2016 Epic Half Marathon Recap

Happy Belated Canada Day and early July 4th to my American readers!!!

If you remember from my last post, I didn't really train properly for this half marathon and was just going to run this half as a training run.  Well.....if any of you have ever tried to run a race as a 'training' run, then you know that it's near impossible to do. 

I was up early, ate my prerequisite English muffin, peanut butter, and yogurt and then headed out.  I do have to mention that the night before a race, I always eat a donut.  It started a couple of years ago after I had a good race after eating a donut the night before...I swear by it.  Try it and let me know!  Weather conditions were a little chilly at the beginning but I knew that would be short lived.  Thankfully cloud cover helped keep the humidity and heat away.

This was the finish line - over 100 Canadian flags along the lake

We lined up and were off at 8:30am.  The course was 2 loops of the 10km plus a little extra.  I had never done a loop course before and wasn't sure how I would handle the mental aspect of passing the finish line and watching the quarter marathoners step aside.  I was able to put a little time in the bank in the first couple of kilometers before hitting the park.  Shubie park had a mixture of rolling hills, but as we all know, the pushoff on dirt is not the same as on pavement.  I was managing to keep the 2 hour pace bunny in my view so I knew I was keeping an okay pace.  After the first 10, I decided to try and go for a PB...anything under 2:04:00 would get me there.  I was lucky to have my very own cheerleader/pace bike for the back half of the course.  He knew what I wanted to hit and pushed me in the last 5km to get there.  I really am sorry for what I saw when my legs are hurting.  He would say "your legs aren't giving out, your mind is giving up."  I'd reply "Easy to say when you are biking jerk"  The last 2km of the run is around a lake and was spectacular.

Part pain, part determination on my face

I managed to cross the finish line in 1:59:11...finally my under 2-hour half marathon (edited to add:  3rd in my age category) !!!  I celebrated by literally doing a cartwheel across the finish line!! 

The medal is as big as the palm of my hand, and one of the reasons I actually signed up for this half...cause you know...I have priorities.  LOL

There was great post race food with chocolate milk, bagels, watermelon, oranges, and yummy jube jubes!!

I chatted with some friends and then headed home.  My mind was totally not on driving and as I approached our harbour bridge, the 'bridge' police nailed me.  Yup.....it was an expensive day yesterday!

The race was marked well, with ample volunteers and police presence.  It's definitely not an easy course, but a great 1/2 marathon for someone who would like to race locally.  The swag is pretty EPIC as well!  Those who did the 5/10k and then either the 1/2 or 1/4 marathon got 3 medals, tshirts, and an EPIC sweatshirt.  I really want one of the sweatshirts, but there was no way I could have done Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!  I'll definitely do at least some distance at this event each year!!

I came home and rested up as I had a try-a-tri the next day.  Yup...a double weekend for me.  Check in a bit later for my recap on the triathlon.