So who is
ready for an epic race report? Well, you’ll have to look elsewhere. When last I
left you dear readers, I was feeling meh with a few questions rolling around in
my mind:
- To carry water or not to carry water? Not. And I don’t regret the decision the way I did with Victoria.
- Tights or capris? Tights. New ones. Nice and warm. Maybe a shade too warm for the day & with a decidedly limiting number of pockets but there you go.
- Weather? Clear & cold, no wind. Perfect.
- Time machine? Sadly, no.
I went to
bed around 10 last night, set my alarm for 5:30 and good night all! I was up,
sitting in bed surfing on my iPad and halfway through my first cup of coffee
when I realized I’d forgotten to set the clocks back and it was actually 4:30.
Gah! Re-set the alarm, put down the coffee and tried to get another hour of
sleep. The reality was I lay there awake and worrying about what to wear, how
fat I felt, and whether I had the energy to PR.
We arrived
at the race about half an hour before the race start which is actually way
later than I would normally arrive. Which is good, because it was c-c-cold - plus
too much time just makes me get increasingly nervous, notice everyone else and
conclude I am too slow and have no business being there. I had just enough time
to use the washroom (line ups) and do a brief 800m warm-up run while Ronald
McDonald led a warm-up. Seriously. I could not make this up. Check it out.
We started
about 10 minutes late. Very congested at the start given the dyke path is so
narrow. It didn’t take me too long to get a good place though and get up to
speed. But after walking through the 5K water station, I couldn’t get myself
back up to speed. I kept doing the math as I was passing the markers thinking I
was going to end up at a 2:06 if something didn’t change. At the half mark, I
walked long enough to take in some water and have a GU. When I started to run
again, I tried to pick up the pace, and passed all the women who had passed me
while I was walking. I settled in at a slightly uncomfortable pace and tried to
hold it there. I knew sub-2 wasn’t happening and at this point, I just hoped I
could pull off a PR. Garmin told me we were running at 5:54 and kept buzzing me
to speed up (I’d set my pace window at 5:35-5:50).
I was aware
that someone was running right on my heel forever. Like forever. I kept waiting
for them to pass but nope, right on my heel, to the right. At the 14K mark, I
glanced over my shoulder to get a look at my shadow and the woman gasped: ”I
need you”.
She said she
was crap at pacing and that I seemed to be running right
at the pace she needed and that she was aiming to get in under 2:04. I told her
that my PR was 2:04:31 and I was hoping to beat that. She said she couldn’t run
and talk, she just wanted to stick with me. A couple of times she made small
talk about her races, past and future, and said she wanted to take me with her
on all of her runs! It was weird to be pacing someone in to a PR that was
faster than my own! Although, really, a part of me wonders if she wasn’t pacing
me in! Her Garmin had her across the start line about 40 seconds after me which
is a good thing since when I picked up the pace near the finish and told her to
pull away, she dropped back instead. Here I am
concentrating on getting in & pulling off a teeny tiny PR. She’s the last
runner in the shot. And yes, she got her sub 2:04. Yay 4096!!
I’m still
waiting for official results, but according to Garmin, I came in at 2:04:05. A
PR by 26 seconds. And confirmation that racing
half marathons 3 weeks apart isn't a bad thing at all.
This is the last race of
the year for me. I now turn my focus to working with my trainer to peel off
those 6 lbs and get leaner, stronger and faster so 2014 can be spent setting
new PRs! ...And that reminds me, I PR’d every race in 2013. Happy.
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