Half Marathon

Short endurance races, half marathons are a great course-length to test your ability to run a modest, achievable distance. Whereas a full marathon pushes a typical runner past the point of exhaustion, requiring on-course fuelling, long-haul mindsets and perfect pacing plans, a halfer can be done with a bit of water and a “take yourself to the edge of you ability” approach. Run hard, run long. Run. I typically hit the two hour and change mark, but my crew is plus or minus 30 minutes on that pace.

Hypothermic Half (2018)

I’ll sum it up. I had barely slept. My stomach was hosting a butterfly convention. And I couldn’t eat more than a few bites of my breakfast. 

Couple the fact that I haven’t run a half marathon in seven months with the bitter truth of an ambient outdoor temperature of minus twenty degrees, and I was second — third — ten times guessing my decision to tackle the Hypothermic Half Marathon this past weekend.

I mean, ultimately it turned out okay. 

It was brutally cold, but I managed to over-dress.

Moose is Loose (2017)

July 11, 2017

Two days later and I’m home sick… mostly because of this half marathon I think.

See, heat and I don’t get along. I think I got a touch of heat stroke a decade or so back and ever since then my tolerance for temperatures higher than, say, 35 C are just in the pits.

But you sign up for these things weeks or months in advance.

You don’t know what the weather is gonna be.

You pay your fifty or sixty bucks and you pick up your race package and you shrug off the weather because… meh… what are you gonna do.

Hypothermic Half (2016)

Leading into the Hypo Half I’d argue that fate was conspiring against me. 

Not only is the run traditionally the coldest race of the year, frequently tanking temperatures measuring in the low sub-zero teens, or colder, but the conditions are iffy at best. A cold winter run, a river-valley-view neighbourhood street with a base of snow and ice, a cold wind blowing off the frozen river valley, and nothing driving you forward save for the thought of a buffet brunch at the finish line.

Kathy's Run for Pancreatic Cancer (2015)

October 26, 02015

At some point, much earlier this year, before randomness, injury, and life interfered (as it always tends to do somehow) I made a Faustian-esque bargain with the running gods that I would attempt to complete twelve half marathons, one per month, over the duration of 2015… in exchange for Ultimate Running Knowledge

Or, maybe I just thought it would be an interesting idea… I’m not exactly sure how that all came about.

Calgary Half Marathon (2015)

Another weekend, another race. But actually…

Our little group seems to have so many meaningful race day milestones these days –a mark of pride and achievement, to be sure– that I’d be remiss to try to name any of them as the “Definitive Weekend of Running Awesomeness” for fear of leaving one out. But if I was forced to make a shortlist of, say, the top five annual(ish) weekends that leave an indelible mark upon our crew, Calgary Marathon Weekend would likely be in that list. 

Red Deer Hypothermic Half (2015)

Twenty-Fifteen's 3rd Half 

… is a title that makes a lot more sense when you realize that this post is (a) about running and (b) referring to my third official half-marathon race of the calendar year.

In a (possibly misguided) attempt to run a half marathon every month of 2015, I crossed March off the list yesterday as we travelled South to Red Deer and I ran the Hypothermic Half in that sleepy little city I once called home. My third of 2015. Third. A goal that is both a little goofy and a a little meh. 

Edmonton Half (2014)

Crazy Half 

August 20, 02014

Six klicks with the gang last night felt pretty solid after a couple weeks of aimless drifting and sporadic running. I almost felt as if I could pick back up and attempt this race that their all doing in a few days… maybe not the marathon …definitely not the marathon. But the half, almost.