So, my training has been going well over the past few weeks and my injury sees to have passed, thankfully. But the time I had off I put to good use and managed to lose 11 Kg which was over 11% of my total body weight. I noticed the impact straight away when I went running outdoors for the first time a few weeks back. Since then every run has felt fantastic.
The tester before the Marseilles Marathon was the Blagnac (toulouse) 1/2 Marathon. I have not run a 1/2 since 2002 and I think my time then for an all out effort was 1:44. I can remember being well pleased, although my PB for the distance from 1990 still stands at 1:17 but I know I will never better that again.
So today I set realistic goals of sub 2 hours in the first instance. I just didn't want to be lapped by the leaders on this 2 lap course. My real goal was 1:50 as I have been training well at 5:10 per km pace over the same distance and have felt good. When you start fantasizing about a race you always have a goal that is beyond anything you can dream of. I was thinking 1:38 would be a great time to boast about but that it just such a way from where I was training.
So we start at 10:30 and I run off slowly in the crowd getting a little frustrated. I spring around the side and get some clear road (over 1000 runners). I went through 1 km in 4:20 and thought, no way, must be short. The 2nd km was 4:24. Wow, where is this coming from. And instead of thinking, slow down and pace it, I thought, sod it - I can pace it anytime in training, lets see how far I get before I blow to pieces. Well, I went though 5 km in 22 mins (a PB) then 10 km in 40 something. I could not believe it. I took a gel and powered on. I was pacing off a fastish looking girl and then after a few km decided to pass her. She passed me about 5 km later and finished 100m ahead of me. I blew over the line in 1:37 and change. WHAT!!! I just cannot believe it and has given me so much confidence for my running which I thought had died over the past decade. Being a only a few kilos heavier than when I did the 1:17, it has got me thinking.

A great day all round (Julie PB'ed her 1/2 M time too)

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