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Race Report: Niagara Falls Women’s Half-Marathon

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When I am planning my race calendar each year, I tend to stay close to home. This year, I decided to break from tradition and register for not one, but two out-of-town races.

I tend to be quite laid-back when it comes to packing for a weekend away. My attitude is that if I forget something, I can just buy it when I get there. Factoring a race into my packing was a new experience for me. I had to make a list, check it twice, and obsessively check my bag of running stuff a gazillion times before we hit the road.

I headed down to Niagara Falls with my family on Saturday morning, and we drove straight to the race kit pickup area. I was given my bib and a canvas bag, and then I had to move down a row of tables while volunteers put things into the bag. I got the usual tech T-shirt (which is a little ill-fitting, but I like it and will wear it because it bears the word “Empowered”) and the usual running magazines and flyers for races and foot doctors. I also got makeup, a variety of toiletries, a miniature first-aid kit, and best of all, a bottle of wine.

This was the best race swag I had ever received.

On Sunday morning, I was a little pressed for time getting to the start line. The hotel we stayed in was fantastic, but they managed to screw up the breakfast vouchers. After a small amount of stress, I was able to grab my peanut butter toast and coffee, and I got to the start line with about forty minutes to spare.

All forty minutes were spent in the porta-potty lineup. This surprised me, since the race website had made a big deal of promising an abundance of porta-potties. In reality, this was the slowest-moving porta-potty lineup I’d ever been in, which I guess makes sense because this was a women’s race and everyone knows that women take longer. When I was done, I ran to the start line and then just kept running because the start siren went off.

It was an overcast day and just a little bit cool, but I could tell that it was going to get warm and humid. I was glad that I had decided on shorts and a short-sleeved shirt with no jacket. Before the end of the first kilometre, I was warming up, and about two kilometres later, the sun was starting to peek through the clouds. The race took us past the Falls not just once but twice, and the mist given off by the thunderous fall of water provided a very refreshing cool-down.

For most of the race I ran at a consistent pace of around 6:30 minutes per kilometre. I felt good: I was reasonably confident that I would hit my target of 2:20:00. Somewhere around the halfway mark, I was feeling so good that I increased my pace quite substantially. I paid for it when I hit 15km or so. My legs suddenly turned to Jello and I started to struggle. I wouldn’t say I crashed and burned, but I definitely slowed down for the next 4km.

With 2km to go, I picked up the pace again, knowing that I only had about 13 minutes of running left. At the final aid station, volunteers were handing out mini-donuts and candies. I grabbed a little cup of jellybeans and munched them down. Not my usual race fare, but at that point I knew that I could really do with a sugar-rush.

Shortly before the 20km mark I slowed to a walk just for long enough to drink the last couple of mouthfuls of my Gatorade. I started to run again, and after what felt like an eternity but was only about six minutes, I crossed the finish line. I was absolutely spent but still had the energy to raise my arms in a victory salute.

My time was 2:17:52 – just 20 seconds off my personal best. It was a performance that gives me great hope for new personal records this season. I even had an extra little sparkle at the end of the race: for the first time ever, I heard my name announced over the loudspeaker as I crossed the finish line.

As always, I am immensely grateful to the race organizers and volunteers for putting this event together. Apart from the shortage of porta-potties, the race was very well organized. The aid stations were well-run and the route was fantastic. I am also grateful to the people who took time out of their day to stand on the sidelines and offer much-needed encouragement to the runners.

(Photo credit: Kirsten Doyle)

 

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Ready To Race

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Later on today, I will be lining up at the start line of the Niagara Falls Women’s Half-Marathon. Although my season started off with my ankle getting injured and my mojo getting lost, I managed to get back on track about seven weeks ago. Technically, I need a bit longer than that to train for a half-marathon, but I have made these last seven weeks count. My training during this time has been consistent, I have supplemented my runs with cross-training and strength-training, and I have drastically cleaned up my eating habits.

So I feel ready.

I even have a goal. Although a personal best time would be nice, I am not going to set my heart on it. I have changed some aspects of how I train and run, and I am using this race as a test. So instead of banking on a personal best time, I am aiming for 2:20:00. If I can beat that, I will be ecstatic.

Watch this space for a race report. But not before I’ve soaked my sure-to-be-aching legs in my hotel room jacuzzi while drinking my free bottle of wine.

 

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An Eventful Week

 

Times are tough but the future looks bright

Living it up at the CN Tower

This month I am participating in the 2013 Wordcount Blogathon. The idea is to post something every day for the next month. A week ago, I would have said that this was going to be a huge problem, what with everything I have on my plate. But things change, and time is not going to be as much of an issue as I thought it was.

The last week has been quite an eventful one in my family. On Monday, the Light of DAE Studios, founded by my husband to help keep kids out of gangs, received the Local Business Award from the mayor. This was absolutely huge, and I was so proud to see my husband going up to receive his award.

On a side note, the boys behaved perfectly. Even George, for whom events like this can be more than a little difficult.

The following day, I had a hellish commute to work, and as soon as I got there I was called into a little office and informed that I was being laid off.

Well, that was quite a phenomenal kick in the teeth. The good news, though, is that a good kick in the teeth leads to the need for dental work, and sometimes you end up looking better than you did before. The dental work itself is not pleasant, but the end result can make it well worthwhile.

After a few days of job-loss-related mood swings, I got to go out and have a good time yesterday. A friend came to town for a conference – a friend who, until now, I have only known online – and we met up. We went up the CN Tower to see its famous birds-eye view of Toronto, then we had dinner, wine and a great chat. I was able to forget all about my stress and enjoy spending time with a friend.

Tomorrow, I will be toeing the start line for my first half-marathon of the season: the Niagara Falls Women’s Half-Marathon. I am excited. I have trained hard, and although my nutrition plan has kind of fallen by the wayside this week, I have been eating a lot more healthily. I feel ready for a great race.

And next week, while I am hobbling around on aching legs, I will be ready to tackle the rest of my life.