Sunday February 26 was PEI’s Freeze Your Gizzard Half Marathon in Montague. I love this hometown race and happily slot it into my race schedule whenever I can. This was my 5th time running this race. It’s a great trip home. It’s a super challenging and hilly course but a great way to check-in on fitness ahead of a spring race goal. This year, I was excited to be joined by the PEI-running-family contingent of the Halifax Road Hammers: Kristen (sister), Damian, Jennie, Michael, Charlotte (lives on PEI) and Lee along for the fun.
I had two goals for this race and neither were related to race time. The first goal was “no pretty race photos”: not measured in physically attractive appearance, that doesn’t matter in running, but measured in bright sunny smiles and perfect running poses. Coach Lee: “I will be looking. I don’t want to see any. There will be consequences.” I achieved this with a fair warning of goal given to my photo-taking aunt Gemma.
The second goal was to finish this race with no memories in which to write a blog post. I achieved that too. I really don’t have any clear memories or coherent trains of thought. So this blog post is over.
Just joking, ha!
This was a pressure-free tune-up race. I had a pretty loose plan from my Halifax Road Hammer’s Coach Lee McCarron. We agreed that I was in PB shape but that I didn’t need to run a PB in February on this tough course. It was permissible but not necessary. And Lee said he didn’t want me shooting for my spring time goal at this race, “Save that for Montreal.” I had a speed limit for the first 5km: a pace that would be too fast. Other than that, I was just planning to go out and do what I could and work on my racing tactics: no pretty pictures, no memories. The course record at this race is my own. Setting it one year ago, my first course record, was a glorious moment in my running career (read that post here). In terms of performance, at minimum, I was hoping to come in under the 1:28:15 record since I had run 1:26 in the last year.
Running is a great sport because you continue to learn and grow all the time. The growth keeps happening if you put yourself out there and are open to finding it. Sometimes it even feels like you are learning x lesson for the first time when in fact it’s the 16th or 26th time.
Racing is hard. I learned that again.
I don’t have much of a story to tell about the rest of the race because I achieved my goal of “no memories.” I don’t really know what I was thinking about out there, I was just running the course as best and as fast as I could.
A young guy was with me up until 9km and I redirected him back onto the course a few times. I also told him to stop running on the other side of the road- helping him to cut down on one of my own classic racing tactic errors: running all over the course instead of running good tangents.
After this guy ran away from me at 9km, I was completely solo on the course. Solo for 12km. Not a runner in site. I struggled with this. I know that I’m not my best when I’m solo.
I came through half pretty well at 43:45 but really needing water, Gatorade and a gel. That’s an ok way to feel at 10.55km. Two kilometers into loop two, so at about 12.5km, you get into downtown Montague. Out there all alone, it became really difficult to maintain race pace. With no other runners around, no race officials, just a long stretch of road with Sunday church traffic, it felt like a solo long run. It was really hard to hammer race pace alone when it feels like a solo long run. I definitely gave up some here.
I proceed to give-up and un-give-up about six times.
I did keep my eyes up the whole time, thanks Nick McBride. I had a slight panic on Main Street when I suddenly didn’t know where I was and if I had missed a course turn marked only by a pylon: “Where is the turn off from Main Street, oh God I remember none of this!?” I didn’t pay attention to or see any landmarks on the first loop. I didn’t even notice my aunt Gemma (sorry, Gemma, #racegoals!). Thankfully, I did note the pylon and followed the course unlike poor Road Hammer Michael who ran away to his own finish line, way off course (mad respect for that 1:22 effort!).
By 14km, I had all kinds of problems including my give-up/un-give-up cycle and my non-running injury was not good, likely due to the unrelenting rolling of the hilly course. I let go of any PB goals, that no longer seemed worth it. I had no ability to think about the course record goal because numbers were no longer making no sense. “This is good enough for today.” Sometimes I am mad at myself for getting to that point in a race but today, it really was good enough.
I got to 16km which is hammer-time on a good day and choose to give it a go again. At 4km to go, I thought about the course record again. I looked at my watch to calculate what’s what. But what’s 4km? Is 20 minutes 4km? Does that make sense? No? What does 4 mean!? So I decided to forget about thinking and just run it in. At 2km, I could see that I needed to bust my butt if I was going to get in under 1:28:15 so I busted my butt. It’s hard to say what is 2km to go though because the course is some degree short but I don’t know how much short. Plus the finish is about 1km uphill.
I cross the line, I lean in, I know I’m under course record. Very nice race volunteer smiles and says “You’re faster than last year!” and this confirmation feel nice. Lee’s waiting at the finish line, there are some expletives (mine), hands on knees a while then I must sit in a snowbank.
I happily watch Road Hammer Charlotte crush her previous PB and I’m talking beating the previous PB over the head with a Gizzard. Then I look at my watch which I didn’t stop until I got to Lee and haven’t looked at yet.
“OMG, Lee, did I just run 1:28:00…..”
“Yes. You did.” he says tightly. Shakes head.
By some freak of running nature, I’ve just managed to clock in another :00 race performance. Seriously, I’ve done this more times than is statistically probable. Is Jamie’s engineering math thoroughly messing with me? Did I make too many jokes about the math math?
Look at this list of times I’ve run in the last year:
- 5km PB, 19:01. I also have a 19:03.
- 10km, 38:04 (Natal Day). While trying to break 40 in the 10km in 2015, I clocked a 40:10 etc.
- Marathon, 3:03:00
- 3000m, 11:04
- This 1:28:00 with other half performances in last year of 1:26:58 (the only clock victory ever) and 1:27:03.
This is now a verb with the Road Hammers. Denise telling a story about her first Boston Marathon after health issues, “I almost did a Poirier but I ran a 2:59:5x”.
How, how, how!? Haha.
How do I make friends with the number 20? Or 30?
At the end of this runner’s day, the moral of this half marathon story is that all of your races don’t have to be PB efforts and you can still feel good about them. A race can have other goals. I achieved my race tactic goals: no pretty photos, no memories on the course. I pulled off a new course record. I had lots of fun with my Road Hammer teammates. I got to wear a singlet in February. That’s a happy :00 day.
I will now leave the :00 here with the Gizzards on PEI.
May there be none of that in Montreal in April.
Great article by Andrew Wagstaff, Maritime Runner, on the race here.
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