April Fools Half Marathon - April 3rd 2011

This is the second time running this race, I was sick the previous week, and not planning to race. Great way to start a race.

The April Fools Half Marathon had a record for entries, it was profiled in Canadian Running as one of the "Must Do" races of 2011.

I did not have a typical warmup, which may be important later.

I ran with a hand bottle, and GU Gels.  Shoes: New Balance Minimus Road. I set my Garmen to run 13.1 miles in 1:49:00 to set my virtual partner pace. (Virtual Partner or VP in Garmen 305 review post to follow)

15 minutes from race start I had a gel and sip of water, then it was time to start.

GUN!
600 people quickly cross the start line, I was in the middle of the pack, and the pace always starts slow for a few hundred meters.

1k-running hard, the VP was 74 yards ahead, and I was finally free of the pack, according to the Garmen Data my heart rate was also spiking, hard. Looking at the data between 5 and 10 minutes my heart rate spiked as high as 207...twice. I don't remember having a coronary, but it is possible I was running too hard. Might have also been a side effect of going from cold muscles to running with no warm up, or a weird Garmen interaction with another Heart Rate Band.

3k -This is a relatively flat part of the course, at 3k the course climbs gently up to the highway via veterans rd, and down the highway to Roberts creek. VP is approximately 18 yards behind me at this point.

10k - on lower road in Roberts Creek, this is hills followed by drops followed more short climbs. it went this way until the last longish climb up to Marlene rd to the highway.

15k - this is the worst climb in the race, by North Vancouver standards it is a little tame, but if you feel pain by now, you will feel more. This hill went by easy for the distance up to 16k and back on to the Highway for the last push to the finish.

Home Stretch - from 16k to the finish there are two shallow climbs and one hard decent down Rat Portage hill. By this point I am 54 yards ahead of the VP with a steady pace and passing a lot of runners.

Final 400 m and I was still feeling good, the Shoes felt great the whole time, and I was surprised with the finish time of 1:44:30 on the clock, 5 minutes faster than any half Marathon I have ever run.

I took Gel and water at 5k, 11k & 16k while running and the legs stayed under me for the whole race.
Shoulders feel like they want to fall out of their sockets, and calves feel worked, really hard. We shall see what I feel like for the next couple days.

Verdict, do this one again, great Run