What a great race!! I love finishing a race that leaves you feeling so pumped afterwards :) This was my third time running the Comox Valley Half Marathon. The first year I finished in 1:55, the second time was 1:44 and this year I was trying for 1:39. My previous half-marathon PR was 1:39:44 but it was on a fairly flat course and this one is tough. You basically run 4km of fairly flat and then 6km uphill and then turn around a come back.
I was also excited because my cousin came to visit from Seattle and decided to run with me and it was my uncles first attempt at a half-marathon!
One of the things I had always heard about racing was not to start out too fast. I've read this so many times but have been incapable of following it. The combination of nerves, adrenaline, caffeine...I always shoot out of the gate and do the first mile or two at almost a full min/mile faster than goal pace. But I never really thought about how much this could be hurting me overall. But I talked to a very experienced runner/racer at work who said he didnt start beating his previous PR's until he learned to slow down at first. He gave me all sorts of tips on what pace to aim for and I was determined to try it out on this race.
My goal pace was 7:34min/mile and so my plan was to make sure I didnt go faster that 7:25 on the first 3 miles. Once I hit the uphill portion I knew that wouldnt be a problem. Then I told myself if I still had lots of energy at the turn around I could really let loose on the down hill and second portion of the race.
So mile 1 I did 7:25, mile 2 was 7:32 and mile 3 was 7:25...I even timed the first few songs on my playlist to be mellower music to help chill me out. It feels counter intuitive to run slower! Then I hit the uphill portion and ran mile 4 at 7:37, mile 5 at 7:58 (the steepest section) and mile 6 at 7:37. I was pretty pumped at the turn around point because I had done the hardest half of the race and was pretty close to target. Mile 7 was 7:30, mile 8 7:32 (at this point I passed both my uncle and cousin and gave them a big high-five!), and mile 9 was 7:09. Mile 10 and 11 were both 7:22 and I felt strong and energetic. I was passing lots of people who had screamed by me at the beginning. Mile 12 was tough...legs got tired but I held on to a 7:40pace. I finished strong doing mile 13 at 7:21. I ended up with a new PR at 1:39:35 on a tough course! So happy with the race I ran. In fact a couple other women who I know from this race series came up at the finish and said they just couldnt catch up to me and I ran a great race :)
I came in 5th this time for my age group which was fun and got a ribbon :)
My cousin finished at 2:15 and my uncle rocked his first half-marathon coming in at 2hrs and 20mins...awesome! My cousin went and ran with him the last 200m...so proud of him!
