This is my second half marathon. I have raced the same course last year. It’s in my home town. All the races I’ve done so far were in my home town. Last year, on my debut HM, I finished with a time of 1:38:47. I was very happy with that. It was an A+ goal.

This year, I raced a 10K in May. Finished in 42:24. I suspect the course might have been short, but since there were sharp turns, that can also explain the difference with my Timex GPS. McMillan predicts a 1:34:31 half for that 10k time, whereas Daniels has it at 48.5 VDOT and 1:34:02 half time. Given that I have trained in the past 4 months (since May), my goal time for this year’s half is sub 1:34. It looks a bit fast to me when I look at the number, but my training and past results say it’s a reasonable goal. Then again, what if the 10k course was short (Timex had it at 9600m)? And today was going to be pretty warm and very sunny…

C Goal : PR (< 1 :38 :47)

B Goal : sub 1:35

A Goal : sub 1:34

A+ Goal : sub 1:33

On this course, a positive split is almost inevitable. The race starts on a bridge and it’s downhill right from the start. Then we hop between two islands (bridge between each), go around the F1 track, then another bridger and finally get to the mainland (actually Montreal is also an island...). Othen than the bridges, it's been pretty flat up to here. But the race finishes on « Le Plateau ». So at maybe 50% of the race we start going up slowly. There are two pretty big hills. One in old Montreal and then the infamous « côte Berri » (Berri hill) which is right after the 19 km marker. That’s a killer. Once atop the hill, it’s still uphill (more gently) to the finish line. Last year I underestimated the part after « côte Berri ». I started my kick too soon (I thought there was about 500m to the finish, but there was still much more to go) and finished grimacing and almost doubled over.

So the strategy going into today’s race was to bank 1 minute before « Côte Berri », on top slowly gain my tempo back again, then hold a reasonable tempo going up the gentle slope, losing a few seconds being ok, and on the last stretch, have enough energy for a nice strong kick. I set my watch on 21.1 km, 1:33:59, and I went in the race with the mind set that I would follow the virtual pacer or die trying. An A+ goal would be to finish 1 minute ahead of my virtual pacer. 4:27/km average is what I needed for my A-Goal.

Yeah, right!

I was in corral 2, but was a little timid to go up front. There was traffic when the race started and my foot hit someone else’s foot. No damage. I hate race starts. Then I went out fast. I was going for my A goal, but wanted to keep the door open for the A+ goal. The start is downhill, so I needed to bank time for the 2^nd half which is uphill.

4:28 - 1

4:16 - 2

4:20 - 3

Going well. A bit fast but I feel great. I can keep this up. Then, beginner’s mistake, a shoe lace got untied. FFS. Considered leaving it like that, but decided to stop, and tie it. Then when I started back, I kept thinking that I should have taken 1 extra second to do it proper as I rushed it and it was not perfect. I was cursing myself for such a beginner’s mistake and had to talk myself out of thinking about it and enjoy the race.

4:28 – 4 (shoe lace)

4:20 - 5

I was starting to feel the 4:20 pace, and figured I should drop the A+ goal and secure my A-Goal. So 4:27/km it is. So for next few kms, nothing worth mentioning happened. I was just running at a steady pace. Business as usual.

4 :28 - 6

4 :26 - 7

4 :26 - 8

4 :28 - 9

4 :30 - 10

4 :30 – 11

4 :24 – 12

4 :28 – 13

Still feeling good but I’m thinking it’s a good thing I banked time because I’m pretty much at my limit, and there are hills coming up. All is still good, but it’s going to be tough.

4:10 – 14 (WTF???)

4:28 - 15

4:20 – 16

Then the first real hill came up. I don’t remember that it was this hard last year. My thighs became warm, I got « stomach cramps » (don’t know if that is what they’re called in English) side stitches on both sides, and although I was not wearing my HRM, I know my heart rate skyrocketed. Holy crap, it was hard running after that. I needed to slow down to catch my breath and get the stitches to pass, but at the same time I wanted to tough it out and finish in my goal time.

4:34 - 17

4:38 - 18

Shit, I was running slow, I was not catching my breath, the stitches were not going away, and the « Berri hill » was still coming up. It was painful. I thought about DNFing, but decided to just finish the damn thing. To hell with all the goal times. So I really slowed down in the 19th km, and in the 20th km there was the hill. I was grimacing, holding my right side (the left stitch passed with the slower 19th km). There are people in the hill encouraging the runners, and I’m usually a stoic runner with a slight smile on my face showing off how easy running is, but this time I was just grimacing and trying to hold on.

4 :50 – 19

4 :52 – 20

Only had 1.1 km to go and thought about the finishing kick, so I picked up the pace conservatively in the 21st km, to have juice left for a finishing kick. Started my kick at maybe 200 meters to go. Just as I passed the 21 km marker : Bang! A calf cramp. That has never happened to me before. I have 100m to go and am hopping ackwardly trying for a photo-finish kick! That must have been a pretty sight. But after 30-40m I was able to run correctly so I finished with a more conventional running form.

4:30 – 21

0:47 – 0.19 km (I mush have taken longer turns in parts)

I had not looked at my watch for a little while. I was solidly out of breath and a little dizzy. After maybe 30 seconds of very slow walking aimlessly my senses came back and was all right.

Unofficial finish time (Timex) : 1:34:43

A bit disappointed. Physically and mentally i gave it all I had, but it is the first time in my short racing career that the result is slower than what I expected. Bad preparation? Bad race strategy? Irrealist expectations? Maybe a little of all.

Congrats. Looks like an A- and nothing wrong with that.

Thanks, it is unusually warm for this time of year, but it didn't feel that hot during the race. Maybe it was a factor, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Thanks, it is unusually warm for this time of year, but it didn't feel that hot during the race. Maybe it was a factor, but I wouldn't bet on it.

You ran your fuckin ass off, that's what it was!  To the point where you got side-stitches (I think that's what you were referring to) and you still finished strong!

Nice job E!

Dude, where are you?  At a funeral?  You just knocked off 4 minutes off your personal best in a year, that shit ain't easy yo!  It's time to celebrate and drink shit up! 

Yep, time for a beer or three

I don't understand the kilometer talk but it sounds like you ran a good hard race with a nice PR.  Side stitches suck and I almost always get them in races...I think from pushing too hard and my breathing gets out of control.   Anyway, great effort and I don't think you should be disappointed.

Hey, congrats on that huge PR! That is definitely something to celebrate! I heard it was tough out there today, so don't beat yourself up.

I hope you finished those 3 beers, so you can start working on #s 4 & 5.

Great job, Cy!  I understand the disappointment but you got a great time that will be smashed soon!