| Wellington Half MarathonI'm in an internet cafe in Christchurch right now. How did I get here? On Saturday Yin, Ed, Adrian, Nick and I flew out from Auckland on Jetstar at 7am. Actually, the flight was delayed an hour due to fog. We then met Ying Swee who flew in an hour later. We had flown into Wellington for the "the Shoe Clinic Harbour Capital Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K". Yin ran the 10km, and Nick, Swee and I ran the Half Marathon (21.1km) race. We wandered around Wellington for bits of the day. Pasta was the theme, so we searched around Wellington for pasta places. We did this for a long time, finding several closed ones, before deciding to eat other stuff. We then went to a supermarket to buy pasta for dinner. We bought two large packets and sauce. That night, we stuffed ourselves full of pasta! So much pasta!!!!!!!! The morning of the marathon, on Sunday, was perfect. No rain, not much wind - which for Wellington, is quite amazing. Race Report: Goal - definitely under 1hr 50min, and as near to 1:45min as possible. i.e. trying for 5 minute kms the whole way.
Previous personal best: 1hr 56min
Closest training - 20km at 1hr 46min. We started just outside of the cake tin (Wellington's stadium). I started quite near the startline - so, had a good start. The race was mostly flat, as it followed the coast from the stadium, around the water front and out past the airport. I was aiming for speed control - which I achieved, running around or just under 5min kms most of the way. I picked up a very constant speed for most of the way. Around 3-7km I trailed an African guy. Towards 7km, the 1hr40min pace group passed me - so I attempted to keep up with them, but they eventually passed me - although I left the African guy behind. For almost the rest of the race, I followed an old man - this guy looked like he should be on a walking stick, but I could not pass him, so I trailed him. Thoughts on the first half - I kept questioning why I was doing the race, and cursing the long way to go - while concentrating on the path. I have almost no memory of the first half of the race besides this, because I was concentrating so much of finding the quickest path though the windy roads. So, on the way back, during the second half of the race, when I looked up and around, it all looked new to me! I was put off a bit by the distance markers, which went from small signs on the road, to massive ones (saying full marathon). So, I ran almost the whole of the last race a bit confused, and not quite sure of the exact distance remaining. Knowing this, I attempted to keep up an aggressive pace. I realised the distances only within the last 3 kms of the race. I was starting to feel a bit dead, but still not so bad. I was still trailing the old man. Thoughts on the way back - YES, more than half done, and not feeling too bad. And nice view. The last 3 kms, I fell further behind the old man. There were a few runners toward the last km, which was annoying as they took up most of the pathway, and required dodging. I was so happy to see the final 1km sign. However, half way up, I needed to run up a ramp to the stadium, which I attacked viciously - this left me dead, and running slowly. However, I sprinted the final 100 or so meters. And ... I stopped my watch at 1:44:47!!!!!!!! I was sooooo dead tired, and puffed out, so could not celebrate this awesome time. But yeah, I was and am extremely pleased with this time! This is the first time I've had 3 months of unbroken training (broken by injury or laziness). Finally! Gun time - 1:44:59
Race(real) time - 1:44:47 WAHOOOOOOOOOOO! We walked and limped around Wellington, including Te Papa for the rest of the day and night, and I was sooooo exhausted by the end. Then, the next day (today, as of writing), we (Ed, Adrian and me) woke up at 6:30am, and had to rush of to the ferry. It was raining and pouring and soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo windy!!! So glad we didn't run today. Yin and Swee remained in Wellie, as they were coming back to Auckland. The ferry was real horrid, but I enjoyed it at first. It went up over a wave, then down... crashing, and giving that falling stomach feeling. I had to eventually take a couple of sea sickness pills. The ferry was 3 hours from Wellington to Picton (North to South island). We then took the Trans Scenic Train from Picton to Christchurch. The train was good, but I was sooo tired. We at least had some good views, even with cruddy weather. And, we saw several colonies of New Zealand fur seals. After arriving at the station, we walked 2-3km to the backpackers. Normally this is good. But with 20+kg backpacks full of shoes and winter gear... and after a race the day before... argh! We had an Italian dinner, then went to MacDs... hahaha, where we had even more food.And now, after MacDs... I'm writing this rushed blog. And...... I'm looking forward to the next 3 weeks of HOLIDAY :D We're heading to Queenstown tomorrow, then Dunedin, and heading to Australia next Monday, for 2 weeks! |
