I ran the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon yesterday.

• The good news: I ran a PB. 😍
• The bad news: I missed my sub-2 goal by 6.4 seconds. 😣

If you want to know the details, read on.

Warning: Some of the details below may completely gross you out. Read at your own risk.

Prologue

I signed up for this race in Oct, around the time that I joined the RunNinjas. I chose this race because I wanted motivation to run a half and I liked the fact that you get a necklace instead of a medal. The plan was for this to be my “A-race”. Little did I know that this would end up being my 2nd half marathon of the year and I would be using this as a training race in preparation for a full marathon.

Goals

Going into this race, I had 2 goals: I wanted to run it in sub-2 hours and I wanted to practise “bladder management”.

• Sub-2 hours: Since we were so close to 2 hours at the Chilly Half (2:00:53) and we did so well at the Sporting Life 10k (0:50:43), I felt like a sub-2 was an achievable goal.
• Bladder management: this may be TMI but for both of my past 2 races, I ran with an uncomfortably full bladder. So this time, I wanted to try to figure out how to manage my fluid intake so I didn’t have to run with a full bladder again.

Read on to see how I failed on both accounts.

Pre-race

I woke up at 5am to go to the bathroom and to drink some water. I wanted to give my body a couple of hours to “process” the water. I ate my usual pre-race breakfast of PB&J sandwich at 5:30am. I went to the bathroom a couple times before leaving my house and again about 30 minutes before the start of the race at 8am, after a couple of selfies with Sheena who was running the 10k.

Warm-up

Sheena and I did a ~1km jog about 20 minutes before the start of the race. This was the first time I did a warm-up jog pre-race. I didn’t want to get that burning feeling in my shins at the beginning again (like at the Sporting life 10k). I’m glad we did it because I think it worked. So far so good.

KM 1-3 – A Fast Start

This is a small race so I was in the first corral with everyone who had an estimated finish time of 1:20 to 2 hours. I quickly realized I was out of my league when everyone zoomed past me in the beginning which also caused me to go out way too fast (sub 5 min/km). I knew there was no way I was going to be able to sustain that pace, especially because it was already starting to get hot. By the time I got to the first water station, I decided to douse myself with water to help cool down a bit. This worked because I was carrying my own Nuun and water for drinking. The annoying part is that I dropped my water bottles a few times.

KM 3 – A Huge Surprise

The biggest surprise of the day happened at KM 3. A “spectator” cheered for me by name and I thought, “Oh that’s cool, she read my name from my bib.” As I got closer, I recognized the cat skirt and realised that the “spectators” were Maggie and Tracey!! I was shocked and had to do a double-take. I’m glad I realized it was them before I completely ran past.

Then I turned the corner and heard the familiar sound of cowbells. Lo and behold, there was Lisa, Parm, Maria, and Lindsay! I was so excited to see them that I gave Parm a big bear hug. Then I felt bad because I realized I was all sweaty and gross but I hugged him anyway. This gave me a huge boost of energy and I looked forward to seeing them again on my way back up the loop.

KM 3-6

For some reason, at this point, my phone started slipping/bouncing out of my shorts pocket. This never happens when I train with these shorts so I was confused why it was happening now. Maybe it was because I was running faster than my typical training pace so I was causing more bounce and/or because my shorts were wet with all my sweat and the water that I was dousing myself with. I started pushing the phone back into the pocket every 10 steps or so which got really annoying. At around 5km, as I was struggling to unwrap my sesame snap, the phone completely fell out of my pocket. 😣 I ate one piece of sesame snap and put it into the pocket with the phone in hopes that it would make it more snug. Well, that plan failed because shortly after that, the sesame snap fell out of my pocket. I didn’t want to lose time and figured I still had my Nuun with me for energy so I didn’t bother to run back to pick it up.

After I dropped the sesame snaps, I started to hold my phone because I was tired of trying to shove it back into the pocket every 10 steps and I didn’t want to risk it falling out again. I did this for a few km’s.

KM 7-10

I saw the cheering squad again which gave me another boost of energy. A coworker of mine, Corinne, who was running the 10k somehow saw me and gave me a huge cheer as we passed each other.

After holding my phone for a few km’s, I got tired and I came up with the brilliant idea of stuffing it into my bra. Good thing my phone is waterproof because between the sweat and the water dousing, it was pretty gross in there! 😄

KM 11-15 – More Cheers

At the turnaround point, Benson was waiting for me on his bike and taking a video. That gave me another boost of energy to get through the next couple of km’s. This was also when I saw Maria and Lindsay cheering for me as they were running back with Sheena. By the time I saw the ninja cheer squad the third time, I felt like I was dying. It was getting really hot and my legs were heavy as lead. I actually said to Maggie and Tracey “I’m dying” as I ran past them. 😅 Then I saw Parm and Lisa again and gave Parm another hug. I needed as much energy as I could get!

KM 16-18 – Skip this section if you don’t want to be grossed out

Somehow, I made it to the last turnaround and started the 2nd half of the 2nd loop. By now, I was really dying from the heat and I felt like I was walking even though I was running. After I passed the cheer squad for the fourth and last time, the most horrific thing happened: I started to “leak”. 😶😦😳😵

The more I tried to control it, the more it just came out. I felt pee running down my legs so I stopped and walked a bit hoping that would stop the “flow”. But then I thought about my sub-2 hour goal so I started to run again but this time I really couldn’t hold it. Without thinking, I stepped off the path, squatted on the grass, and let it out. I still can’t believe I peed in public but there was no time to waste. I was thankful that my shorts were already wet so no one could tell I peed myself. So much for bladder management!

KM 19-21 – The finale

The last 3 km’s were the longest 3 km’s I’ve ever done in my life. At km 17, my Strava started to go out of sync with the km markers on the course, lagging about 200m. It was probably having a hard time getting the GPS signal because it was stuffed inside my bra 😂. By km 19, it was so far off that I had no idea what my real time or pace was. I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to get a sub-2 by then and I wasn’t even sure if I would get a PB. I continued to feel like I was walking even though I was running. At one point, my Strava was telling me my pace was 6:30 min/km which is about 1 minute slower than my target pace for a sub-2.

At 500m from the finish line, I got a boost from Corinne who had finished her 10k and was cheering very loudly for me. Then Sheena started running with me. I think I ran marginally faster with Sheena beside me but I was not doing well. When I got close to the finish line, I sprinted as fast as I could (given the conditions) and to my disappointment, the race clock showed a time of just over 2:00. 😣

Epilogue – Goals Schmoales

Sub-2: I had no idea I was so close to a sub-2! I kept on thinking if I didn’t give Parm 2 hugs, if I didn’t drop my phone and water bottles multiple times, if I didn’t have to stop to pee (!!), or if my Strava was working properly, I might have gotten a sub-2. At least I got a PB. It just means I’m going to have to do another half to get a sub-2 and it’s going to be oh-so-sweet when it finally happens. 😄

Bladder management: From this race, I learned that I should wear a pad next time I run another long distance. I should also bring a full change of cloths, including shoes and socks, just in case. I also learned from Jim that this happens all the time (at ultra races) so I shouldn’t feel bad. 🤣 Better luck next time!

The best surprise: Despite not accomplishing either of the goals I set out for this race, I felt like I was the luckiest girl in the world because of all the people who came out to cheer for me. I am so thankful to Lisa for organizing the cheer squad and to Parm, Maggie, Tracey, Maria, Lindsay, and Benson for coming. You all gave me the energy boost that I needed. I love you guys! I have said this before but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it: I feel so blessed to be a part of the RunNinjas. There are really no words to express how thankful I am. The ninjas are a community of people who genuinely care about each other, who support each other, and who make each other better. They have really changed my life.

Nutrition log:

• Pre-run: PB&J sandwich
• Mid-run: 1 sesame snap, 1 gel blok, Nuun, water
• Post-run: 2 bananas, 2 clif bars, water