Birch Bay 30km Race Report... following the Moment of Truth

So.... remember how I was a little anxious about the Birch Bay 30km just two days ago? Well, the day has passed, and now it's time to reflect and learn. The day started at the ungodly hour of 4:45am. The plan was to get up at 5am, prep, and then leave the house at 5:30, so we would make it to the border by 6:30. That part was accomplished, which allowed me to check in for my race bag by 6:40am. I was really impressed how well organized this event was, with tons of friendly volunteers and roarin' to go by 7am. It worked out well, as it allowed us lots of time to go to the one area that I wasn't familiar with on the course, Semiahmoo Parkway, and see what the turnaround was like. I have to admit that I was a little nostalgic. After all, this was the same course where I first qualified for Boston last year, and it was nice to revisit, as my prep race before Boston. It really felt full circle. We drove to the turnaround, and proceeded UP the hill to follow the course back to the start line. The interesting thing about this race was that it was a completely new distance for me. It's a little more serious than the half (that additional 9km does do a kick in the pants), but not as dramatic a distance as the marathon. I probably should have tapered to some degree, but the only thing I did was not run on Thursday and Friday. My legs were still sore and tired from last Sunday's 32km Pancake Run, and I had been experiencing hip and achilles issues all week. Greg also took over my eating plan, so I have been subsiding on 1200 calories a day, which left me feeling a little hungry. The race itself started as one mass start, for all of the 5km, 15km and 30km participants. Interesting approach, and the one thing I had to remind myself was that the volume of people would decrease as we moved through the different stages. My strategy was to go out conservative, then push it a bit more during the mid stage and then try to negative split the last third if possible. I had a couple of friends who were also doing the race. My friend Grace was planning on running a similar pace to me, and so I chose to run behind her for the first 7km-ish before we moved onto the hills section. Once we moved onto the hills, I tried to be consistent in my pacing, and really pay attention to my heart race and breathing. This time of year seems to aggravate my asthma, so I was trying to make sure that I stayed comfortable. After all, it was 9km uphill gradual climb, settle out with a downhill for the turnaround and then 9km downhill. Around 13km I started to have a tough time with the breathing, so at an aid station, I took a cup of water after taking a gel, to bring the heart rate down from 165bpm to 159bpm. Those 6 beats can really make a difference between gasping and coping. I had to stop again at 20km with another glass of water, choked momentarily, and then a woman who was running right behind me, took off, and I couldn't catch her again. By the time I was coming to the last 5km, I was really starting to feel it, and I really wanted to stop, as the heart rate was averaging around 163bpm. But I pushed through and wanted to prove to myself that I am meeting my Boston training goals, and this race would prove it. The race has at the last 150 meters, a small hill that is about 8% grade. Bit of a kicker when you are trying to gut it out. The woman who had passed me earlier, had to walk it, and I pushed myself to keep running and almost catch her. She finished just ahead of me, but I was really happy with the result. So.... these are the stats: Time was 2:35:30, goal was 2:35 - Mission Accomplished! Pace 5:11/km Overall placing, 20th, 7th woman, and 3rd in the Women's 35-39 Age Category. I came home with another shiny new medal, a pretty 3rd place ribbon, and a big smile on the face. The only other thing I came home with, was wicked stomach cramping, puking and upset tummy. Something tells me I may have the flu. But I will work through it, because this means I am officially tapering for the Boston Marathon. On a side note, I was thrilled for my friends who did this race. It looks like everyone achieved what they set out to do which is always great to hear. Good on ya guys, way to rock it!