After such an awesome experience at Buntzen Lake, I was ready to tackle the Victoria half marathon once again.
This year, the missus sent me out to Victoria on my own and I planned a "public transit" adventure as part of race weekend. For about $20, I managed to get from my apartment in Vancouver to the Ocean Pointe Hotel in Victoria and back by Canada Line, bus, BC Ferry and bus once again. Of course, the return journey was enhanced with some post race soreness!
Since I had enjoyed the race last year and I was doing well in the trail races, I was thinking that I'd see some improvement in my results. Race morning was chilly but clear and I really enjoyed a light jog from the hotel to the race start. Once again the race was extremely well organized and the energy levels were quite high. About half way through the course, I realized that I was staying on pace with last year's result and that there didn't seem to be much in the tank to change that. So instead of angsting about time I instead relaxed somewhat and enjoyed the beautiful fall day.
As I covered the last few kilometres of the race I even entertained a brief walk break but decided against it. The strategy to relax a bit seemed to pay off because I crossed the finish line a minute faster than last year.
Since it was such a beautiful sunny day I ended up strolling around downtown Victoria and grabbing a quick snack at a coffee shop. It didn't feel odd to walk about with my running kit and race bib because there were many other folks doing the same thing!
Next year, I am going to attempt the FULL marathon. Why not?
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