Two Sundays ago, I did my first half marathon in 13 years. It was a beautiful day and I was running with a group of friends, new and old. I felt both excited and calm at the same time: excited to see how I would do but calm because I was confident in my training. I also saw it as an opportunity to practise racing so here are some lessons that I learned from it.

Pace

My previous PB was 2:16 so I was aiming for a sub-2:15 time. My running buddy and I decided to follow the 2:10 pace bunny which seemed reasonable since most of our long runs were at a 6min/km pace. Shortly after crossing the start line, I was trying to get out of the crowd and ended up passing the 2:10 bunny. Then we even passed the 2:05 bunny and I thought, hmm… I think we are going too fast. But we ended up keeping up that pace for the rest of the race! We ended up finishing in under 2:01 and still felt strong at the end! We CRUSHED it! 😄

• Lesson #1: Race pace can be much faster than our regular long run pace. Next time, aim for a sub 2-hour half!!

Fuel

I had heard that there was going to be pre-race snacks so I was banking on being able to get a banana an hour before the race. However, turns out there were no pre-race snacks this year so thank goodness I had a PB&J sandwich about 4 hours before the race which provided me with sufficient fuel pre-race. During the race, I ate a pack of yummy sesame snaps which kept my energy up. Post-race, we were supposed to get free chili but we ended up waiting for massages which took about 1 hour. I was glad that I brought the free protein bar that we got in the race kit. It helped tie me over post-race so I didn’t get hangry.

• Lesson #2: Bring all my own fuel. Anything that the race provides is bonus.

Fluids

We got to the race about 2.5 hours early and I didn’t drink much water while we were just waiting around. Then about 1 hour before the race, after going to the washroom, I got really thirsty and drank about a cup of water. During the race, I took water and nuun from every aid station. By the last couple of km’s, I discovered how hard it is to run with a full bladder.

• Lesson #3: Time my fluid intake and washroom runs so that I can start the race with a relatively empty bladder. This is going to take practise.

Gear

Even though it was winter, it was a pretty sunny day and half the course was running into the sun. I wore sunglasses but I regretted not wearing a hat or wearing a higher SPF sunscreen for my face.

• Lesson #4: Bring all my gear so I can be prepared for any situation. I can always bag check it if I don’t need it. Put on an SPF 30 sunscreen, especially when wearing sunglasses, to avoid raccoon eyes. 😎

Strava

I turned on my Strava as we were crossing the start line but for some reason, it didn’t start. I didn’t realize until the first km marker so my Strava was off by 1km throughout the race. In order to get 21.1km recorded on my Strava, I ended up running an extra km after I crossed the finish line. 😅

• Lesson #5: Make sure that Strava is working BEFORE I cross the start line.

Even with all these lessons learned, I had a really great time at the Chilly Half!