Weekly Update: Half Marathon - Day Zero

Today was day zero! The LBS Halbmarathon with 21 km were ahead of me this morning at 09:10am.

Okay so before I say anything let me just tell you that the weather was brilliant today! It was sunny and warm, which leads me to the first mistake of my day. I was wearing my long sleeved running shirt, which was too hot in the sun. Fortunately I decided to run in shorts, so no problems down there.

The starting grid was divided into 4 block A-D. Fast runners which estimated, that their time would be around 1:30h started in block A and from there it went all the way to runners who thought they won't hit the 2:00h in block D. So this leads me to the second mistake, which I did way back when I signed up for this thing. I clearly underestimated myself and chose block D.

At 09:10am after block A-C started, it was my turn and though a little nervous, I hit it up right from the beginning. I was feeling good and after a couple of km I knew I could push my limits today. That's when it started to get really annoying. I had to overtake runner after runner, just because I was not confident enough back then to assign myself to a better starting block. I had to run on sidewalks, grass strips and train tracks to get passed.

I was running with my ipod, which measured the distance quite accurate and gave me some info about my average pace. I didn't have any problems with my legs or feed until towards the end, just my groin was stinging from time to time. Unfortunately due to my long sleeved jersey I was feeling dizzy from time to time, since it was just too hot. With some cold water I got over that too and made my way to the finish line after 1 hour 40 minutes and 27.

I was really surprised about this timing! I think it could have been even better if I had assigned myself to block A or B. I had starting number 2382, which is not a prime number either, by the way. My average pace was 4:45minutes/km which is 12.6 km/h. My average heart rate, and that's quite interesting, was 183 and that's only 94%! My ipod recorder over 35 preparation runs which is about 400km. Below are the stats for the half marathon:



The track was great! There were a lot of people watching and cheering, which I didn't expect at all! It was a really amazing experience and maybe I'll be able to run a marathon in the future.