I came, I saw, I ran. I ran faster than last year but not enough to make my goal of under 3 hours. There is just something about this race where I cannot get a decent time, no matter which distance I choose. It might be the insanely packed traffic for the first 3km, or it might be the hills, oh zee hills that never end. Either way I clearly have some work to do in the coming months. It has also strengthened my resolve to run another race in October.
The morning started out with a bit of a hiccup. I thought I could catch the last transit bus to the start line but in the mystical wisdom that is Metro Transit, the bus never came. With 45 minutes to go I started speed walking to the start, thankfully only 3km away. When I got there I meandered around, passively looking for a porta potty but finding none. I lined up behind the 2:40 Half pace bunny, optimistic about my chances. After a minute or so of standing around I got a sharp poke in my back. Turning around I saw a women with some of her friends staring back at me. "You know you're supposed to wear your bib on your tummy or it won't read the chip." I looked down at my bid, pinned to my shorts (like usual). "Oh?" I said, half amused but also slightly irritated, "I haven't heard that one before. I'll be fine, this isn't my first race." then I turned around. Holy hell I thought. Who bothers to be such a busy-body? Then I wondered if she was going to pay such a public service to the people wearing their bibs on their backs? By then the cannon had gone off and we were setting off up the road. I kept pace with my 2:30 pace bunny (I was getting really ambitious), but by the 4km mark and a huge hill, I fell back with the 2:40 crew. I didn't manage to stick with them longer than a kilometer but by then I ran into my husband and daughter who were cheering from the sidelines. I gave them a kiss and kept trucking. Since the first big hill I had developed a side stitch. It stuck with me for the next 4km but slowly went away at the 10km mark. I met up with my family again at the 10km mark, were I got a much needed apple sauce packet. From there my time slid and I started feeling the distance in my legs. By the 13km mark I was really struggling to keep a good pace going. But I rallied and tried to stick to my pace as best as possible as I climbed hill after hill. I saw my family one last time before I headed back up the long Cow Bay road towards the 18km mark. I was glad to see the last aid station as it was being manned by some of my fellow dance parents and their kids. One of the kids even ran me through the last aid station and kept my spirits up just as they were starting to get a bit defeated (I thanked her Mom later). Then it was all downhill to the shore again. With 3km left a lady ran up beside me. I decided (and I think so did she) we'd run together to the finish. We chatted about the race, about some of the faster runners and how short both of our training had been over the summer. She was a really nice lady from Bridgewater. We stuck together right to the finish line. Those race friends are always a treat to have, especially at that point when you just want someone to take your mind off of the discomfort and the distance. Cheers, lady from Bridgewater, I'm sorry I didn't get your name!
The best part of the race was that my knee didn't hold me back (much). I only felt pain around the 18km mark, when suddenly my kneecap felt like it doubled in size. It didn't really do that, it just felt like I had two kneecaps. I tried to block out the sensation since it wasn't causing me pain. My short, tired stride at that point must have helped.
Overall it was a good race day. The weather couldn't have been better and the course had lots of support. There were a few issues I hope the RD looks into for next year; namely that start when you have all 4000 people running through a very narrow road for 3km. Maybe stagger the start so we aren't arm wrestling at aid stations or spending 10 minutes zigzagging through crowds? Also, what was up with NO fluids at the finish? I mean that's kind of dangerous isn't it? I walked around looking for something to drink but was only offered a sample of pickle juice (um yeah, I passed on that). The only post-race food I could find was some dry bagels and samples from vendors. Thankfully someone offered me an apple and it was the best one I'd ever had. For the cost of the race some H2O at the finish would have been appreciated. But like I said, no issues came up that ruined the day. I'll still be back next year, trying to better this year's time.
No comments:
Post a Comment