Owls Count

On arriving back into the UK yesterday, after two weeks in Santa Fe, NM, I decided that I would run a half marathon. With the lack of sleep and the hours of travelling, I decided that I would run at an easy pace and then pick up the speed towards the end if I felt good.

The weather, when I arrived back in the UK, was cold and wet. While standing the in baggage drop line I did ask my friend quite why I had decided to come out for the race and not gone and slept. However, just as we started running the sun came out and the conditions were ideal for running.

My race data shows three distinct phases. For the first three and a half miles I was running at about 8:40 per mile. For the next three and a half miles I dropped the pace to marginally quicker than 10:00 per mile. At the seven mile mark I start moving faster again and went at 9:00 per mile, or quicker, to the finish. I even manage a decent sprint finish – overtaking quite a few people in the final stretch.

My legs felt heavy the whole way round and the tiredness meant that it was easy to let the pace drop. I finished in 1:58:02 – almost exactly a 9 minute mile average, which I was pleased with. The two people I had travelled with finished in front of me and I am glad they found me at the end, as I almost walked straight past them.