Niagara Falls Women's 1/2 marathon

Yesterday was my second try at a road 1/2 marathon.   I've completed 2 trail 25km races - but that's a whole different ball game!   I had one goal - beat last year's time of 2:40:24 -which technically should be easy as I don't have last year's injury to deal with.  So? What happened? Did I do it?  You will have to read on to find out!

Photo op with Kathrine Switzer.

Noreen and I left early Friday morning to make our way to Niagara Falls to get our race kits, get some shopping done on Saturday (yes, you read that correctly - I went shopping).  Karen, Leanne and Rebecca were in a different car and left a little later due to appointments in the city.

Dinner time! 

We arrived in Niagara Falls in plenty of time to get our kits, go out for dinner, have a walk in front of the falls, and go grocery shopping for some treats and race morning breakfast (as I forgot it at home).

I made a friend! He doesn't talk much.

In front of the falls.

start line

Sunday morning came around quickly.  Got up, everyone got all their gear organized and off we went.  As an aside, since this is the women's 1/2, you should see the portapotties - they have flowers in all of them!  I didn't use them this year so no photos.

The gun went and off we went.  Within the first 100 meters, an older woman fell right in front of me - I mean flat on the ground - out like a light.  I stood legs and arms wide open to divert traffic -while someone else helped her up.  I have no idea if she ran or not - the first aid people arrived right away and off I went.

The race starts at Marineland, we then go towards the falls - which is nice, slow downhill for most of the way.  We pass the falls, turn back near the International Bridge and come back - and so we see the falls twice.  I took the time to stop and enjoy the view... how could you not?  (See how competitive I am? I stop to enjoy the view!  No need to wonder why my daughter doesn't have competitive bone in her body!)  After snapping a picture - which didn't even turn out, off I went again.

The problem with going downhill for the first 3 km or so, is that the next three are uphill since you come back... By km 6, I felt great except for one thing... my stomach - it was rumbling and not very happy with me... you know, when you travel, your body just isn't the same as when you are at home... plus, it's a well known problem with longer distance running... It's not the first or last time this happens to me I'm sure.  I found a portable toilet and wasted probably a good 5 minutes there.  Off I went and tried to catch up the time lost.

A few km later, there I was again, tummy really angry with me - had to stop again and wasted another 5 to 10 minutes there.  I was not happy at this point.  How can I beat my time if I'm sitting here?  Argh!

Off I was again.

At km 9 or so I think it was, you get to a bridge, cross it, and go on the other side of the  river - you are still in Canada peeps.  You run and run and run thinking "Where is the darn turn around?"  People coming back tell you that you are almost there -trust me, they are lying.  It was very humid and I felt like there were not enough water stations... I should've ran with my hydration vest... oh well, live and learn I guess.  By km 15 or so, my left knee started to hurt - pain I know too well - my IT band... weird that it was my left knee though as it's always my right one that hurts... so, slowly but surely I kept going.  I think I may know why my knees are a problem during this race... the slant on the road is awful.  I  tried to stay on the flattish parts - but those are nearly non existent.

When you get back to the bridge, there is 2 km left to the race.  It's a very LONG 2 km.  As I was wobbling along, I could see my friends waiting for me at the last turn, screaming their heads off, encouraging me.  The last 200m were the most painful - thankfully I had Karen running alongside me, yelling at me to go and go faster that I could do this.  I felt like my knee was getting stabbed by a knife - but I kept on going.  I finished the race with a time of 2:36:35!  I did it! I beat last year's time by 4 minutes - which could've been more had it not been for those stupid washroom stops.  Such is life.

All in all, great race, fabulous weekend with wonderful ladies!

Me and my medal

Karen Burns, Me, Rebecca Vandenbosch, Leanne, Noreen Marchildon

Now I start trail running training for the next race - Limberlost Challenge - Remi and I will be doing the 28km race!  Looking forward to that challenge!