[photo: looking back towards the start from the finish line]
After a lethargic Saturday, glued to the sofa only occasionally looking up from a book to confirm the sky was still flat grey. I knew I needed serious motivation to get going for a run.
Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday until I finished the book I was reading. Then I noticed a vaguely familiar glowing yellow ball in the sky – the prodigal sun? It was a sign. I headed out in the car, not the environmentally friendly form of running but during my sofa time I’d done some research which needed a follow up visit.
I drove to Port Chalmers, it is a real port town near the mouth of the Dunedin Harbour and the finish point of the Marathon and Half Marathon. The route takes in a 5km lap around the town and I’d heard rumours of a hill somewhere near the end.
I started at the finish and ran as far out of town as I could in the opposite direction of the half marathon route, the pavement ran out after about a mile then I turned back and ran less than the final third of the half-marathon course. After about 18km of paved road the route heads up a dirt road right on the water’s edge, it felt authentically New Zealand.
[photo: dirt at about 18 km]
This outing was supposed to get me psyched up for the big day, 10 weeks away. I think I had forgotten to inform my body that I had only run the last bit not the full 21k around the harbour.
In the car on the way home I convinced myself that having a bad run was a useful wake up call. Excellent motivator, blah, blah, blah. Not sure its had the desired effect but at least I remembered to take my camera so I can share the picturesque setting of my future suffering.
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