Wellington Women's Half Marathon Race Report

When I saw the weather for this race, I really just wanted to stay in bed. Running in the heat and humidity is never my favourite thing to do, but racing on the road, in spring (i.e. not used to it), in the heat and humidity is particularly unpleasant. It takes so much more effort, feels so much worse, and all of that misery just to hold a pace that is so much slower. I had wanted to run a faster time than my last half marathon, but in the end it was two minutes slower. Thinking about it afterwards, I think it still showed an improvement of fitness, as besides the weather being a lot tougher, the course was also harder. There were three hills and about six km of dirt roads.

The fun things (now that I'm done whining) were that Derrick came with me, and we met our friends Karen and (her son) Justin Murphy there. The guys would have to watch, as this was a female-only race. It's kind of neat sometimes to race with a bunch of other women. Karen didn't love the heat either, but still ran a solid time and had her trademark smile right to the end. Instead of awards or medals, every participant received a very pretty necklace handmade by a local Prince Edward County artisan.

My mom was on my mind a lot during the race, as she was released from the hospital a few days before. She weathered her stem cell transplant very well, and we are all thrilled that she is recovering at home. My dad was there with her at KGH the entire time, which made a huge difference. It was an incredibly joyous and relieved feeling for all of us when they both headed home from the hospital after 18 days.

Race details:
1:45:07, 6th place.
Wore La Sportiva Helios.

Start!

Track traffic.

Early on, already overheating.

Heading up another country road.

Karen looking good!

Finishing on the track is always fun.

Ugh, finally.

Karen just a few steps away from the finish line.

Ready to finish.

Talking to Justin and Derrick after the race.

Yet another little pet obituary, for Oswald (Ozzie) the Cat, who we said goodbye to near the end of April. Oz was by far the funniest, weirdest little cat I have ever known, and I have many happy and hilarious memories of him. There is an odd feline emptiness around the house now, and sometimes I still expect Oz and Rocky to be hanging out on the front porch waiting for me when I get home from work. I miss them snuggling on my lap, purring and content. They grew up together and I hope in some sense are together now.

Oz

Best buddies.