Great Trek race report

I didn't sleep that well and was up at 5:30 for my pre-race breakfast.  I had a bagel and some Ovaltine.

Rain was no longer in the forecast and the temperature was a bit warmer at 9 degrees.

I arrived at the University of British Columbia just past 7:30 for the 8:30 race start.  I dropped off my bag and walked around, doing some active stretching.  I decided that I was overdressed so I retrieved my bag and took off a layer.  I went to the restroom twice before the race.

I was assigned the Yellow corral based on my 2:15 estimate when I registered for the race.  I knew that was much too pessimistic based upon my training runs so I moved up a bit (so did a lot of others around me) and positioned myself slightly behind the 2:00 pace runner.  In my mind, my real goal was 2:00.

Quarter 1

Once we were off, I followed the 2:00 pacer for a while.  Based on her pace, it looked like she was going to do a steady pace for the whole race.  Because I knew that the first and third quarters of the race were mostly downhill and the second and fourth quarters were uphill (the course was out and back twice), I decided to take advantage of the initial downhill and passed the 2:00 pacer.

Since I knew that I was terrible at drinking while running, I walked briefly at each water station.  I took a swig of Nuun sports drink and some water at each water station.

By the time we reached the first turnaround at around the 1/4 mark, the field had spread out and I was several minutes ahead of the 2:00 pacer.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:31 (a 2:00 half marathon requires a 9:09 average split)

Mile 2 - 8:11

Mile 3 - 8:37

Quarter 2

The second quarter was gently uphill and, not surprisingly, my splits were slightly worse.  I started to feel some groin tightness at around Mile 4 but it wasn't too bad.

The last section of the first lap took us down Main Mall in the heart of the UBC campus.  I chatted for a while with another runner who was also looking to do a sub-2:00 time.  He was doing the Great Trek for the third time and hadn't broken 2:00 yet.  I told him he was in good shape to do it but he warned me about the final quarter of the race being uphill and difficult.

Splits:

Mile 4 - 8:41

Mile 5 - 8:49

Mile 6 - 9:01

Quarter 3

The start of the second lap was again downhill and I was now aware of the whole course so I was determined to take advantage of the gentle down slope.

Splits:

Mile 7 - 8:53

Mile 8 - 8:37

Mile 9 - 8:10

Quarter 4

At the turnaround, I could see that I had extended my lead on the 2:00 pace runner.

I felt relatively strong for the climb to the finish line and I think I passed more runners that those who passed me.  My groin was beginning to bother me a bit more and the balls of my feet were started to feel sensitive (turned out to be blisters developing).  My heart rate started to climb after being relatively steady for most of the race.

I took a bite of an Xact Energy fruit bar for the first time in addition to the Nuun sports drinks and water at the water stations.

To my surprise, I found that I was lapping some slow runners who were still completing their first lap.

I finished strong as I ran through the finish line chute.

Splits:

Mile 10 - 8:56

Mile 11 - 8:58

Mile 12 - 8:57

Mile 13 - 8:52

Finish

My official chip time was 1:53:01 which was a personal best half marathon result.

I was 490th out of 1,295 runners, 356th out of 739 males, and 9th out of 31 males aged 60 through 69.

Week 12

It was time to taper training as the half marathon quickly approached.  The longest run was only 3 miles.  A lot of runners complain about having to taper but I had no problem with the fewer miles.

The weather forecast for race day was calling for light rain and 5 degrees.  I struggled with deciding what to wear.  I decided to go with a couple layers without rain gear.

Running socks were included with the registration and I tried them out on one of the short runs.  I liked the feel and decided to go with them for race day.

When I signed up for the half marathon, I was required to provide an estimated race time.  Since I was basically starting from scratch, I put down 2:15.  I hoped that was pessimistic.  My previous two half marathons were done in 1:56:48 and 1:57:59 and I still held out hope of a sub-2 hour time even though I'm 14 years older than my last race. 

I was happy to see that my VO2 Max continued to rebound and was back up to 39.9.

Week 11

My half marathon is now less than a week away and tapering has begun.  The long run this week was only 7 miles.

I'm happy with the last couple weeks of training but I still think the runs lost to vacation and illness have set me back.

My VO2 Max is still recovering and is now up to 39.5.

Week 10

I got back on track and completed the scheduled runs.  However, I continued to use the strength training days as rest days.

This was the peak workout week and the long run was 10 miles.

My VO2 Max is recovering from the setbacks from the vacation and illness.  It fell to 37.9 (from a peak of 40.6) and is now back to 38.8.

CIBC Run for the Cure

The CIBC Run for the Cure is an annual fund-raising event in support of breast cancer research.  I had run it a couple times in the past to support friends with breast cancer.

I decided to do it again this year, even before it took on much more personal reasons.  Before we went on our last vacation, my wife had her regular, bi-annual mammogram.  The results came back with some suspicious calcification and she took an ultrasound when we returned.  She was immediately scheduled for a biopsy and at this point we're still waiting for the results.  We're hopeful it's benign but it's just a reminder of how close breast, and all cancers, can hit to home.

The run is 5K but it's not a timed event.  Based on my watch, I did the 5K in 25:31.

I even made it onto a couple of the evening newscasts.

Week 9

Vacation done - check
Recover from stomach flu - check
Ready to resume full training schedule - wait. what?

I thought that, again, I'd be able to get a full week's training done but it wasn't to be.  This time, I woke up a bit lightheaded and any time I bent over it felt like I was about to faint.  My blood pressure was lower than I ever remember it being recorded.  Of course, that meant taking another day off.

I resumed training on Tuesday with a race pace run.  I decided to do it outdoors, the first time off the treadmill in far too long.  I tried out my new FlipBelt to hold my phone and keys.  It works as well as all the online reviews say it does.  

The dizziness resurfaced on Wednesday and I was forced to skip the remaining training runs scheduled for the week.  My hopes of a sub-2:00 half marathon were slipping away.