Who's gonna run this town tonight?

I survived my first half marathon.

I woke up pretty early this morning.  You know when you are anxious for something and your body wakes you up a couple hours earlier than you need to be up?  That was me today.

I had time for a relaxed breakfast and to get ready and debate hat vs. headband, long-sleeved shirt vs. short-sleeved shirt and all of those important decisions.

I took a cab to the starting line, since the subway doesn't open until 9 am on Sundays.  As I was in the cab, I realized how far away the starting line was from my neighbourhood, and how far away the finish line was from my 'hood, but in the opposite direction. And I was going to run the distance between the two?  Was I crazy? Clearly.

I left way earlier than I needed to, and usually I hate the part where you stand around at the starting line before a race because I'm under-dressed for the weather.  Luckily, the starting line was right near a hotel, and I warmed up in their lobby before the beginning.  They were even nice enough to have water and bananas out for waiting runners.

The beginning of the race was lovely.  It was sunny, and a perfect running temperature (about 10-12 degrees Celsius).  The first stretch was downhill, but that was following by about a 500m hill, which I walked up to save energy.  After that though, most of the rest of the race was downhill.  Yay for Toronto geography.  At the beginning of the race, the CN Tower was so far away, but it felt nice as it got closer and closer.

At about 7 km, I hit my own neighbourhood, and it felt nice to have run home.  The race continued down Yonge St., until it detoured along Rosedale Valley Road which is a really pretty area for running.  It's mostly just trees, with an isolated out-of-city feel.  It then continued down Bayview Ave by the Don River.  People were canoeing in the river which was a fun sight!  However, there were some portions of by-the-river route that were a little bit smelly. 

After that, the route headed through downtown along King St., then along Front St.  It was amazing running by the CN Tower after it had been so far away only a couple hours earlier, and to be by the lake after starting so far up north.  However, as we were closer to the lake, the wind was really pronounced.  At one point, my hat flew off, but I was able to catch it.  The last kilometre was into the wind, and it was really difficult.

However, as I approached the finish line, I had enough left in me to sprint across the line, and then exclaim "fuck that was hard", but no one heard.  I got a bit emotional as I crossed.  My first road race ever was the 5K portion of the Toronto marathon in 2011, and who would have thought three years later that I'd do the half marathon?  Also, I don't think I'd ever have thought even a year ago that I'd attempt a half.  I wasn't fast, but I was on pace with a lot of people, and I was so proud of finishing.  Will I do a half again?  I'm not sure.  It really takes it out of you, and I don't know if I can commit the time to training enough to improve on this year's time.  But who knows?

A couple of my friends from work met me at the finish line, and then were nice enough to drive me home.  We went out for food and beer and gelato in my neighbourhood.  We caught the last 10 minutes of the heartbreaking Raptors game.  Sigh.

Here's a picture of me by the lake after I finished.  I always hate post-run pictures because my face is super-swollen, but I love my medal and the scenic backdrop.  Oh Toronto, you sometimes break my heart, but I really do love you.

This song randomly came up during the last stretch of the race, and it was super appropriate.



Well, I guess that's another item off of my bucket-list.  I hope the next item involves more sitting, ha-ha.  Also, for my Vancouver friends, I think the Grouse Grind is more difficult than a half marathon.

Next post will be about my weekend adventures in Lego.  Yes, you read that correctly.