked us if we wanted some upbeat tunes and when we said yes, he played a few tracks from Rocky Horror Picture Show, and sang along too! It really perked us up!
Tuf_aint_enough ran as well, A PR of 3:33. Well done! Didn't get a chance to meet up with him before or after due to too many 'meet up' commitments.
Some positives were...
I tried out new shoes - Asics DS Trainer - really liked them.
I can run 2 marathons in 3 weeks in the 3:30's - can't complain about that.
All of my half marathon clinic members ran great times
My wife ran a decent 2:20 half on almost no training after coming back from pulled hamstring, then losing her mother last week. What a goddess she is.
And...
Great Medal, decent post race food, passable expo and race kit.
First water stations at 5k and 10k, whattup with that! Didn't carry my own water today too - oops.
2 weeks to the next one, which I will have to see how it goes, but will probably just look to finish in under 4 hours.