.I had planned to run Victoria this year for 2 reasons; one, it was my first half marathon 5 years ago in 2008 and two, it was on my 39th birthday. Both seemed like good reasons to travel to one of my favourite races. I even wore my 2008 race shirt! This was my 20th half marathon.
Race day was perfect weather – cool in the morning, but sunny and beautiful. I left my watch and Garmin at home, with a plan to just run. It’s always slow in the first 2k because of the crowds and the number of turns, but it keeps me from going too fast. I settled into a steady, reasonably comfortable pace and just ran. The km seemed to tick by quickly – I missed a few km markers and suddenly came up to the 10km timing mat feeling pretty good. After 10k, the route winds through a residential area before coming back out on Dallas Road around 15k, and I started to pick up the pace a little here. I was disappointed that I missed the beer station – I was on the wrong side of the road when I saw it & couldn’t get over without cutting someone off, so I promised myself a real beer after I finished instead.
When I hit 15k, I made a deal with myself. I would try and hold the same pace through 17k (16k is the last hill, getting to 17k would let me recover a bit) and then I would try to speed up for each of the last 4k. I could tell that I had run the 2nd half faster than the first, but I was still feeling reasonably good. I managed to pass at least 20-30 people in the last 5k, and now I think I finally understand why negative splits are such a good way to pace a race; in addition to feeling physically better during (and after) the race, it’s psychologically very powerful to feel like you’re stronger at the end.
In the end, my finish time was 1:48:43 – not my fastest half, but faster than I was really trained for, so I’m very happy with it. I’ve been mostly keeping up my mileage, but have only run tempo runs or hills sporadically this fall. I ran the first 10k at 5:14/km and the last 11k at 5:06/k - so also my first ever negative split half marathon! My DH also had a great day – he set a half marathon PB (Victoria 2008 was also his first half). They even got good photos of each of us along the course, so we may need to buy one to compare to 2008!
I did the kids’ race with my DD shortly after finishing the half, while GrannieHammie ran with my DS. Both kids had a blast! The kid’s course is new this year, and it’s a big improvement. It no longer overlaps with the marathon finish, and the finish area is in a big parking lot. They added in bouncy castles and face painting with the extra space, and the kids really enjoyed it. My DD managed to run the whole 1.2k without stopping (except to high five a police officer).
The entire trip was a really wonderful time. Spending my birthday and Thanksgiving with my family in such a lovely place and running a race that I love was really fantastic. It only took me 20 halfs to finally figure out pacing, which made this one even more enjoyable. A few more weeks, and then I’m off to NYC with my mother to (finally!) run the NYC marathon with her. It’s been a long time coming & I can’t wait!
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