Running the Inverness Half Marathon

I ran the Inverness Half Marathon this weekend, and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it. Not in a negative way, just that it didn’t feel like a straightforward race experience. It wasn’t one of those runs where everything clicks and you come away thinking “that went exactly to plan”. But it also wasn’t a struggle in the way I’d been slightly worried it might be. It sat somewhere in the middle, which probably makes it more interesting to reflect on.

Going into it, I didn’t really have a clear goal. After the ankle issues over the past few months, it felt more sensible to approach it without putting too much pressure on time or performance. A few months ago, I would have had a pace in mind, maybe even a target time. This time, it was more about seeing how it felt on the day and adjusting as I went. That in itself was quite a different mindset.

The build-up felt fairly relaxed. It’s a local race, so there’s something quite familiar about the whole thing. No big travel plans, no complicated logistics. Just turning up, knowing the area, and getting on with it. That probably helped take some of the pressure off. I was with both of my parents before the start of the race which was great. At the start, everything felt fine. Not amazing, not particularly fast, but steady. I think I was quite conscious of not going out too hard, partly because of the distance and partly because I didn’t fully trust how my ankle would feel later on. So I kept things fairly controlled, which meant the first few kilometres felt quite comfortable.

As the race went on, it settled into a rhythm. Not the kind where you stop thinking entirely, but one where you’re just focused on keeping things consistent. I was aware of my pace, aware of how I was feeling, but not overanalysing it in the way I had been during some of my runs earlier this year. That felt like progress in itself. The ankle held up reasonably well. It never became a major issue, which was probably my main concern going into the race. There were moments where I was aware of it, especially later on, but it didn’t force me to stop or significantly change how I was running. That was enough to make the whole experience feel manageable.

The second half of the race was harder, as expected. Not dramatically so, just that gradual increase in effort where everything starts to feel a bit heavier. At that point, it becomes less about how you feel and more about just keeping going. I wasn’t pushing for a specific time, but I still wanted to run it properly, which meant staying focused even when it would have been easier to slow down.

Crossing the finish line felt slightly different to October. Last time, it felt like the end of something I’d been building towards for a while. This time, it felt more like a checkpoint. Not a finish, but a marker of where things are right now. A way of seeing what’s improved, what still needs work, and how everything fits together after the past few months.

I didn’t set a personal best, and I didn’t expect to. But I also didn’t feel like I needed to. The fact that I was able to run the race, manage it sensibly, and get through it without any major issues feels like a solid outcome, especially given how things have been since October.

I think what stood out most was how different the experience felt compared to my previous race. Less pressure, less focus on outcome, and more attention on how things felt throughout. In some ways, that made it more enjoyable. In others, it made it slightly harder to define what “success” looked like. But maybe that’s the point.

Not every race needs to be about improving a time or hitting a target. Sometimes it’s just about where you are at that moment. This one felt like that. A reflection of the past few months, the adjustments I’ve had to make, and the gradual process of getting back to something that feels consistent again.

So overall, not a perfect race, but a useful one. And probably a better indication of progress than a time alone would have been.