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
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
484 runners and I ran back in time last night in the Adidas #RunMore 10k race in Toronto. The race kicked off at 1 a.m. and ended at 1 a.m.! What a cool way to take advantage of turning the clocks back.
I usually use that extra hour to sleep more so I feel pretty darn productive having fit in a race. But a 1 a.m. race poses some interesting concerns: getting enough rest, when to eat, etc. The weather turned out to be unexpected, too. The day was warmer than it has been the past week, and it was of course colder at night but still warmer than I expected it to be, plus as luck would have it, it also rained pretty steadily from about 11 p.m. onward. I stuck to my original planned outfit, though (Adidas Energy Boost on my feet, Adidas leggings, tank, thin water-resistant shell and cap to keep the rain out of my eyes), and didn’t do my usual stressed-out change-my-mind-a-million times thing.
My goal for this race was to try to have fun. Does that sound odd? Maybe some runners can enjoy their races but I become a total basketcase all would up about doing well. PB or die, haha. I know I’m still weary though from the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon two weeks ago, and I’m sore from an intense Nike workout I did on Thursday with Master Trainer Eva Redpath. Plus, I also have two more half-marathons to run in the next five weeks and I can’t afford to injure myself and risk not being able to run those races. So I didn’t plan very carefully for this race: Friday night I went out and drank a lot of wine (oopsie) and Saturday, I went out and had a big dim sum lunch; both are things I wouldn’t normally do with a race in 24 hours. Last but not least with regards to what how I set a goal for this race? I know I’m not nearly in as good shape as I was for my 10k PB time of 47 minutes. I think I was at about 53 minutes at the 10k mark of the marathon two weeks ago so I decided 54 minutes would be a comfortable, safe time to aim for. If I was feeling strong, I thought I could try to aim for 52 minutes.
With it raining lightly, the race kicked off at 1 a.m., and I started off fast. The first few k I ran at a pace of 5:03, then it slowed to 5:06, then 5:13 and eventually to 5:26, which I wasn’t happy about since that is slower than the pace I have to maintain for a marathon to qualify for Boston. In the spring, I was easily running 10k in training at a 5:10 pace in warm weather without it even feeling hard, so I’m not as fit and/or really worn down from the marathon. At about 7k, I ran into a huge puddle so my feet got soaked, and at 8k my stomach started bothering me. I’d also taken off my jacket a few k into the race so I was a bit cold (but I knew with it on, I’d be too hot), so I was dealing with feeling chilled as well. A good thing about the race is that it was out and back on a section of the Martin Goodman Trail that I run frequently, so I was really familiar with the route, which is mostly flat, except for one moderate hill.
I ended up finishing in 53:52 so I did a pretty good job of judging what my body is capable of. That time places me 7th out of 25 women in my category, the 66th woman out of 266 and 154th out of 485 runners.
After the race, there was plenty of food (not only bananas and starchy carbs, but also juices from The Good Press (yum!) and some food trucks, and beer, hello! There was also a DJ and everyone hung out and celebrated; it’s too bad it was rainy and chilly, though, or else the party would’ve really been great. As it was, I was really cold and didn’t even go outside to the food trucks (that’s how cold I felt — it takes a lot for me to turn down some food truck eats!).
All in all, Adidas Canada put on a fun race with a unique concept and I’d definitely run it if it’s held again. Be sure to register early if it is, though, because it sold out quickly this year. Thanks to Adidas for the chance to use today to #runmore.
Next race: Rock n Rock Las Vegas Half-marathon, Nov. 14, 2015.
November 1, 2015
