1/2 done

I broke 1:40. I was expecting 1:45. I managed to get a fairly good night sleep, despite having gone out to play pool and did a little drinking the night before (this didn't bother me because the run didn't start until 12:30). For the hour or so before the race, it was snowing considerably. But like 5 minutes before the race, the snow cleared.

I'm guessing that most of the runners didn't know what to expect from the race, and were taking their time for the first half. I know I was. There were two small hills in the whole course, and it only snowed from maybe 8km to 14km. By 10km the pace had started to pick up. People now knew the track, and didn't see it as challenging.

I have this one song that I always tend to sing in my head or sometimes out loud when I run, "Ja tu jeszcze wrócę" by Kazik. By 15km I was only thinking "6 more to go."

I thought that I'll pace myself until the 20th kilometre then let everything go. Just sprint. But it was going slow as molasses. I managed to keep a decent pace behind some guy, but by 18km he was getting away. Then something weird happened.

"Now is not the time to be slowing down" yelled someone from behind. It was some ancient runner, who looked like he still remembered when D day hit the news. He started selling me gimmics. I knew they were gimmics, but tried to entertain their thoughts either way. Drank some gatoraid at the last water station and made it past 19km.

I managed to hold a decent conversation with him until the final turn. Then he pulled ahead. At this point I was gasping for air, getting dizzy. I managed to run all the way to the finish, but I couldn't have finished much faster if I tried.

Note to self: next time, don't eat Mcdonalds for breakfast before a long run.