Recap of the 2016 Brainsport Brainfreeze Half Marathon

Rule #1 of racing, always move furniture the night before, and then refuel with a Twix.

I don't have any other rules, so I'll stick to the recap.  As you might expect, if you live in Saskatoon, Brainsport events are generally well organized and fun.  So let's discuss.
First off, the half and 10k both got started on time and followed 10th Street East to Broadway, where it continued over the Broadway Bridge and onto 4th Avenue.  Then the course turned right onto 20th Street and winded onto the trail along the river (heading North) up to the turn-around point near the Waste Treatment Facility.  There was still a fair amount of ice along the course and at times you had to dodge and jump a bit just to avoid it.
I ran my first kilometre at a 4:38 pace, which (upon hearing Runtastic announce it) caused me to slow down to a cruising speed of about 5:35, which became my average pace.  The next kilometre was alongside the South Saskatchewan River (as all but the final kilometre would be) with views of the Bessborough Hotel as well as the river, of course.
Like everyone else whose run on the trail--which I should identify as the Meewasin Trail, for anyone from outside Saskatoon--I'm familiar with the dips and depressions and all the little things that a runner needs to know to pace him or herself properly.  I know, for example, that running the path under the University Bridge is a damned good time to bank a few seconds by speeding up a tad.  I also know that the ascending path from the late Mendal Art Gallery to Spadina can be, on occasion, kind of an annoying little jaunt.

As it turns out the Brainfreeze is not chip timed, nor is it a fun run either.  The race, which benefits the Huskies Cross Country Team, is something of a throwback--in some ways it reminds me of my military days when we'd run our allotted distance and then shouted our bib numbers out at one of the NCO's at the finish line. At the Brainfreeze, each runner's timing is recorded by hand.  The post race spread is not unimpressive, though I did have one complaint.  The spread consisted of water and coffee, pastries and bagels... but no protein recovery drinks.  Not a big deal as I was able to secure a small quantity of Muscle Milk from the local 7-11.

 For what it's worth, I ran in a pair of Hoka Bondi 4's.  I probably would have finished a few minutes earlier in lighter racing shoes, but as nearly all my training has been in Hokas, I didn't think it was a good idea to change anything major for race day.   I wore an Adidas cold weather sweater, with the Brainfreeze's technical shirt underneath, and a pair of New Balance running pants.  I was perhaps slightly overdressed for the event, but it's better to be overdressed than underdressed.

As for my own race and performance, right as I got to the 19k point I knew I had locked-up a sub-2 hour half marathon, barring either a bizarre injury or epic meltdown of some sort.  In fact, I had maybe 15-16 minutes to finish the remaining two kilometres.  Naturally, though, those final two thousand metres would be the toughest of the entire race as they would be almost entirely uphill--to the tune of over 60 metres of elevation over the 19k mark.  I struggled, of course, running uphill on the Broadway Bridge into Nutana and my heart rate climbed to more than 185 bpm.  But as I made the final turn, I realized that I had a PR locked-up.  It was a good race.