Race recap- Australian Running Festival half marathon

You know when you your goal and you are really sad?

I was expecting to be so disappointed with myself after finishing the Australian Running Festival half marathon 75 seconds outside my goal time of 2 hours.

Does this look like a sad face?

So excited

This was my first half marathon in over 3 years. So many times I had doubted if I could ever run another one. So many times my body seemed to let me down; calf tears, oblique tears (say what?!), hip cartilage tears, plantar fasciitis, the list goes on. What was really going on was me letting my body down. So. Many. Times. Trying to run too far too fast, trying to push through injuries, just trying to do too much.

What made me succeed this time? I started training with a running group through my gym about 12 months ago. Only twice a week, running and cross training together, and our own running training around it. I didn't stay injury free last year; a mild calf strain in March, then a pulled oblique just before City2Surf and then the hip cartilage tear in September. But I learned to train smarter. Apart from 4 weeks off pretty much everything with the oblique I trained through my injuries, but smarter. I eased off, took to the stationary bike and stretched, rolled and rehabbed like a madwoman. Apart from a slack month in February training was going well and I felt pretty confident.

On race morning I was up about 5am and ready to go. My usual protein shake breakfast and a couple of squares of dark chocolate and I was ready to roll. I was freaking out about parking in Barton and my fear was justified; I had to park illegally on the grass. I was still pretty early and waited in the warmth of the car and tried to distract myself from what I was about to attempt. The race starts at Telopea Park School, and I headed off to find the bathrooms. Joy of joy, no queues at all and then off to find the start; whoops hang on need to use the bathrooms again. This time the word was out about the empty toilet block at the back of the school but I didn't have to wait long- I know people who didn't find the school toilets only had 4 portaloos near the start!

The half and full marathon begin together and all in 1 wave so it was hard to find the appropriate place in the crowd to place myself. I was trying to find the 4hr marathon pacer but they weren't yet on the course. Both distances also share the first 16km of the course and with no half marathon pacers my strategy was to join the 4hr bus and then try and push myself home for the final 5km. Once I spotted the appropriate balloons I pushed myself forward and found my face at some older guy's bare chest. Eep.

Off we go and I immediately feet like I was running too slowly. I knew I was aiming for a 5.41 pace, and in the excitement of the crowd I had to slow myself down. This is the theme of the first few km; easing off the pace rather than pushing it. I introduced myself to the pacer and the reasonably large group runs the first few kms easily. So easily, we were already a little behind and losing speed up the hill to Parliament House. The pacer was unconcerned, we were about to run downhill and we had plenty of race to make the time up. Even though I was relying on someone else to set the pace I barely noticed the scenic loop through the Parliamentary Triangle because I was listening in on the conversations around me!

We pass the half way point about 1 minute off pace and I began to stress out about making my goal. I decided to stay with the group, thinking that the break away point was only a few kilometres away. On and on we run together, all along Parkes Way until the courses split at about 16km. I'd gone from running in a group of about 15 to running almost alone! This is where I started to struggle, between the 17km and 18km point I started to really fatigue. After some stern self-talk I got myself moving again and tried to push on to the finish. My watch and foot-pod are way off, and I asked a girl beside me wearing a GPS watch how much further we have to go. I knew I had no change of breaking 2hrs and started to feel grumpy.

I spotted the sister of a friend and seeing a friendly face made a massive difference, I got a second wind around the 20km mark. Rounding the corner from Wentworth Avenue I knew I was almost there and start to kick; around the next corner into New South Wales Crescent and brought it home passing around 10 people in the last 100 metres.

I had PB'd by 5 minutes but missed my goal time of 2 hrs. I wasn't disappointment; my strategy of sticking with the pacer failed to get me sub-2, but I finished and had a blast doing it. I picked up my medal, an apple and found Dan before texting family and friends with my time.

Sister is so mean!

By the time I got home my sister had already made me into a meme! After a trip to the tip and returning a trailer my sister had hired to Queanbeyan, I had really worked up an appetite and I celebrated my completing my 3rd with a BBQ with my parents, Dan, sister and her new boyfriend. I was hungry for my next race.