Racing around (well, in) New Zealand

A few days ago, I was at a hostel in Franz Josef (where I did the awesome glacier hike) I blogged about last week. Someone in my hostel who recognized me when we passed each other while going for a run told me about a half marathon that would be happening that upcoming weekend, about an hour from where I'd be. I promptly told her that I was on vacation and had no interest in running a race while on vacation.

Hah! Of course I am lying. I immediately carved out space in my schedule to fit it in. And so, on Saturday morning at 9:00 AM I found myself on a road 13.1 miles away from Wanaka with several other crazy runner-types, about to run the Southern Lakes Half Marathon.

Although I hadn't trained for a half marathon, I had been running regularly, so I was in reasonable shape. my plan was to start off slowly and then speed up if I felt good, but I accidentally started off fast and that felt good, so I kept it up. Anyone who has run with me won't be surprised to hear that I immediately made a running buddy to chat with during the run: at the 3km mark I struck up a conversation with the runner next to me, and ended up chatting with her for the next 15k. Defintiely helped the time pass more quickly. I left Sarah (my new running buddy) with 3k to go, and sped up. I also did the classic "Hartline" finish, sprinting the last 200 meters. (look at me - I'm getting all accustomed to life in New Zealand and am using the metric system).

I ended up running the half in 1:43:22 (a 7:53 mile pace), which was a personal best for me. To be fair, if I'd run it in 5 hours it would have been a personal best since this was my first half marathon ever, but hey. I'm actually really psyched with my time, because my goal pace had been to go somewhere between an 8:00 and 9:00 mile, so I beat my most optimistic goal! Definitely really enjoyed my first race in a different country, and hope that it is the first of many.

I am so dedicated to this blog that I ran with a camera so I could get some goood pictures. Enjoy!

About to start the half marathon. This race is definitely not as big as the ones I'm used to in the States

even while running I still managed to find some time to clown around for the camera. Priorities

racing along. Note that, unlike in the States, we didn't have a closed course. We simply ran along the shoulder of the road. I guess that's a lot easier when you only have about 300 racers and are in a small town. . .

me with my newly-discovered running buddy Sarah

At the finish line (with running buddy). Sorry for the blurry photo - looks like I had sweated on the lens. Grossss!