Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Scotia Half Re-CAP (Does that rhyme?)

This is how much of the Scotiabank Half Marathon  looked...



See that guy in the white shirt... that's Alan Yu: Runner and Pacer Extraordinaire. Alan wasn't registered in the race but agreed to pace me and help me strive for the 1:35! (Ahem, another rhyme) He was awesome. Seriously. Despite having a Garmin telling me my pace and what I needed to do to achieve the 1:35, I would not have run as hard had he not been there. He said all the right things in all the right spots, reminded me of short, quick steps uphill and light, loose legs on the downhill. He stayed just a little ahead of  me so I would push myself and was so encouraging. Thank you, Alan!! I will pace you for a km or two sometime... not that it would help but it's the thought that counts, right?

OK, from the top. The race started like any other. It was raining. I had a pre-race breaky of almond butter, banana and toast AND my mom made coffee in the morning!! What a treat. (Carolyn and I cannot make coffee to save our lives.. why is it so hard?!)  Week-end fuel was also a treat:
We had these guys:
And  my Mom helped  made us her famous homemade bread!

 Once we got to UBC (after a mini run-in with Vancouver police...) We lined up for the bathrooms annnd waited. By the time it was our turn, the race was about to start. Typical. However, I did manage to squeeze my way closer to the starting line and only started 10 seconds behind the gun.  I knew that I would need to average a 4:30/km to make my goal time. My friend Tom caught up to me about 3km in. I am so happy he did because running with Tom made the race so much fun and it really seemed to speed by. He reminded me to always keep a straight line and not follow the road, to let my legs do the work on the downhills and just breathe. We were running at a decent pace (4:30/km) but still managed to talk for the first half of the race. 

Question: What do people do with their hands when they see people taking pictures of them? The Asian in me always wants to make the peace sign but I have started waving my hands in the air? Is this cool? Or should I just look straight ahead and try and look super hardcore?

So, the race was pretty hard. I realized early on that my goal of 1:35 was not going to be easy. I knew that I couldn't really set a new goal time since I had it in my head that this is what I wanted so I tried to push through. I'm so lucky I had two friends running with me. As usual, Burrard bridge seem like the biggest hill in the world. I was so happy to see Ken along the way and my mom and Aunt driving by and honking.



The winner: Kip Kangogo

I felt pretty good coming off of Burrard Bridge with about 2 km to go. I knew that a 1:35 was going to be close so I started running at about a 4:10/km.  This was fine until the last 600 meters, I thought I would pass out I was so tired. I imagined being dragged off the ground, collapsing at the finish line, ambulances everywhere. But then- it was over! And I felt fine!

Time: 1:35: 34
Average Pace: 4:32/km
Age Group: 10/ 386
Overall Female: 46/ 2124
Overall: 232/ 3812

Lessons Learned: My mom snores. I didn't sleep well the nights prior to the marathon or even the night of. 5:25am wake up calls never get easy. Sleep is important! But so is having your mom cheer for you! I also probably should have focused more on my running during the race instead of talking, but running is a team sport!   Overall, I'm satisfied with my run.  I wanted to be under 1:35 but I'll take what I can get. It was hard even though I was told how fast the course would be and that it was all downhill! I also realized that I qualified for the New York marathon! Most people don't realize that the qualifying time for the New York marathon is a lot harder then Boston. The qt is 3:23 but you can qualify with your half time which for women is 1:37!
Next goal:   Qualify for New York with the marathon time. Wonder how long that will take?

It was so awesome having people cheer for me during the race. They were in all the "right" spots. Thank you Mom, Aunt Janet, Andrea, Alan, and Ken!!  It's like I am a real Vancouvernite now!



Now that the half is over, I don't really know what to do? I'm still marathon training but no definite races in mind. Suggestions?


3 comments:

  1. Congrats on a great run Amelia! Asian style peace sign all the way.

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  2. A $20 says you'll hit 3:23 on your next marathon. Next race? How about Summer Fast?

    Ummm... no comment about Asian peace signs... **shakes head and sighs**

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