Half Marathon today

I ran the Sunshine Coast April Fool's Half Marathon today, and decided to write on update on the return ferry ride. Here it is!

It was an early morning, as I had to catch a 7:20am ferry from West Vancouver, requiring me to wake up at 5am, and be out of the house by 5:30 so I'd have time to go to the bank, get gas, and drive from Whistler.

I was in good time, and parked at the ferry terminal. The race organizers had buses to pick us up at the terminal and drive us to the start line. This enables racers to pay $12 for a round-trip walk-on fare, instead of taking your car on and paying at least $60.

I had a good warm up, and was feeling mentally strong. My goal was to run a 1:30:00 over the 21.1KM route, which is about a 4:15/KM pace.

I was on pace until 14K, when we began a large series of hills that lasted until about 17.5K. By 18K, my race was over. I could barely keep moving, and knew my goal was unattainable. Other runners were picking me off with ease, and I was powerless to stop them. As Kir would say, my eggs were cracked. I was passed by so many people in the last three K!

I crossed the line in 1:36:02, which I'm still quite happy with. I was focused for the whole race, and kept my pace where it should have been for two thirds of the distance. I wasn't physically or mentally prepared for the massive hills, and they were my undoing.

My splits were:

5K-20:33
10K-41:47
15K-1:04:31
20K-1:29:52
21.1K-1:36:02

My first 5K was run in about the same time, or faster, than I ran the St. Patrick's Day 5K a month ago, so I'm quite satisfied with that, as it shows I was running well at the beginning. I ran my last 1.1K in 6:10, which shows how I was feeling by the end! There was nothing left at all, and I tried really hard not to stop and dive into the bushes for a wee snooze.

It was a great race though, and all the runners were really friendly. Three people came up to me at the end of the race to see how I did, as they passed me in the last 5K. They all liked my yellow shirt as it gave them something to focus on.

This race reminded me why running is so great. There's no attitude, everyone's friendly, and things aren't very competitive. At my level, everyone is competing only against themselves, and enjoy talking running after the race.

I'm going to drive home now, and have a long nap! My body hurts, I have a headache, and I'm tired.