Long version: (warning-- I don't write short reports
).I went into this race not knowing exactly what to expect. I haven't been able to race a half-marathon in two years and haven't done much other racing since my marathon in 2008. This race yesterday was really a fitness test/indicator, even though I haven't been doing a lot of half-marathon-specific training. The goal all along was to just put in the mileage and get to the start-line to race-- and I am very happy with how I was able to do. I figured I'd be somewhere between 1:50-1:55 (my best time is 1:51, and realistically I knew I was quite there); I picked up a 1:52:30 pace band at the expo and figured that would do.
My plan was to start at a 5:15-5:20/km pace and see how that felt, speeding up a bit in the second half possible. I mentally broke the race into three parts: the first 8K which would seem hard but doable, the middle 8K which would feel tougher and include both the up and most of the down of the hill at Prospect Point, and the last 5K where I would just keep pushing as hard as I could.
The first 8K went about as planned, although I had to start quite a bit slower. The crowd was crazy and I didn't start close enough in the front of the pack, so I felt a bit boxed in once we started running. But this was just as well, since I decided not to do a warm-up for this race and just warmed up in the first few kilometres. My first kilometre split was a slow 5:35. Although I was always surrounded by a lot of people, the space opened up and I was able to get into my pace after that, averaging about 5:15/km. Someone asked for the time at the 5K mark, and I said, “about 27 minutes”. I stupidly forgot to retie my shoe laces properly before the race (they were quite loose); I had to stop to retie at about 7K and had a short water/gel break after that, and by 8K I was feeling just about as I expected.
The race overall was pretty uneventful but very enjoyable-- I felt strong and confident for most of the way. Kilometres 8-12 through the beginning of Stanley Park was just gorgeous and peaceful, even in the crowded race. We started up the hill somewhere before kilometre 13, and it was tough but I still felt strong. I did slow down to as slow as 6:00/km, but it was over faster than I remembered (the hill is about 1.5K long, but my slowing down is noted in kilometres 12-14 where I did 5:37-5:57 splits). I was keeping an eye on my heart rate and didn't want it to get too high above my lactate threshold, but I wasn't a slave to it-- I was mostly running by feel. The down side of the hill felt so nice-- my heart rate dropped and my speed picked up to under 5:00/km.
Just before we got to the bottom of the hill I remember seeing the 10-mile sign and checking my time, knowing that this meant that we had exactly 5K to go. My time was 1:27:xx, and after a quick calculation I realized that even if I slowed down quite a bit at this point, I'd still come in with a respectable time. But I didn't slow down- I was able to keep pushing hard and strong and finished the last 5K in just over 25 minutes or about 5:05/km average. It felt amazing to be able to speed up a bit at that point, although it was mentally tough to hold on. This is where I really had to remember how to race, and I'm happy that my body did remember. At the finish it was still pretty crowded and I didn't hear my name, but I was so happy to see that my time on my watch was just under 1:53. Official time was 1:52:52 (average pace 5:20/km), so only a minute and half slower than my best half-marathon time.
Overall, it was such a great experience. I was so happy to be out there again and racing hard. My results show that I'm getting my fitness back and I didn't have too much discomfort from my injuries. If that's ever completely gone I should be able to train to improve on my half-marathon time as well as those at the shorter distances. I know I'm ready to train for a 4:00 marathon in the fall, which is the goal for this year.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to all of you who wrote such supportive comments here and on Facebook or text yesterday. It means so much to me.
Sidebar:
If anyone is interested in my kilometre splits and heart rates, they are here: http://www.itsmyrun.com/laps.php?id=29325
[I should note that I forgot to shut off the auto-lap on my watch, and since the course measured long on my Garmin by 0.3 km, the kilometre splits from the watch are off a bit from the splits on the course by an average of about 5 sec/km.]
My heart rate was mostly in zone 2 (under my lactate threshold of 167), averaging in the low 160's for most of the first half of the race. After 10K it started creeping up into the mid 160's, and hit the low 170's coming up that hill. It recovered to under 160 on the downhill, and then went back up to the low 170's in the last couple kilometres, hitting as high as 179 near the end.
) I didn't see anyone on the course I knew, either runners or spectators, which is actually unusual.
