Monday, June 28, 2010

I ran my first half marathon yesterday. It went surprisingly well. We had to get up at 4:30am, a time that no one should ever have to be awake at. Of coarse Violet had to wake up at 4am to nurse, making 4:30 come that much quicker. It was the third time she had woken up to nurse that night. I think I had almost 6 hours of sleep, although it was broken up. We had to be at UBC by 6:30, and it poured rain the whole drive out there. Colleen and I waited in a twenty minute line up to use the out house while it continued to rain. We barely made it to the starting line in time. I think it stopped raining within the first few minutes of running. It was a beautiful running route, looping around UBC campus and down marine dr. We ran through tree lined neighbourhoods, past gorgeous houses that were overlooking the beach. The spectacular views really helped make the run more pleasant. The temperature also helped. It was overcast with a slight breeze, which kept me from getting to overheated. The first 10km came fast, and around 12km I passed Colleen's husband Jason, and my Christopher and sweet Violet holding a cheering sign. It really gave me a boost to see them, especially Violet looking so cute, with a kissy face. The last 4km seemed to take longer, and I really tried to pick up my pace as that's when my hip started to ache. Coming up on the Burrard bridge Stanley park still looked so far away, thankfully all the spectators cheers helped the short remaining distance end quicker.
 All in all it went so much better than I thought it would. Thanks to Imodium and a Tylenol/ ibuprofen mix I didn't have any major issues. I felt good when I finished and didn't worry about my less than fast time, because I had fun. Besides it was only my first, and I plan to do more and improve my time in the years to come. I will mention that Colleen rocked it at 1:56. That girl is a superstar, and an inspiration to me. oh yeah, and it started to rain again as we headed back to the car post race.

1 comment:

  1. Congratulations! What an accomplishment. I'm glad everything worked out despite lack of sleep and IBS problems. I bet it was a gorgeous route, too. I love the pics of your kids you put on facebook. Your photographer is talented and captured them beautifully.

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