A last minute team entry into the Challenge Wanaka Triathlon (half ironman distance) saw me take part in a half marathon in the weekend just been.
Being part of a team is fun, and the atmosphere of the event is always great.
I put a time goal on myself of 1hr 50mins for the run, which I knew was quite ambitious, and this was the first time I’d had a goal for the run over this distance. I knew I was going to have to push myself which made me nervous at the start line.
The run started off great, I knew I had to stay under a 5.13 pace to be able to come in at 1 hr 50mins, for the first 8km I stayed well under this pace, and slipped up a little just before the big hill, with some of the trail being quite undulating. The Gunn road hill is a good way to gut a runner, I ran half of it and walked the rest trying to bring my heart rate back down.
After Gunn Road, I couldn’t bring my average pace back down I tried but the fatigue in my legs was too high. I struggled a little at 13/14km mark and then at about the 18km mark, there was a moment of ‘I don’t care what time I get’ (hah), but I finished strong. It was definitely the hardest I’ve ever pushed myself in a run over that distance, I couldn’t have gone any quicker, mainly because of the fatigue in my legs.