NBAD half marathon 2014

Three weeks after RAK I decided to run another half marathon, this time at the Emirates Golf Club, just 10 minutes away from my house.

I unfortunately didn’t get much training in between then and now (only did one 15km run last week, and an 8km) so I wasn’t putting any pressure on myself to finish in any really great time. I just wanted to get out there and see if I could do another half so soon after RAK.

Egg-mayonnaise roll for breakfast as usual, and off I went to the start line. There were possibly about 1000 runners there, split over the half marathon and the 32km run, all starting at the same time.

The course started just outside the clubhouse and headed out of the golf course, crossing over a small sand lot, and then into the roads of the neighbouring Emirates Hills where running took place on the road or the foot path. I was very impressed with the marshalls on this race stopping the traffic to let runners through, and the odd person waking up and standing in their garden cheering us on 🙂

     

I kept my pace really well with every kilometer being a little over 6 minutes (the fastest one being 6:04), and I was feeling fabulous! I shared most of the first half of the race with a girl who kept about the same pace as me which was great to help with my pace (and me with hers). My knee gave a little bit of hassle at about 12km’s – possibly due to the grass / sand etc. that we’d had to run on for short distances – but I was able to run through it and it went away a short while later. 14km’s down and I started feeling a bit tired so I gobbled down a gu chomp but it didn’t have the vooma I was hoping for (probably took it too late) and so I ended up walking for most of the 15th kilometer 😦

But, at 16km’s I started running again and I finished with a strong sprint at the end for a finish time of 2:17:28 🙂

I was very happy with my finish time – only 3 minutes short of my PB at RAK 3 weeks ago, and I felt pretty strong not long after crossing the finish line 🙂 At the end I bumped into the girl whom I’d shared a bunch of kilometers with and said hi – it was her first half and she did very well, although said “Never again!”

     

(My endomondo clocked me at 21.56 km’s and 2:17:50 because I started it a short while before crossing the start line)

The weather is starting to heat up here and while we still have about 2 months of “decent” weather, running will get harder as the temperatures and the humidity rise… I’m planning on sticking to my running through it all 🙂

I am also starting a 40-day workout program today – I won’t be giving up anything for lent, rather adding something into my life. For the next 40 days (ok, 39 after my run this morning) I will be doing at least 30 minutes of exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Now for another nap and then post-run celebrations this evening!