Mississagua half report

Ahh.. feel much better, just got up from my post race nap and I'm good to go! For those that don't like details, here is the short version:
Time: 1:26:27 (chip)
Place: 40th overall, 9th in age group.
Bottom line: The quads acted up at the 15k mark, but it was good race.

The slightly more detailed version:
Slept ok, not great, merely ok. Got up at 5 am and chugged down two Boost and a cup-o-Joe. I'm testing out going with purely liquid calories/carbs for my pre race breakfast. My stomach can act up on longer races and since this was a B race, I figured it was a good time to test the new breakfast out.
Sally, my number 1 fan, and I arrived and met up with some good friends of ours, Ian, Mark and Lori. The guys were running and the girls were our support crew. :) (not next year though... right Lori?) After the usual pre race banter, we warmed up and headed to the start, along with the other 4000 particpants doing the half.




Mark saw the camera and ran away. Ian's wearing orange, so that makes me the other guy. Lori wasn't racing, so she wasn't allowed in the photo. :)



Off to the races! As stated yesterday, I had simple plan. Run hard. The first 5k was quick, but a controlled quick. A very nice wind at our backs was a definate help, however this would come back to haunt us. My split at the 5k mark was 19:28 or 3:54/km. I took this is as a good sign, breathing and heart rate felt fine and I was in cruise mode. A small stitch made itself noticeable, but it never really materialized. (phew)

The next split was 5.3k as indicated on my Garmin. The time was 21:07 or 3:58/km. I thought, good almost at the halfway mark and I'm maintaining sub 4 minute kms.
The next split was just over 6k. I somehow missed the 15k marker and so took it at the 16k marker instead. The time was 24:45 or 4:06 /km.
A couple things came into to play at this point in the race. Number one was my quads, they simply were not rested enough and I was starting to feel them. (I did 2 hours of time trialing on the bike on Thursday - undoubtedly the culprit) The second, was the wind. By now we are running near the lake and the nice tailwind we had near the beginning was now staring us head on. I kept looking for a big guy to hide behind and draft off, but alas, that wasn't going to happen.
The wind was bad enough, that at one point my cap blew off! That's never happened before... doh. But it's one of my favorite caps, so I stopped, turned around and ran back for it. So I ran a little extra.. :)

So from 16k to 21k I have choice. Blow the legs out and maybe finish 90 or seconds faster or stay in cruise, save the legs and continue my workout schedule this week. I did the right thing, stayed in cruise mode. The last 5k came in at 21:06, a 4:13/km pace.

Not having alot of experience (this is my 3rd half), I'm happy with the way I paced the race. A 1:26 is a PB, so no complaints there and my quest for improved running continues..
Ian came within 1 minute of a PB and Mark, who only got talked into doing the race at the last minute posted a great time. A pretty damned good day for our little crew.