Half Marathon #7 – Complete!
Given my complete absence from the blog since the day before the half marathon, you are probably thinking that I collapse in a giant heap along the route. Well, I am happy to report that this was not the case ((You are probably sick of hearing me whine about being too busy to blog, so I’m only putting the whining here in the footnote. Footnotes are smaller and, thus, less annoying!))! I did, in fact, complete the Victoria half marathon on Sunday, the seventh time I have accomplished such a feat ((Well, technically it’s the 8th time I’ve run a distance of 21.1 km, because one time when Alicia and I were training and set out to run our 20 km run, we got lost and ended up running 22 km! But it was the 7th time I’d done it in an actual race.))!
Given my limited amount of training ((And the extra 15 lbs that I’m carrying around with me and just can’t seem to lose.)), I went into the race with a goal of just finishing, rather than trying to have a really stellar time. And so I wasn’t close to my personal best or anything, I did manage to finish in 2:18:01, which is respectable enough, if not anything to write home about.
Also, despite it not being my best race every performance-wise, it was one of the best races I’ve had enjoyment-wise. The day was sunny and warm – which is pretty much a miracle for Victoria in October – and the route of the Victoria half is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, it’s been gorgeous the two times I’ve run it in the rain, but running it in the sun was out of this world. I spent pretty much the entire race with a giant grin. My legs had a mind of their own for the first ~14 km – they just ran and ran and ran without me thinking twice about it. After that point, they kind of felt like lead, but I didn’t care. By that point, my brain was in full “let’s get this thing done!” mode and anytime I noticed myself slowing down, I just concentrated on my stride and kept on going. I didn’t have as much left in the tank at the end of the run as I usually do, but I managed a sprint for the last 100m or so.
Devon also ran the race, and he would have easily beat me if not for his pesky IT band, which decided at ~the 16 km that it didn’t want him to run anymore, so he limped the last 5 km. I’d seen him earlier in the run at a place where the route doubles back on itself, so you see some of the runners who are ahead of you ((And then later you see the runners who are behind you.)) and he had a giant grin on his face and looked like he was having a blast. Then I passed him at ~19 km where he was sadly limping along and looking much more grumpy. But he still managed to finish in 2:22:14, so I’m sure the next race he’ll kick my butt. In my defence, he is almost an entire foot taller than me.
Two other things of note from this race:
- before the race, I saw a women who was about 8 months pregnant getting ready to run the half. She had a headband that said, “Suck it up, cupcake!” When my legs started to feel like lead, I just reminded me self of exactly that!
- some lawyer from Victoria set the world’s record for the fastest marathon run in a business suit, finishing the full marathon in 2:35! I saw him running at a point where the marathon route and the half marathon route merge and he was in about 6th place at that time, which is where he ended up. 6th freaking place running in a business suit! I may have started cheering for him as he ran by. I really need to learn how to do a wolf whistle for exactly this type of occasion.
I’m addicted to race medals!
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