today rie and i ran the tohohiragawa half-marathon up here in sapporo. it was a nice route, around a park and along the river, but it was incredibly and unseasonally hot. it was really sunny, without a cloud in the sky, and it must have been 25 degrees - which is too hot to be running so far.
despite that we both did well and finished with respectable times. i ran 1hour 20mins 32secs, finishing 41st overall and 24th in my age group. rie ran 1hour 56mins 48secs in her half-marathon debut and finished 125th out of almost 400 female runners. in fact she was just outside the top half in the whole field (there were about 2100 runners in all). it was very impressive running from her, especially as it was so hot.
as for me, i was a little disappointed at first as my time was slower than inuyama, but looking back i am just pleased that i finished. i went off at my aim pace for the first 2km, but then the group i was running with put in an incredibly fast 3rd km and it killed me. i slowed down immediately to try to limit the damage, but it was too late. i went through 5km in 17mins 12secs (new PB) and 10km in 35mins 37secs, but suffered over the next 7-8km. i couldn't get my legs into a comfortable pace and, even though i did pick it up in the final couple of kms, couldn't keep going. however, i am glad to have made that kind of mistake, because it reminded me how far the half-marathon really is and how tough it can be if you go too fast! i certainly won't make the same mistake in the marathon next month! you can see the sense of relief at finishing here...
despite that we both did well and finished with respectable times. i ran 1hour 20mins 32secs, finishing 41st overall and 24th in my age group. rie ran 1hour 56mins 48secs in her half-marathon debut and finished 125th out of almost 400 female runners. in fact she was just outside the top half in the whole field (there were about 2100 runners in all). it was very impressive running from her, especially as it was so hot.
as for me, i was a little disappointed at first as my time was slower than inuyama, but looking back i am just pleased that i finished. i went off at my aim pace for the first 2km, but then the group i was running with put in an incredibly fast 3rd km and it killed me. i slowed down immediately to try to limit the damage, but it was too late. i went through 5km in 17mins 12secs (new PB) and 10km in 35mins 37secs, but suffered over the next 7-8km. i couldn't get my legs into a comfortable pace and, even though i did pick it up in the final couple of kms, couldn't keep going. however, i am glad to have made that kind of mistake, because it reminded me how far the half-marathon really is and how tough it can be if you go too fast! i certainly won't make the same mistake in the marathon next month! you can see the sense of relief at finishing here...
both of us had some blisters and, of course, some sore legs, but we came out of the race with no major injuries. we will just try to keep going now with some training for the marathon, which is only just over 4 weeks away!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment