I finished at 1:42:45.
To show you what this time means to me,
I would like to share with you all the times for my previous half marathon races,
the first of which started in 2012.
2012.01.15: 1:49:41 (1:45:02) The 31st Frostbite Road Race
2012.12.02: 1:42:33 The 8th Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon
2013.01.20: 1:54:03 (1:50:52) The 37th Sanspo Chib Marine Half Marathon
2013.12.01: 1:41:58 The 9th Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon
2014.12.07: 1:43:25 (1:42:49) The 10th Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon
2015.01.18: 1:41:16 (1:39:11) The 39th Sanspo Chib Marine Half Marathon
2015.12.06: 1:49:36 (1:49:17) The 11th Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon
2016.01.24: 1:43:54 (1:42:30) The 40th Sanspo Chib Marine Half Marathon
2016.12.04: 1:42:45 (1:42:16) The 11th Hadano Tanzawa Minase River Half Marathon
As you can see the net time is the third best time in all the half marathons I have ever completed.
Also, it is the second best time for the course.
I have a mixed feeling about the result,
but over all I feel positive.
Before the race I had two concerns.
One, there was a slight pain in my right calf.
Two, I hadn't been able to train much due to the pain
since I ran a 10 K race in November.
I was careful not to increase the pace too much in the first 5 K.
From the 5 K point to the 15 K mark the course continued to go up.
I took short quick strides to minimize energy loss.
Both my running and breathing were smooth until the 12 K mark.
Frequent changes in undulation took a toll on my right knee,
and it started to hurting.
Also, my right thigh started feeling sore.
It was the kind of discomfort that I had not experienced for quite a while.
Two causes were possible.
One, I was unconsciously trying to cover my pained right calf.
Two, my training had been mainly on flat roads,
my legs were not sufficiently prepared for the resistance presented by the hill course in Hadano.
Whatever the reason, I had to do something to deal with the situation.
My immediate response was taking even shorter strides and slowing down.
It worked.
Although I was overtaken by a significant number of runners between the 12 and 15 K mark,
the pain in my right leg had become bearable,
and thanks to my effort to keep my heart rates in check while climbing uphill slopes,
there was still enough energy left in my body's batteries.
I changed my gear slightly as soon as the course started going down.
But not all the way, as there were still 6 more kilometers to go.
It doesn't normally seem like a big deal, but 6 K after running 15 K isn't the same as the same distance run from scratch.
My plan was to keep between a 4:30 and 4:40 pace up to the 19 K mark, and surge in the last two.
It was fairly successful, except that in the last 2 K I wasn't able to run as strongly as I wanted to.
I did sprint at least in the last 100 meters as Rio Olympics Men's Marathon Champion Mr. Eliud Kipchoge did in the home stretch leading to finish line, but it was far from enough to make my time better than my personal best.
When I crossed finish line, though, all the pain that plagued my entire body was suddenly gone,
and I was engulfed in a tremendous feeling of exhilaration. The sky was blue, and the sun was high and strong. And all the cheerers gathering around the finish arc were smiling with excitement. Local school children kindly offered a bottle of sports drink to all finishers, of whom I was one. The sports drink tasted awful, but the joy of completing the challenging race was so overwhelming that I happily tolerated the otherwise unbearable insult to a half-marathon finisher.
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