Comox Valley Half-Marathon

March 21, 2010

My race race at Comox was exciting for me mainly because I achieved something for the first time that I wasn't sure I would ever achieve.  When I first started racing, I was excited when I would place in the top 10 in my age category and get a ribbon.  I was usually in the lower half of the top 10, and getting into the top 3 for the medals seemed out of reach.  Prior to this year, I'd never placed higher than 5th at an Island Series race and that was a good achievement for me.  This year, I made it into the medals for the first time and then at Comox I actually placed first in my age category!  I was absolutely elated! It was great to achieve something that I wasn't sure was possible, just 3 short years ago.

Okay - now to the race.  It started with an early rise and a just under 3 hour drive up to Comox.  I was feeling tired on the drive up, and wondered how I would be able to perform.  I had an energy drink just before the start, hoping it would give me some needed energy.

The race got underway, and I started off feeling good.  I had three goals: (C) PR - faster than 1:38:24; (B) 1:35;XX and (A) 1:32:34 (the time the race calculator said I could perform, based on my Bazan Bay 5 km time).  Realistically I was aiming for around 1:35 -- this would still be over a 3 minute PB, and what I thought was possible, given that I hadn't done a lot of specific training for this distance. A finish time of 1:35 would be a 4:30 pace.

My first 5 km went by fast -and I was pushing it faster than my intended pace (splits were: 4:15; 4:18: 4:15; 4:14; 4:20).  I was trying to stay with two other women in my category - Julie Van Veelan and Leanne Blackwood.  I thought I was pushing it a bit fast - but I usually get caught up in the fast starts.  Overall, these first 5 fast kms helped my overall time. I began to slow for kms 5-9. These kms involved a few rolling hills and a larger climb from kms 7-9.  Then there was a downhill down to the turnaround just past the 10km marker.  By this point, I had passed both Leanne and Julie and was still ahead of Angela Plamondon, a very fast masters runner.  However, Angela caught up to me just before the turnaround, and then sped off for the remainder of the course - she had a good strong finish!

I was still feeling pretty good at this point- and the hill hadn't even felt too hard - I had actually expected the peak to be further than it was.  That's always a nice feeling when running uphill.  But, while it was shorter on the way back, it was steeper, and this hill hurt.  My pace dropped to 4:39 for my slowest km (but not slowest split, as the last split was actually just over 1km). At the top of the hill, there was a water stop.  I was starting to feel thirsty, and went to grab a cup of water -- unfortunately, it broke in my hand.  So, then I tried to grab a gatorade, but dropped it -- so I was not to get a drop into my mouth.

The next kms were fun, as we descended downhill for several kms 12-16 kms were fast for me (4:12; 4:06; 4:12; 4:13).  I was able to stride out, and moved fast down the hill, as my  lungs got a bit of a break while my legs kept it rolling.  At around 16 km  we were back to the rolling hills, and my legs were starting to tire at this point - as my body also tired.  I had to keep focused - I felt that I'd run a pretty good race up to this point, and didn't want to lose it in the last 5km. My last kms were all closer to 4:30s, and I had to dig deep to hold on.  I watched as Angela slipped further away in the distance, and I tried simply to not slow too much. After km 18, it's pretty much straight to the finish line - no more turns.  Each km I passed, I told myself - only X more kms, no problem, just keep pushing. This helped me, and I was able to focus on the finish and keep my legs turning over.

Thankfully, I was able to hold on, and the finish line neared closer and closer.  I came up to the bridge that was about 500m from the finish line - there was a slight rise, and then I tried to bring it in.  There was no one right in front of me - so there was no one to push me, but me.  I was able to kick it up a notch, and actually had a nice strong finish -- much different than the year before, when I had struggled across the finish line, and had nothing left.

My final time was 1:32:28 -- actually surpassing my A goal -- so I was very pleased.   It wasn't the easiest race, and I had kms that ranged from fast, to slower - with a range of 33 seconds between my slowest and fastest km splits.  But overall, I was happy with my performance.

In the past, I had found that I had never been able to perform quite up to the calculation of the race calculator for the longer distances - so I wasn't expecting to come in around 1:32:XX - but I guess something in my training has gone right, as all my races this season have gone well. Hopefully it can continue.
My km splits were: 4:15; 4:18: 4:15; 4:14; 4:20; 4:34; 4:29; 4:39; 4:31; 4:25; 4:28; 4:28; 4:12; 4:06; 4:12; 4:13; 4:31; 4:36; 4:34; 4:27; 4:41.

David Jackson was the first male, Care Wakely came in again as the first overall female, and Shane PR'd, despite having a mediocre feeling race.  Overall, I was 7th female, and 77th place overall, while Shane was 7th overall.  Lots of lucky 7s! :-)