No, this post isn't a countdown to my holiday in Benidorm, but instead to the Benidorm half marathon. Next Saturday evening I'll be running my second half of the academic year. The race will be a first for me on two fronts, the first time running in Benidorm and the first time racing after the sun has gone down. The second 'first' led to a slight change in my weekend to help with preparation.
Most races take place early on a Sunday, while I also do my longer training runs on a Sunday, so I'm fairly comfortable with going out running on the fuel of the previous evening's dinner. I've only raced once on a Saturday afternoon, and that represents one of my worst running experiences. Running in Monforte del Cid on a Saturday evening in June I got round a half-marathon in a little over 2 hours, to date my slowest time by a distance, after suffering with dehydration from about km 5 onwards. Thankfully in November the energy-sapping heat shouldn't be an issue, but the timing of meals definitely is.
With this in mind this weekend I switched my long-run to Saturday afternoon, and it went well, I ran almost 19km's, and at a faster pace than I was able to do the same route a week out from running in San Javier. You see the run here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57419650
It all went well, no lack of energy, still feeling strong at the end. Unfortunately I couldn't go out at exactly the same time as the Benidorm race, my routes are all unlit so I have to aim to be back home before the sun goes down, but with a couple of snacks through the afternoon I should get to 6pm well fuelled.
I'm looking forward to the race, its a flatter course than San Javier since the route stays close to the beach throughout, and running at night will be an interesting experience, fingers crossed everything goes to plan and I go a good couple of minutes quicker than in San Javier.
Happy Running
El Maratonero
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