Run teacher, Run!: Race Review: The Goodlife Toronto Half Marathon

The 2016 racing season is off to a great start for me! The Goodlife Toronto Half Marathon marks my 7th half marathon. It also happened to be my 2nd half marathon two years ago in 2014. This is the second time I've ran a half marathon course for the second time. It's interesting to repeat a course. Some would say it's beneficial as you know what to expect; others would say it's detrimental because you know what to expect. For me, with a two year gap, it was a bit of both. Read on.

Packet Pick Up:
One of the benefits of a large event like the Goodlife Toronto races is the expo. Held at the Enercare Centre at the Exhibition place, the Expo always means some freebies and the chance to check out some new gear, accessories, clothing and nutrition/hydration products (usually at a discounted rate). Also I've learned to print final information emails for races and highlight pertinent information. This saved me $4.00 on parking as we would have had to pay the regular $14.00 cost had I not asked the parking attendant, "Is it not $10.00 for the Goodlife Marathon expo?" Being organized pays off!

The expo entrance

The expo was smaller than I remember it being two years ago. Shaped like a U the starting point is the Goodlife booth where you get a free bag and a 7-visit pass for completing the survey. If I lived closer to a Goodlife I would definitely take advantage of this 7-visit pass. One day! From there it was easy to get my bib (because I knew my number) and I was told to follow the U to the sportstats tent to activate my bib. It was fun to see the print outs on the wall of all the participants in each of the events. The Goodlife races include a 5km run, a 5km walk, a 10km run, the half marathon and the marathon. Just looking at the print outs on the wall it was very obvious that the half marathon distance was the most popular with more than double the next largest event, the marathon.

Finding my name on the wall

After activating my bib I was given my shirt. I really liked the shirts this year as they are simple, black, have a nice v-neck for the women and red lettering. I like simple black tops because I have a number of patterny, flashy bottoms.

The shirt and bib

The rest of the U included the usual vendors for other races or selling different running goodies. I looked longingly at some sporty sunglasses but couldn't justify the price, even those that were discounted. It was lots of fun, but I still feel like there were more free goodies and better discounts at the 2014 expo.

Flat Amelia the night before, though I traded out the short sleeve for the long sleeve the morning of

bad snapchat grammar, delicious dinner made by the sweetest boyfriend

Race day!
The half marathon started promptly at 8:30am. I was nervous as all else! After 6 half marathons I feel an added pressure to continue to better myself and my time. I've consistently done so (except for half #3 but that was to be expected) until half number 6 where I missed a PB by 9 seconds. I mean, it was still my first half marathon with my boyfriend Mark watching and the first time he said "I love you" so it was still super special but what could he do at this half to soften the blow of missing another chance to PB? Also it was my first half marathon without my parents. Usually my mom is the nervous one so I don't have to be. I'm sure she was still nervous from home, but it's not the same.

I was up for 6am and was able to eat an english muffin with peanut butter, get a coffee in and out and walk the dog. It was about a 20 minute drive for us and Mark was great at finding a place to park while we walked to the start line. The benefit of having run this race was that I knew where the start line was. There was rain in the forecast and it was about 6 degrees. There was also wind, but they said it would be at my back. I actually don't mind running in rain (as long as it's not too heavy) or anywhere from 5-10 degrees, especially when racing. I wore compression socks, shorts and a long sleeved shirt. Part of me wanted to wear a T-shirt as I can't stand being too hot, but I also don't like when my arms are cold. I'm glad I went with the choice I did.

I see the start line!

Me and my guy at the start line!

Before peeling all the layers

We arrived with enough time for me to comfortably strip my extra layers, get my headphones set up, my playlist ready, my roadID app ready (so Mark knew where I was on course), eat my GUchomps AND use the bathroom (for the 4th time that morning). I was really impressed with how many portapotties there were at the start as I didn't have to wait in a line at all. This NEVER happens at race start lines. I was happy I got to go one last time before running. I found my place in the corral with about 7 minutes to go. With about a minute left I started up my playlist. Mark made me a spotify playlist the night before of high energy, fun songs. I chose many of the songs and we found lists of good running songs as well. The playlist made a huge difference as the songs drowned out my breathing and distracted my mind. For the first few kms I was bopping away to the music and had to refrain from dancing or singing along.

The start line from my corral (Actually I got in the wrong one by accident but it all worked out)

The selfie I sent my mom before heading off

Stills from the starting video, smiling at my boy

Blowing kisses to Mark

The benefit of knowing the course is I knew the one BIG hill was at km 3. I powered up the hill with gusto and passed some people. The lung burn hit hard as I crested the hill and thought whew, now that I've done that it's all downhill! This is where I was wrong because I'd somehow forgotten the other rolling hills. Willful ignorance I suppose. I made sure to accommodate for the uphills by letting myself fly down the downs. I knew I'd need somewhere between a 4:58-5:12min/km and for the first half my watch said I was maintaining an average 5:01min/km. I knew that was slightly off as my watch would announce a km slightly before I actually passed the km marker, about 100m off to be exact. However, I knew a 5:01 watch reading wouldn't be too far off.

At about km 8 I ate my second GUchomps pack. I usually don't do this and then find out it's too late once I start to fatigue to get it back so I thought it would be smart to take these in advance of half way, and on a downhill. I was happy to see Mark again just past half way. I had a huge grin on my face, I felt strong, I was pleased with keeping up my pace.

I felt good and was loving the downhills until about km 13. After running a slight downhill through a park the course started to flatten out and enter downtown. I started to feel tired and feel some aches in my hamstrings. I kept on pushing but noticed my time slowing on my watch. I turned my music up even louder and tried to focus on the songs and keeping chugging on. At km 15 I grabbed my sport beans out of my pocket and started to slowly chew on these. The sticky sweet wasn't overly appealing but I was hoping they'd give me a sugar jump to help my slowing time. The course was doing some weird turns that I remembered again from 2 years prior. The course certainly had more fun things to look at during this leg like the Kensington Market and the building that comes to a point but when I'm that deep into a race I don't want to see anything but a finish line. At km 17 I had to tell myself only 2 more km until I see my friend Candice and then only 2km after that til I'm done! This is also about where my gps went crazy haywire with all the buildings. My watch would say I was running a 7:30min/km and then a 3:30min/km. Neither of which were true. But it was truly hard to tell what my pacing actually was as I was growing very tired. It was fun to see Candice at km 19 with a sign! (I bribed her into this, I'm glad she fell for the peer pressure. Though it didn't say Go Amelia Go! It did say Run Like You Stole Something and that made me giggle). She saw me at just the right time and we gave each other a giant wave. As I passed the km 19 mark I got the great idea to flip my watch the second page which tells me my overall time. Remember, my watch was telling me I was averaging 5:01/km still at this point which would mean a sizeable PB. I was happy until I saw that overall time. At km 19 it said I was at 1:40...this scared me. My current PB was 1:50:38. This meant I needed to run sub 5:00kms for the last two to get a PB, on very tired legs. I sucked it up and pushed, and stressed, and pushed while consistently watching the time count up. I ran under the bridge where I knew the sporting life 10km and yonge street 10km races usually have a finish line (this is where the 20km marker was), down to the corner and turned to the right. I still couldn't see the finish banner. I pushed and pushed until it finally came into sight. It still seemed so far. I felt like I was pushing so hard but was hardly moving. I couldn't even tell you what song was on at the time, I didn't even look for Mark. Nothing else was on my mind but crossing that line. I finally got to my last turn and booked it until I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch.

Coming around the final turn

Just trying to get to that finish line

I could have cried when I saw 1:49:22. I finally broke my 1:50 and got myself a shiny new PB by more than a minute. I saw a friend who was waiting for her husband and gave her a sweaty hug. She was the first person I got to tell proudly that I had a new PB! Soon after that I heard my name as Mark came alongside the fence. I grabbed my medal and before I could say it he said "You got a PB!". They say joy is doubled when shared. I instantly felt my joy grow and I saw his smile. The joy continued to grow as I told my parents and running partner in crime as well as my best friend via text message.

Proud of this new hardware

Even better than I thought, 1:49:20!!

The finish area was lack lustre at best. Again, not like I'd remembered it from two years prior. This could have been a result of the rain and overall "bad weather". (When it came to running in it I found the weather near ideal. I did feel bad for Mark as it was sucky weather for a spectator. I was thankful my parents didn't have to stand out in the bad weather. Unfortunately for Mark this is just going to be part of life being my partner). I brought Mark through the food tent with me. They had those flatbread circles with gross things in them (probably raisins or other disappointments), apples, green bananas and mini cliff bars. The only thing I liked there were the cliff bars. I also couldn't find water. Regular water. There was sickly sweet honey water and gatorade. But I couldn't find water. I looked around, saw the massage tent and the First Aid tent and that was about it. "Well, we can go" I said to Mark and off we walked (waddled) to the car. This was when he told me he found a pair of sport sunglasses for me. It warmed my heart as he knew I was looking for a pair and I love found gifts. They almost mean more than purchased gifts as when I was little my Dad used to bring home found gifts for my brother and I all the time.

Mom said "send me a picture of both of you" as we were on route to get me a mcdonalds iced coffee. mmm

Overall I am pleased as punch with a new PB. The weather was great (to me!) and my body cooperated (I had no burning ankles or painful/numb toes like I've had lately). Though I didn't have my parents there I was happy to have my love there. He did a great job as a spectator by taking a video at the start and finish and seeing me half way. This is not easy to do for a Toronto race as traffic is a pain with road closures and such. The course is a great one with a few uphills but predominantly downhill. I did tattoo their race logo on my leg so chances are I will likely race this course again one day. When I do I need to remember to stretch and recover better after. It's been a painful few days.

Race photos: