I did it! I ran 21.1k and did not die... :-) :-) :-) Absolutely thrilled to bits.
Had a carb-heavy meal at 6:30 and then went to sleep at 7:30 last night. Woke up early at 3:00 am had a light meal of toast and banana and a coffee by 3:30. Got into my gear for the run (which was already laid out and set the previous evening) and was out the door by 4:20. Reached the venue well in time at 4:40. Took a selfie (of course!) with the hubby (who was running the 10k) and joined the starting line-up - ready for the flag-off.
I had spotted my 2:30 pacer and was all set to run with that lot. The Flag-off was on time. There was a 40 sec countdown to the 5:00 am start and we were off. Err... sort of off. Everyone literally shuffled towards the start line. It took me a minute to get to the start line but even after that, the route was packed with runners and for the next 200 meters I was slow jogging in a sea of runners. Once we hit Eliotts Beach Road there was more room to breathe and space to run. But of course by this time I had completely lost sight of my pacer.
I had decided to take it nice and easy (being my first run and all) and ran unhurriedly just enjoying the sights and doing lots of "people-watching" along the way. Somewhere on the Rajiv Gandhi IT expressway, I saw the pacers again on their return leg. I watched the 2:00, 2:10, 2:20 and 2:30 pacers pass by. The 2:30 pacer was ahead by a good kilometer or two but I spotted the 2:40 pacer up just a little distance away from me.
I found myself finishing the 10k mark, and then the 15k mark still feeling strong. I did not experience the omg-I'm-gonna-die feeling that I had experienced during my previous two 10k races. I had followed all the race day tips and first time half marathon running tips that I had been reading up on and found myself finishing strong with absolutely no aches and pains and feeling like I could run another five kilometers. My official finishing time was 2:45:30. I am absolutely pleased with myself and couldn't be happier with the experience.of my First Half Marathon. I can't believe I did it!!
I'm not signing up for a Full Marathon in a hurry but there definitely will be more Halfs in my near future.
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