Last Sunday I had my first race of the season and participated in my first hypothermic half! Usually I dread any race I participate in and set pretty low expectations that way I don’t bum myself out if I don’t achieve the goal I have set. But this race was different. The night before I was jittery before bed and had tingles in my toes because I knew something good was going to happen.
Race day came and it was a typical February morning in Edmonton. It was about -10 Celsius and a tad bit windy but all things considering it could have been way colder so I was thankful for the tame winter morning.
The week prior to the race I had taken off because I was dealing with shin splints (definitely not desirable for a runner or anyone for that matter). So when I was standing at the starting line I did wonder if I had done enough to prepare for the race. But then I realized that it was better to listen to my body and rest it properly than push myself and injure myself. After realizing I had done all I could to prepare myself for this race I was pretty sure I felt strong enough to beat my personal best (2:02).
Starting off the race I felt strong and didn’t get carried away with the first km jitters. I paced myself appropriately to beat my PB. In kilometre 3 I was so proud of myself I started tearing up and had no idea where they came from (the perks of being an emotional girl who can cry from a Canadian tire commercial). I was feeling great from the beginning to about kilometre 7. After kilometre 7 I had to run on some pretty soft snow that felt like quicksand, the more effort I put into moving fast the slower I went. This part of the course dampened my spirits because I was getting frustrated, I just wanted to go faster but the snow wasn’t letting me. The downside to this race was that it was a two lap course and was extremely flat compared to the races I normally compete in. So it was a bit of a mind bender knowing I had to go through the soft snow again.
At the half way point I decided to try putting back a gel. I’m trying to play around with foods and things that work well for me so come MYM 50M I know what works for me and won’t have any doubts with what to fuel my body with. Needless to say gels are definitely not my thing and will need to explore alternatives. They are far too gooey and sticky for me, I felt like a cat eating peanut butter. Perhaps I will try a different flavour.
The second lap seemed to fly by and I was still on pace to beat my PB but it would be tight. Somewhere between kilometre 16 and 17 my shins decided to cause me grief right in the middle of the soft snow portion. My pace slowed drastically and my goal to beat my PB had been lost as I had to walk off the shins for a minute. It was frustrating to know that had I not walked I would have been close to beating it. As I finished the race “sprinting” in and finished at 2:05:30.
I didn’t beat my personal best but for the first time in a long time I was proud of my time and knew that I pushed hard to get where I was considering last year my half marathon time in June was 2:16. I was proud of the improvement but still know that I have a ways to go to get to where I want to be before MYM.
trialsandtrails 