A PB - my first sub-2 for a half marathon !!!

L : The runnig tee (another Brooks for me !!) : R : Panorama Hotel where I stayed, just right next to the Clock Tower

L : The Finishing Point ; R : My Men's Junior Veteran category

Yahooooo !! I hit one of my 2011 targets - to run a sub-2 hours for a 21k and what best to do it @ Taiping Tourism Run !!! Well, it nearly didn't go on as planned.. It started pouring at 4am and slowed to a drizzle at around 5am then picked up again.. Race started at 6.15am and by the time we started the race, I was already drenched and soaked to the skin !!

After around 1+km run, I started to have a funny feeling in my stomach.. In fact, I had some diarrahoea the early morning itself.. Must be the curry mee I took the night before as part of carbo loading. One key learning - watch what you eat and don't simply eat !! I nearly gave up as I was disturbed by the heavy rain and weak stomach.. But I guess it was a mind over body challenge and I kept going. As the race went on, things got better. I like the stretch between 7k - 12k where there's a long stretch of straight flat road and there's where I got my pace back. The Lake Garden and town side is a bit hilly to my liking.

One good thing is this is the very first time in any race that I did not walk.. I ran throughout the race ! Legs were OK (although I lose 2 toenails on my right foot !) , and heart was willing.. So I kept going. The few pacers that ran around me also allowed me to keep a constant pace of around 5:40 throughout...

The icing on the cake was to have Chris (still in crutches)/Rox/Brenna cheering me at the finishing point.. Kinda cool actually :-) Of course that's the first time the Nielsons left the island !!
and Yes ! I got 58th position in my Men's Junior Veteran category :) Not bad for a rainy Sunday.. Now, I need to take a couple of days off and resume my PBIM training...

Summary:
Time : 1:58:25
Pace : 5:38 mins/km
Distance : 21.04km
Calories burned : 1692 cal

Split:
0km - 5km @ 27:18 mins @ 5:28 mins/km
5km - 10km @ 28:07 mins @ 5:37 mins/km
10km - 15km @ 28:13 mins @ 5:39 mins/km
Last km (16-21km) @ 28:42 mins @ 5:44 mins/km

Love the medals, nice shape too !

and that's me.. It's super ugly ! Hahahaaa.. Must be struggling hard in the last few meters towards finishing line !!! Photo taken courtesy of Tey Eng Tiong !