It’s the final countdown.
The last long(ish) training run is in the bag, just a handful of easy runs to do over the next few days, and then race day will be here.
Crikey, it only feels like four weeks ago that I started training for this half marathon. Oh wait; it was.
This week’s long run (7.43M in just a whisker outside an hour) felt okay. It was quite wet, windy and hilly, but at least the course for the actual race will be pretty much completely flat.
With race day looming, I can’t help but think about what time I might run. I’ve worked out a rough pace chart of what my 5km, 10km and 15km splits should be for various finishing times, ranging from 1:45 to 1:50. Anything quicker than that would be a miracle. Anything slower, I’d probably be slightly disappointed with.
I’m keeping my expectations low, but at the same time I want to do myself justice. I’m also worried I might commit the cardinal sin of going off too fast and then having to crawl home for the final five kilometres.
But then, it’s not like I’m after a qualifying time for the World Half Marathon Championships. I’ve got to keep reminding myself that the main goal is to simply get through it.
The last time my sister visited my nan before she passed away, Nana said: “Have as much fun as possible; there’s no such thing as too much fun.”
So one week from now, that’s what I’m going to try to do. For 13.1 miles.
Wish me luck!
(And thanks again to all who have donated!)
End-of-week total: 18.8 miles.
Training total: 82.3 miles.
(Honestly, I’ve been mistaken for Mo Farah so many times this past week…)
Good luck!