The GoodLife Fitness Victoria run is my favorite race of the year. I've run it 4 times now (3 as the half and one time the full). Its a big race selling out at 13,000 people (between the kids race, 8k, half and full marathon). It runs through downtown Victoria and the atmosphere is great. Its on Thanksgiving weekend and often ends up being a big family event with lots of relatives coming down. My goal time was 1:35 and my PR from last year was 1:39:49. I wasnt sure if trying to take another 5 mins off was too lofty. Especially when it seems impossible to make those kind of pace times during training. But, I trained hard for this one, with more dedication than I ever had and was also going into the race about 8lbs lighter so I was cautiously optimistic that I could shave at least a few mins off my time.
Similar to the year before we drove down in a torrential windy down-pour! The kind of conditions that would make race day absolutely terrible! But when we woke up the next morning the rain had cleared. The race starts at 7:30 so I was up at 5 to have my usual pre-race breakfast of bagel with PB and banana. The hotel we stay at was about a km from the start line so we made our way out around 6:45. It was colder than previous years and only about 5 degrees out. I didnt have anyone to hold my gear so I had to check it early. Which meant I was freezing my ass off in my shorts and tank top waiting for the sun to come up and the race to start.
(my uncle and I at the start line)
In retrospect I think should have warmed up a bit more due to the cold weather. I barely ran at all and just did a few loosening exercises. I lined up by the 1:30 marker and waited for the gun to go off. I forgot with this race how bad people are about not starting at the right spot based on their anticipated pace. So the first mile you are dodging people who started right at the front and were walking...so frustrating! I had Runmeter set up to yell at me if I went slower than 7:13min/mile (the pace I needed to come in just under 1:35). The first mile with all the bottle neck had me in at 7:23 and I got a bit freaked out. But once people spread out a bit I settled into a nice pace.
(bonus...they have lots of on-course photographers)
The course is classified as "rolling hills" which is kinda nice because you get some downhills but the uphill portions arent too steep or too long.
Every mile Runmeter announces my average pace and every time I finished a mile it would tell me I was exactly at 7:13. So I was pleased I was holding on to my pace but I knew I had zero wiggle room. When I got out to Dallas Road you run along the water for a while. I found a small group of runners who were going my pace and we all huddled together to draft off each other. I felt a little awkward as they all knew each other and I wasnt sure on drafting "etiquette" lol. I tucked in behind this big guy and was practically tripping over his ankles. Every once in a while he looked down at me and I was trying to decide if this was a "get off my tail" kinda look or not. But then we came to a short hill and my legs got tired and I started to fall back. He turned around and said "oh no you dont...you got this, stay with me, its a short hill, you can tough it out". It was all I needed to power up the hill with them.
I packed 2 running gels and ate most of the non-caffeinated one at 7km and then all of the second caffeinated one around 14km. I remember actually feeling hungry at this point and thinking uh-oh that's not a good sign. So maybe next year I need to eat breakfast a little later? Around 10k my drafting buddy decided to pull away from the pack and I had to decide whether to stick with him or stay with the rest of the little group. I decided to go for it and shouted at him if it was ok if I ran with him (considering I had been a little leech for the last 5k or so already!). He said no problem and shouted out the occasional encouragement...I love race day camaraderie :)
Around mile 11 my left knee started to get really tight. This is also a gradual uphill section and was my slowest mile at 7:39. But I kept telling myself I just needed to make it to the top of the hill and then it is all downhill to the finish line. There was a lot of mental pep talks going on at this point. When I hit mile 12 my average pace was still exactly on 7:13 and all of a sudden my legs felt completely done. I started to panic because this was not "hey I'm tired and I need to slow down," but all of a sudden I felt like I had to stop or my legs were just going to give out. I could feel my heart start pounding and I thought could I actually run 12miles on pace and then fall apart in the last mile? Am I going to be one of those people that just collapses and tries to crawl to the finish line?
I slowed down a bit and just tried to regulate my breathing and put one foot in front of the other. I made it through that last mile at 7:21. Once I saw the "1km to go" marker I calmed down. My knee was really hurting by now and I could tell that I was favoring my other leg. I got close enough to the timer and started smiling cause I knew I was going to hit 1:35.
(last 10m!)
I crossed the line and the announcer actually had my previous PR time on hand and announced to the crowd that I had just completed a new PR so that was kinda cool.
(big smiles with my medal!)
My official time was 1:35:49 taking 4 mins off last years time :) I am really happy with that. I busted my butt and am proud of my results. Interestingly enough my Runmeter app says overall I ran 13.27 miles at an average of exactly 7:13. Technically I made my pace but I guess I weaved around a lot! I need to factor that extra distance in next time!
I placed 8th out of 224 women in my age group and 45th overall...woohoo! My running buddy also blew his time out of the water and I was so excited for him. We trained so hard and this was his first one. It was my uncles second half and he managed to take 13 minutes off his last time so everyone had reason to celebrate. Not only that I got an email from Father-in-Law the next day that I made the Nanaimo newspaper as one of the city's fastest runners. Better believe I printed that one out and put it on the wall :) Good race, good times, cant wait to do it again next year.
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