I treated myself to a long weekend in Cyprus, focussed around the Larnaka Half-Marathon. I stayed at the Novotel to the east of the town, which was very quiet in November but a lovely spot.
The day after arrival I had a short run along the prom to stretch my legs, and then a quiet day of exploration, plus a visit to the expo to pick up my race number and other associated goodies.
The next day I woke to an impressive display of lightning across the bay, which produced some exceptionally heavy rain on the way into town. But I could see clearing skies to the west so waited till the rain had stopped before getting out of the car. That left wet road surfaces and a few large puddles, but fortunately the rain stayed away until a few drops fell in the last 500 metres of my race.
I thought it somewhat poor event design around the start, with toilets and bag drop on opposite sides of the closed course while caused lots of us to vault the barriers while officials tried to discourage us, but otherwise it was an easy preparation for the start. I kept to or just ahead of my target pace, though I was close to my limits, and knocked 57 seconds off, which was more than planned. Sub-1h50 at Chelmsford in March is the next ideal goal.
Those running the full marathon were treated to more rain in the second half, so I was glad to have stopped at 21.1km.
It took my muscles a long time to stop cramping and allow me to get back into the car and return to the hotel, where the early start for the run meant breakfast was still being served. I piled my plate but actually struggled to eat it all – a shame as the food at the Novotel was really excellent.
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