At least I got a medal!

This was the 30th edition of the race, but only my second attempt...

I made it round in 2:18:50 - no PB, but a course best by 3 minutes. This included a quick tour round the local greenery at about 3 km (despite trying my best to not drink much at all prior to the start - there were afer all 11 drinks stations!), refilling my water bottle at one of the drink stations and a quick stretch to try to get rid of annoying pain in my left knee fold. Somehow (it pays to register at various random websites apparently) I’d managed to get a ticket to the adidas vip tent where they offered professional massage, drinks, sun loungers and other goodies. I went to check it out before the race and went straight for the massage… Some knots were found in my calves and after some light prodding I was let go so I would be able to run later. Good idea. It seemed to work though as my legs felt great for most of the race. I kept a steady pace right from the start, even uphill, and after about halfway I think I overtook a few more people than passed me. Apart from the faster ones from later start groups of course – if you enter late and haven’t run before you get placed in the last few start groups. Almost right by the 15 km sign the pain hit the back of my knee like I’d been stabbed, and I had to really focus to not let it get to me – it wasn’t so bad I couldn’t run, but certainly not great. A little while later I stopped to stretch (which didn’t help at all, just like the last (first) time this happened) but when a bunch of guys on a balcony started to yell “hey red t-shirt – keep going!” I continued. Had they not done that I’d walked a fair bit I think. Thanks guys! Somehow the last full kilometer (20-21) was my fastest and I even did a proper sprint finish overtaking people who seemed a great deal faster than me. But the knee… Aargh! After picking up my medal, banana and chocolate bar I headed for the massage area. Two lovely ladies gave my calves a good rub-down before I was kicked out way too soon for my liking. Quick coffee, a walk/hobble round the start area to try to hook up with a friend who had also run and then back to the adidas area for another massage as by now I couldn’t even walk properly. This time a deep, evil, hard, painful variety. I squealed like a pig… But afterwards I could walk again, albeit slowly! Hot shower and an ibuprofen back at the hotel seemed to help even more. Today it’s been ok, but it was the same the last time too. Very frustrating! I'll rest this week and then we'll see...