In November of 2010, I ran my first half-marathon in Calgary (with very little training). I came in dead last with a time of just over three hours. I decided that I needed to train with a group and signed on with a Running Room (www.runningroom.com) half clinic in the hopes that I could improve my time. About a month ago, I injured my knee during my clinic but did my best to cross-train so I would still be able to do my run. Today, I did great, keeping my pace between the 2:30 and the 2:45 pace bunny. However, at 12k, my injured knee gave out. I kept going. I downed painkillers, caffeine shots and ate gels. I hoped that I could “play through the pain”. I couldn't. The 2:30 pace bunny dropped out of sight. I kept up with the 2:45 bunny (she had a tail) for awhile but eventually she disappeared from sight too. Soon, the elderly half-marathon walkers started passing me. The pain in my knee shot straight through my knee and into my groin. I kept trying to improve my pace, desperately hoping to finish with even a minute under three hours to say that I'd improved from November.
It was not to be, I was over my time from November by eight minutes. I ran over the finish line and then limped to a patch of grass to unwrap my swollen knee. I felt like I was going to throw up and all I could think was “I am never, never doing this to myself again.”
I know that I will though.
Kelowna was a nice place to run. From my point of view, it seemed well-organised and it's a friendly community. Many people were sitting on their stoops calling encouragement. The volunteers were awesome and the finishing medals are very nice.
I'm going to watch the Jets game now and hope they have a better day than I did.