Mile 1 - 8:32 HR: 166
The start of the Vancouver half marathon is always fun, so many people crowded into Queen Elizabeth Park, everyone excited and ready to go. I didn't love that we didn't actually start running until 7:15, since the race start was supposed to be 7:00 AM, but it was warm enough that it wasn't a big deal. In that 15 minutes they had some warm up exercises and Oh Canada singing which everyone seemed to appreciate. I started at the back of my corral, since I knew Rich and Mikey P were in the corral one back and I didn't want them to have a big lead on me if they caught up to me in the race. Everyone in the corral seemed as fast or faster than me and I wasn't impeded at all. The corral system once again did a great job of seeding people and reducing gridlock.
My game plan was to keep my heart rate at 170 or less and hopefully attain a 9:00 min/mile pace until the 7 mile mark, and then try to kick it up. For this first mile that worked, my average heart rate was 166 and I did this mile in 8:32. I definitely didn't feel like the pace was easy, but it didn't seem too difficult.
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| Start of the BMO Vancouver 2013 Half Marathon |
Mile 2 - 8:18 HR: 172
Mile 2 is largely downhill, it is a pretty awesome part of the run, running with so many people down Cambie and being able to see Vancouver all the way to the mountains is very inspirational. My heart rate was drifting up, at this point I thought trying to keep under 175 seemed more reasonable, but with the huge downhill it was tough to judge things accurately.
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Mile 3 - 8:47 HR: 175
Crossing the bridge over False Creek is awesome, this is another beautiful mile. This section also travels along Pacific and is very scenic. My pace slowed slightly here as the downhill was over and there was actually a slight uphill tick on this stretch. I remember I was doing a lot of math in my head and still felt pretty good about my pace.
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Mile 4 - 9:51 HR: 178
This one was slightly uphill again, this is the part of the race that was new this year, the out and back on Quebec Street. I think I had to stop and tie my shoes a couple of times which was the reason for the higher time. I think I also ran into Fast Alex here, and assumed that meant I had caught up to him. He ran off ahead immediately and I found out after the race he had actually started in a corral further back and so had actually closed 5 minutes off my time at this point. I also saw Rich on the turn around and thought he must have started right behind me to be so close. I found out later he was in fact just running really fast, and had started significantly far behind.
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Mile 5 - 8:25 HR: 184
This chunk was through down town Vancouver, I thought there was a little bit of a hill here but the Garmin doesn't seem to show it. I don't really remember this section that well, I think I was mostly just doing math to see if I was on pace for my 7 mile change up. I think here I realized my heart rate was too high but couldn't settle it too much.
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Mile 6 - 8:46 HR: 179
The next chunk was through Yaletown, and the most memorable thing was getting a gel. I grabbed it, stuffed as much as I could into my mouth, then washed it down with some water and grabbed a second one. I was actually hungry before this so I knew that calories could possibly help. Looks like I settled my heart rate down a little bit here too.
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Mile 7 - 9:18 HR: 179
At this stage I was really just looking forward to getting to mile 7 on time and hopefully picking it up. I was working hard but hoped I could put some extra effort into it and still had high hopes. This is a pretty nice mile in English Bay.
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Mile 8 - 8:24 HR: 187
My game plan at this stage was to try to keep my heart rate under or at 185 until mile 10 or 11, then REALLY push it. I probably wasn't too worried about the 187 though, I think I may have changed the plan to just keep it under 190 shortly after this mile started... Going into Stanley Park there was a bit of a hill and I said "Aw man, I thought they got rid of the hill" and the girl beside me said that was a really de-motiviating thing to say. I felt bad.
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Mile 9 - 8:36 HR: 191
I was really hurting by here, but I knew once I reached the end of mile 9 I could have the gel I was awkwardly carrying in my hand, so I was somewhat motivated. Running in Stanley Park is always awesome, even when you are very tired and sore. Before this I had been thinking that as long as I didn't push too hard and bonk I would beat Mike and Rich, but that if I didn't push too hard and risk bonking I would not get anywhere near Fast Alex. However, at the end of the second turn around I heard Rich shouting hello so he was quite a bit closer behind than I had known, and he sounded quite strong, so I began to be worried about him catching me outright.
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Mile 10 - 9:00 HR: 193
Heart rate up, pace down, doesn't look good. Was not feeling optimistic about a final 2 mile speed burst at this point, was really more just hoping to hang on... Running in Stanley Park was still awesome.
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Mile 11 - 8:40 HR: 193
I think I tried to increase my cadence, it seemed to work, as I started running faster at the same heart rate. Though maybe my heart rate was just maxed out?
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Mile 12 - 8:53 HR: 195
This is where I was supposed to be really pushing it, but I was just trying to hang on and finish without bonking. I couldn't believe there was still 2 miles left at the start of this mile, it felt like it had to be less...
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Mile 13 - 8:57 HR: 195
This was a painful mile, trying to convince myself not to walk, just a little bit. (And succeeding, of course). It became apparent that the Garmin was not completely in tune with the course either, and that I would be running for 0.2 miles or so longer than I had expected. I kept trying to convince myself I was almost there, but it still seemed pretty far for most of it...
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The Last 500? Metres - 9:10 HR: 196
Someone had a sign that said punch here to power up, so I ran over and punched the sign then raced off energized. The extra boost didn't last long and I ended up just struggling to run and not walk on this last little chunk. Very very glad to get to the end....
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| Team Whatever Mike Called us at the End of the Race |
Conclusion
I think I just lost too much fitness in the three weeks before the race and couldn't maintain and improve my speed as the race went on. Beating Fast Alex will just have to wait until Edmonton...
The race was excellent overall, the course is gorgeous from start to finish and the organizers really seem to be trying to make the race better and better each year. The street festival at the finish was pretty cool. The post race food kind of sucked though, but what can you do...
