After falling short of my ambitious half marathon time goal at the BMO Vancouver Half in May, I immediately seeked out another race where I could take another stab at achieving my goal. With the Canadian Half Marathon Championships in Winnipeg coming up 6 weeks later, it seemed like the perfect race to smash my goal: flat, fast, competitive, and family in town. 

Shortly after getting accepted into the elite field for the Manitoba Half (which hosted the Canadian Half Marathon Championships) I found out I had a stress reaction on my shin. I thought I had enough time to recover and still be fit enough to try for a fast time. I was wrong.

Unfortunately, my shin hadn’t fully healed, nor did I feel very fit, so I was completely torn about whether I should race or not. Everyone has their own risk tolerances that mesh differently into their own goals and lives. I recognize that I put myself at risk by racing this weekend, but for me, it was worth it and I’m glad I raced. Experiencing my first championship race was something I’ll never forget. I was lining up with Canada’s best distance runners; past, present, and future Olympians. I was starstruck and in shock that I had made it this startline with them.

I know there are many other fast runners who didn’t race this weekend and I know there are far more races with higher elite standards that I would never get accepted into, but on this weekend at this race, I was the 10th Canadian Female in the Half Marathon Championships and I am so proud of myself for getting to this point in my running career. 

The race itself was tough. Not only did I have a sub-par (to my standards) build going into the race with most of my training being on the bike and in the pool (and a lot of sitting around doing nothing (“recovering”) in between), the weather didn’t help either. With a massive thunderstorm overnight, I woke up thinking the race might be canceled. It wasn’t. And the storm left us with 100% humidity. Not what I’m used to being from the dry Rockies! A lot of folks found the conditions tough and ran slower than they hoped so it wasn’t a prime day for a personal best time, regardless of my fitness. Huge shoutout to everyone who raced and gutted it out in these conditions! I was so impressed and inspired by all the athletes giving it their all for the whole race.

I still didn’t achieve my half marathon goal time and while I know that racing wasn’t the best choice for my shin recovery, I don’t think I set myself back too far in the recovery process and I am now fully dedicated to injury recovery. I still hope to be able to race later this summer and I hope to feel fit and strong at the startline, but for now, my goal is to fully recover, whatever that takes.