Left for Ottawa shortly before noon on Friday may 27. The drive was long in the rain and traffic but great in conversation with Carole. Barry had flown earlier that day for a meeting and was meeting us at the hotel. Les suites Ottawa - total dump and was not impressed. It was hard for me to get over it but with Carole and Barry's help I did. We went for a late dinner in By Ward Market and called it a night.
was a nice and leisurely morning, not really getting started until late morning with a stroll to the market and a yummy breakfast at Cafe 55 - bagel, egg, ham and cheese - YUM. Then off to the Race Expo - was a little disappointed but did get a new Run Girl Run hat (love their hats) and that was about it. Pretty much NOTHING in the form of swag ... the weather was great but Carole and I wandered through the Market again and then caught up with Barry to see the 10km race start and finish then we caught dinner at Milestones. Then off to bed.
Race Morning was quite relaxing as the start wasn't until 9 - the marathon started at 7 but no way we were getting up to make that. So it was cereal and coffee in the room and we left for the race around 8:15. The weather was ok, misty a bit but warm enough - no need for any extra layers at the time - Carole and my matching lululemon outfits were perfect.
we said goodbye to Barry near the start and made our way back to the 3rd corral - around the 2:15 bunny ... i thought we would do it in and around 2:30 .... we got off to a good start -it was misty-rain but warm enough - Carole did great but when we came to the first set of potty's i had to stop - that was about 6km into the race - we added about 5 minutes to our time at that stop. We got back going and the rain just got heavier and heavier - we were keeping in and around the 6:40 pace - carole did great - she would freak a little when we came to hills and as the race progressed she walked more. By the time we were coming back over the bridge into Ottawa around 15 km I could tell she was getting tired. We pushed through those last 6km with me pulling her along - and Carole wanting to walk more than anything. The last Km I was pretty tough with her getting her to run and i literally pulled her for the final 500 meters. We finished with a time of 2:44:07. I was proud to cross the finish line with my best friend - her first half marathon run!
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