The Half Marathon

My second running of the Victoria Half Marathon happened this weekend.  So not much time to write long reviews of places I ate, or to describe in shocking detail the difference between hash browns and country potatoes.

Saturday was a day with the Brunette, and a nice cup of tea in the Bengal Lounge at the Empress.  Very nice tea, very nice service.  Must go back for the curry sometime.  This was followed up by shopping for running shoes (sales! discounts) and a quick Bento Box at Shiki Sushi.  Rice with steak sauce and little bits of Katsu Chicken.  Tasty stuff.  Filled a need.  Price is good.  Then home, lazy evenings and sleep.

I got up early my body clock decided 5am in the morning was a reasonable time to wake up, even if I did need my rest before the run.  Drank a lot of water, had a banana and jumped in the car.  Then jumped out as I discovered I was missing my race number.  Then back in the car.  And then back put again as I try to find my headphones.  And then finally off, down town, park up and walk to start line.  And the huge queue for the port-a-potties. Thanks to th guy who pointed out the men's standing, open air pillars.  Though it is weird to urinate with hundreds of people behind you....

And then we ran.  I was pacing myself and a friend to finish in two and half hours.  So we started near the back of the pack, to let the faster runners have free space.  Sadly, many people aren't that thoughtful and we spent the first kilometre dodging around walkers.  Annoys me no end.  If you are gonna be walking the course, just hang back.  The extra 3 minutes to cross the line doesn't matter, but lets everyone settle down earlier.

But apart from that, I had a fine old time.  The run down around Beacon Hill Park to Dallas Road fills me with joy and a light footed feeling.  The elusive runner's high and a state of sub-concious happiness that makes you forget you are exerting yourself.  The we saw the Brunette on the turn around at 13 km, provisioned with a banana and fresh electrolyte water it was a nice easy feeling back to Dallas Road.  The last two to three kilometres were harder, but my friend did a grand job sticking to the pace, and we cruised home about ninety seconds under our target time.

Water and a quick change in the View Street Parkade (sorry to the truck owner who had to see that) and met everyone (The Brunette, with her daughter; Andrea who run great despite some water issues, my co-runner and her man) at The Guild for a big fry up.  Lashings of coffee, sunny-side eggs and chunky sausage and a meatloaf sized slice of black pudding.  Thank you, The Guild.  Just what I needed.

A quick medicinal chai at Be Love and a dissection of the race with Andrea and I headed home, for a rest.  Now for Turkey dinner!