The Running Marketer

It’s nearly 2 weeks since I ran the half at the Ballarat Marathon. Yep, nearly 2 weeks and I haven’t found an angle to write about.

So, let’s make that the angle.

How did the race go?

The race was a success. I finished in 2 hours, 43 minutes and 8 seconds. I was one of the last. That’s unusual; I’m usually about middle but this was a serious race. I have the Ballarat Marathon socks to prove it.

I should be proud of my achievement but I feel ‘meh’. The first 2/3 of the race were fun. Running intervals with Bec, admiring the signs and high fiving all the kids that came out. I messed up my nutrition and struggled so told Bec to run ahead just before the lake. I did test everything, just not together. So, my hydration flask didn’t fit in my belt and carrying it was annoying. You can’t really fit 5 serves of Vert gels in the small flask, so I took my 2 backup Pure gels because they were easier to get to but really needed more carbs. My eyesight was going black in the last 250m.

But I made it and that was my goal.

So why the ‘meh’?

I think it’s partially because I had already run 21.1km in practice so this wasn’t special. (Even with a 5 minute improvement on that run). But, I think it’s mainly because of the Sydney Marathon. I struggled with the last third and that was only a 21.1km race. In 16 weeks I need to run that distance twice over and with hills. A lot of hills. It’s 16 weeks of training away.

So, I think that’s why running a half marathon doesn’t feel like an achievement and I struggled to write about it. The half marathon was just a stepping stone to Sydney.