My first solo race: a half-marathon

Yesterday, I ran the Vancouver half-marathon. It was the first time I have ever raced without Jean-Louis beside me. When I registered myself, I figured he didn't need the extra training since he bikes and runs much more than me on a regular basis. Somewhat lucky for him though, when I woke up at 5AM on race day, he still got to sleep :)

Jean-Louis and Tristan came out to cheer me on around the 21KM mark. Yes, near the end! It was great to see them and to see Tristan holding the "Go Mommy Go" sign.

So how was the run? Beautiful, well organized, and was a bit of a wake up call for me. Here are my results:

Chip	Pace	Category Place	Gender Place
1:50:23	5:14	102/747	586/5242

I am in a new age category this time! Yes, I'm getting old. I ran three minutes faster back in October but then I was probably around 10 pounds lighter. This time around I was also recovering from a cold and sprained ankle. They didn't really get in the way of the run but maybe it would have made a difference overall. I ran my hardest and it felt very difficult at times. It's almost like I didn't train enough but maybe it's because I was still under the weather. I don't know. At one time, my legs felt like iron and I ran up a small hill super slow. Aw, I hate when that happens! The hill just before the 14KM mark was the worst.

I'm impressed with the new race courses. We ran from Queen Elizabeth Park, down to Chinatown, into Yaletown, then English Bay, then Stanley Park, and finished downtown. It was a beautiful sunny day and the route was very scenic. The race was also well organized because there were water stations every few kilometers and also cheering and music stations. Nothing was forgotten! My last Vancouver half-marathon was very different. We came by water stations that had no one there and no water. I was sweating up a storm during this race and I drank water at every station. It helped me run just a bit faster each time. At the end of the race, we all received a medal and then a paper bag lunch. I really like the paper bag lunch idea. In the past, I noticed people were taking more than their share of food and then stuffing them in their backpacks to take home. Horrible.

Although I'm a bit disappointed in my results, I'm glad to have just made it as well. I actually spent most of last week on Cold-FX:( Also, I feel so fat these days. Some times I wonder how I can even run with all this load on my body. Lol. Jean-Louis took a picture of me running by him and it was one of the most unflattering shots of me. I'm so embarrassed:( It was somewhat of a wake up call for me. I seriously need to take off at least 5 pounds before the next race. I think if I do, I will automatically improve my time by a few minutes, even without any extra training. Extra baggage is not a good thing runners! Gah.

Well, the half-marathon is now behind me. Time to look ahead and find improvement. Next up? Victoria FULL marathon this October. All 42KM of it. Yikes. (Deep swallow). We're registered so there is no turning back now!