It was a stunningly beautiful morning on Sunday. It was also very cold - Shannon thought I was nuts because I wanted to take pictures when clearly the intelligent thing to do was to go inside the visitor centre and stay warm. I think the pictures below were worth a little bit of chill.
The run wasn't my best half marathon, but I knew going in that I wasn't in peak shape. The course is also the hardest half marathon course I've ever done, one very steep hill and one that was less steep but kept going up without let up for three km.
I was confident I could break two hours and hoped I could get close to 1:50 (my PR).
I felt comfortable in the first 10km, enough so that I had visions of a PR dancing in my head. Some logical part of my brain realized that this meant I was actually going out too fast, but of course I didn't slow down. About halfway the two hour pace bunny passed me. I knew I was on pace to break two hours with time to spare but it bugged me to be behind the bunny! Especially as I was slogging up the long hill and not feeling overly spectacular.
After about 11km I started to tire and at 13km, the start of the long hill, my legs felt like they were made of cement. I got a bit upset and my breathing was slightly out of whack but I talked myself out of a bad head space and just kept going.
I desperately wanted to beat the race bunny (not sure which definition of "beat" applied at this point) but sadly I wasn't even close. I did, however, finish in 1:55:12. Not bad.
Unfortunately the course was one of those hard ones, like the Peach (where I still feel I have something to prove), that's probably going to draw me back next year.
My pre-race shots:
Golden Ears out of the mist. My picture of the day.
Yes, I'm an arboriphile.
I totally copied a shot my Dad took earlier this month. Not on purpose though, it just looked pretty!
The Fraser with Golden Ears lost in the mist.
4 comments:
Those photos are awesome. Inspired again to get some better shots and stop being lazy!
Thanks Amy!
It's all about the light - mornings and evenings are the best time for outdoor shots. The former just tends to be inconveniently early!
Hmm, this must have been a tough one to choose the shot of the day. I'd have gone with the railway shot, the perspective is great and the fact the tracks are going off on the diagonal is really appealing :-)
@ Claire, except that shot is almost exactly like one Dad took so I feel I'd be copying him to choose it!
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