2010 Army 1/2 Marathon

This last Sunday the 3rd annual Canadian Army 5k and 1/2 Marathon races were held in Ottawa. The first year the race was held a couple of weeks after my 2nd 50km at Haliburton, so Kim and I took the conservative route and just ran the 5k race. Last year I was coming off my stress fracture and recovered off my Spafford pacing duties fairly well so we both competed in the 1/2 marathon, Kim running her 1/2 PB and me running a respectable 1:35.

This year it was a different beast. Kim registered to run it as a pre-NYC race and I bowed out because it was a week after Haliburton and I figured there is no way I could run even 5km a week later. Friday evening I did my first post Haliburton run with Kim and Strider, just an easy 20min. The first 10 mins were great, but after that my energy completely faded and my left Achilles flared up (damn shoes, different story). Saturday morning we went to pick up Kim's race kit and I must say I got caught up in the race fever. Kim was running this as a NYC practice race now, the injured soldiers, the beautiful day..so at the last minute I did something I have never done before and registered for the race.

Race day was perfect and Kim and I made it to the start as planned with about 2 minutes to spare. The plan was for Kim to run a 5:30/km for the first 10km and then run an 5:10'sh for the last 11km. Well, we started out behind the 1:50 pace bunny (thanks James) and Kim was feeling comfortable so we went with it. The race course was beautiful, winding down Sussex drive and through Rockcliffe for the first 1/2. Kim ran well right behind the 1:50 bunny, but faded a bit after about 8km, still we kept pretty even pacing and finished in 1:51:27. (we measure the course as 21.38 so pretty well a 1:50 for 21.1 :) ). It was a good practice for NYC and we worked out some good hydration and nutrition strategies. Well done sweetie.

Energy wise I felt good throughout the race, but my left Achilles was really getting annoyed with me and my right hip was tender, so still have some TLC and rehab to get through after Haliburton. Looking forward to a couple of weeks now of rolling, sticking and stretching. It felt good to run a nice steady 1/2 marathon though, and gives me a lot to build on for an fun NYC Marathon.