My first half marathon for 2011 is done and it wasn't pretty. Yesterday we woke up really early so we could get up to the Cadbury factory before the roads closed. We made it - no problems - and I was feeling relaxed. I like small low-key events. They seem friendlier. I saw one of our squad on the line for the Marathon and gave her a cheer then headed to the loos. Yay! No queues! Found some more of the squad and chatted for a while then headed back to the loos. Boo! Really long queue. Time was getting short and the distant trees were starting to look appealing - but I stuck it out and finished with 5 mins to spare.

Short wait on the line and we were off. It was a 2 lap loop around the factory and then off down the road. My legs felt really off right from the start. I was running at 5 min pace and my legs just felt like they had nothing in them but I hoped they just needed to warm up. Didn't happen.

Coach Chris had told us that the course was flat. He lied! There were hills through the whole race. I'd read on a forum that there was a 250m rise somewhere and a hill at the end and I kept thinking that this hill must be the rise they were talking about. It wasn't until 16k that I realized that THIS was the one. And at that point I gave up mentally. It was awful! Went on and on and on ... My pace dropped to over six mins! Ugh!!! I shuffled home in a very ordinary time of 1:55. But I've since found out that everyone found the going tough - except CC who runs hills like they're not there.

So I was a little disappointed with the run. But I was devastated when I found only 1 small bar of chocolate in my post-race loot. They'd promised a sample bag of goodies . I would have preferred more chocolate to the travel mug. We ended up in the factory shop stocking up. And I think that was their plan!

We gave a couple of friends a ride back to their motel to collect their luggage then it was a mad dash back out to the factory for the presentations. Clare, from the squad had won the half and Sharon, also from the squad, had won the marathon. I have some fast friends!

Finally we found a cafe for breakfast then back to the motel for a shower, stretch and short nap then we were off again. There was a movie that we'd wanted to see in Brisbane but run out of time. I'd found it was on at a nearby Arthouse theatre. If you get a chance to see Sarah's Key go! It was such a great story.

In the evening we walked down to the docks to find somewhere to eat. It's such a beautiful area. It's the finish point for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race and reeks of nautical history. The little cottages are really quaint. We wandered back to the motel slowly so we could admire and photograph them. And that was the end of day #2.