Race!

I have so much to say, I don't know where to begin!  How about the beginning?

The night before
My friend who I've been staying with in Vancouver offered to stay at her boyfriend's house for the night so I could have her bed rather than the couch the night before the race, but only if I would go over to join them at his place for dinner and suss him out.  (This is a new relationship and I'd never met him before).  "He's a great cook," she promised.  "He's going to make homemade pasta stuffed with cheese and potatoes," she told me.  What she didn't tell me was that he liked to cook with salt, and lots of it.  In truth, I'm pretty sure it was something of an accident that the (over)salted water from the pasta was used in the sauce, but man, it was salty.  Like, pucker your lips at first bite salty.  As in, there was not enough water in the world to quench my thirst salty.

Pre-race
I got up at 5:15, thinking, "I'm going to run a half-marathon today," and a smile came on my face.  Yes, I was ready.  I was also still thristy.  I had a little breakfast and got dressed, packed my bag (which I should have done the night before), did a double check of my mental checklist (keys, cash, ipod) and headed out the door for the bus with my water bottle.

There were other people on the bus also heading to the race, so knowing where to get off wasn't a problem.  Then I just followed the growing crowd.

Once at the race site, the chaos began.  There was no signage, so I had to ask to find out where to go for gear check.  I missed the bags and labels and had to circle back through the crowds at the front door.  Once in line with my bag I saw my friend I ran with the other day, and the only other person I knew running the race, so we made our way through the long line to gear check together, then outside to try to hit the portapotties.

15 minutes of waiting in line and still nowhere near the front with 5 minutes to go to race time, we decided to ditch the line and go to the start area.  By this point the start was very crowded.  There were pace bunnies, but there was no way we were getting anywhere near them.  After the gun it took me almost 5 minutes to get to the start line.  We were moving very slowly, and it was just starting to rain.

The Race
Lots of dodging and being dodged at the beginning and lots of people cheering us on.  My friend and I got separated pretty early, but we were planning to run at different paces anyway and not planning to run together, so it didn't really matter.  I had a hard time finding my pace with all of the jostling and it wasn't until around the 3k mark that I was really feeling comfortable.  It was raining, but not too hard, and mostly just kept me from overheating.

The first water stop didn't have water ready, and there were only two porta potties, with lines.  I grabbed some water and kept moving.

Around this point I noticed that I really hadn't seen a kilometer marker yet, and was glad I decided to wear my new Garmin.  I almost didn't because I didn't want to be distracted by the novelty of knowing my pace since it's all new to me, but was really eager to try it out as well and wore it.  I don't know what I would have done without it.  The race website had said that there would be markers at every kilometer, but they were very sporadic throughout the course.  I was glad I knew where I was.

Somewhere around the 5 k mark I saw the 2:30 pace bunnies.  I passed them, and never saw them again.  I made it my mission to hunt down the 2:15 bunnies.  I just kept picking people and passing them, picking people and passing them, for the rest of the race.

For a little while I had pins and needles in my foot.  I used to get this a lot, but have not experienced it much recently, and thought I'd solved the problem by not tying my shoes too tightly.  I didn't want to stop if I didn't have to, and thankfully, I didn't have to.  After a kilometer or so the feeling went away and didn't return for the rest of the race.

At the next water stop, the volunteers were more on the ball and had the water ready.  Still, both portapotties were in use and I didn't want to wait so I kept going.

At this point I could feel myself picking up my pace because I was feeling good, but knew it was still early, with a big hill climb to come, and so I held myself back.  It was also around this point that I splashed through a very big puddle - SOAKER!  Oops!  It was still raining, and I would be soaked through and through by the end anyway, so it really didn't make a difference.

Finally we got out of the city streets and onto the seawall.  I'd really been looking forward to this part of the race because like a lot of people, I find water to be really calming and I thought seeing the boats would be a nice distraction.  Unfortunately, going onto the seawall meant moving the crowd into a tighter space so I really had to pay attention to where I was going and couldn't really take in the scenery!  (Kinda silly I was thinking I would be able to, in hindsight!)

We moved into Stanley Park and had a bit of a break from the rain with the shelter of the trees.  Trees!  Forget the portapotties - I flew off into the bushes for a quick stop, then back out again and quickly caught up to where I was before.  Funny, I got cheers on the way in and on the way out!

When I came to the big hill, I couldn't believe how many people were walking!  I passed a lot of people there, even though I stopped for a 20 second walk break myself midway up.  I figured, I might as well take a break while everyone is running at their slowest pace if I need to, rather than later when they'll be speeding past me.  The break was good, as soon as I started running again, I felt better and stronger for the final, steepest part of the climb.

The water stop at the top of the hill was the first one where they used my name from my bib.  It made such a difference!  I'll have to remember that when I volunteer at an event.  I took water and Powerade and started flying down the downhill.  My knee felt completely fine so I just went!  Or at least I tried to.  The road narrowed again as the right lane was under construction and it was hard to pass people, so there was lots of speeding up and slowing down.

The rest of the race was supposed to be pretty flat.  I took water at every water stop and Powerade at a couple.  My thirst never went away.  By this point I actually had a headache because I was so thirsty.  Thank goodness it wasn't a hot, sunny day - I don't think I would have made it.  I'm still thirsty! 

I tried to pick up my pace a little with 5k to go, but the lead marathoners were coming through so again, we got pushed to a narrower section of road, and passing was difficult, but I did my best and kept picking people off.

I looked at my Garmin and thought I had 2k to go and really tried to go faster, only to see the 19k point 500 m later.  That was a bit discouraging.  I guess all of the weaving and my little dash to the bushes adds to the distance.  I wasn't thinking of that.

I finally came across the 2:15 bunnies in the last kilometer.  Well, I saw one bunny with her ears on, turned around and yelling at the other bunny to pick it up.  What's the point of a pace bunny that can't keep pace?  Anyway, I passed them and kept running.  I would like to say I sprinted to the finish, but I didn't have it in me.  I looked at my Garmin:  2:11:10  (Chip time 2:11:09)

Post-race
I kept moving through the finish area as directed, but ALOT of people didn't.  It was almost as congested as the start line.  There was a complete bottle neck trying to get out of the gates, and I just tried to keep my legs moving until I could get to an area where I could stretch.

I saw lots of people with snacks but again, no signage or directions and I couldn't figure out where to get them.  Even with my "blanket," I was freezing once I stopped to stretch, so I went inside grateful that I'd packed an extra shirt and jacket.  Getting to gear check was another gong show.  Most people were being patient, but there was one man who was being very impatient and was actually rude to the volunteers.  I made sure to say an extra smiley thank you to try to make up for it! 

I still had no idea where people were getting their snacks and my teeth were chattering so I went to the portapotties to change my shirt.  Ick!  They were pretty gross, but nothing living in China and using squatters in Asia for 2 years couldn't prepare me for.  I closed the lid, put my "blanket" down as a buffer, and got changed.

I finally found the line for the snacks, and then headed for my bus.  Except I couldn't find my stop.  In all of my pre-race preparations, I hadn't thought to figure out where I had to go to get the bus home from the race!  I walked to just before the bridge and then treated myself to first a hot chocolate, and then a taxi ride for the rest of the way home. 

All in all, I was not overly impressed with the organization at this race, especially given the cost.  I have no other big races to compare it to, but if this is how all big races are, I'm going to concentrate on the smaller ones as much as I can.  If I happen to be in Vancouver during race week next year, I might sign up again, but I definitely wouldn't make a special trip for it.  I was kinda getting frustrated with the whole thing at the end with the crowds and the search for food and was starting to get pretty grumpy when I remembered, I just finished a half marathon, and then the rest of it didn't matter.

I am impressed with my own time and pace.  I would have been happy with anything under 2:15:00, even 2:14:59, so 2:11:09 has me very, very happy.  In a less crowded race, and even with this big race under my belt as experience, I'm sure I could get under 2:10.  (There's a half in Prince George in June...)