Race Report: 2008 Victoria Half Marathon

Pre Race

Matt and I had the most stereotypical pre-race evening imaginable. We had a carbo load dinner of pasta with tomato sauce and steamed broccoli and then watched Spirit of the Marathon on DVD. I went to bed remarkably calm and not nervous. I think this was because this wasn’t an A race for me and I ran the race last year so I knew what to expect logistically.

I woke up at 5:30 am on Sunday morning and ate my usual pre-race breakfast of oats, half a banana, green tea and water. At 6:00 am I watched the start of the Chicago Marathon online and then at about 6:35 am I left Matt’s apartment for the 20-minute walk down to the start line. The weather was cool and cloudy so I wore shorts and a long sleeved technical shirt with a technical tank top underneath. I had lots of time at the race start to do a light warm-up jog, some stretching, eat a gel and still be in the starting corrals about 20 minutes before the race start. I lined up right in front of the 2 hour pace sign and waited to start my seventh half marathon!

I should mention that I finally (after almost two years) figured out the right screens to have displayed on my Garmin while I race. First I turn off auto-lap and hit the lap button on my own at each km marker. On my main screen I have Time (stopwatch time) in big and then below it Distance and Time – Avg Lap (average time to complete each lap so far). The last one is critical. If you use Pace – Avg Lap it will throw you off because the distance the Garmin measures is never exactly the same as the mile/km markers on the course and they’re what really count.

km 1-5 in 27:27 (5:29 min/km)

The announcer at the start told us that this year’s half marathon was the largest sporting event on Vancouver Island. I became acutely aware of this during the first mile of the course as I wove through slower runners and walkers. My first km came in a 5:56 and in hindsight that probably made me speed up a bit too much in subsequent km in an attempt to get down to 5:41. I missed the km 4 marker again this year as I was walking through a water stop. I felt pretty good through the first 5 km. I was pushing the pace comfortably and my legs felt good.

km 6-10 in 27:52 (5:34 min/km)

The second 5 km section was mostly run in circles in and around Beacon Hill Park. There were a few notable hills that I purposely slowed to climb. I don’t like getting passed on the uphills but I dislike destroying my legs even more. I forced myself to take a gel and a walk break at km 8 (mile 5) even though I was feeling good and didn’t want to stop. Towards the end of this section we turned onto Dallas Road and enjoyed a long decline. Unfortunately what went down would later have to come up!

km 11-15 in 28:02 (5:36 min/km)

As we turned off Dallas Road and into the neighbourhoods we could see the faster half marathoners coming at us. I am thrilled to report that there were no crazy crossing issues like last year. I think the problem was solved with extra pylons and “keep left” signs. After km 12 I look a walk/water break and decided to take off my long sleeved shirt and just wear the tank. Even though it was probably only 8C I was getting overheated! I’d purposely pinned my race bib to my shorts to give myself this option. Somewhere in this section there was a beer stop! I declined because I’m pretty sure my stomach would not handle that well! There was also a house playing Chariots of Fire on repeat which was great fun to run by.

km 16-20 in 28:02 (5:36 min/km)

By the time this section started I was definitely starting to tire. Although they didn’t really hurt my legs were protesting. They felt slow and tight especially up the hill next to Clover Point. I saw the marathon leaders go by and I tried to harness their focus and form! I took another gel and walk break at km 16 (mile 10) and from there I was focused on getting to the finish time. I was moving well but the last few km seemed to last forever. Fortunately I’m very familiar with this stretch of road so I was able to pick a series of landmarks to use as short term goals.

km 20-21.1 in 5:37 min

During the last 1.1 km I just kept telling myself to git ‘er done. I knew I was going to beat 2 hours handily by chip time. I put on a bit of a finishing sprint to beat 2 hours by gun time and crossed the finish line with a smile on my face. Hey, I did set a new age group PB!

Finish Time 1:57:00 (5:32 min/km or 8:55 min/mile)

Post Race

Immediately following the race I felt pretty good. But not so good that I would have been up for continuing and running another 13.1 miles! I’ve still got 7 weeks of training and the benefit of a taper to get me through the marathon. I averaged 8:55 min/mile which is a little faster that the 9:09 min/mile I’m going to need to break 4 hours in the marathon. Given the results of this half I’m not changing my primary goal but I have a very realistic idea what it’s going to take to get me there.

Place overall: 1664/4266 (61.0th percentile)

Place in gender: 697/2673 (73.9th percentile)

Place in age group (F3034): 114/375 (69.6th percentile)

Placing is based on gun time (1:59:43) and includes walkers.