Royal Victoria Marathon - 8k - Run8k


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Victoria, British Columbia
Canada
Royal Victoria Marathon
Precipitation
Total Time = 46m 11s
Overall Rank = 592/1581
Age Group = Female 20-24
Age Group Rank = 27/69
Pre-race routine:

not much of a routine - the busses weren't running downtown early enough for the start time (plus many of the routes were all messed up thanks to the marathon) so I spent the night at my friend Ashley's place. Didn't sleep well - too cold! Got up about 6:20, had a banana, got dressed and organized. Realized it was raining, so we (Ash, her mom and I) all grabbed garbage bags and headed out at about 7:00am. Got the the race, checked my bag, skipped the washroom (LOOOONG line!) and got lined up at the start line! Funny story - I actually overheard a guy say the race needed "better urine displacement" - I was like "did you ACTUALLY just say that?" random!
Event warmup:

Not much...light jog to the bag check and back, ankle rotations and a quick shallow stretch of my right achillies tendon.
Run
  • 46m 11s
  • 8 kms
  • 05m 46s  min/km
Comments:

Unfortunatley, my achillies tendon was sore right from the get go today, so I think had it felt better I would have been able to get (or beat!) my goal of 45 minutes. Once I had warmed up a bit (about 2k) my achillies hurt less, but I still felt stiff. (The small, short uphill at around 7k was the worst part in terms of pain.) The rain was a bit annoying because it was running off my face, but at least it kept me cool! I loved that we could wear iPods, so I was rocking out to my favorite tunes. I noticed my cadence drop down a little bit between 5k and 6k but I managed to only lose about 30 seconds on the second half. COOL STUFF - People in the apartments overlooking the route taking pictures of us; a guy dressed up as a red robot running; cheering on the leaders as they passed us on their way back in; seeing my results afterwards; and the huge finish line (with clock) right in front of the parliment buildings. Such a good time!
What would you do differently?:

Not a lot! I'm pretty happy with this run overall. I could get some better sleep the night before and spring for a cab in the morning as opposed to transferring to my friends place kinda last minute. I would also train a little more speed to stay closer to the front of the pack. Getting more water the night before and directly after would also be on the to-do list...I felt dehydrated until today :(
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around a little with my 2 friends who were also running, checked out the free food and had some water, gatorade, a cookie and a banana. Stretched my achillies tendon out and my hamstrings, then changed clothes because it was COLD!

Left race ASAP to walk to the Greyhound station so I could go home to Nanaimo and meet the BF for Thanksgiving dinner. Let me say this right now - stretch lots after doing an 8k if you are immediatley going to sit on a bus for 2.5 hours. My legs are stiff today. Could have been avoided

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Achillies tendon for sure, as well as my lack of "going the distance" - I had only completed 2 8k runs in my training for this. I was a little preoccupied with beating a certain person too, and instead of inspiring me to go faster, I think it felt like a gorilla on my back. Too much pressure on myself. In the end, I was only about 1:30 behind him, so I did pretty good! Need to relax more...and also pee before the gun goes off. Lastly, get more sleep. I didn't take care of myself well before this run...Next time that will be a priority.

Event comments:

Please add 1 more gatorade station! Also, next time race director should not say "the weather will be perfect...i promise" in the race booklet - I believe this guaranteed the rain! And we could all do with a little less rain!




Last updated: 2006-09-06 12:00 AM
Running
00:46:11 | 08 kms | 05m 46s  min/km
Age Group: 27/69
Overall: 592/1581
Performance: Good
Course: Out and back along dallas road - beautiful route...too bad there was so much rain!! It held off at the start, and then started about 2km in. It lasted until about 7k...all in all I got about 3k of dry weather! I'd never ran the route so I was happy to learn it was almost entirely flat. Well marked and lots of people to follow. Could have used another aid station near the turnaround (it felt like forever before I could get some water) but overall a good route to run on a Sunday morning.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %n/a
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4