Berry Bloggerific: Race Report, or How To Take a Really Great Marathon Photo

Well, what can I say. The half marathon was on Sunday, and I ran it. And it was fabulous! And I’m totally aware that after all the whining and complaining that I did I now sound like *that* person – the one who moans about how terrible they are going to be when in fact they know they are going to be great.

I’m really not that person. I really thought that this was going to be a terrible, terrible race. One that I would struggle just to finish. I don’t think I had more than a handful of decent training runs in the build up to the race, and after every single long run my lower back would seize up and start to spasm. In fact, by the time I hit the taper week I couldn’t even run 3 miles without having to take back-pain medication after. So it really wasn’t looking promising for race day.

And then there was the weather. It was cold, and it was raining – all weekend. And as I pointed out, the forecast was for a high of 5 degrees Celcius, with rain and maybe snow. I was seriously contemplating going for coffee instead of racing.

However, after a fitful sleep I woke up before 5am on race day morning, made my coffee, ate my peanut butter toast, drank more coffee, and got ready. And as I drove to the city it was definitely grey and cool, but it was not raining. So that was promising.

Starbucks was indeed still closed at 6:30am (sigh) but I met up with my friend Genine and we walked over to the starting area. Genine ditched me for a starting position closer to the front since she’s super fast, and I hunted around for my friend Lisa who would be running the half for the first time. By sheer luck we happened to find each other right before the gun went off – I was so relieved. I had wanted to at least start out with her, and then either stick with her or just run my own race. But right away I knew that I wanted to just run with her and help pace her out to the finish, and I’m so glad I did!

Seriously, this was the most fun I have ever had running the half! The pace was nice and easy – our running pace averaged about 10min/mile, and we walked through the water stops. I had tons of energy and felt simply awesome. I have no idea why. I high-fived volunteers and thanked them for coming out to help – something I never really have energy to do when I’m pushing myself. I think I had a huge smile plastered on my face pretty much the whole time.

Aside from a little cramping in my left hip and two blisters on my right foot, everything went great. The course this year was really beautiful and the weather held – there was no rain, the wind was a little gusty at a couple of points, but the sun actually managed to find a crack in the grey for a little while. I was layered just right so I wasn’t too cold or too hot (until the end when we were finished running – then it became clear why the volunteers were out with parkas on), and I just felt great.

Lisa was just fantastic the entire race. I don’t know if she felt fantastic, but I would never have been able to tell if she was struggling. She just ran really strong the entire way, and when we hit the final mile she ran the hill and totally killed it. I kid you not, the last 3/4 mile of this race was straight uphill. I don’t know who’s brilliant idea it was to make a few thousand tired people finish a race on a steep uphill, but that’s what they did. And Lisa totally owned it. I was so proud.

After the race I found Genine again and we grabbed our bags, ducked over to Starbucks to change into dry clothes and had our hot macchiatos. I picked up my Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and ate it while driving home, which was awkward, so I finished it while I soaked in a hot bath. And I know, a hot bath is not the ideal thing for all those inflamed muscles and joints, but it felt so good on my back which by that time was definitely complaining, so I don’t regret it.

But about those photos…

I was checking out my race photos from Marathon Photos, and wouldn’t you know it, my finishing photo is this: