BMO Vancouver Re-Cap
BMO Vancouver 21.1 | 1:32:27 PR | 4:22min/km
The Week Leading Up To The Race
Physically, I felt horrible during the days leading up to BMO. Seriously. My legs felt like both lead and jell-o at the same time. I had a hard time focusing on anything other than the constant ache. Damn you, taper tantrums! Were these phantom pains? Or real?
Nonetheless, I tried to keep a positive mindset. My mantra through training had been “I’m doing this for fun. I just want to enjoy the race.” I’d repeated this to everyone and anyone who asked what my goal time was.
Upon reflection, I wasn’t confident with my training and that’s why I had convinced myself I was doing this for fun, not for a time goal. Last year, I had run many more miles leading up to BMO. This year a) we had bad weather all through December/January so I hadn’t done much running (instead I did some weightlifting and indoor cardio) and b) I had picked up rowing with my school club, and therefore only had time to run 3 times a week.
Last year I had run a 1:35:02, a PR at the time. This year, I anticipated I would run around a 1:40:00.
Saturday (One day before the race)
Do you have day-before-the-race rituals? I do. They include:
Being extremely moody towards my family
Eating WhiteSpot for dinner
The day before the race I typically go for a short walk/stretch. Because of the achiness in my legs, I actually did an easy 25min run, which included a few strides.
Pre-Race Sunday
I had set my alarm for 4:35am, because we had to leave around 5:30am. In typical Purhar fashion, we didn’t leave until around 5:45am (Note: 15min late is actually VERY good for us. Refer to Mom’s Squamish 50 race in 2015).
As my Dad and sister dropped my Mom and I off at the start line they asked, “Are you sure you have everything? We’re parking the car far from here.”
“Yes.” I snapped back, thinking *obviously* I had everything. This wasn’t my first race. Clearly I was still moody/taper tantrum-y – whoops.
At the start line we went through the regular motions: I hit the port-a-potties (twice), my Mom found random people to talk to, and we said hi to all the Runner’s Den/Phoenix folks we train with.
The race started at 7, and around 6:35 I realized I only had two gels with me, not three like I was supposed to have. I immediately went to my Dad and said “I forgot a gel in the car!” Thankfully my Dad is awesome, and without question he began hustling back to the car to grab it for me (Thanks Dad!!)
The Race
The gun went off at 7, and off we went. My race plan was to just let myself run the first few kilometers and then assess what pace I should hold. I averaged around 4:07min/km pace for the first 3km comfortably, so I told myself to hold under 4:30/km for the first 15km, and under 4:40 for the last 6km.
2km
We were running down Cambie when I spotted a man standing in front of a green party sign with his face on it, and beside him was a little electric car with “GREEN PARTY” across the side. The guy running next to me turned his head toward and muttered “shameless politician”. I chuckled.
4km
Behind me, I heard a young and friendly male voice initiate a conversation with whom ever was beside him. Confession: I’m an eavesdropper and like to listen to other people’s conversation to distract myself from the race. Unfortunately for me, they started to talk about housing prices (Housing prices? Really? In the middle of a race?), and all I could think was that my feet were soon going to be bleeding from blisters, and I didn’t need my ears bleeding of boredom as well.
13km
I had been running with a group of three guys for a few kilometers now, so when a new guy approached our group from behind and up beside me it caught my attention. As he came up beside me he said “there’s a big crowd up there and some photographers! Make sure you smile and look good!”
Immediately, I recognized his voice. It was the guy who initiated the "housing prices" conversation. That was enough for me and I instantly picked up my pace to get ahead of him. I didn’t want to get stuck in any of his conversations. Besides, who is he to tell me to smile?
16km
Just as we passed kilometre 16, I could hear a live band playing “Heaven” (Los Lonely Boys) in the distance. As they came in sight they continued to repeat the chorus “How Faaaar Is HeeeeaAvan” – and I turned to the guy next to me and said “5km away from here!”. (Duh, because the finish line was 5km away from us...). But he clearly didn’t get my joke and gave me a blank stare (I still think it’s funny).
17km-21.1km
The last 4 kilometres were the toughest for me (SEE BELOW FOR PHOTO EVIDENCE). I could feel heaviness in my legs. The sun was beating down on us, and also radiating back up from the asphalt. I give myself the internal pep-talk “I trained for this, I can do this, this is what I worked for”. I went as hard as I could, and I was proud of the pace I kept. As I crossed the finish line, I was surprised and so happy I had done so much better than anticipated!
***
I’d like to acknowledge that PR’s don’t happen alone. It’s thanks to the Den and Phoenix workouts and my running families there. Of course, thanks to my Mom who inspires me to run (Boston 2 Big Sur!!), my Dad who is our #1 supporter, and my sister and brother for cheering me on.