I had a lot support here when I asked for advice with my first half-marathon. So I thought I'd report in now that it's done and dusted.
I ran the Inverness Half-Marathon on Sunday. I hadn't told anyone apart from my husband that I was running the event. Unfortunately he couldn't support me on the day as he had to return our 10-month old grandson (who had been staying with us for a couple of days) home to Aberdeen. Aberdeen is 2.5 hours' drive away... and he drove the baby by himself. I think running the half was the easier option!
So, I went on my own to the event. I left 2 hours before the start time as I was worried about parking. This seemed like plenty of time, but once I'd parked up, fed the meter, scurried off to the sports centre, queued to register, dropped off my bag and braved the loooong queue for the loos, there were only 10 minutes to spare before the gun.
While in the loooong loo queue, I heard the pipe band marching off, leading the runners to the start line in grand style. So, I missed that excitement, and was quite stressed by the time I eventually got there.
Never mind, off went the gun and I immediately felt better once I'd started to run. The weather was perfect: dry, cold, blue skies and the horrible east wind had finally dropped. The route is lovely - along Ness river, underneath the castle, then out of town through woodland.
I saw a few casualties en route...people with cramps, someone was sick and one poor lady looked as if she'd fallen and banged her head on a wall on the way down. There were plenty of helpers around her so I kept going and hoped she was ok.
We ran into a residential area - one street was brilliant. There were musicians and drummers hammering out an irresistible beat. And lots of children handing out jelly babies - they got excited when a runner stopped to take one, so I took a good few. But I'm a vegetarian and it seemed churlish to ask if the sweeties contained gelatine, so I put them in my pocket. Someone in the Lochardil area of Inverness would have been surprised to discover a whole load of jelly babies in their rubbish bin later on.
Soon after that it was mile 10 and we returned to the riverside to loop home. Tantalisingly I could almost see the finish line on the opposite bank at that point- but we still had to go along the river into the centre of Inverness, cross the bridge and run back up the other side.
We finished with a lap around the outdoor running track and although I felt on my last legs, I spotted cameras at the finish line and managed to pick my feet up for the final few yards in the hope that I would look fresher than I felt for the photos! I was very pleased with 2 hours 20 minutes. Especially as my husband bet me I'd finish in 2 hours 22 minutes!
Apart from tired and throbbing calf muscles in my bed that night - I eventually got comfy by raising my legs on a pillow - I felt ok after the run. And look, what a fine medal!
I love your report too, especially the bit about the jelly babies! Fabulous 👏👏🥇🍰🥂
And just look at your shiny badge - yay!
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