Rock n Roll Vancouver Half Oct 25, 2015

We ate at Zefferelli's (because pasta) both pre-race nights.  I can neither confirm nor deny we went to Qoola for frozen yogurt both nights also. Our little VRBO apartment was just a block off Robson, it was such a great location for walking to/from both races and oh so close to all the food.

Race day was started appropriately with a visit to Dougie's Digital Orca.  Does my shirt make this whale look big?

Off we go!

Kms 0-5 (average pace 6:16)

I have no idea how this race will go but I'm excited to have people stop standing on me and shoving me and get running.  There's an immediate uphill off the line then we tilt down and run into Gastown.  This part feels great, I'm not overly concerned with my watch.  That's probably why my first km is under 6 mins.  There's an out and back that covers 2 hills, I get a chance to say hello to Tina (aka a very pretty Harley Quinn) as we pass then we head south.

Kms 6-10 (average pace 6:25)

When I look at my watch it is generally showing happy numbers so I decide to keep it going for as long as I can.  Why not?!  We climb toward BC place up on the freeway, this is a tough part.  At the top we turn and descend which feels good again.  There are quite a few people out watching the hoopla.  Soon we pop out at the ocean, the air smells wonderful.  I get caught up to by Deb and Bill leading the 2:15 pace group.

Kms 11-15 (average pace 6:22)

I'm keeping up with the pace group so decide to try their 10 (run) & 1 (walk) system.  It's a great distraction and I quite like using the '1' breaks to refuel.  The pathways are a bit narrow here and sometimes it's hard to get around walkers to keep the pace going. The pacers are great at sharing time and distance information and I love the visual countdown toward the 1's.  Ah, there's the Inukshuk from yesterday.  We enter Stanley Park and the hills kick back in.

Kms 16 - end (average pace 6:42)

There's a hill with a small loop and I lose the pace group.  That's okay I'm doing much better than in any Half for ages so I keep pushing.  I know if I can keep things steady I will finish with a good time.  I start thinking another hill may kill me (the joke's on me since 50% (95m) of the course hills are in this section) then try to focus on something else.  What a stupid thought to have this far into a Half.

There's a big long stretch through trees as we pass Lost Lagoon then a great bastard of a hill past the Aquarium.  Also, it smells.  Perfect.  Slow couple of kms as I drag my ass onwards.  Instead of turning onto the seawall we stay on the park road which gives us the pleasure of bonus hills.  I may have not noticed this on the course map.  The November Project give me some much needed energy at km 19, love these guys.  

A hill at km 20 slows me down again, I walk part of it then realize I'm losing too much time and plug up the rest.  Truth be told I'm not running that well on the downhills either at this stage. Looking back I'm proud of running a sub-7 pace on all the hills given I struggled to run a Half at sub-7 overall this year.

At 20.1 km I allow myself to check the Garmin for overall time, it reads 2:09 and change.  So if I can run the last km at under 7/km I should be on for a new PR.  (Note - I forgot the extra bit for not running tangents).  This completely freaks me out and all the energy goes out of my body.  What??  Instead of ramping up for the finish I can barely keep myself moving.  See pathetic photo above.

As I cross the line my watch reads 2:17 something, I clung on for a new Half PR.  Hallelujah.  Of course I have to check the official results before I entirely believe it.

Water + medal = happiness.

Running our 5th Rock n Roll race this year means collecting the Roadie medal and the neat Vancouver Remix (the little faces on the totem pole!!)  There is just so much awesome bling in this race series.

You know what?  It was a perfect weekend.

Kev & me with Briana, Andrew, Elizabeth and Tina

Hanging out with the Rock n Blog crew after the 10k, thanks Elizabeth for the pic!

Vancouver is a stunning location, we had a blast running the gorgeous seawall 10k then the Half through the city and Stanley Park.  Add this one to your list!

*As a member of Rock n Blog I was given a Tour Pass for 3 2015 races, however all opinions, thoughts and PRs are 100% my own.