Well, I have to admit Im a little disappointed in my race. I only made my C goal which was a PR. My finish was 2:05:17. I was hoping to make it under 2 hours.
We went to the race expo on Friday night, about an hour before it closed. This was a good time to go, as there were no lineups to pick up bibs, and there werent too many people around. The expo was held in Max Bell Arena this year, which was much better than the previous venue, where there was little room to move. I have to say, I think the shirts were nicer last year. This years shirt was a one colour (red) compared to the 3 colour and better looking shirts from last year.
I was up at 4am on race morning, and my fueling and hydration were all according to plan and what has worked for me previously. I had a bowl of cereal at 3 hours before start, 2-3 cups of coffee and a bottle of sport drink, all consumed no later than 2 hours before the race, and no further drinks after that. We were just a few minutes late leaving the house, but I wasnt too concerned, as there was some extra time built in. My plan includes a last porta-potty stop before the start, so when we arrived I lined up for that. Unfortunately I picked a slow line and it took several minutes to make it through (about 15-20). This left me very little time before the start, and I had to rush to the start. I was lucky enough to spot the 2 hour pacer, so I jumped off to the side to remove my warm up clothes. When I turned back though, he was gone most likely pushing his way forward. At this point, the race was starting, so I was pretty much stuck where I was. It took me about 4 and a half minutes to get to the start line.
Since it was congested at the start (rant: why do some people walking feel like they need to get as close as possible to the start on a chip timed race with generous time limits) I just went with the crowd and tried to not work too hard to jump around people. The first km was done in about 5:55 and I was happy with that. It was so crowded that I missed the next 4 km markers (and missed several more throughout the race). My splits through 6km were all right on pace, so I was still about 15 seconds behind overall because of the first km. Things seemed to be going according to plan.
Through 13km, things were going fairly well, although I could feel some slowing, and was working to remain focused and keep the pace. Soon after that though, I got a side cramp that I couldnt get rid of. I tried to breathe on the opposite side, ran with my hand in the air, but nothing worked. I eventually decided that I would have to take a walk break, and thats where I really lost my momentum. I just couldnt pick up the pace again after that. I knew then, that what I really needed was more base miles in training. The last third of the race is where the additional miles help the most. I resigned myself to the fact that I wasnt going to finish under 2 hours, so I was trying for under 2:05. I should have pushed just a little harder, but not knowing exactly where the finish line was, made it difficult.
For now its some time off, but I will be working on base building over the summer. Since I was over 30 miles per week at the end of training, Im going to work on maintaining about that level (25-30 mpw) through the summer, and then will begin full marathon training in the fall.
My splits for the race were:
1 5:55
2 5:40 *5
3 5:40 *5
4 5:40 *5
5 5:40 *5
6 5:41
7 5:45 *8
8 5:45 *8
9 5:50 *11
10 5:50 *11
11 5:50 *11
12 5:52 *14
13 5:52 *14
14 5:52 *14
15 6:31 *16
16 6:31 *16
17 5:58
18 5:47
19 6:18
20 6:12
21.1 7:05
* shows a divided split at the km marker indicated
GO! WISH Team GO! 
Go, Maura! 
