Ottawa 1/2 marathon! I did it!

“Everything went as it was planned, clearly, without difficulties. This is a great success.”

Gaele Winters

Here we are at breakfast, before heading to Ottawa.

Family and friends, runners and cheerleaders, all wearing our custom made red t-shirts.

The shirts were made by my super sis-in-law and I (we took pics of our running shoes and then printed them on iron-on transfers). The name of our group is "Les Lacets Rouge" (translates to "the red shoelaces"). Indeed, all the runners in our group wore red shoelaces :) you can sort of see that on the front of our t-shirts (above), we lined up all our running shoes and tied the red shoelaces together. 

Here I am with my super sis-in-law picniking at the race kit pick-up site. If you enlarge the picture, you can sort of see that the back of the t-shirt has a circle made with all our running shoes and again the red shoelaces are tied together. We are very proud of our t-shirts! They were perfect for finding each other in the crowd.

Here we are with John Stanton, the founder of the Running Room stores and training programs. It was his training program that guided us in fulfilling this dream! Thanks Mr. Stanton.

This reminds me that I learned something important during my race. Most of you know that I was doing the 10/1 method and some of you suggested that I make sure to move to the side when I stop to walk. What I noticed is that MOST runners (not all) do move to the side before walking. However, I also noticed that many of them raise their right arm before stopping as a warning to people behind them that they are about to walk. I thought that was a great idea and I used it everytime I took a walk break. The nice thing about this, is that when I saw someone's hand go up, I knew I'd have to move around them and I was prepared. I wish everyone did this!

And we're off!

Here you can see my red shoelaces :)

I am about to high five my son and I'm probably yelling "wooooo"

Maybe you can tell, from above pic, that the heat wave warning was a false warning...ah our local weather is so often wrong I should never worry in advance. Finally, we had a predicted high of 22°C/72°F cloudy skies and even a few light sprinkles of drizzle. Perfect running weather! I will have more cool race photos soon and maybe even a short video. Until then, let me give you a recap of the actual race.

Short version: I am extremely proud of myself...I felt great and I needed no bathroom breaks. I took water only once (just in case, but I had my fuel belt) and I took a wet sponge once, but didn't have to stop for that. My goal was to hopefully come in under 2h30m...AND...

Chip time: 2h21m30s (automatic PB - first half-marathon)
Female placement: 3513/5329
Age group (50-54): 195/403 :)

Long version: Saturday, we were at the restaurant a little after 8:30am for breakfast with our Red crew and then we were off to Ottawa. We spent the afternoon checking in, getting our race kits, picniking and then rushing back because my brother and his three kids were racing in the 5K at 5pm. I didn't end up having time to visit the expo at all, I just walked quickly through it and salivated...no stopping. We then spent the rest of the afternoon at the race site, which was teaming with almost 10,000 5K racers plus their families and before we left, the 10K people were getting ready to go. It was crazy! But, everyone did great and it was worth the elbowing room only. We then made it to the restaurant for 6:30pm for a nice pasta dinner. By then, my feet needed a rest because we had been standing and walking around all afternoon. After dinner, I realized I would need more water for my race the next day, so off to a 24-hour convenience store I went (a little more walking for good measure). Then, after a warm bath, off to bed, where I was hoping the arms of Morpheus would welcome me.

I slept relatively well and was awake before the alarm. Luckily, our race was at 9:15am (second wave), so we got up around 6:45am to have breakfast and get ready. We left the hotel around 8:25 and made it without too much wait time. I decided to slip in at the back of the 2:15 group, but right in front of the 2:30. I felt really good throughout. By the halfway mark, the family was there to cheer me on and I was raising my arms and yelling with them and feeling great. There was lots of encouragement along the way, the people were awesome and there were cool bands. Anecdote: We had been warned about getting goosebumps and how that could mean that we needed to hydrate. However, at one point, I was running along and I could hear a band doing the intro to the Flashdance song - What a Feeling. Just as I reached them, they broke into the chorus: "What a feeling, bein's believin' - I can have it all, now I'm dancin' for my life - Take your passion, and make it happen - Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life"...I totally got goosebumps...and I don't think I was dehydrated :)

When I reached 18K, I decided not to walk anymore until the finish and by 19K, I picked it up a bit and finished strong, passing quite a few people along the way. I crossed the finish line in 2h21m30s (chip time), which I am more than pleased with as my goal was to make it in under 2h30m...YAY!!

We did it!

Yes, we did the twin thing...remember, we are "Les Lacets Rouge" ;)

More race pics to come...and I'm sure I'll think of other interesting things to share with you. This race was everything I hoped it would be. Interestingly, I felt no pain, other than a little pain on top of my left foot, during the race. This evening is another story...my legs have a few creaky parts and my abs are sore (what's that about?)...but, I'm quite sure all I need is a good night's sleep. So, good night!

Cheers!