ING Ottawa Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Coming into this race I knew I wasn't in <2 hour shape, so I hoped to finish somewhere between 2 and 2:15. The weather forecast was sunny and warm and they were right. Luckily there was a nice breeze along the water which helped.
I ran without a watch, wasn't too far back from the starting line and only took a couple minutes to cross the starting mats. It was really crowded, people were weaving in and out trying to pass. For the first few miles I repeated to myself "don't eat the paste" as lots of people went sprinting past me. At km4 I knew this wasn't going to be a great run. I tried to keep my effort level even and not push too hard through the hills. I also had to make a pit stop at km 6 which cost me a minute or 2. There were a lot of spectators along the way, more than last year I'm sure. It was great. There was a timing clock at 9 km...55:55 for me, so I was at about 54 minutes which is 6/km or 10 minute mile which would be a 2:10 finish time. This was on the bridge on the way back into the city and the flat running along the canal. I lost sight of the 2:00 pace bunny just before the bridge. I was walking ~ 30 seconds at water stops and alternating water/gatorade. Took a gel around 10k. It was pretty warm out now and sunny - I took advantage of any shade I could find.. at the left edge of the road there was about 2 feet of shade and a long line of us ran single file to stay in that shade. Around 15k I starting feeling the beginning of calf cramps, which plagued me the last time I ran along this canal (at the Canadian HIM last Sept). I slowed a little and was Ok with no actual cramping. Took another gel around 16k. Then at 18k I experienced what people mean when they say their legs seized up... my quads and calves tightened up and it really felt like they were going to seize up and stop moving. I slowed my pace a little and after a few minutes I felt the muscles start to loosen up again. It was the strangest feeling, and hard to describe. Anyone who has experienced this will know what I'm talking about though. I was able to pick my pace up a bit for the last 2K but had no finishing kick.
Standing in line for chip removal my calves and quads were cramping again and it took a long time to get out of the finishers area. Finally found my husband at our prearranged meeting place.
Along the race course I saw a couple people in trouble, one being loaded into an ambulance, another laying on the side of the road with medics pouring water on him, two more in the finish area being tended to by medics. I'm always thankful to finish a race upright.


Nothing. Did my best this day.

After crossing the finishing mat there is a bottleneck waiting for chip removal so you are forced to stop and stand around, not the best warm-down but there really is no option. Did some stretching once I got out of the recovery area.


Obviously my limiter here is low mileage run training. I don't do so well in warm and sunny conditions.


I love this race. The course is easy. Lots of volunteers, lots of spectators. The weather can be a bit warm. Running along the canal is nice. Ottawa is a great city, I love it.

Now, 2 days later, I feel like I ran a marathon instead of a half..complete with duck walk and doing stairs one at a time. I've never been this sore after a half. ????? it's weird.