Race report: Scotiabank half (woot, it's done)

What relief: It's done. 2:42:48 final chip time (2:50:50 gun).
This time it was never about hitting a PB because I simply hadn't put enough training into a reasonable attempt at it. The whole of September was a write-off in terms of regular training, with a lot of work projects and being away from home for two weeks. But, at least I avenged my last half-marathon time by a little bit more than an hour, but was about 27 minutes slower than my personal best on this particular course (when I was in "peak" condition on my way to the Chicago marathon) and about 20 minutes slower than last year's effort.

Pre-Race
Since I've been away for last two weeks, my house (literally and figuratively) was not in order. I didn't have milk for cereal, or any kind of bread. But oh joy, I found in my deep freezer some plain bagels. A little on the freezer-burnt side I think, but I managed to eat half a bagel with peanut butter and sipped some Gatorade. I sent Yumke a text message to wish him best of luck.
C woke up while I was puttering around the house. I figured this was a good sign because I could ask him to drive me to the race instead of me driving myself there and looking for parking. Plus I was running behind. But he got me to the race about 25 minutes before the gun went off and I was able to check my bag and get into the start corral on time. It was 16C with a little breeze -- a singlet, capris and a hat should do it.

First half
When I signed up earlier this year, I had marked myself to finish between 2:00-2:15, which was an aim to PB. That would put me in the Green Corral. By this morning, I didn't really think that was feasible but I still hadn't worked out in my head what my pace would be.
I lined up in the Green zone anyway, right beside the 2:15 10/1 pace bunny. That relationship would prove to last from the chute all the way through the first kilometer. Too fast.
I resolved to just do my own thing. And I kept my own steady plodding pace, not caring that a bunch of people were passing me. I looked for Frankie near his home, but I missed him (or he wasn't there. No matter)
At 5K, I recognized someone! My old running mate from The Office. She and her husband were doing the marathon. I followed her pace for a little while but told her she didn't have to wait for me. I lost her before we hit 8K because I was concentrating on the other side of the course. It was important for me to spot and give a shout out to Yumke. Normally I'd have seen him before a race We would pass each other just around his 16K, my 8K. He was looking good. I took my first gel, a chocolate one. I worried that I might reject the fuel (I haven't had a gel in a long time so I wasn't sure how I'd react. I was fine).

I wasn't doing so hot as I passed the 10K mark, notching a split of 1:22:04. I saw the pace bunnies for 2:30 continuous and 2:30 10/1 pass by. I thought I would follow one of them.
No. I didn't have a chance.

And that's when the next 3K were probably the worst mentally -- I was filling up with doubt and my feet were sore already.

Second half
With the pace bunnies now pretty much out of sight, I glanced at my watch. Already 1:30 had passed. I resolved to make it back in time to see Yumke cross the finish line. And that frequently came to mind as I kept plugging away, that I wanted to be there at the chute to see Yumke come through. My feet were starting to feel a little cramped, and my hips were aching. I took my second gel at 15K. Move forward, pump your arms, you're almost there, I thought to myself over and over. I walked through every aid station, taking two cups of water -- a few sips for me, the balance for cooling off. I also grabbed Gatorade.

At 18K, it was like a new race. All the doubt was going away. I could see all the downtown office towers and that meant I was near the end. At 19K, I finally ignored my aching feet and said, It's Go Time. At 20K, as I turned the corner, I could see the big clock tower that represented the end. And this is where I do that dig deep thing and find another gear. There were signs counting down the meters that were left. This is also where I usually start crying because I can't believe I've done this... again. I crossed the finish line with a fist pump and broke out into a wide smile. My second half of the race was faster than the first.

Waiting for Yumke
I hobble through part of the chute and stand wrapped in a space blanket. I know I've come in with lots of time to spare to see Yumke. I'm staring at the clock and when it hits 3:10, I start looking hard at all the marathoners walking past me. I don't see him. And I start to worry. When the clock hit 3:30, now I'm really concerned. Either Yumke has somehow snuck past my eagle eyes in the chute or something has gone horribly awry.
At the 3:40 mark, I start heading out of the chute to collect my things, convinced that I've missed Yumke. I get a bagel, two bottles of Gatorade, hand in my chip, get my gym bag. I text "Bacon?" to Yumke, trying to preserve the tradition of the post-race breakfast. No answer for some time, so I start making my way home. Yumke and I would catch up later on the phone once both of us have returned home and I get the live version of his blog post.

Pre-flight taper

I'm on the next flight home, thanking my lucky stars that this flight was delayed so I managed to get on standby. Otherwise, I'd be waiting til 7pm before boarding a plane. 

I haven't had much opportunity to blog about my crammed training, so I  put myself on the 1-hour, $4.95 wifi plan at the Baltimore Airport to catch up on some stuff. I think I'm ready to run this. I told my classmates that I was due to do a half-marathon after the course finished, and they became my conscience. I haven't run much this week, but last week I was the most committed and focused I'd been about running in a long while. It all culminated in an 8-mile jaunt around DC with R., who planned a wonderful sightseeing route to visit Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt and Jefferson. We didn't run the whole thing non-stop, there were many walking breaks -- but the point is that we finished it. She's got a 10-miler soon, and I've got the half and neither of us are very good on our own, but we kept each other going.  After we cooled off with a frozen lemonade, we almost thought we could run the whole route again. We didn't though. Instead we went and had a lot of mojitos. 

I'm ready for the half. I always was. 

Cramming

I'm in the Washington DC area on training. Not the running kind either, but professional development for two weeks. 

There's less than two weeks before the half marathon. I haven't run since the Olympics were on. I think I might be in trouble now -- no fitness, no idea how to right this. I had all these plans to ramp up training last month but put me down for an epic fail on execution. This shouldn't be an excuse but it has been the last couple of years -- the annual 10-day film festival in this city just got in the way and I didn't rearrange my life around running. At least I didn't eat any popcorn.

Still, I've got a few more days. If I can get myself up to a reasonable level of fitness in the next 10 days, I can still complete the half. And that's all I ever really go for. And today I ran for 30 minutes, with one 1 minute walking break. Not a bad (re)start and I can only build from here.