Almost two weeks since the Ottawa Half Marathon and I am finally writing about it. Maybe the 5 K in Kingston was a turning point because the half marathon was a very, very good run/race for me. Much better than I expected, much "less worse" than I feared. How much better? Well, 1:41:07 better! Only 11 seconds slower than my PB from six years ago, definitely a PB on a certified course, and in the top 2% of my age group. Wow. A tremendous boost.

Details:

The weather was forecast to be warm and sunny, and that's exactly what it was. About 16 C at the 9:00 a.m. start, and up to around 20 C by the last stages. Given that my last pre-race run was early morning, 5 C and windy, starting out too cold in a long-sleeved shirt, race day weather was a real shock to the system. And there is not a lot of shade on the Ottawa course (although there is at least some). With the sun beating down and the road reflecting up, it was warmer than I like for the entire race.

The start was pretty smooth, a little stop and go before we crossed the timing mat, but despite the packed corrals the group spread out pretty quickly, and I don't recall feeling crowded or boxed in for more than a few seconds here and there. Although the weather was quite different, it was a nostalgia trip to be running the same route as last year's marathon. Past the Parliament Buildings, around the corner down to the bridge, up the slight rise on the other side... What I had not remembered was that after the slight uphill from the start line and a little bit of flat in front of the Parliament Buildings, there was a lot of gradual downhill during the first part of the course, even before the turn to the bridge, and that was a nice way to start.

As for pacing - kind of like Kingston, I had just decided to "run how it felt", try to have no expectations beyond a "solid run". With "solid run" pretty much undefined, meaning "I'll know it's a solid run if it feels like a solid run". Not exactly scientific or particularly motivational, but then again it didn't have to work for anyone but me.

I wasn't wearing the Garmin (DH had it), just my running watch so I could track the pace for each km, and at the beginning things got a little mixed up. Firstly, I didn't realise that the marathon and half marathon had different signs, didn't remember that from last year, and just hit the lap button when we passed the first km sign. Glanced at the time, which was 4:16, and knew that wasn't possible based on how I was feeling. Then a little later saw the "1 km - half marathon" sign and at that point the time was 5:02, much more reasonable. Unfortunately I hit a few buttons wrong over the next couple of km, but at the end of 3 km the total time was 14:34.

So, pretty good, a sub 5:00 min/km pace, and despite the heat I was feeling pretty solid. Of course, there had been all that long gradual downhill! I think it was about that point that I noticed a woman in front of me, older than me but running very strongly, and although I'm not very competitive it did occur to me that if I wanted to be running well when I reached that age, I needed to be running well at this age! So I didn't actually try to catch up or pass her, but it was a motivation to keep things going.

My memory of the hills in Gatineau was pretty good, and again there was some downhill there that I'd forgotten. And somewhere in Gatineau - not clear on the distance - I caught up to the other woman and passed her. Not a bad thing :)

I wasn't carrying any GU2O, only salt tablets and a "just in case" gel, and my first water stop was at the station just past the 8 km point, where I also took a salt tablet. Of course I had to slow down for that, and the woman I'd passed went zooming by! Again, I didn't try to catch up, but did keep running a pretty good pace myself, and I think passed her on the bridge back to Ottawa.

At the 9 km mat my time was 42:05, and that kind of surprised me. At that point I was definitely feeling the heat, a little lower on energy, and not looking forward to the gradual but long climb up Sussex. I remembered walking part of it during the marathon, since it was gel time and if you have to walk, why not do it on a hill, but there was no such excuse this time. Plus, there was a small chance that my FIL and/or MIL could have been there to see me go by, and I didn't want to be walking if they were! So I did slow down, but got up the hill in a kind of plodding run, and then the course ran along the canal with lots of gradual downhill and flat stretches.

So my pace picked up again, back to sub-5:00/kms, and again it was rather nostalgic to be running the same course. Not that I had much time for nostalgic thoughts - too busy trying to rise above the heat and keep going. Somewhere around the 14 km point I stopped for water and another salt tablet, plus mixed a little Gatorade in the water for a little energy jolt, so it was an extended water break, and wouldn't you know it the same woman went zooming by again! I had another water break near the end of that side of the canal, also had a little Gatorade there, and that wasn't so smart. No big digestive issues but my entire GI tract sent out an unhappy message so I decided no more Gatorade if even that little bit was going to be trouble.

At some point before crossing the canal I passed the woman and I don't recall seeing her after that, which doesn't mean that I didn't but there is no picture in my mind.

On the way down the canal there was some headwind, and I kind of had mixed feelings about it. The cooling air movement was definitely welcome. However, it was strong enough that I needed to fight it a bit, and that wasn't so great; I remember saying to the guy beside me as a gust hit, "When do we get a tailwind?!" At this point it was really feeling like a tough race, mostly due to the heat, partly because I was "running it hard". Periodically I would slow down a little, thinking the pace was not sustainable, but then would end up speeding up again. And that was okay. Somewhere past 16 km is the point where the route crosses the canal. Just a little hill, nothing special, but it felt bigger. I remember slowing, and cursing the sun and lack of shade, and thinking that trail running at a slower pace out in the forest might be a nicer way to run in the summer!

And then we were running along the other side of the canal, passed the 17 km marker, and I was telling myself that it was "only" 4 more km, that this was much easier than a marathon, and so on. The 17 km to 18 km stretch felt pretty long (although according to my watch it was 4:37, so really not long at all), which is the 38 km to 39 km point of the marathon, which I remember as agonizingly long last year. Is there something special about that stretch of asphat?!? I think it was shortly before the 18 km point that a guy I'd chatted with in the start corral went flying past me and shouted out, "Looking good!" and of course that provided a temporary energy boost.

In the interest of full disclosure I need to note that since the second Gatorade my mushy guts had periodically been sending distress signals. Not Boston-level, but enough that there were a couple of times where I slowed down to bring things back to normal. This was not exactly making me happy, and I'm blaming the Gatorade. For some reason I got away with it at ATB, and through the last stretch of Boston, but it clearly does not agree with me.

Anyway, at the 18 km point my time was 1:26:10 and with that short a stretch to go, a new PB (or my old one) was in sight. That was not the way I'd expected the day to turn out, and in the end it didn't, not quite. The last water station was just past 18 km, and I thought about skipping it, but really needed some water. Then, as I tried to pick up the pace after the quick water break, my GI tract sent out a big "NO!" and I had to take it easy for a bit. By this point I was definitely tired, but wanted to keep it going for a strong finish, and although the last stretch was tough and I didn't have much extra "kick" until past the "750 m to go" point, I am pretty happy with my times through there: 18 - 19: 5:02.67 (includes water break), 19 - 20: 4:45.46, 20 - 21.1: 5:08.41.

And so at the finish line my watch was 1:41.06, vs the official time of 1:41.07, and I was one very happy camper! After all the dread, the nerves, the self-doubt, this turned out to be my best distance race this year. It was, overall, a tough one, no doubt because it was at a pace that pushed me, but OTOH it clearly wasn't impossible. Not to mention that it was done in heat and sun, which I know slowed me down at times. Not just in a general sense, but because there were times I ran the outside of a curve, just to get the little bit of shade available there. Or slowed up a bit through shade or under bridges, for the same reason. So at the risk of being just too, too full of myself (because after all a 1:41 half isn't exactly champion territory), I was really thrilled with my body's ability to get that kind of time. And of course immediately the wheels were spinning, with thoughts like, "If I can do that in these conditions, could I possibly get a new PB on a flat course in the early morning?"

Which, of course, would be Scotiabank. Except that I've registered for the marathon there. Details of that some other time.

Back to Ottawa... Unlike last year, the finishing chutes were moving quickly, the recovery area wasn't crowded, and so I was able to keep moving around and prevent any cramping tendencies my legs might have had. I was watching for someone from the RR forum who I had missed at the start but knew should be finishing around the same time; had just about given up, figuring she'd been ahead of me, when I spotted her bib number and that was pretty neat. Loved meeting her and her husband. Just before that, I bumped into my original ART person, who had just finished the half, and that was nice as well.

I was expecting DH to be about a half hour behind me and started to worry when he didn't appear in our pre-arranged meeting place, thinking that the heat had really done him in or something. As it turned out, he was caught in the chutes/recovery area. He also had a very good race - just a minute slower than Kingston - so was pretty pleased with himself. Especially because he had also found it too hot and had gone through his own battles to keep going.

As before, we went to the local Y to get showered and changed, and this time I did 10 minutes on the stationary bike first. What a difference that made. My legs still reminded me for the next couple of days that I had pushed them, but it was twinges, not real stiffness.

So it was a great day for both of us, which is SO nice when it happens! If only every race could be this way! Still, it was a tremendous confidence boost for me and I hope this can carry over into Scotiabank and New York. But more about that some other time.