On May 22, 2022 I ran the half marathon in Red Deer as a training run. This was the first half marathon I have ever done and I have lost count of the total I have completed. My best is a 1:59 from 2018. I ran this race in 2012 as a training run for Ironman so I decided that would be a good idea to do again, especially since I had friends coming from out of town as well.
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Flat Colleen ready to
run in the morning |
My friend Jennifer flew in from Vancouver to run the half for fun. She has come a few times to Red Deer because she loves the course, and that means a lot from someone who can run beside the ocean whenever she wants! I picked her up from the airport and we drove down to meet up with Susan and Sonia who were driving from Medicine Hat. Sue was running the full marathon and Sonia was running her third half. We enjoyed supper out and some socializing before all heading to bed at a reasonable hour.
Race morning was clear blue sky but cool as it was only a few degrees above zero. This of course always means I second guess what I am going to run in, but I ended up keeping the outfit I chose and didn't even have a throw away top. I got up early enough to have coffee and oatmeal and a banana, and a glass of watermelon nuun. I also have a history of having bowel issues when I run, especially in the morning, so timing of everything is important, but I have learned to take Imodium the night before and the morning of to help and that has been a successful strategy for me, and one that I only use for races.
I did my best to not get caught up in the hype of the race. I knew it wouldn't be a PB effort because I wasn't training specifically for this event. I was a bit concerned that my 90 minute long run wouldn't be enough, but the amount of biking I had done got me through the event. My heart rate never got high because I stayed at an easy doable effort. I eavesdropped on conversations and took some pictures along the route.
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| Still smiling about 14km in |
At about 90 minutes in I started feeling tired, which was expected. I was still drinking water and electrolytes at the aid stations and was talking my gels, chews and salt tablets. However at about 1:45 I was starting to cramp in my hip flexors. I kept with my strategy of only walking at the aid stations and was still running a 10 minute mile, but I could feel it getting worse.
This course is lovely and there are some slight ups and downs and a couple of major hills. The first is a switchback at 9km and that was no problem. The second is past the 20 km mark before a long downhill to the finish. I was starting to feel worried about that hill and how I would manage it.
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Mascot of an area elementary
school |
Things really started hurting in the final 3km. I passed the last water station and took an extra cupful hoping that would help alleviate whatever cramping I had. I was starting to feel more tightness in my hamstrings and my quads and every now and then there would be a twinge in my calves like they were one wrong step away from completely seizing. I don't know how I managed it, but I ran up that last hill and the down hill and with the last 100m I could feel my feet starting to cramp as well. I have had cramping in races before but nothing like this. I crossed the finish line and felt waves of cramping in my lower half. I went to the medical tent and I had to ask them to untie my shoes because I could not bend over to do it on my own, and it still took a few tries as I had to move in order to not completely seize up. I eventually made it to the massage table where the RMT commented on my tightness and advised that I should drink more water and stretch more.
Overall I am happy with the run and glad I did it. Aside from some muscle tightness, I feel pretty good. It is unlikely that I will do more runs of this length for Ironman training unless I all of a sudden improve my ability and challenge for a Kona spot. Read: no.
