Winterman Half-Marathon - February 20th 2011 - Ottawa, Ontario
I decided to run Winterman as a marathon-paced run to get a feel of what level my fitness was at following the base-building I have been doing in the first phase of my marathon training program.
I did the 10km race at this event last year and really enjoyed it. It is an out-and-back race on the parkway beside the Ottawa River. The route could be described as hilly as well as windy too.
The race itself starts at the War Museum and continues along the western carriageway of the Ottawa River Parkway to the off-ramp to Parkdale Ave. There is a turnaround point on Goldenrod Street in the Tunney’s Pasture complex and then it’s back towards the Museum, where you complete your loop in front of the museum and then down a chute that takes you to the start of the next lap. The half-marathon is 4 loops plus a short out-and-back portion that makes up the final 1.1km of the distance.
When we arrived at the race site it was minus 16˚C and windy, the calculated windchill factor was minus 24˚C and we really felt it as we went to collect our race chips to fit around our ankles. Luckily with this race, the War Museum kindly lets you stay warm in their huge foyer. The foyer was packed with 1,400 excited, expectant runners trying to stay warm and keep loose in preparation for the races.
In this event all the races (bar the 3km race) are started at the same time, so it can be pretty confusing exactly who you are racing against (bibs are colour-coded). My wife had entered a team in the 8 person relay and decided to run the 1st leg so she could start with me.
As expected the start was pandemonium with no seeding, we all just huddled together bracing ourselves against the cold winds coming across from the Ottawa River. The race was started by a huge military gun, scaring the heck out of most of the runners, and we were off. I bid farewell to my wife and wished her a good race and started to weave through the throng of runners, trying to find some pavement to get to my pace as soon as possible. Straight away there a was a long climb as the road goes up and over a railway bridge so it was pretty slow going but I was able to nip in and out of the packs of runners and get some space. I hadn’t really decided as to what pace I would run, I told myself “marathon race pace” but I don’t really know what that is yet with any conviction, so I decided to just run by feel and let the pace take care of itself.
I was pretty cold for the first 10 minutes or so, so most of my focus was on warming up my fingers and toes, this is a good thing though as you should be cold as you start a run like this and it wasn’t long before I was nice and toasty and comfortable and could focus on how my legs and breathing felt. I felt great to be honest, it was great to be in a race so soon in the season and my body was not complaining at all.
On the off ramp it was a little icy as were sections of Tunney’s pasture, but it was a lot easier underfoot than last year when we had actively falling slow and it was slippy and slushy underfoot.
Soon enough I was heading back into the museum and glanced at the clock as I came around the chute to cross the lap mat and start another lap; 27:26, not bad, I decided to just keep doing what I was doing and see how I felt as I continued along the course. The runners on the course had spread out considerably and with all the 5km racers finishing, the number of runners on the course started to decline. The second lap went along without any problems, I took a gel at 7km and I felt really comfortable at the paces I was going at which seemed to be roughly 5:28 per km on the uphill section, 5:15 per km on the other sections and as I glanced at the clock at the lap end it was 54:27 so I had run that lap in roughly 27 minutes.
At that point I started to form a plan for the second half of the race, I wanted to keep going as I was and do another 27 minute lap, keeping an eye on how my legs and lungs felt and then increase the pace during the final lap if I felt capable at that point. I took my second gel at 14kms but by this time it had frozen so it was pretty chewy. As I came through the lap chute the clock read 1:21:29, so I was pacing it really well with another 27 minute lap.
This time when I turned at Tunney’s pasture I took one last swig of water and started to consciously increase the pace. I didn’t bother to look at my Garmin, I just increased the pace and held it there and it felt fine, actually it felt really good so I increased it again as I was coming down the hill towards the museum. Through the lap chute for the last time, clock read 1:47:59 so I put the hammer down and ran as hard as I could back up the hill towards the 1.1km turnaround marker, around it, back down the hill and into the final stretch. I had somehow passed a guy that I had been on the heels of for the last 5km but he blew past me with 100 meters to go, I duly responded breaking into a full-out sprint, I didn’t catch him, but we both flew past two other runners and I hit the finish line one step behind him (5:11 for the final 1.1km).
Final time 1:53:08, the second-fastest of the five half-marathons I have run to date.
I was 99th out of 277 runners and 10th out of 20 male 35-39 year olds.
Splits
1 - 27:26 (5:29/km pace)
2 - 27:01 (5:24/km pace)
3 - 27:02 (5:24/km pace)
4 - 26:30 (5:18/km pace)
5 - 5:11 (4:42/km pace)
I am extremely pleased with that result as I felt comfortable throughout and had plenty left in the tank to increase the pace and then sprint finish. So far I have only done training runs at my slow pace (6:00/km) and have yet to add any speed work, so in theory I should get considerably faster. With the 300km at slow pace I have run this year, I have built a solid base to build off of, and that will pay great dividends come May.
