My First Half Marathon - 7th December 2011

I had checked out the weather for the week and decided that Wednesday was going to be the day that I would go for it. I had also run around Walled Lake a few times before and decided that if I was doing my half then it was as good a place as any. It would take three laps of 4.7 miles each to give me my 13.1 with room to spare. Another benefit would be that, as I had to run past the car twice during my run, I would have a handy drop point for picking up of dropping stuff off, like hat, gloves, etc.

From The Bayside car park looking south - http://goo.gl/UO9WV

I got down there, took a couple of pics, done a few stretches and then got on my way. I've been doing some reading about mental attitude during runs and decided that I should try and focus more on enjoying the run and less on my time. This was also the first time that I made a conscious effort to fuel up during a run, by carrying some snacks and I had already decided where I was going to refuel. I had decided to wear my compression/ running tights, a long sleeved tech shirt, hat and gloves.

I was on my way and probably for the first time looking around a lot at the scenery. Don't get me wrong, I don't normally just put my head down and go for it,  but today I planned on enjoying it. The first lap went well, I passed the car and got to the hill I had planned on walking up while grabbing my first snack, a mini Baby Ruth bar, not classic runner food, but ithe pickings were slim in the kids Halloween candy bags. Starting again after walking is tough, but it was part of the plan so I was good to go. The second lap was fairly uneventful too, apart from some tightness in my calf and niggling muscle pain, not altogether unexpected though, so I pressed on. I also made a conscious decision to walk up another hill on my route, just to give me a break, it all went as planned.

South side of the lake looking north - http://goo.gl/lIR8c

At the start of the third lap I snacked at the same place, this time on chocolate M&Ms, courtesy of the Halloween bags once again, but I had to start walking earlier, I walked slower and starting again was much tougher, but start I did. There was another hill that I decided to walk up, starting a little earlier and walking slower. It was at this point I realised how close I was to my goal, so I dug in, told myself to stop bloody whining and get on with it. I passed 13.1miles without much fanfare, I looked around, raised my hands in celebration , let out a small cheer and realised that I had another bloody mile to go to the car and that last push wiped me out. Done.

Completed in 2:04:02, about as good as I hoped for. I also PR'ed the 15k with a time of 1:25:39, and felt way better than I did at the end of the previous one. 194 days after my very first run...

How the Garmin saw it - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/133197831

The run in Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/iqoB0OuDA9Q