Back in March I realized that summer (aka bathing suit season) was coming up soon. Since I haven't found m,y soul mate yet and am still single, I thought that running would be a good way to get in shape and loose my winter / Japan / old-age / any-other-excuse-I-have fat. But before I started running, I'd need a running buddy. I searched high and low and finally found a running buddy - we'll call her "F" - a friend from University who had already been running since January. F invited me to join her running group who were training for the Ottawa Half Marathon - a BIG international race and a qualifier for the Boston Marathon later this year. Me? I wasn't into racing and just wanted to run to get back into shape so I decided that training with them would be a good idea. A few weeks into training, Florance asked me if I wanted to sign up for the Ottawa Half Marathon. She told me that it'd be so much fun! 

"How long is a half marathon?" I asked her.

"21km." she said.

"Are you crazy?!" I said. But for some reason I agreed to run it.

 

Last weekend was the deciding moment. Would all my training pay off? It was a scorching hot day in Ottawa to run - a high of 28 degrees celcius! Luckily there was only low humidity. My race began at 10:15am. At 10:05 I took my place at the start line with the other 10 000 half marathoners. If you've never been to a marathon before, let me explain. All the elite athletes are lined up at the front of the line (you know, the Kenyans and other great internatioal runners). Then behind the elite athletes they place the other ordinary runners in order by the time it will take them to finish. Me? I was WAY~ in the back...where all the senior citizens were: 2 hours and 30 minutes  - this was my target time! At 10:15 the start gun was fired and I stood there. It would take another 10 minutes after the gun went off for me to pass the offical Start Line and for me to start my race.

 

The first 10Km were a breeze! I ran and felt like I was on top of the world! My split time (half way time) was a cool 1 hour and 10 minutes. I planned to run at an even pace until I hit the last 5km....then I'd turn the gas on and REALLY run, finishing the race strong! I had ammunition in the form of 2 energy gels pinned to me so I could use at the 9km and 18 km points to give me energy (energy gels are basically liquid carbs & sugars). Somewhere around the 6km point however, I lost one of my gels...DAMN!! Also, along the route there were supposed to be water stations every 3km's. Part of my running strategy was to use these stations to help me pace and indicate where I could "rest" a bit. Unfortunately for me, the water stations were not every 3km...which threw my strategy off...so by the time the 13km point came along...I was beginning to get tired.

 

Running is a mind game...I had to fight in my mind to keep pushing further: 14km...hang in there Nabiki...you can do it! 15km...didn't I just run past this point already? 16km...WTF?! This race isn't over yet?!  Needless to say I was a far cry from turning on the gas and going strong in my last 5km!

 

My legs were hurting from exhaustion and I was beginning to feel light headed because of the heat. As I ran, I saw lots of people collasped on the side of the road - victims of heat and exhaustion. They were being tended to by medics... I would not be one of these roadside victims I told myself. Then I heard it...the cheers from the watching crowd were getting louder! I was less then 2km from the finish line...I knew that no particular person was cheering for me but the cheers encouraged me to push forward....so I did with all my will power. Then I saw the 750m point...I started to pick up my pace...then the 500m point...my legs moved even faster....200m...I could see the finish line! The cheers were roaring around me! I was now in a full sprint passing all the people around me! To my right, I saw my image on the big TV screen as the TV camera focused on me. I ran harder and through the finish line looking up just in time to see my time: 2 hours 38 minutes - gun time. My offical time would later be revealed as 2 hours 30 minutes - my target time! YES~! I finished my frist Half Marathon! I made my target time and to my surprise, I was feeling very good! My running buddy F was right! I was no elite athlete but I did have lots of fun!

 

Later I found out that the elite female athletes ran the whole 21km in 1 hour 10 minutes (my split time)...so like...by the time I was half way done, they had finished!  LOL! Oh well...I'm not elite but I am hooked on running now. I think my next goal will be to run this same race in 2 hours - with proper training this time!