2020 half marathons: January to June

With no races on the horizon for a while, I decided to recap the first half of my 2020 monthly half marathon runs.

Oh, the places I've run.

A half marathon a month

This year I set myself the challenge to run a half marathon a month. 

It seemed like the next logical step up from 2019, which I spent running a different 10k race each month.

My 2019 10k race recaps

Even before the pandemic, my goal was for a monthly 13.1 mile run, not necessarily a race. Now because of the pandemic, racing (at least, non-virtual racing) is on hold.

Because of this, I've tried to get more creative in my route-planning the past few months to make each half interesting. 

Plus, as I don't own a bike, these long runs are my opportunity to see more of Edinburgh than I usually can while I avoid public transport.

January: south west

My January half marathon was only my second one ever. The route took me through lots of neighborhoods in south west Edinburgh.

This led to a lovely view of the Queensferry Crossing as I was running through Oxgangs.

Queensferry Crossing in the distance.

As it was at the start of the year, I also made it my first run in my new sneakers. Not sure it's a good idea to break new shoes in with a 13.1 mile run, but no negative side effects to report.

New year, New Balance.

This run did test me in other ways, though. I definitely wasn't the most prepared for it, and I honestly thought at 2 miles in that I wanted to give up.

But I didn't.

Then at 8 miles in I got a stitch which I for sure thought was going to make me stop.

But it didn't.

Somehow, I made it to the end, and it resulted in what is now my second best half time: 2:11:26.

February: beaches 

I planned out a route that would take me along the beaches in Musselburgh and Portobello. Because that would be lovely, right?

Well, yes, partially. The beaches were lovely. I even ran along the sand for a bit.

Started running on the sand, then couldn't find a way off the sand.

Making my way to Portobello.

The beaches ended at the 8 mile mark, and the first 8 miles were pretty much downhill. Super.

The last 5 miles? Uphill. Boy, did I feel those last 5 miles.

It got to the point where I was happy to wait at traffic lights because they gave me the excuse to pause for a second.

Arthur's Seat in the distance.

Taking some diversions in the route also meant I got to a half marathon distance almost a mile away from my house.

I couldn't carry on running, though. I had to stop. When I finally got to a road with a bus, I hopped on one. It was only for three stops, but I really needed it.

The lesson learned with this run is when you plot out your route beforehand, take the elevation chart very seriously.

March: Falmouth 

March was my first and only half marathon race of the year down in Cornwall. That's all been recapped in my post-race blog post.

Falmouth Half Marathon recap

Seems like I lifetime ago I ran in Falmouth.

April: circle heart

My April half was basically divided into a 6.6 mile heart-shaped route to the east of where I started and a 6.6 mile circular route to the west.

Both of these are routes I've run before (the west one is my normal 10k route), so I was aiming for a good time.

Because of this, I did not stop to take photos. I did not stop for anything. I ran continuously the whole way through and got a PB of 2:10:00 flat.

I was extremely happy with that, but I was also extremely exhausted as my post-run selfie shows.

This is what a tired runner looks like.

This was the first time I ran with the water bottle I got at the Scottish 10k in 2018. What an underused piece of swag. I now won't run a half marathon without water on hand.

It was only 49F but super sunny out. Water was necessary. 

Physically, I felt mostly okay while running (I mean I was thoroughly exhausted for the second half, but not in pain), but I felt 1,000 times worse when I finished. I had to lay down the rest of the day, and I had a massive headache.

So some unfortunate side effects from running your fastest.

May: zigzag

I ran my May half in tandem with my friend Duncan (#DashingDuncan from the Plan B race). 

Plan B 10k race recap

Like the Plan B race, we decided to run a route that covered both our houses, but start from our own respective homes.

I plotted what I called the zigzag half marathon as it involved going back and forth along road in south Edinburgh.

This included:

Braid Hills Drive...

Not a cloud in the sky.

...and the Hermitage.

The view looking up right before the start of the Hermitage trail.

Shady stretch in the Hermitage.

We ran this half on the last day of May, at the end of a weeklong heatwave. I told Duncan we had to start running no later than 9am to avoid the high temperatures.

Even before starting, I sprayed myself with my garden hose to cool off.

Despite the warm temperatures, I felt okay for most of the run. There was a nice breeze, and I managed to find lots of shady spots to run along.

The Hermitage was particularly great for having a long stretch under tree cover.

Even with my water bottle in hand, I made it to 10.5 miles before I took a sip. It was 11 miles in before I started feeling properly exhausted, so that was an improvement.

I think that had to do with my slow pace. From mile 2 onward, each of my miles were over 10 minutes. I'm fine running slower if it means I feel better.

It also ended up being the case that the route ended up being 13.5 miles, so .4 miles over an actual half distance. I did feel at the end I could keep going if I had to. Didn't want to, though!

Still look intact after a hot run.

The garden hose came in handy again for a post-run cool down.

Also, I had a delivery from the doughnut shop Considerit arrive right after I came back from this run. Perfect timing. Never have I felt so not guilty about eating a whole cinnamon bun.

Post-run rewards.

June: Roslin

For my June run, I ventured out of Edinburgh. I planned a route that went alongside the Pentlands before crossing over to Roslin.

There weren't as many mountain views as I had hoped, but there were a few nice scenes.

You can see the dry ski slope on the left.

Thought the views away from the Pentlands was more interesting.

Right after this, I passed a bunch of cows in front on this hill.

Before crossing the entrance to the University of Edinburgh Easter Bush campus, I passed some sheep just chilling.

The only sort of audience I get on runs these days.

When I got to Roslin, I took the opportunity to look at the outside of Rosslyn Chapel, or at least the small bits you can see of it without being a paid visitor.

The best view I could get.

The second best view I could get.

This was the first half I didn't ever feel any extreme level of exhaustion. My last three miles ended up being my fastest ones.

It was also during the last third of the run that it started drizzling, which was very welcome. Even as it got rainier, I still appreciated the cool down.

But what was not ideal was that the rain meant the salty sweat that had been accumulating on my forehead dripped into my eyes. That actually really hurt.

I had ventured out in sunglasses, so you can't see it from my post-run selfie, but I was struggling to keep my eyes open at that point.

Soaked and with burning eyes.

My pace was actually the same as April, but stopping for lots of photos meant this run was nowhere near a PB. But I can definitely feel that my body is adapting to 13.1 mile runs.

Now I just need to plan 6 more routes for the rest of the year.