On Sunday, October 16th, I ran my second half marathon.
I was pretty excited for this one, because I had been training with my friends, Sherry and Irene. About 4 months ago they decided to attempt their first try at the distance and asked if they could count on me for some training tips.
I told them NO WAY, I'd run it with them instead.
We were able to work our schedules so that we ran almost every single long run together, which means we ran together at least once a week. We dubbed ourselved "The Running Posse"and our LSDs (long slow distance for those not used to runner speak) were our weekly gab sessions.
Race day came and we were all ready, and thankful that it wasn't raining. It was a cool 8-9 degrees celcius, and windy, but NO rain, so I was relieved.
You truly can't imagine what its like to be surrounded by a crowd of that size. Between the 22, 000 people signed up for the 3 events (5km, half marathon, marathon), the race officials, volunteers and spectators it was one hell of a crowd.
I had warned my running posse that the start would be kind of anti-climatic, and that it was. The race started and we all just stood there, and waited. Then walked a few steps forward. And waited. It kept going like that until 11 minutes later, we crossed the start line and started to run.
We all were feeling good and kept a quick steady pace. It was quicker than we planned on, but we all felt great. We were running into the wind for the first 13k, but it wasn't too much of a problem. Once we turned into a tailwind and picked up the pace averaging between 5:45 - 6:00/km
Unfortunately, injuries I sustained in the car accident I was in 20 years ago, have recently flared up. My physiotherapist has done a great job in holding me together for the race, but it was hard to predict what would happen race day. At 15k, I could feel a twinge behind my knee, and adjusted my gait to a bit of a longer stride, which helps.I let my running posse know that I was going to be struggling soon and that they were to go on without me. For me, this race was really all about them. It was their first half-marathon, and you never have another first!
I was able to keep Sherry and Irene in my sights with a pace of about 6:15/km, until about 17.5 km, when everything kind of fell apart for me. My glute muscles, hamstring and hip weren't really functioning anymore and about every 10 steps or so, my leg would collapse, and I would have to stop myself from falling over.
There was no way in hell I was going to run 17.5k and not run the last 3.6!
No. Way. In. Hell.
I kept telling my body "leg up, leg down, leg up,leg down" and " just a few more minutes, just hold out on me for a few more minutes" . I had to really focus on making my body do what it was supposed to. I would run for about 5 minutes, then walk for about 30 seconds.
At one point, at about 18.5km, a volunteer tapped me and asked "do you need me to call you a medic?". My concentration broken, I said "I don't need a fuckin' medic, I just need to finish".
I feel terribly for that poor volunteer, I know he meant well, but I was so startled when my concentration was broken, it just kind of popped out! Sorry!!!
I saw the 20k marker and picked up the pace. I ran the last 1.1k pretty quickly. I really dont know how, but I knew I had to finish soon. I rounded the corner and heard the crowds packed along the last 500 meters. It was so cool. People just kept yelling me name and encouraging me to finish. By that point I was pretty much dragging my leg behind me.
I crossed the finish line again and got my medal. My leg gave out again and I collapsed, but someone caught me before I went down and made sure I was steady on my feet. I declined medical assistance again, because I know there is nothing they can do for me. I have very weak muscles there because of my injuries and I'm working to fix that. It is so very very frustrating though that 20 years later, I still have to fight my body!
I finished with a chip time of 2:20:11. Eight seconds slower than my first half marathon. I alternate between being disappointed in the time. and recognizing that being able to pull off that time while struggling to even finish the race means that I have come far since the race I ran in May. Its just that eight seconds is so. damn. close.
However, as I said before, this race was not about me. In my mind, it was all about my friends and they ROCKED it. Sherry finished with a chip time of 2:13:53 and Irene finished in 2:18:41. I am so very very proud of them. Its funny, because when they started training, they said they hoped to finish "not over 2 hours 30 minutes". I told them I knew they were faster than that.
Its so true that the last leg of a long distance race is a mental game. I truly believe that if I had let the thought enter my mind that I couldn't finish, Iwould have been right. That's why I was so stunned when the volunteer asked if Ineeded assistance. I refused to entertain the fact that I wasn't going to be able to do it!
The biggest disappointment was the baggage reclaim fiasco. I don't know what went wrong, and I am sure the organizers will get it fixed for next year, but seriously. The last thing that people who have run 21.1 or 42.2 kilometers need to do is stand in the cold and wind for 90 minutes or more to collect their bags.
My leg kept giving out, Sherry was going hypothermic. She was so blue and shivering so hard I kept having to try and warm her up with my own body heat.
Otherwise, kudos to the orgainzers for a great event!
I think that the best way to describe the race for me was that while I didnt have a great race, I definitely did a great job!
