I ran the Taroko Gorge marathon last weekend. There were some magnificent views to be had, but I was mainly concentrating on the race. The weather was not good; raining at the beginning. I had hoped for a 1.55 time, but I went out too quickly (54 minutes for the first 10k) and it hit me hard later on.
Running up the hills destroyed me. I was practically walking in places, but looking around, I wasn’t the only one. The steep incline was immensely tough, and it seemed like forever until I would make it to the turnaround.
I think overall my preparation was good, save for the lack of sleep the night before. But once again, my knees were in huge pain after the race, to the extent that I could barely walk. I’ll need to look into my running technique and see a doctor.
Anyway, I missed out on the 2 hour mark by a frustratingly small 30 second margin – if I hadn’t made a few of those water breaks, I certainly would have made it. I think this time means that it’s highly unlikely that I will make my 4 hour target time for the Taipei International Marathon in December. I’m sure the run through the city will be much flatter, but I’ve never run so far before!
