26th Nike Half-marathon
The pressure was on to match the surprisingly good time I ran at Vivicittá in the Spring, so I lined up next to the pacemakers carrying a red balloon aiming at 1:45'.
The first few kilometers were spent taking over some really slow people. I wonder what the point is in starting in the front when you know you'll be much slower than those behind.
I had the worst time somewhere after the 4th kilometer, when we were running on the embankment of the Danube without even a little cooling breeze and the scorching sun right in front of us. I had doubts if I could keep up the speed I wanted to the end.
After the turn, however, the slight headwind was a welcome refreshment. I managed to take over the pacemakers even and soldiered on.
The last challenge came around the 16th kilometer in the form of a foot cramp. At that point I was resolute: no stopping to compromise the time. So I tried to step differently and think of something else but the sole of my foot to finally finish with a 1:44'05" official time.
This is about half a minute improvement compared to the Spring half-marathon, which is - considering the heat - quite satisfactory.
Now the question is, do I dare sign up for the marathon in just four weeks?