Race day

Ok, so managed to cobble together 4 hours of sleep last night. Thankfully, the body does pretty well with physical exertion on minimal sleep.

Today was a much different race.

Less about the celebration of a marathon and more about gritting it out. It was a hard race, with sub optimal conditions. A warm Sunday, with temperatures at 6:25 at around 18 degrees, climbing quickly once the sun was up to 22-23 degrees. Much warmer than Sydney. Also, the wind up on Ting Kau Bridge, very challenging.

I had run the Half Marathon twice before, and each time the crowds have always bothered me. Not because I hate people, but more because the conditions of roughly 74,000 on an already difficult course means you have to jostle for position and really go after your pace. This is especially true in the first few kilometres, there's a lot of crowd navigation and trying to get into a steady rhythm. That being said the race does pass some iconic Hong Kong areas. Starting on Nathan Road on TST, before moving over stone cutters bridge towards Tsing Yi halfway crossing Ting Kau bridge before moving East towards Lai King Hill and Lai Chi Kok before joining back with the half marathon crowd to move through the Western tunnel. From there the race goes along the western harbour front before moving down Lockhart road, past the exhibition centre and finishing in Victoria Park.

This was a hard run. I was desperate for a sub 3:30 so had to fight for pacing targeting sub 5 min/km splits. Once again, frustration and energy were the common themes of the first couple of kilometres doing Nathan Road, my splits were 5:29 mins, 5:32 mins and 5:18 for the first three kilometres, already 80 seconds off my target. Thankfully the crowd started to thin and was for the most part able to get into a good rhythm between the 4-32 km mark.

Stone cutters bridge, difficult but not as steep as I had anticipated, managed to keep good pace on that. Most difficult was Ting Kau Bridge, very windy, a lot of work just to keep pace. Very uncomfortable, holding bib down, wind in face and a bit of a climb. As always difficult with the western tunnels, just so warm and humid and people stopping for photos, the climb out of the tunnel is a real challenge. Finally there's always that last hill onto Lockhart that really sucks the energy out of both full and half marathons. You can almost feel a collective sigh as you come around and see the on ramp. That coupled with the fact that people stop and walk this section, very easy to lose speed even if you want the endurance to attack.

Legs started to feel tired at 20 kilometre mark with the back of hammy started to tighten up a bit, possibly from all those slow, steady inclines that chip away at the muscles. Thankfully never developed into full blown cramp. The route coming around through Causeway Bay is always deceptive, you think you've finished, but there's still 600 meters remaining. Was a real dig deep run. Crampfix at 2:30 and 3:00 hour mark. Dumped caffeine at the 2:40hour mark. Helped a bit. 10 gels in total, quite a lot.

Very shaky finish, felt less strong that Sydney. But watch time still under the 3:30. Waiting for chip time. Very happy with time, especially given conditions. Much different to Sydney where i was just happy to sit back and finish, this race had to really fight for each kilometre.

Different race, a lot of the run you're on highways, pounding pavement, there's a lot less atmosphere, people marching towards the finish line. There's a bit of energy on the over passes and the occasional passerby in a car, but Hong Kong is a real mental test. Support comes out when back on the island, which is probably when you need it. Happy people came out for support. Happy with the result.