Chilly Half Marathon - Run

So this was my first real race back since having a baby in June of last year. Training has been going okay. Really glad I got a treadmill because the frigid temperatures and all the snow made weeknight runs tough.

I didn't do much in the way of build - not as many long runs as i would usually do and I didn't really get to the point where I was adding much intensity. I wanted to be smart about my build after a lay off. That said, I did want to use this race to see where my fitness was. As a benchmark for other races so I wanted to go pretty hard.

Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side. I realize this is the Chilly Half but it was downright cold. It should have been the Frozen Half. We got a few centimetres of snow overnight and the temperatures were below -10C.

We went into a coffee shop near the start tried to keep warm - this failed by the time we were in the corral i could barely feel my feet. It was a very crowded started and we seeded ourselves right near the 2:00 pace bunnies. I was hoping to squeak in under 2:00 so if we could keep them in sight then we would be in good shape.

The first 5 to 6 kms were very crowded and it was hard to get any space. It was easy not to focus on pace just from all the bobbing and weaving (watch for potholes and puddles!). I did check my pace a few times and it didn't seem like the pace bunnies were all that well positioned to make their times so we ended up getting in front of them. I would check my pace and see it was kind of fast but I wasn't feeling out of breath or overextended. Weird. I hadn't trained these paces at all - but as I mentioned before I wanted my body to quit before my mind did.

My running buddy wasn't really feeling it and i think I pulled her along for a while but I felt her drop off around the 12k mark and I knew she didn't want to be pulled anymore. So I kept on. And then I started to pick up the pace. I passed a lot of people - and I still felt great. Weird! And Awesome! I was doing some race math in my head about where i could finish under various scenarios - should i need to slow down but I kept burning it up! :)

I stopped my Garmin at 1:54:54 - totally thrilled. That is not a PB for me but it was a great result and a great feeling run! Better than I would have thought

A training cycle with more long runs and more intensity to build speed - but then that is not what this race was about for me.

Basically it was an effort not to freeze! I ran into some people I knew but went to find my husband with the baby. My running buddy finished a few minutes later and we packed up right away and got into the warm car!


This would be a great course for a PR if the weather cooperated.

My only pet peeve is the race expo was annoying - parking was terrible and the venue was not accessible. The actual packet pickup was down a set of stairs where there was no elevator. I didn't see this anywhere and had to lug my little one around in her car seat (as i didn't think i would need to bring a carrier) and park the stroller in a room off the lobby. I did not stay to look at any of the booths because of this.