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21km in 2:17... My first Half Marathon [March 18, 2012]

Sluis Halve Marathon 2012 Zwinstedentocht

Today I particpated in my first running challenge... the Zwinstedenloop in Sluis. And yes, I could have picked the 10km, but instead I choose to run the 21km half marathon... and I made it. Not in a great time, but I made it.

You will perhaps remember my good intentions at the start of the year 2012: to run at least 10km every week. And frankly: I've been doing just about that. There have been a few exceptions - weeks with no runs, but also weeks with two runs. So overall, my training has been going ok.

So when my Brussels running buddies proposed to join them for the 10k run in Sluis (Netherlands), I almost immediately said yes. But then, the plan changed... first they wanted to do the 21km instead of the 10km run - in preparation for the Berlin Marathon on April 1st, 2012. Then, only last weekend, buddie 2 needed to cancel because of a horseriding accident.

So there we were at the start of the half marathon this afternoon. Great weather (sunny, a bit windy, 10 degrees Celcius). During the first 10km we managed to keep our tempo steady at 10km/hour. Same thing with the next 4 kilometers... then I wanted to stretch a bit, and accellerated just a tiny bit. And shortly after the sign of km17 the lights went out. Waht followed were 4 kilometers of just hard labor and not moving very much. But I did made it to finish line, to a good extend as my running buddy stayed with me the entire time.

Official time: 2 hours and 17 minutes. Time of the winner: 1 hour and 10 minutes. But... this was my first ever participation to a running challenge... so yes, I'm proud that I finished a 21km run !

Jürgen's picture

And here it is... the

And here it is... the official time: 2:17:25

and the "video finish" (flash player required, so doesn't work on IOS Apple devices) :


Sluis 2012 Zwinstedentocht
My video of crossing the finish line after 21km in Sluis
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