Huntly Half

I came away from physio on Thursday with strict instructions - NO running uphill. This confirmed that the Huntly Half was not going to be about my original goal of aiming for under 2 hours but was instead going to simply be as good a training run as I could make it. My previous best time for a 1/2 marathon was 2:27 (a kinda slow time but considering the training I had put in it was a fair time).

It was a foggy start to the day but by the time 10am came round the fog had cleared and it was a good looking day. I lined myself up somewhere ahead of the 2:30 sign (my previous 1/2 was a dismal 2:37 so was definitely keen to do better than that. It became a rather frustrating experience having to walk each uphill but my achilles was keen to remind me why this was necessary, feeling pretty tight for most of the run. I was running at a pace much faster than what I would normally run these races but I was keen to make the most of the flat and downhill as I could.

There was a little old lady (who honestly looked like she was in her 80's) who would pass me each time we came to a hill, and then I would overtake her again on the downhill. As we were heading up a hill just past 1/2 way she was like "c'mon you can do it, you're over half way now." I hope I am still running when I am her age.

The 13km mark saw my heel pack a bit of a sad and I had to stop and try and stretch it out. I was secretly grateful for the chances to catch my breath in the uphill.

As I turned the last corner into the grass home stretch I thought I would kick into full throttle and sped my way to the end, overtaking a few along the way. I think I was running too fast for the photographer as there's not the standard finishing run pic :p

My time was 2 hrs 19 mins and 6 sec. Very happy with that - 20 mins faster than my last race and 8 mins faster than my previous personal best. Considering that I walked the uphill bits I am stoked! I wonder how well I would have done had I been able to keep up my hill training and run the hills on the day.

Well I guess the Huntly Half 2012 will show me...