Race Review: BMO Vancouver Half Marathon

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Wow, where has the time gone, already a week into May! This year was my 2nd year taking part in the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon (Race Review from last year). Early on, I had hoped I would be doing the marathon distance, but after everything that's happened since LA, it wasn't feasible so I dropped down to the half distance about a month ago.

A friend of mine, Brandi, and I were chatting on the trails a few weeks ago about the race and she mentioned maybe signing up and attempting to challenge her PR which was around 2:27... So I offered to pace her (as long as my foot held up) to a PR if she were to sign up and she did!

You can read about Brandi's running journey here.

The expo for this race is always fun, though very busy, be prepared to stand in line. I went on Friday and visited with one of my fellow RnRVAN ambassadors Tina! We had a great time visiting with other runners and checking out the Rock 'n' Roll Vancouver booth!

We even managed to get out for a shakeout run on my favorite part of the seawall in False Creek!

It was a gorgeously warm spring Vancouver day but I had heard that rain was headed in for the rest of the weekend.

When I woke up to pick up my fellow runners whom I was carpooling with on Sunday, the rain was coming down in sheets. I wasn't very pleased, since the Surrey Marathon, my tolerance for rainy races has diminished considerably. Obviously, we live in Vancouver and we know it rains, but it's still not something you hope for on race day, especially in Spring. I grabbed all my gear and headed out the door. I knew our timeline had to be spot on if we were going to make it in time to check our bags.

I picked up Lisa on time but somehow got a little turned around heading to Stephanie's house and that definitely set us back a few minutes. When we got downtown (intending to park near the finish line and take transit to the start line), the parking lot where I was hoping to park had now turned into a construction site... Thankfully, we found something nearby and very quickly made our way to the sky train with the mass of other runners. When we got off the sky train at King Edward, I remembered how far it was to the actual start line and so we began our walking. I admittedly panicked when we arrived and I couldn't see the UPS trucks with the bag check. We started running all over the place, only to realize we had walked right past them on the way in... way to go Krista.

We checked our bags with literally seconds to spare. Did I also mention that somewhere in the chaos on the way to the start line, I misplaced my bag check tag, thankfully the UPS volunteer had a piece of paper to write my bib # down and replace it.

We hardly had any time to stand around, never mind look for anyone else, before they were singing the national anthem and calling everyone into their corrals. Thankfully Brandi found me, and Stephanie jumped in at the last minute and off we went. At least, as Lisa put it, there was no time to stand around and get soaked in the rain.

Though, it also meant no time for pre-race photos so this blurry selfie is all you get!

As we got going, I felt really good, but I could tell Brandi wasn't feeling quite right and was worried about how fast we were going coming down the hill. The first 4 kilometers of this race are quite literally all downhill. I had hoped we could pick it up just a little bit here to gain a bit of a buffer with our time. As we crossed the Cambie St. bridge and saw some, how shall I say this, "exhibitionists" (ie. naked people) modeling in their apartment window, Brandi asked if we could pull back a bit.

I didn't want to kill her energy right off the bat, so we eased up and took our first walk break. After which it was time for the little out & back portion of the race by Science World that I really dislike. Today though, I was feeling good. I was surprised with all the foot issues I've had lately, how good I actually felt. We moved along up the first hill through Chinatown, then Yaletown, and around onto Pacific. I've always felt this race to be a great mix of some of the best Vancouver race's out there including First Half, Lululemon, & the Scotiabank Half, and because of this, it sort of feels like a run down memory lane. I kept talking to Brandi trying to distract her and keep her moving, she had mentioned that her stomach was feeling off and I didn't want her focusing on that.

I knew once we got to the park, the last half of the race, that would be the hardest part to maintain our pace for her to PR. Up until we reached the park in fact, we were on pace for a sub 2:22 and Brandi was doing great! Stanley Park and the seawall are beautiful on a sunny day, but on this day, it was pouring and the wind was ridiculous. My hands were frozen and I was sure wishing I had grabbed the rest of my gear (arm warmers, gloves, handana) before throwing it to the gear check dude in that mad rush.

I had definitely forgotten about all the little rolling hills when you cross through the center of the park, but I for one was pleased we weren't on the outside of the seawall anymore getting tossed around by the wind and rain, I don't think Brandi felt the same way though... I'll let her tell her story on her blog about how she was feeling but I am really proud of her for pushing through a tough race. Did I mention she has run 3 half marathons in the past few weeks?!? We all have bad days and she still made it to the finish line within mere minutes of her PR and I do believe if she had been feeling better and more rested, she would have gone sub 2:22, perhaps even sub 2:20.

I enjoyed pacing someone during a race even though we didn't succeed this time. It was fun to not be worrying about my own PR goals for once and focus on someone else and follow their race journey.

Our final time was 2:29:24.

Race Review Summary 

Package Pickup/Expo:
Okay. Though it is one of the bigger expos in Vancouver, I'm betting Rock 'n' Roll Vancouver will top it for sure.

Price/Value: $119
It was cheaper the earlier you registered, and I of course downgraded, so even though I paid way more for the full marathon, I had to pay an administration fee to switch. It is a nice race, there's no doubting that, but that is crazy expensive.

Aid Stations: 
Plenty of them and they were all fully stocked this year.

Course Difficulty: 
It's moderate. Not totally flat, but relatively so. The downhill at the beginning is a great time to pick up some speed.

Medals:
They are nice and a good size as well.

My foot is feeling pretty good right now and I'm starting to formulate some goals for my 25th half marathon, Rock 'n' Roll Portland, in a couple of weeks. My lovely readers are eligible to receive a registration discount of $10 with the code 'KRISTARUNSPDX' now until May 11th!

Getting Personal with Pacing

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I haven't been sleeping well lately, which isn't meshing well with my January goals. I've always had lots of trouble getting to sleep but I also have recently started watching the series Breaking Bad which is only feeding my problem getting to sleep because I could always watch the next episode...

Anyways, long story short, I stayed up too late on Saturday night and woke up again at 2:00AM feeling nauseous from not eating enough for dinner. I took a Gravol and went back to sleep hoping I'd feel better for my run on Sunday morning. When I woke up I was still feeling nauseous, but I really wanted to get my run in, so I took another Gravol and headed to my local run club for a long run. I had 13km on the schedule so I knew that I at least wanted to get that done, but I wasn't sure what the rest of the group would be running. I got there and the only two options this week were 7 or 18km. Hmm... Not ideal but I headed out for the 18km intending to cut it short somewhere along the way.

As we got going, I felt horrible and really sluggish. I was really starting to reconsider doing 7ish kilometers, but I never managed to turn myself around. I just kept going and tried to let go of keeping up with the group. When you run with a group it's so easy to chase or follow the person in front of you which works okay for a few kilometers but after that, things tend to fall apart if you're going faster than you should. I slowed right down to an average pace of 6:30/7:00km including my 10/1s. Within 1 kilometer or so, I found myself all alone but feeling a lot better.

I sort of had to laugh at myself a little bit because I know all of these things and yet I find myself making the same mistakes. I think part of my pacing issue stems from the fact that running has become a lot more social for me over the past couple of years and meeting lots of new friends. I often find myself trying to keep pace with people for fear of missing some good conversation but when you are so out of breath you can't talk, there's really no point ha ha. I enjoy running with a group but it is very important to remember that you are the only person that will get yourself to that finish line.

I threw away the route about halfway through and decided to do my own thing and even though it was a cloudy grey day, it was a really beautiful run for me. Sometimes all I need to clear my head is a couple of hours with myself and the sound of my shoes hitting the pavement.

In the end, I  didn't really cut it short and ran 17km exactly, ending in the chocolate milk aisle of the grocery store!

It always amazes me how a run can end so differently than it started. If you're struggling finding your happy pace I urge you to head out on a solo run and see how you feel.

Did you run this past Sunday, how did it go?