The Saskatoon River Run Classic: Half-Marathon Race

The Day Before:  Received Ella's friend , whom I'm babysitting for a couple of days. Walked to the Farmers' Market, and then to Remai Arts Centre to pick up racing package. Stretched and used foam roller to fix the remaining knots in my leg and back. Tried napping in the early afternoon, since Saturday is typically the busiest day at the Ex, with the most hooligans touring around the streets, as witnessed yesterday as I watched two cops chasing a youth who escaped them (he was running from them with his hands handcuffed behind his back). Napping was futile, so I worked on other correspondence. Made a beef stir fry for supper, listened to some of the Collective Soul concert from my deck, waited until the fireworks passed before even trying to prepare for bed. Fell asleep sometime after midnight.

Wake up/Breakfast on Day of Race: Awoken at 4:00 AM, by some idiot honking a car horn down the block, and couldn't go back to sleep. Read and replied to e-mails. Breakfast at 5:00 was an English muffin, two poached eggs, eight strips of bacon, two large cups of coffee (with creammilk and sugar). I could only eat half of it, anxiety/excitement was making my stomach flip.

Half Marathon start time: 8:00 AM, at River Landing.  I arrived an hour early. I cycled there slowly, and used much of that time to stretch before the starting gun went off.

Start Position: Middle of the pack. There were only 121 runners registered (108 recorded finishing) for the Half Marathon, so not a really dense crowd to move through.

Mental Preparation: I avoided all instances of watching and being obsessed about my pace time, as I'm sure that it would have been too distracting. I set up only the distance traveled on my GPS watch. I told myself that, given the circumstances, pain will be inevitable, and used a lot of controlled breathing to try to make it dissipate.  My thoughts were focused on being so determined to just getting past that finish line: no matter if I ran, walked, crawled, or even was face down on the pavement trying to drag myself there by my lips. I trained too hard and sacrificed a lot to get this far; to just throw in the towel and quit was not an option.

Pre-Race Weight: 194.4 lbs (88.17 kg)

Post-Race Weight: 190.4 lbs (86.36 kg)

Most Challenging Part(s) of the Race: The course was made up of sections I've already ran through and am familiar with, but it served no advantage for me with the sciatic problems. I noticed the stiffening occur at around the 12 km point. I forced myself (for my protection) to walk up the hills and inclines by the bridges, and was limping badly at this point (18 km). I had a spike of reserve energy for the last 500 meters before the finish line, I wish it was there earlier.

Things I’m most pleased about with my performance: As pain stricken as I was, I managed to stay more or less in the middle of the pack for the first 15 kilometers. I managed to stay disciplined enough to avoid red-lining, and risking greater injury. Happy that my pain-tolerance has been quite elevated since I've started running. I'm happy that I had the wherewithal, and fulfilled my commit ment to start and end this trial. Happy to be not the last guy in the standing of my Sex/Age group. 

Final Results:

• Time: 2:11:34
• Rank: 77/108
• Average Pace: 6' 15"/km
• Place in Sex/Age Division: 13/14
• Fastest Pace: 4' 51"/km at 2.5 kms into race
• Most Brutal kilometer: Between 18 and 19 (just about collapsed)

After the Race: Gently and slowly cycled back home. Finished my breakfast. Bath and stretching. Ice packs on hamstrings. Emptied two liters of Gatorade to replenish myself. Attempted to nap to catch up on Zzzz's after the lousy sleep from last night, and to rest for a date I have this afternoon before the Ex noise starts up.

What I’ve Learned: Never sleep on the ground just after receiving chiropractic treatment. Bring and drink more electrolytes with this degree of injury. No matter what kind of fancy, space-age wicking material they are made of, black sponsor provided T-shirts are a bad idea. I learned how to pace myself through pain better than I did in my trial runs since getting treatment. 

My award and reward(s):

This award felt very hard earned, but worth it in the end.

Considering how close I came to hitting the pavement, perhaps a practical reward should be getting a Road ID bracelet. They were one of the sponsors of this race.

Grateful for: The volunteers of these races never get enough thanks for their time and energy for helping to get these events set up and running smoothly. Extra thanks to all of them. My special thanks to my best friend for giving me this goal to work towards; I wish I could have been in better shape to honour this gift.