I've Done a Half

On Sunday I ran the Vancouver half marathon (see the course map here). Very grueling, that morning was. My official time was two hours, seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds - a personal best! My place: 2659. At first I was a tad disappointed with my time, but in the fifty hours that have passed since crossing the finish line a growing sense of accomplishment has been setting in. I'm already looking forward to completing my second half (date and location tbd), for which I will be more adequately prepared.

By all accounts, mine included, I did a poor job in supplying my body with appropriate amounts of fuel, especially during the race. (Note to self: a bedtime snack and a heartier breakfast are musts.) During the race, my intake consisted of a little bit of water at most water stations and a tiny bit of gatorade at one of the later stations. My brother-in-law, who crossed the finish line thirty-two minutes ahead of me, had consumed three power gels during the race, in addition to whatever fluids he ingested. My sister crossed the line twenty minutes before me, but I don't know how what she had during the race. Anyway, congrats to you both! A couple more days rest and I'll be back at 'er, pounding the pavement in the name of fitness - and new personal bests.

[See three marathon-related Detected Errors by clicking here and here and here.]

Running in a Half

I've been running regularly since last August. At the end of February I started to keep track of the location and duration of each run. By posting each run's route and time on my blog I'm motivated to keep running, both in the general lifestyle sense and in the specific not-feeling-so-great-today sense. Today, for the first time in years, I went for a run on city sidewalks, instead of the woodsy trails of Pacific Spirit Park.

While running the park's trails is great for a variety of reasons (don't have to stop for red lights and cars; the freshest air in town; soft-ish ground surface for the feet; the dogs tag along and get a lot of exercise), I need to run city sidewalks more often and here's why: in less than three weeks I'm running a half-marathon. There. It's out there. The Vancouver Half-Marathon on May 4th will be my first half-marathon. To prepare my body, my training runs should be similar to what I'll experience on that fateful Sunday. It means leaving the dogs at home, which sucks, but it's what's best for me.

Today's run route
Start at E King Edward Ave & Inverness St, south on Inverness St, right at E 31st Ave, left at Windsor St, right at E 37th Ave, right at Kersland Dr, cross W 33rd Ave, follow an unnamed Queen Elizabeth Park road clockwise, right at sidewalk next to pitch and putt golf course, follow path counterclockwise to the parking lot, through the parking lot, left at W 37th Ave, left at Windsor St, right at E King Edward Ave, end at Inverness St.
Today's run time
53 minutes 21 seconds