Vancouver (USA) Half Marathon race report (part 2 of 2)

The morning of Sunday, June 19 dawned earlier than I wanted it to, but later than usual for a race.  This was due to the nice fact that the half marathon didn't start until 8:30am, so even though I live over an hour east of Portland, I only had to leave the house at 6:30am!  Score!

Sleepy, hungover husband and I got to Vancouver around 7:50, and quickly met up with some of the Running Chicks in PDX who were also doing the event - notably AB and EW.  EW had just qualified for Half Fanatics the day before by doing the "Backyard Half Marathon" in White Salmon - basically a trail run up for 6.55 miles and down for 6.55 miles.  AB had qualified for Half Fanatics the week before at Helvetia.  Today was my turn!

Except for a shin problem (shin splints?), I was feeling really good, and the course profile was relatively flat.  I decided to go for a PR of 2:45.  AB was suffering from major blisters from the half the week before, and EW's legs were toast from the challenging race the day before, so we started together, but I went off on my own.  For the first mile, I got caught up with all the other runners, so my pace was WAY faster than usual for me - 10:30 average!!  I quickly realized that I needed to slow down, but was pleased to see my pace generally stay under 12 min miles.  At mile 8 I realized that I definitely had a chance to make my goal - so I kept pushing on.

The course was interesting - a lot of industrial areas, but it also wound through Fort Vancouver, which was cool.  At one point a song sparrow landed on a fence right next to me and sang loud enough for me to hear it over my music.  I decided that was my animal cheering for the race (its now become a habit to find animals making noises and decide that they are cheering for me).  At mile 6.5ish, we had to cross train tracks.  Just as I came up, the gates went down and the bells went off.  A brief moment of indecision (if I wait, I won't make my time, but should I go? - there's still plenty of time before the train gets here), and then I was off, beating the train and staying on pace.  Luckily for the runners behind me, it was a short train moving pretty fast.

The latter part of the race was along the Columbia River - parts had to be rerouted due to flooding, and it was amazing to see how high the water was (snow melt from the mountains combined with rain).  Finally, we came back into Fort Vancouver (WHO puts a hill at mile 12.5 of a 13.1 mile race?!?), and then into downtown Vancouver, with the signs that I wanted to see - 26 (for the marathoners - which means only 0.2 miles left), and then 13 - 0.1 mile left.  I can do this.  Keep going.  Yes, I might hurl, but that's OK, just keep going.

And then I saw my husband along the finishing chute, and he handed me a sign that had been kindly made for me by a person that I haven't yet met.  It says "I Just Qualified for the Half Fanatics".  I ran across the finish line carrying that sign, so amazingly proud of what I had accomplished.  At that point, I finally looked at my time:  2:38:33 - I beat my best time by 15 minutes, and beat my goal by 7!!!

I found AB and EW and a few other "Running chicks" after the race, and its such an amazing feeling to actually *know* people at a race!  Pllus JD's former partner on the ambulance was there - having completed the full marathon as a training run for his Ironman.  We visited the beer tent, got lunch at the farmer's market, and then headed our own ways home.

This is honestly the first time in my running career that I have actually seen improvement - where runs are getting easier and more fun and I'm getting faster and even making my goals.  Its also the first time that I feel part of a group -  where I might know people at a race, and where we are all cheering for each other.  We all have our own goals, but we can all support each other.  I only hope that this continues.  I know that there will be times when my body and mind rebel and running is hard, but I hope that I can keep these good memories in the front.