2:42.41

Not quite a PB but close enough - last week's Half was 2:42.33 - I will not nit-pick over 8 seconds!! And besides, this race was in MY name, not some 45 yr-old guy named Al.

The day dawned beautifully - clear skies, cool temps and no rain/snow/sleet/wind. I got up, gathered everything together, had a glass of OJ and toasted my bagel, schmeared some PB and a banana on it, and headed out. I had to weigh-in (didn't have to, but I hate missing a week), so decided to head up to Dalhousie as they are open before 7. I do not like their scales...according to mine, I lost a little bit this week, and if I weighed in at Fish Creek, I probably would show that. But Dalhousie's had me up a pound...oh well, what do you do at this point, right? Suck it up and move on.
After leaving there, I went to Starbuck's to get a massive coffee to help wake me up a bit. I hate getting in line behind stupid people!! Seriously, it's 7am on a Saturday - do you really need to decide if you want sweet or not or bold or not or what have you??? Make your decision, pay your money and get out of my way!!!! Do you people not understand the seriousness of 5 shots of Espresso!!!!

Got to Bowness Park at about 7:15, which gave me plenty of time to sip some coffee, eat my bagel and get my mind ready for Blood & Guts.

I decided to try something this race, something I have never done before...I ran without a water pack. I decided there were 4 water stations, and after last week and barely drinking any, I figured try it out. See, while I like water, I hate the "sloshing, slopping, crap hanging off of me" stuff. I ran free today!! Not sure how well it worked, as only the last water station (at the 18km mark) had Gatorade, which by that point is way too late. For the marathon I will definitely run with the water/OJ mix, but I think for future Half's and shorter races, free is better.

Felt good going in, and hit the halfway mark (running the first 10km before a wee walk break) at 1:16, which is wicked good time. Then we hit the park with the hills...sigh...I ran them as best I could, and allowed myself to walk (still managed to walk them faster then some people ran them) but I could not get my heart rate back under control. I still ran more than 10:1's, basically running till I just couldn't and walking to get the breathing back to normal. Then there's the big hill down (LOVE THE BIG HILL DOWN!) and the final 3km...passed my marathon instructor (coming the other way) so I hope I looked strong - he didn't yell at me to straighten up or anything, so I think I looked good. Down to the last two km, and now I'm struggling...hit the 20km marker and started to hoof it (I went from 8:23/km to 7:25/km - last 100m were at an blistering 4:45/km!!) and pushed through the pain to cross the finish line. I did it, and I wasn't last. My only credo!!!

Given all the hills, I'm very pleased with the time. This tells me that I should be able to break 2:30 with a flat course.

I'm changed into dry clothes, drank about a litre of OJ, and am going to lay down for a bit, before I jump in the shower and go collect H-woman to go to our Greek cooking class. Details (and possibly pics) about that later. George is wondering why I have the camera out and what I'm doing, and why do I taste so salty?!

Enjoy your day, what ever you are doing in it.

Happy May 1st. Go dance around a Maypole, if that's your thing.

Later,