Royal Victoria Marathon - Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Victoria, British Columbia
Canada
Royal Victoria Marathon
7C / 45F
Sunny
 		Total Time = 2h 01m 52s
Overall Rank = 1904/4600
Age Group = 45-49 Female
Age Group Rank = 81/348
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 5:30, was well organized thanks to careful prep the night before. Had a half a cup of coffee en route. It was a gorgeous morning, but cold!
Event warmup:

Shared some early morning photo ops with fellow team mates from the Mount St. Marythoners team before lightly jogging to the start of the 8 km race, in which my husband and friend were running. Watched them take off, then walked to the 2:00 sign for the Half, where I met my training buddies. Downed my GU Chomps and a S!Cap.
Run
  • 2h 01m 52s
  • 13.2 miles
  • 09m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

I had a great run. I couldn't believe it when I got to the 16 km marker, and saw that I was going to run a sub 2:00 Half ... my previous best was 2:16 ... last year was 2:20 ... I kept the pace going, but at km 19 my left knee, which had been nagging at me a bit, went kaput and I had to walk much of the last two km. Missed a sub 2:00 Half by TWO MINUTES!!!!!! LESS THAN TWO MINUTES!!!! Dang!!!
What would you do differently?:

Listen to that little voice that said, "wear your knee brace today." Sheesh.
Post race
Warm down:

Took me 20 minutes to get out of the chute. Grabbed a banana on the way out. Stretched out a bit, waited for friends to come in ... showered and went out for traditional Half Marathon Race Day pancakes.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My blasted knee.

Event comments:

This is my fifth Half, and my fourth Royal Victoria Half. It's a lovely course, very friendly, and easy to run. Fabulous. Maybe next year I'll try the Full. Training for triathlons this summer made this race so easy. I had tons left in the tank and if that knee hadn't gone, I'd have been about 1:57 I think. I improved my time 22 minutes over last year, and moved from the last 100 of my age group to the top 100 of my age group, and I'm OLDER! Yay me. Last year's pace was 6:41; this year's was 5:47 including the walking I did in the last two km. I'm pretty happy with it, overall.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2009-06-06 12:00 AM
Running
02:01:52 | 13.2 miles | 09m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 81/348
Overall: 1904/4600
Performance: Good
Course: Beautiful course at one of the top ten North American Marathon destinations. Gentle hills, nothing too taxing, and the sunrise along the oceanfront was spectacular. All pavement, closed course, well monitored. The volunteers are wonderful every year, and this was no exception.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5