ING Ottawa Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

It was a HOT, sunny day. I was good for the first 9km, and kept a pretty steady pace (enough to beat my previous half-mary time by quite a few minutes) at which I was comfortable. However, by 12 or so km, everything started to go haywire. I couldn't stomach any more of my gel even though I felt I needed more energy, my fuel belt was pressing too much on my abdomen and my stomach hurt so much, and my knee literally felt like it would explode with the intense amount of internal pressure and pain I was feeling. On top of that, I had taken an advil (to combat inflammation) and a tylenol (to combat pain), but both were taken on a pretty empty stomach so that caused me great stomach pain. I actually felt like I would just die. But I plodded along, never once stopping. The biggest thing for me was my knee pain. Wow, did it ever blow me away. So intense, I felt like I had torn my ligaments and meniscus all over again. Now, it feels fine, and I don't even feel too sore.

I know now that I have to practice being comfortable with longer distances. I don't mean aerobically, I mean just getting the long distances into my legs and getting my knee okay. I think it just needs consistent practice (but not so regular I'm in constant pain). I also need to work on sprints and getting accustomed to going at faster speeds for longer and longer distances. It really just needs practice and time. A couple years from now, I will be MUCH more comfortable running.

Walking around, stretching a tiny bit. Eating. Finally eating some bread and solid food. Went to a friend's brother's for a shower, some downtime and some good conversation.


JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, MY KNEE!!!! I can't stress how incapacitated I am by it. I think I have to reconsider also taking my fuel belt. The one thing is, I like drinking on my own schedule, not every 3km at a gatorade/water station. I will have to try different belts or perhaps different clothing or... I don't even know...


Everything was just pitch-perfectly organized. It was such a huge event but nothing took a long time, not even the woman's bathroom lines. I would really like to see water stations at every 1km, perhaps not as big as the one's at every 3km's. There were sprinklers and sponges soaked in water at key points, too. So many people were cheering and encouraging us on. The tshirt they gave us is high quality, we were able to get our medals engraved with our name and time. One of the best races I've ever gone to.