Half Marathon #5 – COMPLETE!!

So, remember how I was aiming for 2 hr 15 mins half marathon?  I finished today’s half marathon in 2:07:23!!

My previous best time was 2:19:03, which means I managed to shave off 12 minutes and 20 seconds from my best time (and 16 minutes and 30 seconds off the time of the half marathon I ran just three months ago). A-mazing!  And it was a most enjoyable run too – I was in the zone for much of the run and while I was vaguely aware of the fact that my body was getting tired, I was in such a positive mood and knew that I could keep up the extra fast pace I was running, even though my body was telling me otherwise. I usually run my long runs around a 6:30-7:00 mins per km, and I ran this race at a 6:03 mins per km pace, so by the time I got about 12 km, my body was saying “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up!” and my brain said, “Shut up, body! No one asked you! We can do this!!”  When I hit the 1/2 way mark, I checked my watch and I’d only been running for 1 hr and 2 minutes, and I was totally shocked! I mean, I was aiming for a 2:15 finish and here I was on pace for a 2:04! I knew I was pushing it and there was a stretch near the end where you were running by the water and there was a very strong headwind that was tough, but I kept telling myself, “I know you can do this!!” When I’ve run half marathons in the past, where I’ve not been trying to achieve a certain time, I’ve always had some fuel left in the tank and managed to speed up for the last 1-2 km. This time, it took everything I had to keep up the pace I was running, until I was a few hundred metres from the finish line, and once I saw that word “FINISH” in big white letters, I dug down and found the energy to make a final sprint to the end!  And it felt sooo good!  Also really good, the chocolate milk that we grabbed at the food tent. Best. Chocolate Milk. Ever!

Post race!

Alicia and I after the Victoria Half Marathon! We are teh awesome!

Special props to my running buddy, Alicia! She also ran a personal best today, obliterating her previous record as well.  She’s the one who suggested we challenge ourselves with a goal this time and she inspired me to push to my limit! This is her second half marathon since her baby was born and her baby is only eight months old! You rock, Alicia!

Thanks also to Simmi & Rummi, who drove us from the ferry to Victoria, put us up at their house last night, and then drove us to the race this morning! You guys are awesome!  Also, props to my parents, my sister, and Kalev who all watched the live stream of the race hoping to see me cross the finish line. I’m sorry that they kept moving the camera so that all your watching was for naught! But it’s the thought that counts and I very much appreciate it!

And thanks to Danielle, who came out to cheer us on, picked us up after the race, let us use her shower, drove us to the ferry, joined us for the ferry ride and with whom I then spent an enjoyable afternoon hanging out in the sunshine at the ferry terminal until she headed back on the ferry with another friend who was doing some holiday weekend traveling. You are an amazing friend, Dani!

Comments |4|

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Legend *) Required fields are marked
**) You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>