Anatomy of a Bad Race

This partiualar "bad" race took place yesterday, Sunday, August 9th, 2009 in Delta, BC (about an hour south of Vancouver). Here's what it was made of: 7:00 am - Arrived at race site,the Ladner Leisure Centre, and picked up my race number. Noticed firetrucks outside the building and wondered how this would affect the bathroom situation. 7:10 am - Listened intently as the race director announced that the bathrooms inside the rec centre would not be available due to a major flood inside. Not to worry, "A" port-a-potty was on the way. 7:30 am - Officialy start time delayed due to lack of potty. 7:35 am - Lined up for the long awaited potty. 7:43 am - Queued up at the start line. 7:45 am - Start of Race My goal was to run at an average pace of 8:45/mile. The first three miles I actually had to slow myself down as my pace was closer to 8:30. Felt confident this was doable. 7:53 am - Mile 1 in 8:46, average HR 169 bpm 8:01 am - Mile 2 in 8:46, average HR 178 bpm 8:10 am - Mile 3 in 8:47. average HR 179 bpm Between Miles 3 & 4 I felt I needed a walk break. Nothing hurt at this point, but I felt the pace was getting to me a bit. 8:20 am - Mile 4 in 9:10, average HR 178 bpm I don't recall what happened between Miles 4 & 5. I either took another small walk break or ran a bit slower. 8:30 am - Mile 5 in 10:03, average HR 172 bpm 8:39 - Mile 6 in 8:54, average HR 178 bpm I took a walk break after passing the Mile 6 marker, and when I started to run again my right knee FAILED. In other words, it hurt too much to run. At this point I changed my goal from a 1:55 finish to finishing upright. 8:52 am - Mile 7 in 12:44, average HR 157 bpm Started joggging super slow, then a bit faster, and after a few false starts I found my knee felt ok once I got up to a certain speed. Thought a decent finish time was still possible! Started "reeling in" all the folks who'd passed me while I was walking one after another... 9:01 am - Mile 8 in 8:50, average HR 177 bpm Got tired again. Took a short walk, started super slow jogging, got up to a sustainable pace. Gave up on catching all the people in front of me. Settled in for a LONG 4 miles. Thought about quitting, but decided it would build character if I continued. 9:12 am - Mile 9 in 10:49, average HR 166 bpm 9:23 am - Mile 10 in 11:21, average HR153 bpm Took comfort in the fact that I was now in the double digits. Knee felt OK, but I was bored with the scenery. Time slowed down. 9:33 am - Mile 11 in 10:03, average HR 162 bpm Overheard a woman behind me ask a volunteer if it was much farther. Tried to block out the answer. Succeeded. 9:44 am - Mile 12 in 11:27, average HR 156 bpm Ran by a volunteer cheering "you're almost there". Wanted to shout back, "No I'm not! It's over a mile away you idiot"! Didn't. Passed a family with a sign that read "YOU ROCK" on their driveway with big smiles. Sped up. Got back to familar territory, realized the finish was not too far away. Spotted Ian. Made eye contact and picked up pace more. 9:54 am - Mile 13 in 9:54, average HR 163 bpm 9:54 am - Finished in 2:10:51. (NOT last) Took a couple of minutes to take some photos of the bunnies which were ALL OVER THE PLACE. They seem to have taken over the grounds around the rec centre. Drove to my sister's house with Ian and on to a breakfast place where I ate a grotesquely large pancake, 2 paoched eggs, and a single slice of bacon sporting my finisher's medal.