Today was the 20th Weston Creek Half Marathon, Bob's 7th, although my first.

Sad that Aki was injured and unable to do this goal event, however there will be many more opportunities. There seemed to be a big field, with quite a few Cool Running caps or tops evident. I felt good from the start, and despite the large field found that I was running largely on my own from around the 6k mark. Uncharacteristly, I found myself sweating profusely, drenching my shorts and shoes with many added kilos. I drank at each water station which were every 3km. Felt very strong until after half way when the squelshing water in my shoes were producing king size blisters. Although I had elastic laces, my feet swelled rather painfully. I picked up a bit towards the end, after a good dose of positive self talk. Despite this, wearing the same shoes and socks as during the 20km run concluding the triathlon last Sunday, I went through the 20km split at least 30 seconds slower, without having had 4 hours of swimming and cycling already.

My finish was OK, however my time was well over 100 minutes, which was disappointing. I will have to investigate how to adequately warm up so that my fastest run splits aren't all on triathlon and multi-sport courses.

There was an excellent presentation at the Canberra Irish Club with many barrell draws. Our string of luck continued with both Bob and I winning a refund of our entry fees to the Canberra Marathon. I changed, putting on dry clothes, thorlo socks, training shoes and a fuel belt for water and ran home at a relaxed pace. Although the temperature was about 30*, I stayed dry this time, and felt quite comfortable, my feet fairly well protected in the heavier shoes. Another 14km rounded the day to 3 hours and 35km and I felt good, although there was nearly a two hour break in between.

A visit to the local pool for stretching in the spa and steam room, fortuitous as the pool was being used for a swim meet. This really helped my recovery and I feel raring to go tomorrow.