Notes
BIEI HALF MARATHON 2013.
Rolled into the BIEI ROAD STATION around 11pm to crash for the night with MHM. Good lunch on Saturday, but just udon for dinner, trying to keep it light and easy for Sunday. Now that sure didn't work! Woke up Sunday morning and my gut was a mess, don't know what was going on there... Fantastic timing anyway. Had to drink water as it was looking to be HOT... but that just made my gut worse...
Anyway, 5-10:30AM wasn't so flash, but managed to get myself together for the 11AM start. (Why so late in summer?!) First 5K was a breeze, but just got harder and harder after that. The last 5 were SO not a breeze... Never run a half-marathon in the summer before and well, Santa Land always tends to be cool and breezy, so just wasn't used to the heat. And WTF was that hill doing there?! I thought this was a downhill course!!!
The water breaks were MAGIC though. Didn't realise they had water AND sports drink, so at 10K I am sure I tipped a cup of sports drink over my head to cool off.
Oh and amazing scenery. Perfectly clear day and the mountains looked ridiculous. Of course, being the smartphone-facebook era everyone was taking photos and videos... during the race... J-running chicks are hot though.
Thought I would do this faster (missed my PB by 45 minutes!!!) but in the end I was just stoked to finish. Regaining my stamina may take some time, so I guess I just have to be patient. Kushiro 30K in seven weeks may be tough, but come the Obihiro race hopefully my body will be strong again! Can only deal with 14 solid meals a week, so gotta work out the nutrition/hydration thing better. And log the Ks too!
Oh and I guess there are some gels you wear on your feet, but then there are some gels you can eat during a race. Gotta get on that!
Did get some new shoes though. My current pair are at 1411KMs (bought in 2006 and used in the 2006 Asahikawa Half Marathon - yes, I am an idiot!) And some running socks too - I had been wearing snowboard socks! Looking forward to getting them out this week... body is hurting now though...