Calgary Half Marathon 2013, a PB despite the melodrama :)

So, the plan: seeing as my PB of 1:26:48 was set on a hilly course (Harvest Half last September), I decided to pace myself for a 1:26:00. However, any PB would do, and if not that I feel that a half has gone well if I can add to my collection of sub-90 minute performances.

In direct contrast with California in December, race day took place in a good weather window after heavy rain for the previous 3 days. Slightly chilly at sunrise, newcomers were easily spotted: dressed appropriately for standing still at the start line at 6:45am. They would all be literally wearing their regret later.

There was some kind of Zumba dance at the start line - one of the group came up to me to dance a bit, and all I needed was 3 seconds to show why I'm a runner. 

There were 4 or 5 Kenyans who do this race, I took a few steps back from Kip Kangogo (won the half) and Bernard Onsare (won the full) so as not to get in their way. Compact yet lanky frames, I felt like saying hi but didn't want to disturb them for their pre-race thoughts.

A tidy getaway with my camera facing backwards, by the Saddledome 300 metres or so later it was time for my annual standing appointment with Adam, this year with a more aerodynamic haircut. Going for a 1:20, I would loved to have joined him, but that's under my 5k pace. 

The world-record attempting group of 10 tethered runners were doing the full marathon at a slightly slower pace than my half. Most of them had individually done 2:40. "Any of you have those shoes with wheels on the soles?" was the wittiest thing I could think of. 

Just after 3k near the zoo, is the steepest incline, a c-train travelling parallel to the course gave a blast on his horn. A few spectators by this time were saying things about my camera, Team GB top or even quickly reading my bib and encouraging me by name. Always a nice touch. 

The course has been tweaked this year from last year's broad departure from the old one. There are fewer corners, crossing the downtown core is now 3.5k all along 11th ave. There was a nice breeze along here, and just after passing photomeister Neil, the full marathon course branched off. Unfortunately the 2 solid "pacemakers" I had chosen went off on that course. Next time I'll make sure to draw level so I can see the bib and check they're doing the same distance.

 

Kensington Road is a welcome addition to this year's course. If 17th avenue can be added then it would be perfect. Just after that is a right turn on Memorial Drive and the turnaround just under 2k later. Kip Kangogo flashed past the other way, 4k in front of me just as I passed 2 girls who saw my camera and said "I've always wanted to do that." It's great, but the editing takes forever. 

After the turnaround, it was quite a lonely run east along Memorial Drive. There seemed to be no-one within 100 metres of me.

At 17k, I felt a twinge in the hamstrings which is familiar to me from all 3 of my full marathons and one half. About 5 seconds up on 1:26:00 pace, I felt 4k was a little far out to maintain it. I decided to back off just a bit and get the PB anyway but with less risk. 

Threading through 10k runners who got in the way from time to time (though not too bad and much improved over previous years), tightness in the legs came and went. 

At the 20k sign they got a little tighter, and I tried to keep them a little straighter. Not far to go. With the Stampede Stadium in sight, all that remained was a left curve, about 75m, then a right and another 75m or so. Getting to the right hander, my right hamstring cramped and pulled me up. Not one step further. A quick deep stretch and I glance at my watch I said to myself, probably out loud, "can still get a PB". Rounding that last corner, I made for the line in lopsided fashion as fast as I safely dared, quasi-Terry Fox style.

As I crossed the line to see the clock giving me a PB by 4 seconds, I did the Mobot and let out what I would like to think was a roar, though it might have been more of a meow. Such melodrama. 

Doing a few more stretches after the line, I was fine to walk afterwards. 

1:26:44, and a PB it is. No matter what, disappointment is not allowed. If on the other hand I had missed it by a few seconds, that would've been annoying. Motivation is what comes from the "what might've been" part of the race. I have a few ideas, such as more hills in my training and negative splitting my next half - matching PB pace then accelerating for the last 10k. 

A great occasion once again, the Calgary Marathon weekend gets bigger and better every year. Next year is the 50th anniversary, and I have my eye on a 3:10 in the full, using the Hanson method.

Peak week done, thoughts on California International Marathon

I felt felt a touch burned out after sunday's long run. This coming week is only a little less workload than that just gone, but the easing off should start the build-up towards race-day energy levels. Snow and cold inevitably slows you down. There's the weight, drag and resistance of the extra clothing, the loss of efficiency from the low temperatures and loss of traction (both in slipping and snow absorbing the energy being put into the ground that would otherwise go into more forward motion). Feeling rather flat, I made my sunday run time-based instead of distance - 2 hours 45 minutes.

 

"Trust the process" is a mantra I've read and practiced for training. I felt rather wiped before the Harvest Half, with the feeling of speed and strength only coming to me a few days before the race. Look how that turned out:)

Last marathon I did, Calgary in May, I aimed for 3:10 and got 3:20:47 having to stretch 4 times (though still a 9 minute PB in my second marathon). For CIM on December 2, and with a watch that doesn't seem to have a "too fast" warning, I'll set it for 3:20:00, and pull slightly ahead of it. Gaining one minute every 8.5k will add up to a 3:15. I'd like this 3rd marathon of mine to not involve having to stop and stretch at all. Most vitally of all, I should finish one more race with the Mobot.

Harvest Half Marathon race report

It doesn't get any better than the Harvest Half Marathon for me. Of the races I'd planned out for this year, this is the one I most wanted to do well at. The weather looked like being ideal, 13 degrees to start, which feels a little colder than it really is at this time of year. It allowed me to line up in a singlet without gloves and not even shiver. The aim was simply to beat my half PB of 1.28:01, set here last year.

 

 

The atmosphere is always light, here I am trying "the beast", though I look more like a jumpy squirrel. Finally got my hands on an official Canada top too.

Rich was in the race again, the 2 of us looking to see what would happen this year. Our elite conference at the start line: "shall we make sure we win the race to the first crossroads?" "Yes, let's own the 30 metre podium."

 

 

Mission accomplished in consecutive years, blaizing a fun but pointless trail. Like last year, dialing it back soon after a few went past. My heart rate monitor went plop down to my waist at that point, so while pulling it back up I looked like I was doing the funky chicken. The belt for my bottles was also loose, so had to tighten that too, and straighten my number which was sticking right out, arrow shaped. Got all that done to see that the only change this year to the course was the road after passing through the 2 boulders had been completed.

 

 

After 2k began the hill(s) up to the Fish Creek Park entrance. That 3.5k seemed to go on longer than it actually did, though my printed wristband had me right on time.

 

 

The reward is the park, with its rolling and twising route that loses all that gained elevation for the next 12km. The very first part is a downhill charge on gravel, and when I slipped a little ended up having to run short and very quick steps so the legs could catch up with the rest of me. This is one of the few sections of the course that I don't run on during the rest of the year.

 

 

I got a few metres in front of Rich here, and started to reel in the next runner ahead, wearing orange. I was with him by the time Votier flats came up at 10 k, I recall my watch saying 41:43.

The signs and my watch didn't agree on distance, so I thought I'd pay less attention to it, finishing time in the published results is the main thing. On straighter parts I could see 7 other runners in front, good motivation. I went past the guy in orange, hearing his shoes "slapping" on the ground.

 

 

Halfway and my watch said 43:14. Was I really on course for a 1.26? Another question 1 or so k later before getting to a crest was "have I bitten off more than I can chew?"

 

 

It made me hesitate to pass the next guy, in a dark blue "UBC" top. Rich caught up with me at that point, and had at least one other person with him, so I thought I would be the pacer and overtook the BC guy, whose speed was going up and down a bit, despite a fine running style. Several of us passed a tall, fairly strongly built guy in red at about the same time, I had guessed that being less wiry would affect his pace late on. Rich passed me soon after, looking strong. He said later he had started to feel his legs coming back to him, though he wasn't completely sure why or how.

 

 

My printed wristband came off, though just before it did I memorised the target time for 18k, which would be after Sikome Hill: 1.15:04. I had been about 1:40 ahead at 15k. Rich was getting ahead, and I struggled to keep up. "Toes and tailbone" I told myself: a reminder to keep my toes down, and lift my tailbone up, for a more efficient posture.

A couple of hundred metres before Sikome Hill, I and many others ahead dropped our pace to gain a bit of energy.

 

 

I went slower than several of them going at a speed that felt as hard as running on flat ground just before. What might have helped me for this hill was the fact that it is run on the road, rather than the pathway just to the right which is at a steeper angle. Hill training for 2 months prior also.
While I had planned to accelarate over the crest of the hill, regaining my speed was rather more gradual than anticipated, though still quicker than last year. I passed another runner, and gradually joined Rich again. Passing 18k, my watch said 1.14:09. Keep pushing, and sub-1.27 might be on the cards.

Passing the "one mile to go" sign, Rich said, "got a 4 minute mile in you?" I had very little left I said, he said the same. The 20k sign sits at the point where the course leaves the road and joins the pathway to the finish. I surged here to avoid both of us going through this bottleneck side by side. There's also a 2 or so metre incline here. I let out a loud groan as I went up it, hearing Rich laugh behind me.

 

 

I thought I'd then catch the next 2 runners, and I slowly brought the gap down. Rounding the last corner and past a mound that reveals the finish line, I thought, "I'll sprint past this one guy". However, my right hamstring tightened a bit, and I felt it might pull me up.

 

 

I knew it wasn't worth it, and I relaxed into the finish.

Thanks to Kristi for this photo

 

 

Spotting A-Chang I did the "Mobot", made famous by Mo Farrah. I think I heard a few laughs, though that might have been the sound of me getting my breath back. "Was that the Mobot?" one of the timing guys asked.

My time was a hugely satisfying 1.26:48. The entire way I had run at what for me was a comfortable 10k pace, couldn't have gone a second quicker. I must've lost track of my race position too, as the results had me further up than I thought: 7th. Age group placing? 6th. Damn you, most competitive age group.

Major kudos to the legendary Rich. When I found him a little later, I got to tell him that he'd won his age group.

 

 

I had said that if I PB'd I would do the "Lightening Bolt". Marks for effort rather than style perhaps, though I had made a legally binding promise which I had to keep. Wouldn't want to jinx the next race, would I?