Saskatchewan (half) Marathon 2013

[Joe Dwarf]

Signed up for this one a while ago and really expected to get out training more. But between work, family and martial arts commitments, my running schedule was somewhat lessened. Like, I ran 303 km since last Thanksgiving when I finished Victoria, and that includes the 140 km I've done since ramping up for this race a bit in mid-April. 300 km was a good month for me late last season.

Suffice to say I didn't have high hopes for this race. An experiment with sub-5 pacing last week showed me the error of my ways, and I resolved to keep it somewhere under 5:10. We had lots of mixed weather predictions but today ended up cool and cloudy, around 11 at the start, perfect racing weather. Had a bit of a frantic beginning as the race was moved back to its original start at Diefenbaker park and access to there is pretty restricted - big traffic jam getting in. I eventually just abandoned my car in a lot a km or so away and ran in the rest of the way, arriving just as the anthem was being sung.

I must say the new (old) course is a big improvement over the one they've been doing the last few years. Namely, no ungodly hill at the finish. Not much to say about the race itself, other than I probably paced it a little too cautiously. There was never any danger of a PB so I was regarding this as more of a fast training run with bonus T-shirt. I felt like I had a bit of juice left in the tank and ramped it up around 18k to a 4:40 or so pace, but had to back down before I even hit the 20k marker. I loped in to the finish at 1:47:36 at around the same 5:10-ish pace I had been aiming for - actually it was 5:06 average. If my Garmin is to be believed, I ran pretty much dead even splits, the second half around 10 secs slower than the first. I was comfortable the whole way and didn't have to walk at all, so somehow some of my fitness has survived the lack of training.

Our guest speakers Reid Coolsaet and Dylan Wykes also ran today to my surprise. I thought they were just here to give speeches and take photos, but Coolsaet won the 10k in arond 32 mins and Wykes paced the winner of the half in at 1:18 and change (and allowed him the win, although they had identical times). One of my friends told me Wykes' half PB is 1:02, and there's no way Coolsaet is pushing it hard at 32 so I guess they were just out for grins.

I saw Ian's buddy Brendan Lunty in his usual position side-by-side with sponsor Brian Michasiw of Brainsport. I assume he was going to win but Brian beat him out by a few seconds in 2:49. Must have been an off day for Brendan.

[ian]

Nice race. That's pretty much the best-case scenario this early in the season for you, but it goes to show how much experience and residual fitness you've carried over.

I saw Ian's buddy Brendan Lunty in his usual position side-by-side with sponsor Brian Michasiw of Brainsport. I assume he was going to win but Brian beat him out by a few seconds in 2:49. Must have been an off day for Brendan.

Not a bad day, as he was about the same time last week in Red Deer. He just didn't train the way he usually does over the winter, what with a bit of burnout from 11 marathons last year, the relentless snow and cold, and a two-year old running around the house. Meanwhile, I think it's great that Brian is back racing again, as he had a pretty serious injury last year along with some health issues with his daughter.

[Jo-Jo]

I had lunch with Dylan and his Mom on May 15th...the little brat didn't tell us anything about pacing someone...he's supposed to be taking it easy (he's recovering from an injury). But happy to see that he stepped on a race course to pace.
Yes...his half time in race shape is a little below that time.

Good job on your race...and the even splits!

[Ken B]

Good race and enjoyable report. congratulations!

[Habs4ever]

Sounds like a good start to the season. Congratulations.

[Joe Dwarf]

I had lunch with Dylan and his Mom on May 15th...the little brat didn't tell us anything about pacing someone...he's supposed to be taking it easy (he's recovering from an injury). But happy to see that he stepped on a race course to pace.
Yes...his half time in race shape is a little below that time.

Good job on your race...and the even splits!

Thanks! The pacing bit was just my speculation when I saw that he had the same slow (for him) time as the winner.

[Joe Dwarf]

Nice race. That's pretty much the best-case scenario this early in the season for you, but it goes to show how much experience and residual fitness you've carried over.

Thanks! The experience thing does kick in as after 8 halfs I know how I am feeling when I'm pushing it at various points in the race and this effort was not there. I had fun anyway!

[Jo-Jo]

I had lunch with Dylan and his Mom on May 15th...the little brat didn't tell us anything about pacing someone...he's supposed to be taking it easy (he's recovering from an injury). But happy to see that he stepped on a race course to pace.
Yes...his half time in race shape is a little below that time.

Good job on your race...and the even splits!

Thanks! The pacing bit was just my speculation when I saw that he had the same slow (for him) time as the winner.

I texted Dylan to let him know I had spies ( )and he texted me to say this was an easy run done with his coach's approval. He also said he had a great time at this event

[Stampie]

Congrats on another half done and great race report.

Our guest speakers Reid Coolsaet and Dylan Wykes also ran today to my surprise. I thought they were just here to give speeches and take photos, but Coolsaet won the 10k in arond 32 mins and Wykes paced the winner of the half in at 1:18 and change (and allowed him the win, although they had identical times). One of my friends told me Wykes' half PB is 1:02, and there's no way Coolsaet is pushing it hard at 32 so I guess they were just out for grins.

I raced in a half back in Feb’2012 (my first I might add) in Vancouver, ‘First Half’ Half Marathon. Dylan was named elite that year. He was in the midst of training for a qualifying time for the London Games. He ran the race in 1:04:xx. So yes, 1:18 is more of an easy run for him. FTR he is such a nice guy to approach and talk to, as Jo-Jo has attested to already.

[Joe Dwarf]

I was curious about how fast a 32:13 10k is for Coolsaet - found he ran 28:08 at Sporting Life in 2011, and 28:35 at Yonge St last spring. If he ran at yesterday's pace for a marathon he'd finish a little under 2:16, 5 minutes slower than his PB. So not exactly a jog for him, but not close to straining.

These elites seem hardly human...

[Jwolf]

Nice race yesterday. It's good that you can get out there and run a strong half even on limited training.

I was curious about how fast a 32:13 10k is for Coolsaet - found he ran 28:08 at Sporting Life in 2011, and 28:35 at Yonge St last spring. If he ran at yesterday's pace for a marathon he'd finish a little under 2:16, 5 minutes slower than his PB. So not exactly a jog for him, but not close to straining.

These elites seem hardly human...

His marathon pace is 3:05/km.

Yesterday he ran 3:13/km.

[scrumhalfgirl]

congrats!

[Robinandamelia]

Congratulations!!

[runfbrun]

Great work! Congratulations!!

[Hammie]

Nicely done!

[ratherawkward]

Nice run! And any time an "ungodly hill at the finish" is eliminated, that's a good thing.

[Joe Dwarf]

Made the paper. I'm in the background, repping the orange. Foreground in the VFFs is a friend of mine from the kendo club.

[barebuns1]

Congrats on your race.