Calgary Police Half Marathon

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Calgary Police Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
Calgary City Police
10C / 50F
Sunny
 		Total Time = 2h 04m
Overall Rank = 983/1892
Age Group = 20-29
Age Group Rank = 70/169
Pre-race routine:

Alarm went off at 6:00. Sat in bed for a minute thinking about my muscles and how things were feeling sore from my 5.5km run yesterday. My mid back and right achilles were hurting.
Got up, made oat bran with soy and brown sugar, and a watermelon/mango smoothie. Prepared my nutrition and fluids, packed everything up in the car and left the house. Picked up Catherine and got to the event location around 7:15.
Event warmup:

Met up with some other friends, did some stretching, went to the bathroom twice. Did a really quick little warm up with some high knees and kicks, and got into the start line with Catherine. Met Jack and Robyn, and was chatting, and then realized...

I DON'T HAVE MY TIMING CHIP.

F*CK, I swore, and darted off towards where I parked the car. I was paniking majorly, my watch read 8:00 already, so I was working on borrowed time. I got to the car, was throwing things everywhere looking for it frantically. Couldn't find it anywhere. Cried, called my dad and said 'Dad, I can't find my timing chip, I must have left it at home. You have to tell me something to go back to the start line and have a good race'. He did his bit and said that they (mom, dad, sister) would be there at the finish line to give me my official time (lol, hilarious, since they didn't show up until 10 before I finished). Anyway, I sprinted back to the start pack and had a good cry with Catherine and Kendra... but decided I sitll had my watch and would just time it that way.

I figure it was someone's attempt to tell me that this shouldn't be my first official half marathon. I don't know why, since I've been training since February for it, but I just gave in and decided I wouldn't let it ruin my day.

Gun went off and the thousands of runners piled towards the start line. Beep, beep beep... no beep for me :(
Run
  • 2h 04m 15s
  • 21.1 kms
  • 05m 53s  min/km
Comments:

Didn't warm up enough before starting, which I think explains the negative split. Felt good once I got warmed up. Constantly had my eye one someone ahead of me and tried to catch them the entire way.

Achilles was sore, but then went away. Avoided any serious stitch from rearing it's head, really focused on my breathing for the first couple km. Tried to enjoy myself and think about doing well and being strong.

Quads got pretty sore around the 10km mark, but turned that thought positive by thinking - wow, they feel so defined, I must be looking great even though they hurt!

Kicked it up the hills, kept those feet moving, albeit slowly almost in a shuffle, but passed a lot of people. Smiled for all cameras.

Yellow shirt #12 lady and I got into quite the unspoken foot race to the finish. She would pull ahead, and then I would. The last km this activity repeated itself probably 4 or 5 times, until we were all out sprinting our hearts out. I couldn't pull out anything else, and she beat me, but man was it an awesome finish. :)
What would you do differently?:

Warm up with a proper 10min run before hand. Doesn't have to be hard, but warm up those muscles, otherwise you spend the first 10min of the race doing it and it quite obviously affects your performance.

Remember the effing timing chip. Put it on your SHOE the night before the race if you have it.
Post race
Warm down:

Grabbed a bottle of water and drank it all. :) Parents were there, Robyn was there, lots of people to congratulate me. Stretched unformally for the next hour or so walking around chatting with people and drinking more water.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

the 5.5 km run I ran yesterday, lol.

Event comments:

CPS was great, however I'm sure if the weather had been sucky, my thoughts may have been different! Will definitely aim to do this one again next year, at sub 2!!! :)


Profile Album


Last updated: 2008-04-28 12:00 AM
Running
02:04:15 | 21.1 kms | 05m 53s  min/km
Age Group: 70/169
Overall: 983/1892
Performance: Good
First 10km: 59 min---> 6min/km Second 11 km: 1:05 min ---> 5min/km Insanity, who negative splits by a minute per km...?
Course: Slight uphill to start, very small. Through a residential area winding around, but was good because it was wide and you could sort through some of the congestion. On to the Glenmore reservoir pathway, with a small hill followed by another couple rollers. Past the hospital, which was nice - heard one woman say hi to her dad, and that she was running for him, so sweet. Out into more residential areas, I believe around the 7km mark where there was the first aid station. Then back to Heritage park which was familiar and nice territory, nice and open. A good cheering squad here lifted my spirits. Saw some familiar faces througout. Out onto 90th ave (roadway) with small incline for about a km I guess. Said good job to a lady and she asked if I was in Canmore yesterday, turns out we both were. Back onto the pathway at the boat launch. Ran past Nellies (breakfast restaurant) and I asked if anyone wanted to take a detour... no one laughed, no one said anything! whatever, so I just picked up my pace and ran past all those grouches, lol. Pretty flat here for quite a while, until the downhill to the first bridge. Things started getting icy and very slippery, to the point that everyone bottle necked and we were walking. Not good. Flattened out after that, and then Weaselhead hill. Jill was there, and Jason was at the top as well, which was great. two more small hills to crowchild and 50th, and then slight incline to the finish line.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
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? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2008-04-28 11:21 AM

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Subject: Calgary Police Half Marathon
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