PRE-RACE
On race morning, I woke up feeling less tired than usual. I had a great night’s sleep. I went to bed super early and I did not wake up once in eight hours. I went down to the hotel restaurant for a breakfast of oatmeal and toast. I drank a couple glasses of orange juice and coffee.
I had a few hours to kill before the 10:40 a.m. start so I crawled back into bed. I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent so I tried to ignore my sore throat. There was also the issue of frequent bathroom trips but I am not going there.
I was texting Audrey during my pre-race time. She sent some positive vibes my way. Good to have that when you’re not feeling ready to rock a race. It was super chilly outside but I knew once I started running I would heat up. I wore a long sleeve and a running skirt. I would not give into winter! As luck would have it the courtesy race shuttle was next door to my hotel. Yay! I didn’t want to be on my feet anymore than I had to be.
The shuttle ride was about 5 minutes. We were dropped off at a bridge where we had to walk another 10 minutes to the race area. We were greeted with loud happy music. Three women were dancing on top of a truck leading a group warm up. Zumba, anyone? Everybody was moving and shaking!
I looked around for Doug & Corey but I couldn’t find them. Chances are I would see them in the corral. Doug and I have similar paces so I knew I would see him at some point. I lined up with the 1:50 pace bunny. Now my half-marathon time is usually anywhere from 1:48 to 1:52 on a good day. I knew I would not be running a PR or a fast race. Plus this was a 22K race so I couldn’t really judge my time. I thought what the heck, I will line up here. Just as I thought Doug and Cory found me in the corral. We chatted a bit before we were off.
I don’t have any pictures of the course because I checked my iPhone in bag check. As my spoiler photos (below) show I finished the race. Yup that’s a beer in my hand.
RACE
Starting out I felt relatively okay. But I knew I couldn’t keep up my pace so I decided to do 10 and 1s after the first 4K. My legs were feeling heavy and my chest was congested. I knew the walk would give some relief.
1 km: 4:59
2 km: 4:59
3 km: 5:11
4 km: 5:04
Walking was good for me. My right hip was starting to feel the impact. Besides my sore throat and hacking cough, I was surviving. I kept telling myself to keep moving. Keep moving because there’s a beer at the finish line!
5 km: 5:34
6 km: 5:21
7 km: 5:23
8 km: 5:34
9 km: 5:45
10 km: 5:45
After the 8k mark, I had to walk a little more than I wanted to. You can probably tell by my slow kilometres when I walked. A bad coughing spell nearly ended my race. It was so embarrassing. Cory and I would pass each other here and there. I only saw Doug a few times during the race and finally when he crossed with Cory.
11 km: 6:22
12 km: 5:49
13 km: 6:09
14 km: 5:59
15 km: 5:31
16 km: 6:39
17 km: 5:25
18 km: 5:53
19 km: 6:13
20 km: 6:07
21 km: 6:15
22 km: 5:18
As you can see by my pace where I feel apart. I was happy that I finished my last kilometre in 5:18! I pictured Catherine & Karen screaming at me to get my butt moving. That’s always motivation. I won’t lie. This was not my best race. But I am okay with it. You can’t always be 100 per cent! Time to suck it up & move on.
My final time was 2:05 with an average time of 5:41. I finished 440/1667 overall. I was 39 out of 265 in my age group and 187 out of 1025 women. The average finishing time was 2:10. One thing I will take away… I’m above average. Ha ha.
Here’s Doug and his wife, Laurie who ran her first 10k! She did amazing. Look at the smile. Cory is here too with his wife. They didn’t stay long because it was so bloody cold. We all drank our beers and said goodbye.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
Aside from being sickly, I felt this was a wonderful race. The route was fabulous (apart from the potholes). The mountains were a fabulous backdrop. I am sad that it felt more like a winter run than a fall run. Damn you Mother Nature! The race atmosphere was great too. I loved the warm up. Much fun! Oh did I mention there were donuts at the finish line? Yes, donuts. They were cold but good nonetheless. I skipped the after party. I stayed in my hotel room and cranked the heat.
I am definitely signing up for this race next year. Now I understand why it sells out within minutes. Simply wonderful!