A new PB!!!!!!

We drove to Ottawa on Friday. Nice drive ... hot day. Went to the expo and picked up our kits (DS and DH were doing the 5K Saturday night). The ladies marathon shirt is BEAUTIFUL ... sleevelss in white with pink stripes. Walked around the expo for awhile to soak in the sites. Dropped by the RR booth to pick up a pace band for 5:30 and they didn't have any! So I went to the computer in the hotel and looked up a pace band and did my own.

Sat night the boys ran their 5K ... both felt great and thought they did a PB ... although the chip times don't reflect it. I'm sure they were longer than 2 mins to cross the start line. Ah well. They both felt good.Went for dinner at an Italian restaurant in a ourtyard. Lovely! Then back to the room for bed. Alarm is set for 5:45, race is at 7 and we're MAYBE 100 metres from race start.

Alarm goes off ... I get dressed in the bathroom so as not to wake everyone up and head down for breakfast. (The hotel had a free breakfast and was serving starting at 6 for the runners.) While at breakfast I chatted with a few people and then headed to soak up the adrenaline at the start. I LOVE the start of a race. I love the adrenaline, the excitement. Just great! They corralled people this year based on time and since I was predicting a 5:30 I was just before the walkers. I swear we were 500 meters back from the start line.

We start. I'm doing an R3/W2 and aiming for a 5:30 finish. We hit 3K and I'm ahead of pace by 3 mins! I decide its time to slow the pace. Then we hit 5K and I'm STILL ahead of pace (memories of Mississauga only it's not by 10 seconds!) this time by 4 mins. I say outloud that I'm ahead of pace and someone asks what was your aim to finish I say 5:30 and they respond ... You're ahead of pace for a 5 finish! We carry on ... at around 10K we see the lead women head by (they are past 1/2 way!) Everyone hoots and hollers! Then around 15K it starts to rain. The crowds have been pretty good ... small but people all along the way cheering. We're in embassy row and there along the way was our former PM Jean Chretien cheering on the runners!

I hit the 1/2 way mark and I'm at 2:31 ... ONE MINUTE away from a 5:00 finish. This is WEIRD. I'm feeling good tho' so I carry on still doing R3/W2.At 23K the 1/2 marathoners join in ... we're SWAMPED by them ... and they have relatively fresh legs as they are at 9K. At 24K I meet up with DS, DH and MIL who are working the water station. Michael (DH) says "you're ahead of pace aren't you?" I say yes ... around 15 minutes but I'm feeling good. A photo with DS and I'm off again. At 27K I check again and I'm still WAY ahead of pace for a 5:30. At 30K I check again and I'm at 3:36 (which is only 1 minute slower than my ATB time!) ... at this point I decide to throw away the pace band and just carry on. By now it is POURING rain. We are wet and the crowds are pretty slim ... just the odd person with an umbrella.

At 35K I look again and I'm doing well. Then I hit 37K I've got 5K to go and my watch is showing 4:30. I think to myself ... I'm in PB territory. I also meet up with one fella that I was chatting with in the morning. He's a clinic instructor in Peterborough RR and was looking for someone. He says he things she's way back and so he offers to run in with me. I decide that I'm going to try for that PB and tell Ralph this. I start doing R3/W1 and then we hit 40K and my watch is showing 4:51. I KNOW I'm in PB territory here. So we continue on ... walk break and we're at 750m. We run again and we're at 300 m ... I realize that my legs can't quite do it so a 15 second break and then run it in ... for a PB of 5:05:07 my previous PB was 5:08:08 in 2004! And that one I did R10/W1!

DH and DS had a great time at the water station in the rain. They had 1/2 and full marathoners coming through. Then after it seemed all runners had gone through they got it all cleaned up ... only to have THOUSANDS of families come through for the family 2K! Michael said it was like they were swarmed by all these little kids and buggies and parents!

So I feel great ... we came home last night because I felt so good. (We did stop 4x on the trip since it's a 5 hour trip) and today I actually walked down the stairs with only one hand on the railing! So ... there it is ... an R3/W2 in the rain for a PB ... who knew!?!?!?