Tag: half-marathon
I’m not always in shape for a race. The past two months I’ve had long gaps without training as I took a break after several races in a row in the fall, plus I’ve been away from home a lot for work. But with a last-minute invitation to run the Bahamas Marathon in January, I simply couldn’t refuse (hello, it’s the Bahamas!)…but I opted for the half-marathon. I figured I could run 21.1 easy as a training run, but the same doesn’t go for doing 42.2k.
The race started at 6 a.m., and it was rainy and then mostly overcast until I finished the race when the sun came out just in time. Half of the race route went through town and the latter half we ran along the beach so my thoughts focused on how nice it’d feel to be swimming in the water rather than thinking of how hot and sweaty (aka miserably hot and sweaty) I was actually feeling.
I was by the finish line when Sarah Dohan from the U.S. won the women’s marathon and I got a chance to speak to her. It was the 20-year-old’s first marathon race, and she seemed a little stunned; happy but stunned. She’s run several halfs and hadn’t expected to finish first.
As for myself, I finished 17th in my age group, out of 43 women, which I’m more than OK with as I walked whenever I felt like I wanted to have a sip of water, which was often. When I”m doing a training run in not ideal conditions, I usually find it helpful to have my watch for 10s and 1s but I’d forgotten to pack it, which means I usually will walk even more often than every 10 minutes. Given the heat and humidity that morning in the Bahamas, I’m actually surprised my time wasn’t slower than my 2:20 time!
After the race, I spent at least an hour on the beach soaking my feet in the water and drinking the Klik beer I picked up at the food tent (where they had plenty of food including peanut butter and crackers — so much better than a plain untoasted bagel!).
This here is just a super brief rundown on the race. For my full race report and all the juicy details you want to know (especially if you’re thinking of running this race!), you’ll have to go check out my post at iRun.ca! (And if you don’t follow @irunnation on Instagram, go ahead and do that, too! I post regularly on Fridays for #fashionfriday!)
February 1, 2016
On Sunday, December 6th, I raced the Intertrust Cayman Islands Half-Marathon. I’d briefly considered running the marathon, but after all the races I’ve done this year and not feeling in the greatest shape and having disappointing races all season, plus the fact that it’d be very hot in Grand Cayman, I decide to run the half instead.
Which is is perhaps the best running decision I’ve made this year. I landed in Grand Cayman on Thursday, which gave me plenty of time to settle in before the race. But it also meant I was eating much richer food than usual. But I had decided weeks ago that I would not race this half but rather would just run it for fun. But because of this, I basically took a very relaxed approach (let’s call it that rather than being disorganized…!) to this race. I would usually pack something to eat for breakfast before the race, for example. And I completely forgot about this until the night before the race. Thankfully, at the Westin Grand Cayman (the HQ for the race) they opened the cafe at 3 a.m. for us runners. So I was able to buy a banana and a muffin. Otherwise I was fully prepared to eat a rum cake (the only food I had in my hotel room!) before the race. I also never looked at the race route…I assumed there’d be a map in the race kit but there wasn’t, and I forgot to check the website for it. That said, I’m not very familiar with Grand Cayman roads so it wouldn’t have meant much to me anyhow. I knew the island is very flat and that was enough info for me.
The race started at 5 a.m. downtown, so I went to bed by 10 p.m. and got up at 3:30 a.m. to eat and get dressed and catch the shuttle bus to the race start. The early start time was an adjustment in itself for racing but it truly was a blessing as it was a smidgen cooler and a tiny bit less humid than it was during the day. I heard the announcer say it was 77 degrees at start time, which is 25C, but it felt warmer given the humidity. That said, I have trained in much harsher humidity and temps here in Toronto and it was actually less grueling conditions than I anticipated for race day. The air was indeed thick
The route is very flat and mostly goes out on West Bay Rd for 10k and then you turn and take the same route back (I think, anynow, I got into run mode and it’s possible the end is slightly different). There were water and Gatorade stations practically at every kilometre and these were much needed given the hot conditions. I heard there were many people who were vomiting or who needed medical help, I spotted a few as I ran, too. I was very relieved I hadn’t opted for the marathon as I learned that mornings hat it is two loops of the half route, and I always find loops draining mentally.
The first hour of the race we were running in the dark, but by 6 the sun started to rise. The most disappointing part of the race is that I was expecting gorgeous scenery. But the road is not that scenic. Basically a flat road with high trees on either side of you, or homes, and the occasional rooster walking around. In a handful of spots, you can view the ocean and that’s were I snapped the sunrise photo.
As much as most of the route was lacking in scenery, the locals at the many water stations more than made up for it. So many smiles and great encouragement. The occasional costume or theme, too, such as the one featuring a slew of people riding Spin bikes, or the Star Wars-themed water station. There was something really welcoming and charming in the crowd support her in Grand Cayman and it made a world of difference in the race experience.
As I’d decided I was just running the race for fun, I stopped to take photos of the route whenever I saw anything photo-worthy. I took unflattering extremely sweaty selfies. And I pretty much stopped at every water station and walked whenever I felt like it! I enjoyed watching other runners and just taking in the scenery. In all honesty, it was a much more enjoyable race experience compared to being in pain and discomfort and driving myself bananas over whether I was going to finish with a PB.
As usual, my second half of the race was much slower than the first half. Making the many turns in the last kilometre or two of the race was a struggle. When I heard loud music, I assumed I was very close to the finish line…but it was nowhere to be seen and I quickly realized I still had at least another kilometre to go. Groan.
I finished in 2:15, which is 24 minutes slower than my half PB, but there’s nothing I’d change about my race. It wasn’t the hardest race I’ve ever run and that’s because I didn’t race it. Everyone I spoke to who’d pushed themselves in the race swear it’s the toughest one they’ve done, and, well, I spared myself two hours of agony this time around, haha. Even with this slow-for-me-easy-pace time, I finished 238th out of 721 half-marathoners, 84th out of 399 women, and 22nd out of 126 in my category, and I’m totally fine with that. Cuz sometimes it’s just nice to take a break 
The finish area had some of the best snacks I’ve seen at a race. A ton of amazing fresh fruit of all kinds, Kit Kats, plantain chips, bottles of Gatorade, and Cayman Brewery was serving up beer, too. The sweaty runners at the finish were a happy, friendly group, too, congratulating everyone and there were lots of smiles all around.
After cheering a few runners in as we drank beer, we hopped onto the shuttle back to the Westin, celebrated on the beach by running into the ocean for a refreshing dip, then showered and ordered a lot of food at the beach bar. Followed by some spa time and serious R&R on the beach. Despite what the race lacked in scenery, I’d happily run this destination race as a half-marathon again.
December 11, 2015
Am I racing too often? Am I just that out of shape? Could my thyroid be acting up again and making my muscles tire out? Do I just not want to PB badly enough? Is it the little sleep I’ve been getting?
These are just some of the questions flooding my brain ever since crossing the finish line in the Rock n Roll Strip at Night Las Vegas Half-Marathon on Sunday.
The weeks leading up to the race weren’t the greatest in terms of training. But I wasn’t stressed since I’d already completed my goal race, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (so this half in Vegas was just an extra race I added on thanks to a work opportunity). In addition, one week after Scotia, I raced the Adidas #RunMore10k (another disappointing race), which left my legs sore for days. In that time, I also traveled to Jamaica and Southern California, which threw off my training schedule and diet while also making life generally hectic. On the plus side, these two trips did temporarily get me back on a healthier sleeping schedule.
But then came the night to pack for Las Vegas (three days before the race). I attended a gala for work and stayed much longer than I intended, and I got home, napped two hours and then got up to tidy up and pack and then I realized it was 7 a.m. and time to get ready to go to the airport. Complete sleeping fail.
In Vegas, the days before the race were fairly busy, and the day of the race I had to up at 5:30 a.m. to meet for an early yoga class (whoever had made this itinerary obviously doesn’t race or they’d know we need our sleep).
With the race starting at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15, we had a late brunch at Lago at the Bellagio and I was a bit perplexed as to what to eat (I’m more used to morning races where I know what to eat for breakfast). I opted for a macaroni carbonara starter and then a veggie frittata, both of which I didn’t finish as I was afraid of eating too much beforehand making me feel sluggish.
At 3 p.m. we were dropped off near the race start and made our way toward the lot where Kid Rock was performing on the main stage. A large line was forming, and I never found out what the delay was but for a long while no one was being allowed into the lot. Once we finally made it into the lot, we quickly checked our bags, used the portapotties and then realized we were at the very tail end of the corrals: we were in corral 47 and I was supposed to start in corral 7! So we started moving through the crowd slowly. I realized I was running out of time, though, so I started rushing and weaving my way through the crowd. I managed to get to corral 8 and settled in there rather than push through to corral 7.
My goal for the race was to PB if I could (I was thinking 1:50, which would call for a consistent 5:12 pace), and my B goal was to match my current PB of 1:52 (which I ran in the Nike Women’s San Francisco Half-Marathon last year). I figured in my recent marathons, I’d managed to reach the halfway point in 1:52, so going a bit faster for a 21.1k distance in which I don’t need to conserve any energy for another 21.1k should be fairly easy.
The weather didn’t play its part in helping me PB, though. First off, it was insanely windy, I believe there were wind warnings of gusts of 25 miles per hour. The temperature was low, too, but I was fine with the temp during the race since I warm up very quickly and sweat a ton. It rained lightly for part of the race, which I think upset some runners (“We’re in the desert!” I heard many runners complain), but it was quite light so I wasn’t upset.
I started at a slower pace (the route was slightly uphill) at about a 5:18 pace, but eventually was running several kilometres on pace or faster than 5:12…and then about halfway, I started to lose focus and just felt weary. I don’t even recall my legs feeling like they were exhausted, but it was more a sense of my heart not being into it, and I progressively became less enchanted with racing as my pace with each kilometre got slower and slower. I was also frustrated because this is a large race and I’d say a lot of the runners in it seem to be in it more for fun, dressed in costumes and whatnot. And while I’m all for people doing a race for fun, I do have issues with runners disregarding the corrals they should have been in. The entire race I had to work my way around runners slower than me who had no business being in corrals 1 to 8.
When I reached the section where the marathoners break off from the half-marathoners, I’d never felt more appreciative to be running the half rather than the full. I shouted (in my head) a little whoop of joy. Making my way back down the Strip towards the Mirage where the finish line was, it seemed to take an eternity until I could make out the finish line. But finally, I crossed the finish line and knew immediately from the time on my Nike+ that it was a very slow race for me, nowhere near 1:52.
After making my through the extremely long finish chute and gathering a ton of food in my arms (her, race organizers, give us a bag to collect these goodies!), having my photo taken, changing out of my wet singlet and wrapping myself in a heat sheet, I stood shivering and listless. It was a long walk back to the Mirage, and I was frozen and cranky and didn’t want to walk alone. And so I just stood there, too cold to get out my phone to text my fellow runners. And somehow, iRun managing editor Anna Lee stumbled upon me. I was so relieved to see her and have company for the cold walk (and I was also cursing myself for bringing only a thin Nike Drifit long sleeve rather than a thermal winter top). We trudged together as quickly as our tired, cold bodies could take us back to the Mirage where our car would bring us back to our hotel.
Once inside the Mirage, I checked my time: 1:58:49 (which is just a handful of seconds faster than my Rock n Roll Las Vegas half in 2012). I can’t say I’m happy about this, but I take some comfort in the rest of the stats: I finished 147th in my division of 2576, 907 out of 14260 women, and 2843 out of 23070 runners. And there’s also this crazy good medal I earned (the slots flip!) and the insanely good nail art by Tips Nail Bar I got for the race.
It does leave me pondering what to do with training come 2016; whether I should train for halfs to improve my speed or stick to the marathon distance so that I can continue to try to qualify for Boston.
And call me crazy but I still have one more race to go this year. On Sunday, December 6, I race the Cayman Islands Half-Marathon. With the warm temperature in Grand Cayman and my current level of exhaustion and general weariness when it comes to running, I’m hoping I can manage to enjoy this race and treat it as a fun race (and not pressure myself so much that I can’t help but try to race it as fast as possible and I feel inevitably disappoint myself again). I think there’s a level of disenchantment I’m experiencing with running and I’m going to guess it’s tied to doing too many races and the plateaus and setbacks I’ve been experiencing all year long (compared to 2014’s PB after PB).
For now, I will focus on the two weeks of training I have to complete, another 21.1k to race, and then I’ll use the latter half of December to figure out my running plans for the new year.
November 19, 2015
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