Mission Possible Half Marathon race report

Encouraged by the Rattle me bones 5k I decided to make one last threw of the dice and started training for another half-marathon taking place three weeks later. Not much time to train following the 5k, but training went well with two circa 50-mile weeks that included good stuff such as 3 x 2 miles (5:47, 6:03, 6:02), a 15-mile run, a 10-mile progression (8:18, 7:30, 11, 02, 6:50, 35, 21, 08, 5:56), a 6-mile tempo in the cold (6:09, 03, 00, 00, 5:59, 54) and a 8-mile tempo, semi-fast to fast: 6:17, 15, 14, 10, 07, 08, 01, 01. 

The race was on November 18 and Ottawa was bracing for winter, which presented a wardrobe problem of how to dress for speed without turning into an icicle. A trial run the day before decided shorts were a no go, my knees were really hurting from the cold (I find that in general any temperature about zero degrees works for shorts). Unfortunately the race start was 9 am, I supposed it could have been earlier and worse, but it almost guaranteed just below zero temperatures.

The race was held at a golf course outside Ottawa and the race director did not lie when he said “there are no hills but there are no flat sections either.” Yet I remained optimistic this could just be the day I ran sub 1:19 given that the results from last year indicated many of the top runners had ran PRs of 1 or 2 minutes. It was later revealed that the course of last year had been about 0.25 miles short explaining these results. Regardless, there was also the added incentive that Dylan Wykes, who finished 20^th in the Olympic marathon, was going to be presenting the awards afterwards. I also believe he initially thought of racing but figured it was no point after seeing my name amongst the starters. I had done my own research and was pretty sure at least two runners would beat me and then there were two others who I was very much looking forward to racing again, last time being the Alterna ultimate race 10k in June. That time, I had pushed the pace early on only to falter at the halfway point and finished a disappointing one minute or so behind them, so this time I was determined not to let that happen and hoping for 3^rd place. 

It was a chilly morning; I made an attempt at warming-up, but it didn’t really warm me up. Perhaps it would have been better to warm-up indoors like some of the others? The start was delayed by about 10 min so everyone headed back inside the club house. The waiting is the hardest part, right? Made it back out and managed to get really close to the front of the starters, of which there were about 150. With such a small field I managed to get a good start… it’s been a while. Yet, four guys ran ahead, while I was part of a small chasing group of interchanging runners cruising along at around 6 min mile pace. Indeed, it was a rolling course along the paved paths of the golf course.  It made for a strange sensation of having to hold back during the short down-hills then pushing during the short up-hills that followed.

During the second mile I felt very comfortable and caught two of the guys who had pulled ahead early. This spurred me on, and I decided to keep it up and the others of the group decided to let me go. I was a bit surprised since I was still running at 6:05 pace. The two guys ahead of me were considerable further afield but I could spot them, occasionally among the trees. If this was an up and down course, it was also a windy route with plenty of turns. Overall, it made for running at an erratic pace, varying at every turn; I’m not sure if this was good or bad, but it was definitively different.  At one point, however, I was almost certain I had taken a wrong turn, only for the guy ahead to re-appear in the distance by the course. 

Winding course, two laps, don't get lost. Yellow star = start and finish

At the end of the third mile I reached an aid station and I was assured I was in third place and only 200 m behind second place. Not that I needed encouragement at this stage, but it was nice to hear, although I suppose being 200 m behind this early could be a bad thing. I kept at it but running in no-man’s land was becoming increasingly difficult. I kept glancing over my shoulder but the chasers weren’t very close, neither were those ahead… I sensed trouble. Then there were Canada geese blocking the road, slowing me down, and I passing over a creaking bridge that seemed like it could have broken. Now my mind was playing tricks on me. I suddenly was feeling like I couldn’t keep my pace up, which had been 6:07 on average, but mile four was 6:13 and I could tell I was slowing down, grrr.. I was mad: I had made the mistake I didn’t want to make, and started too fast, however, I should be able to run this fast without problems normally. I realized it was mentally too difficult to run on my own, so I decided there was no point in delaying the inevitable and I let the chaser catch up with me soon thereafter. There were two of them, exactly the two guys I had raced and been beaten by in June. I let them pass, almost jogging and decided to tag along on their heels. It was a bit difficult initially but it had to be done and I didn’t let them go even though they had the momentum. I wasn’t feeling so fresh, probably the worst I’ve felt so early in a race, but I got stuck in and tag along. Strangely how just following someone can make it seem so much easier.. 

So the next couple of miles were 6:15, 11, 22 then we reached the approximate half-way mark and people were commenting on us being a good looking group, which of course I’m sure everyone involved was aiming for…We pretty much tagged along at the same pace from then on, but then at one juncture I had this feeling I should let go and a let a small gap develop between me and the two others; luckily I felt mentally and physically strong enough to tell myself not to let go and closed it soon thereafter. I told myself to just bring it to 10 miles and I’d almost be there, and then anything could happen. Just like that we were entering mile 10 and we were, much to the delight of the on-lookers, still a “good-looking group.” OK, so I started thinking of what to do next, and settled for hanging on and trying to out-sprint the others near the finish.

 So one of the guys had been leading our small group since mile 5 and I have to say I felt a bit sorry for him. I thought the middle guy was going to make a move, and all of a sudden he did, with about 1.5 miles to go, sprinting ahead of the other runner who did not take chase. Now I was left with a choice: to follow or not to follow. Although I hesitated momentarily, the choice was easy – follow. Ha, I’m sure he was a bit surprised I did. I was right on his heels, while the guy who previously had been 3^rd could not follow. Then we came up to an intersection and the guy was asking me something about which way to  go. I stuttered I wasn’t sure, because I wasn’t sure. I’m sure it was just a veteran move to tell how fresh I was. With the guidance of the amazing volunteers we made the right and obvious turn. Now I was angry, I wasn’t going to let this guy beat me. I knew I had it in me. I made a move with about one kilometer left I pulled up alongside of him, but for some reason hesitated to move ahead. Then I glanced over the hills and noticed the finishing line, which seemed so far away, and I just buckled mentally. The other guy picked it up and moved ahead and I couldn’t follow. I kept at but for some reason just didn’t have it, I wasn’t going to catch him. Then I became aware the other guy was closing in on me. But in the end I had done enough to hold him off, finishing in 4^th place. I knew we hadn’t been running at record breaking speed but when I saw my time of 1:21 something, initially I wasn’t pleased, not completely crap came to my mind. In hindsight, it was a tough course, and everyone ran about 2 minutes slower than their latest times so it wasn’t that big of a deal, so in summary: a good effort given the conditions.

A nice brunch followed at the club house. I was trying to strike conversation with a local runner whom I’d like to learn from, but seeing that I was quite exhausted and me not being that talkative to begin with, I think me asking him about his training pretty much came across as a police interrogation.. Then were the awards, and Dylan Wykes speaking which was nice. His message was basically “Olle, keep running, challenge yourself, dreams come true, do your best and wear more than one pair of shoes for training”. What wasn’t so nice was the fact that everyone in the top 5, apart from me, received a price from him and had a photo taken, because either they had finished 1st in the race, their age-group or second in the race. Duh! Tough but fair, as my dad would have put it. What I deserved now was some rest…

1. A. Roberts    1:17:37
2. S. Anderson  1:18:09
3. J-F. Fillion    1:21:33
4. O. de Bruin  1:21:46
5. G. Riggs       1:21:58
6. S. de Wit      1:25:45