My first half marathon

I'm going to write this post in English, so that my roommates can read it, because I would really like to thank you again Regina, this race was so nice!

After a really boring week (nothing to add on my blog), I tried to watch the rugby game at Emily's, with a webcam filming her TV in France... We "watched" (we could barely differentiate the players...) the first halftime, and then we moved to Farid's, a friend of Emily's, to play poker. Then I came back to eat pasta, because of today's race, and we met again in a park not far from where I live, with Emily and 5 friends of hers. It was a nice day.

It was a nice day for me, but not for Maggie. She is doing a marathon in December, so she needs to increase her mileage before this race. So she planned to do today's half marathon, and a relay on Saturday (yesterday). She went to the relay (6.6 miles or 10 km), but the part she was doing was so hard and hilly, and it was so warm outside, that she came back coughing really badly... So she decided not to run the half marathon with Regina's number today. I hope that you will recover soon Maggie, you seem better today.

Yesterday I came back home at midnight, and I got up at 6:00 on this morning, to leave at 6:30 to go with Regina to the start of the B.A.A Half Marathon. Regina did not want me to wear the electronic chip that would have set my time to her name, because she was afraid to be in trouble in case I made a good time! Before the start, it was funny to see that Regina knows so many people who were taking part to the race. She really wanted to run today, seeing all these runners of her triathlon team. We see that she misses racing and doing competitions. Hopefully we will run together soon Regina ;-) The good thing is that she is feeling better and better, so normally they will get off the screws from her body in 2 weeks... Hold on Regina!

The race, which is a half marathon so 13.1 miles or 21,097 km, started at 8:00. I did not start too fast, contrary to what I usually do when I take part in a race. This was a back and forth race, so I saw the first runners going down the hill as I was climbing it: I had done about 5 miles. The time was displayed at every mile, and during the first 9 miles I was running 7 minutes a mile, which is really good. Then I began to struggle a little more, and I was expecting the next sign (mile 10, mile 11, ...) to come quicker! The end of the race was against the wind, so it was really hard. But a little bit of rain allowed the runners to cool down, which was a good thing.

I passed the line so fast that Regina, who was waiting for me at the end of the race, did not see me! I'm joking! I finished in 1h34'07'', so an average speed of 13,45 km/h, which is really good for my first half marathon! But with this time I would not have put Regina in trouble with her age group, there were so fast women...! The winner is a Kenyan, who beat the event's record, in 1h02' and something...

I really enjoyed this race, the landscapes were so beautiful, the weather was excellent for running, and I was feeling really good during the race (I overtook so many people, and only a few overtook me, this means that I was in really good shape, and that I controlled my effort very well). I was so happy to finish my first half marathon here, in Boston, it was such a nice race... Again, thanks a lot Regina for having invited me to this race, I was happy to discover this event. I hope that next year you will be able to do it with your number, and rank in your age group ;-)

Comments

[Minette]

Fantastic !!! I hope that you'll walk quietly in New York...

[Alex]

Je m'en doute bien que c'est parce que tu n'y es pas retourné depuis espece de petit voyou ! D'ou le "Allez hop, c'est reparti, tu as un 51'08'' a ameliorer !"... Mais j'avoue que les cours le samedi matin ils ont abusé sur le coup ! Enfin bon a mon retour on ira quand meme faire péter tout ca !

[Morgan]

Si je ne t'ai pas tenu informé, c'est pour une bonne raison... Je n'y suispas retourné depuis !!! Avec les weekend raccourci pour cause de cours samedi matin... Et pis, avec les entrainements de hand et le temps de merde qu'il fait à Troyes, c'est moyen motivant... lol

Big up

Momo

[Alex]

Je sais que tu progresses aussi de ton cote, donc il faut bien que je me maintienne au niveau ! D'ailleurs ca fait longtemps que tu ne m'as pas communique de temps autour du canal... Tu crois que c'est la fin de saison ou quoi ?! Allez hop, c'est reparti, tu as un 51'08'' a ameliorer ! En tout cas vivement qu'on aille battre ca tous les deux en 2008 ! La barre des 45' me parait atteignable maintenant :)

[Morgan]

Bravo, bravo...

Va falloir que je me trouve un nouveau coach... Le miens a passé la vitesse supérieure... lol

Beau goss en tout cas !

Bise !

Morgan