Woody’s Half Marathon Race Recap (of sorts) and all things crazy

I woke up at 6 a.m. and I went through my routine – water, breakfast, more water and a few trips to facilities.
It was a chilly start to the day. But I knew it would warm up so I dressed in a black tank and shorts. I wore an old blue jacket. I would toss after I warmed up.
I left early so I could get a parking spot. I wanted to be close so I could grab my stuff after I finished. There were a lot of people. None of which I knew. However, I spotted Landon Dunbar from Grande Prairie. That was weird. But the race is relatively small (about 1000 people) so I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Usually there is a large contingent of folks that come down for the race. The Press Run is next weekend so there was only a few. Landon was the only person I saw.
Of course, Lori was there. She called Friday and we met up for drinks. Actually she is moving to Red Deer so it will be nice to have a familiar face in the city.
I didn’t see her at the start though. I did see Paula, my colleague, who ran her first half-marathon. She was so pumped. Glad to work with others who are into fitness.

I started in the middle of the pack. I tried to find the spot where the “elite” athletes ended and the average mortals began. The race started and I was running around a 5-minute pace. It felt good for the two kilometres. Then I made myself slow down to a 5:30 pace. I knew if I got caught up with passing people my delusions of running greatness would eventually catch up with me.

As the kilometres quickly passed, I was suddenly at the 11k mark and I knew I was on pace to run 1:55. This is when I started to overanalyze everything. Note to self (don’t look at watch)
At the 16k mark, I started to waver a bit. I wanted to take my gel but I wasn’t near a water station. So I kept on. My pace was slowing but I knew I just had to get a mouth full of water and my gel and I would be okay. I stopped at a point to rip open my gel which were in the same pocket as my car keys.
What a pain in the butt. I couldn’t get my pocket zipped. Ugh. Finally I managed to get the gel and start on my way again.
At the 18k mark, I kept saying to myself, “only 3 more kilometres of your life, only 3 kilometres of your life.” I was still doing pretty good for time. At the 20k mark, I slowed down a bit to catch my breath.

I could hear the people at the finish line and I could see the hill I needed to climb before the descend to the finish. I started to run up the hill. Halfway through my legs started to feel like jelly. I knew regardless if I walked for 30 seconds I would still be under 2 hours. I decided to speed walk up and run fast down the hill.

I look to my left and it’s my coworkers, Paul and Lana. Of all the times they see me when I am walking. I quickly wave and start running again. I flew down the hill and even passed a few people. There was one girl I thought I could pass but decided she was younger than me so who cares. The final results show she was in my age group. Ha ha.

I am happy with my time – 1:57:51. I think I am finally starting to believe that I can do this running thing.  Not just because I set a new PR but because I know my body can do this. In the back of my mind there’s always been this nagging thought that my past runs were always flukes.
I am looking forward to my first marathon. I want to finish in 4 hours. That’s my goal. It’s going to be tough but I know I can do it.