1) Get there EARLY!! We arrived just before 7. The race started at 7:30. I definitely felt rushed and like we didn't have enough time to warm up. This made the first two miles a lot harder and left Taber with an injured knee.
2) I really like running without headphones! I was devastated when I realized I'd left my iPod at home and almost made Taber turn back. He convinced me I'd be better off without them and he was right! It was so awesome to be in tune with everything around me and it was easier to keep a steady pace because I wasn't driven by the different beats of different songs. I still like running with music for training runs but in a race it's awesome to go sans music and just connect with everything happening on the course.
3) Water stops are tricky and take practice. I didn't actually swallow any of the water until the 3rd stop when I realized I needed to slow down.
4) Have ice and ibuprofen on hand for the finish. We definitely needed ours!
And now I leave you with some footage from the race. Please excuse my cheesy faces and commentary. I never really know what to do or say on camera ; ) (Also, you'll see the lovely yellow balloons of our pace leaders that carried me through the race. Pace groups are awesome! I'm now a huge fan!)
I'm personally a fan of Aleve for after a race, try it! Aleve in Canada is a prescription drug, that means it's good!
ReplyDeleteYou don't even look like you broke a sweat!
ReplyDeletethat looks like a great course. how many years have they been doing that race? hope the knee heals in the next couple of weeks. your video reminds me how cold and windy it was that day! :) great job!
ReplyDeleteOkay lots of things:
ReplyDeleteFirst, the headphone thing. I am so attached to my little ipod, and today I ran like a half mile to the park without it and felt so weird. But I do think that in a race, it makes you feel a little disconnected and I'm contemplating whether or not I should use it in my 10-miler in June. Thanks for sharing your experience with that.
Second, a friend of mine who is a little speed demon (7:30 half marathon pace) says she takes ibuprofen BEFORE she does long runs so it kicks in faster. I've had my questions about how it would affect running, but I've done it and it does seem to help.
Ok last thing is, it's true, you don't even look tired at the end of the race! And you said in your other post that you had energy at the end, so you know what I'm thinking right? That you're totally gonna blow that wowie wowie time out of the water in your next half. You've got running in your blood, girl! Way to go.