Chilly Half Marathon 2018

Burlington's Chilly half marathon is a race I've done three years in a row now.  Its a staple event in the Southern Ontario run circuit with several elite athletes, including olympians Reid Coolsat and Krista Duchene all competing.  Personally, I like it as its a fun winter event to run in the off season to help me prepare for my spring marathon.  I like to play around with pacing strategies and see how my endurance training has been coming along this far in the early stages of my marathon training plan.

While lots of running is always part of the plan, getting sick is never part of any athletes plan, but sometimes it happens and there is nothing you can really do about it, except try to tough it out.  Unfortunately this year, I came down with a nasty sinus infection a few days before the event on March 4th.  I was not alone in my misery, several other runners lined up for the port a potty were all complaining of their various symptoms of malaise. 

I had planned to hold a pace of 4:45/km, and for the first 3/4 of the race I was able to do just that.  But I started to struggle with my breathing at about the 16km mark and continued to do so for the last 5km of the race.  My run splits tell the story...

The last few km I was battling a side stitch from the laboured breathing due to the congested sinuses, but I persevered and laid down a strong finishing kick when the finishing line came into sight.

I finished the half marathon in 1:42:56 (pacing 4:53).  My 2018 time was 32 sec off my personal best from last years event when I ran 1:42:24 (pacing 4:51).  Considering I was suffering through a nasty sinus infection, 32 seconds off my PB doesn't seem so bad. 

I always like to take away a positive from every event I do, and I think I performed well all things considering. Holding a strong pace indicates that my marathon training is coming along well and on par for a strong spring marathon on May 6 where I'll be running down another BQ (Boston Qualifier), hopefully in much better health, cold free/sinuses clear!

As always, I came away from this race with another sweet long sleeve fleece tech shirt that is super great for winter running, as well as helping me survive the rather cool temperatures of the gym that I work at (think draughtiest room ever).  Shout out to New Balance for their support for the clothing over the last three years!

Looking forward to coming back to this event next year to lay down a new PB and hoping to finally break that 1:42:00 time that I seem to run so consistently at this event.