Vancouver, BC Half Marathon

Running a half marathon was never anything I wanted to do. A year ago the most I would run was to catch a bus, and then I was out of breath and sweating. But Dan got a bug to do a half marathon, signed me up without asking (thankfully because he knew I'd say no) and so we started training!

Most half marathon training courses train you for 12 weeks, but that is assuming you are already comfortable running 3 miles...I of course was not. Dan and I had done some 5K's but I was horrible at them, I could run maybe a little bit but only if it were downhill. So, I started training just to become comfortable running 3 miles a month before the actual 12 week training began, I would run for a few seconds, then walk, run for a few seconds more then walk. I built up to being able to run 1 mile without stopping, then 2 miles without stopping. I never did 3 without stopping, and still cant...but I decided it didn't matter because I could run more then I walked.

The training began for the marathon in February we were running 3 miles 3x a week which was a lot for me on top of the once a week training we were doing with our trainer plus boot camp workouts. When runs became longer then 6 miles on Saturdays I had to choose to take out boot camp as it was just too much for my body to handle. I was consistantly running about a 12.5 min mile during my runs and feeling really good about myself. My goal was to complete the half marathon in 3 hours, run more then I walked and not die, that felt fairly doable to me.

One thing our trainer would do was have us do sprint intervals, basically running a lot faster then I usually would for 30 seconds, resting for 30 and repeat. I found that this was helping me feel my body's abilities and realizing I could actually run a little faster which was more comfortable for my shins, muscles and joints. I couldn't sustain it very long, but I could compensate by walking fairly fast. I felt like I could push myself a little more and make my new goal to finish in 2 hours and 40 min.

Of course there was still the mental block. I had run 9.5 miles and felt really good about that run, my last run was 10 miles which didn't go very well. My course had too many hills, it was kind of hot and I just wasn't able to go as fast as I wanted. To top it off I wasn't sure I could physically move my legs anymore to do 3.1 more miles. I was losing confidence.

Race weekend. We arrived in Vancouver and found out that the start line / expo was 1.5 miles away from our hotel which is where we needed to pick up our bibs and timing chips. I also realized that we were going to have to walk 1.5 miles before the race the next day then 1.5 miles back giving us a grand total of 16.1 miles for the day. That was overwhelming. In the end it really was no big deal, it was a good warm up before the race and a much needed wind down after the race.

The morning of the race Dan, Rebecca and I got up early drank a lot of water and gatorade, tried to eat a little and stretch. Here is TMI, I happily had a BM (I was worried I wouldn't until later) but unhappily had my monthly visit (that's all I'm going to say about that). After the walk to the start I desperately had to pee, the lines were SO long!!! I waited for 10 min and was afraid the race would start without me so left still having to go. The gun started I was totally nervous but ran my heart out to the first water station that had pit toilets. The line was long, but I didn't think it would take the 15 min. that it did, how long does it take people to pee???

I was so mad, it was like I was starting the race all over again after just 2 miles. But I tried to be confident to keep running and walking with all the energy I could muster. We got to the park around mile 7 and I felt really good, even knowing that we were about to climb from 0 to 200' in another mile. My legs started to hurt as we continued up but I got a serious surge of energy as the fastest marathoner approached from behind. He zoomed by me going so fast I was totally amazed! I stood a little taller and moved a little faster it was just what I needed right then. I finally made it to the top of the hill and thought this is it, I love downhill! I thought it would be so easy, it wasn't. My aches were more pronounced as I slammed down each foot, by the time I got to the bottom I felt awful. It was there that we met up with the marathoners again and I got another surge of energy, I stood a little taller...but didn't really move much faster.

Through the last 3 miles I kept hearing my name, people kept saying "keep it up Holly, you can do it" It took me a minute to figure out that my name was on my race bib, once I did it was kind of cool realizing that these people were cheering me on which really helped me to keep going.

Once I saw the finish line I got really emotional. I couldn't believe all this hard work for 4 months was going to be over, this was the end, I had done it!! I ran as fast as I could, I didn't know my legs could move that far apart...but they did. The clock said 3 hours and 2 min. I was a little disappointed I hadn't reached even my very first goal. I was still proud of myself, and finally realized that had I not needed to go to the bathroom so bad my time would have been 2 hours and 47 min. that I could live with. It got even better when I found out my actual time was 2 hours and 59 min. making my adjusted time 2 hours and 44 min.

I'm so happy I did this, and was so happy I could do it with Dan and Rebecca. When Dan crossed the line we both got choked up again as we embraced and gave a victory kiss. I'm so proud of all of us and what we've accomplished in the last 4 months. It really is amazing.