Ottawa Half Marathon!

 What an experience, phew!

If we roll it back a little this all started in January. Its where my training and the road to running a half marathon began.

In the cold days of Janaury I began my journey to a half marathon. I took this training on solo. I was lucky to be able to get in a few runs with my mom when she came to visit , but the vast majority was done alone. I trained here in Ontario and my mom trained in New Brunswick. We would message each other when we had our long runs on Sunday's. Telling each other we could to do this and to keep going. The final last long run was a doozy and was very difficult to finish alone, but we both came out the other side feeling really good and ready to run the race. 

The anticipation was building all week, as neither of us could believe that race weekend was finally upon us. 

We packed up the car and away we went. We decided on the way out there we would travel the Bancroft way. So many memories were there. We stopped at a few places, Furnace Falls, Kinmount and even Bancroft itself. The windy twisty roads did a number on my stomach and I spent most the trip to Ottawa with car sickness. Good times!

We arrived in Ottawa in good time and were able to check in early. We made our way to go pick up our race kits and take in some the views. Dinner was had at the Byward Market and we finished the day off by taking in the 10k race watching the Canadian championships run in with Ben Flanagan defending his tital. 

Sunday, race day.

The day is here. I woke up and felt the jitters immediately. We both went through what we should wear and Mom probably changed a few times as she decided to bring about half her wardrobe to Ottawa! lol!

We started to make our way down at 8:00am, our race was due to start at 9:00am. I'm glad we left when we did. There was so many people there. 

The crowd was massive. Thousands upon thousands of people were there. You could literally feel the race day energy. We picked our spot to stand, and then changed it because we couldn't make up our minds. It took us about 15 minutes to actually reach the official start line, yes there was that many people running. 

Our countdown was on and the horn blew and we were off. 

Taking that first step was amazing. To be a part of this experience was unreal. 

There were so many people cheering. The atomsphere was truly alive. It felt like the people of Ottawa lived for this. Cheering on complete strangers. 

We passed many great signs, a lot made us smile and laugh. I'm not sure how they came up with some of them, but it kept us going. A few of my favourites were:

"This is a lot of work for a free banana"

"If trump can run so can you"

"Keep running naked runners ahead"

"You've been training longer then Kim Kardashians first marriage lasted"

"You run this race better then Jim runs this city"

"Remember back when you thought you couldn't do this and now you are"

That last sign really hit me hard. Because I remember feeling exactly that. I never thought I would accomplsih something like this. I never thought I would be capable of this. 

We also passed people playing live music, and dancers. 

These people, complete strangers cheering us on kept me going. The cheering felt like they gave us energy and when we gave some back they gave us even more. I can't thank them enough for being there that day. They made the race complete that day. Without them it wouldn't be the Ottawa race. 

Thank you to every last one of you.

The day was very sunny and extremely hot. I felt at times that I was melting to the pavement. I have to say the least enjoyable part of the run is when we crossed over to Quebec, but we made it through. A few people along the way unfortuantely were feeling the heat of the morning and needed medical attention, but I'm glad to say that there were no major medical emergencies that day. 

We crossed back over to Ottawa and were running along the canal. It was very much mind over matter at that point because right across the canal from us was the finish line and you could hear everyone cheering and seeing people cross the finish line, but we still had 3km to run at that point. I struggled a lot those last few kms. I could feel my calves wanting to seize up. I had to keep taking walk breaks to prevent that from happening and I remember constantly apologizing to mom because I knew she wanted to pick up the pace, but I just couldn't do it. 

We finally crossed the canal and were on the final stretch. 

We came around the bend and there it was.

The finish line.

It looked glorious. 

I couldn't believe that we had actually made it. 

As we crossed it together I cried. I had done this for me. I had pushed myself to my limits and probably a bit past. I had done it. I accomplished what I set out to do. To simply run and finish a half marathon. And there is no one else I would done it with other then my Mom. 

Although we didn't finish the race in 2:30 or under, there isn't anything that can take this accomplishment away from me. 

It was a great day filled with great people. I am so grateful to have been a part of it.