I was about 7 kilometres into the Sandy Point Half Marathon. It was about 8.25am on a clear and crisply cold morning. Warmth had crept back into my hands after a chilly start and my legs had gotten the message that it was running time now and they were steadily pumping along even though a little tired. As I settled into my stride, I became more aware of my surroundings. That's when I noticed. I could hear the quiet. Nothing was breaking that quiet apart from the sound of runners footfalls and breathing. Nothing. For a few precious moments, the world had stopped making noise apart from the sounds of people running. No cars, no talking, not even any sounds of the waves on the nearby beach. It really stood out for me because moments like that come along so rarely. There was something special about it. It couldn't have happened earlier in the run as there was sporadic chatter between runners going on. It couldn't have happened later in the run because of spectators cheering and runners motivating each other to continue. It seemed like 7kms into a run on a cold day under a perfect blue sky on a free-from-cars road was the sweet spot for producing just that kind of serenity.
The run itself went very well. My aim was to run it at "marathon pace" which meant going slower than I'd like which in itself was a challenge. I spent a large part of the run checking my watch (I got a replacement watch sent to me on the Thursday before the run) to make sure I wasn't running too fast and regularly had to slow myself down when I would discover I'd gotten a bit carried away and was running a tad too quickly. I guess I was fortunate the run wasn't too hard because I was surviving on a bit less than 5.5 hours sleep due to a party the previous night combined with an early starting time for the run. My legs also started out feeling a bit tired due to a fair bit of running that week plus a busy day the day before which I spent most of standing up. Still, adrenalin and the urge to compete always kicks in when needed and I don't think it made much difference at all.
The race itself was a good one due to the surroundings. While we couldn't see too much of the sea while running on Beach road, the lack of cars really added to the atmosphere for me. It was also entertaining later on in the race when there were spectators on the side of the road with young kids who were holding out their hands for high fives with anyone who was happy to hand them out. I dealt out few. I also enjoyed watching one guy who seemed to be muttering to himself while he was running. He had a slightly lopsided running style as if he was trying to turn left but wasn't and he kept grunting under his breath and it really sounded like he was saying actual words. Weird dude.
I ended up running it in 1hr 55mins and 22sec. I was hoping for just under 2 hours so that wasn't too bad in the end. It made me realise how difficult it is to maintain a steady pace. It'll require vigilance at marathon time to make sure I don't come out of the blocks too fast.
Week 13 distance covered: 76.1 km (a tad inflated due to my long run being on a Monday!)
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