Skechers Downhill Classic 5k - Race Recap

I'm on a roll with these race recaps!

Up next, at the very end of July, was the Skechers Downhill Classic 5k, in Hamilton.

I had a great race at the Guelph Downtown Classical 5k at the beginning of July, and I really wanted to squeeze in another one.  I scoped out all of the options, and this race in Hamilton was going to be my only bet.

Of course, it had a 10am start time.  Not exactly ideal in the heat of July.  But, the fact that it was called the "downhill classic" implied that there might be some speed involved, so maybe it would trump any heat.  Maybe.

It was difficult to find information about this race online (such as course maps, etc) so I emailed the race director, who told me in his one-lined response, "see you at the pub at 8am on Saturday!"  Ok.  I guess I would just be showing up at the pub to get my race kit, and take the shuttle to the starting line, with no idea what the course was all about.  I'm sure lots of people are fine with this, but I kind of like to know what I am getting into beforehand, if possible.

Hamilton is just under an hour from my house.  I woke up nice and early on Saturday morning, and was out the door by 7am, to be there for 8am (as per the email).  When I arrived downtown Hamilton, I realized I was a bit early (who knew? No traffic on country roads early on a Saturday).  I decided to make a pit-stop at the world's scariest Tim Horton's that was close by.

By 8:05, I was parked and at the Pub.  I was given a race shirt, timing chip, and bib. (Incidentally, my race number was #72, which was the same number as the triathlon the week before!)  The t-shirts were really nice.  It was an actual t-shirt, not a technical shirt, which is nice for a change.

I boarded the shuttle, and off we went to the race start.  This bus ride was lonnnnng.  I lost track of all the turns, and roads we took.  We went up, up, up, UP the mountain.  I started to feel severe panic in my tummy.  Was the "downhill" actually down a mountain?  This could spell trouble.

At the top of the mountain, on some road I would probably never be able to find again, the bus pulled over, and we all got out.  I still had plenty of time for my warm up, so I wasn't worried (yet).

A guy on a bike The race director came up, and told us to "take this set of stairs down to the trail at the bottom.  Follow the trail about a kilometre and a half until you see the starting line."  Well, ok then.

Have I mentioned that I am afraid of heights?

Heading down!

dowwwwwwn we went

The trail was perfectly shaded once we got down to the bottom.  It was perfect for a warm up run!  I was glad I had brought a water bottle with me, but sad that there would not be any port-potties before the start (read: nervous pee).

Before the start, another bus load or two arrived, so there was a nice crowd for the race start.  I did 60-seconds race pace in the last few minutes as we waited, then I lined up.

The "start line" was hard to miss 

The race was chip-timed at the finish only.  The race director (same guy on the bike) stood in front of us, told us we had 30 seconds, then got on his bike, turned around, and yelled, "GO!!"

Off we went.  The entire race was on this paved trail.  We didn't have to make ANY turns, we just followed the trail until we reached the finish mats/line/clock.  The first mile felt like a decline, but the rest of the race was such a slight downgrade, that it was hardly noticeable (but my splits felt a bit easier, I will give it that)!

I kept my eyes on the same couple of people in front of me.  I did pass one guy, but he ended up passing me right at the end.

Finish time: 19:15
First in my AG, 5th Female

Ya, it was probably worth the scary Tim Hortons, Panic about the mountain, and lack of course maps/info!


The bonus was that we had a nice cool down mile and a half in the trail back to the pub!

The pub served a lunch, and beer.

I made friends with an awesome couple named Bill and Christie, so we ate, drank some beer and chatted.  Runners are so great.  You can make friends even when you're stinky and sweaty!

*I actually saw Christie running in a race this weekend!  She was going in the opposite direction of the 30k race we were in.  I wish I had yelled her name, but then she would have been confused, probably.

I have a big 5k race coming up in September, so this race made me feel much better about the whole situation.  "Much better" is still freaked out, but a little less-so.

Bluewater Olympic Triathlon - Race Recap

It's almost been a month since I swam/bike/ran this race.  Time flies when you're walking around telling everyone you completed an Olympic Triathlon, I suppose?!

The race recap is below, but a few days before the race happened, a few of us surprised our friend Tricia with a front lawn birthday surprise, that I really must share here:

We are doing our best flamingo impression…How did we do?  Tricia is in the middle.  You know, the one that cannot possibly look her age!!

Ok, on the the Recap…

I decided last year, after completing the Bluewater Sprint Duathlon (the swim had been cancelled due to crazy lake huron waves) that I really wanted to complete the Olympic distance in 2014.  The route seemed like a good first-time Olympic.  Flat bike ride, super flat run.  I was actually quite jealous of all of the Olympic racers last year, as the run looked like it could be a fast one.

Although I really don't feel like I trained any harder, or with more volume leading up to this year's race, I certainly felt more comfortable in the open water, and on my road bike, so I didn't feel light-headed as I signed up for the race.  I did, however, force myself to do at least one long ride of over 40km before signing up, just to prove to myself that I could handle the distance on the bike.  Yes, me and my bike don't spend that much time together.  Hopefully someday soon I will make it a priority.

I did add aero bars to my bike this year, and I have noticed that I am more comfortable riding in that position.  And when signing up for a race with a flat bike course, I knew I would have a chance to really test them out!

My friend Lorraine also decided to do this race, so we made it a "race-road-trip" together.  

I have the greatest parents in the world, and they gave us a place to stay in their house the night before the race (they live super close by, and, I invited myself over).

We drove down the day before, and we went to the very casual kit-pick up and pasta dinner.  The dinner was super yummy (all you can eat!!) and they even had fresh watermelon for dessert.  mmmmmm

As I did this race last year, I took Lorraine to the venue so we could check everything out the night before. 

Of course, as the swim was cancelled last year, I had no idea where the swim start/finish was.  Well, duh, of course I knew it was at the water, but I didn't know where along the water.

Off we went, in search of the steps we would take up from the beach to transition.

We stopped at the first set of stairs we saw, assuming it would be the place, as they were very close to the transition area.

this is what we found...

ummmmmmm…
I named these stairs the "metal death traps" and there was talk of whether or not our tetanus shots were up-to-date

So…we tried our hardest to be optimistic about the steps.  We pictured coming out of the water in our bare feet, climbing these stairs with the rest of the crowd.  It seemed a tiny bit awkward.

We tried to laugh it off.

Off we went, in search of the swim start.

We walked along, on the gorgeous night it was, trying to picture ourselves swimming all that way the next morning. This swim was point-to-point, so we would swim out to a bouy, then straight across (parallel to shore) then out (hopefully at a better set of stairs)!

When we arrived at the swim start (there was a marker on the beach) we ran into my friend Emily, and her family.  Yay!  It was fun seeing a familiar face!

We also met a young couple that was scoping out the course.  We chatted with them, and shared our insecurities about the swim exit.  They walked back toward transition with us.  They were both younger than us, so we agreed that we could all be friends, as we were in different age categories on race day.  No competition here! ;)

As it turned out, the swim exit was beyond the transition area.  So the run back to transition would be a bit longer.  But in the name of better stairs.  Still very sketchy getting out of the water though…

See that "groyne" in the photo above?  We had to "hop" over that thing on our way to the stairs on race day.  Hmmmm

Before long, we headed back to my parent's house, and settled in and checked (and re-checked) our gear.  We headed to bed early, as you do on "race-eve."

I checked my phone just before setting my alarm, and the weather network was calling for rain all day on race day.  Seriously?  Well, at least I wouldn't have to worry about my sunscreen failing me.

We arrived at the venue without any trouble, after a nice breakfast.  This race has a "mandatory meeting" which is scheduled 35 minutes before the start of the Olympic swim.  This was a bit tricky, as we still had to walk down (over a kilometre) to the swim start, and attempt a warm up.  All after this meeting!  It was going to be tight.  The meeting wasn't short (boo) so we walked quickly in our bare feet to the start of the swim.  We seemed to only have a few minutes (if that) in the frigid waters of lake huron before we were told to get out, back to the beach for the women's start.

For this race, all women started together, with a 15 minute lead on the men.  Age groups didn't matter.  It wasn't a huge race, and that lake is very big, so it wasn't crowded.  They also didn't care about swim cap colours.  We were given swim caps, but they were all very random.

Here is Lorraine's…

It was practically personalized!  Her initials are "LH," she is a Leo, and of course, she Has Speed (HS) so we figured all of that trumped the fact that it was dark blue, and it might be hard to spot her out in the lake (minor details…).

After a quick "have a great race" exchange, the horn went off, and into the water we ran!  It was a bit wavy as we jumped in, and it took me a few minutes to settle into pace, after we rounded the first buoy.  We spread out so well, that I actually spent much of the swim portion assuming I was in dead last place, as I didn't sight anyone near me!

I ended up with a swim buddy in the last 200m or so.  Another woman was swimming exactly beside me, at exactly the same pace.  Neither one of us moved from our position.  We probably looked really funny from the shore, swimming right beside each other in such a huge lake!

Thankfully, we rounded the final buoy, and the shore was getting closer.  I ran up (and over the obstacle) to the steps.  I sprinted to make up time.  

I came right up behind Lorraine!  Yay!

swim time: 24:07*

*we kind of think the swim was a couple hundred meters short, or the current was very strong.  This swim time seems fast.

We were parked side-by-side in transition.  It was actually very nice to exchange a few words as we wiggled out of our wetsuits and into our bike shoes.  I grabbed my bike, and said, "see you in a few minutes when you pass me!" and off I went.

transition 1: 1:23

The bike course was out in an southeast direction, with a tiny hump of a hill, (an overpass) then straight east, to a turn around.  

The wind was straight out of the southeast.  It was sucking my will to pedal, I can say that for sure.  Thank goodness for those aero bars.

At about kilometre 6, a familiar voice came up behind me as I was choking back my Gu,  "remember to take in lots of water!"  It was Lorraine.  She sped on past me.  It was the only time in a race that I have been happy to see someone as they passed me!

In the pre-race meeting, they had announced that, due to a change in the course (construction) the bike portion was only 36km long.  While I was out there struggling in the wind, I was very thankful for that!

Of course, after the turn around, time (literally) zoomed by.  It was soooooo nice to have that wind at my back.

As I rode into transition, I heard a, "Go Amy Go!"  It was my best cousin/friend Janice and her daughter Mallory.  They had arrived to cheer me on!

bike time: 1:14:48

I ditched my bike, threw on my runners, and I was outta there.  I had a bunch of people I had my eyes on catching that passed me on the bike.  I knew I wouldn't catch everyone, but I was going to try my hardest.

transition 2 time: 00:54

I came up to Lorraine, who looked awesome!  She was going to have a great run, I could tell.

The run was just as great as I thought it was going to be.  Very flat, good aid stations, and a bit of shade.  With 4km to go, I realized that I had a blister forming on my left heel.  I didn't wear socks, and I think that was why :(

I kept reminding myself that it was only 4k, and to try not to think of the pain.  It worked I guess.

As I ran toward the finish, I could hear my name being called again.  My brother, and Janice were there yelling my name.  So special.  Really.  I am so thankful to them, for coming to cheer for me!

Run time: 43:28

Finish time: 2:24:37

I was certainly glad it was over, and my first order of business (after grabbing a water bottle) was taking off my shoes!  Luckily (these are details that I'm sure no one needs to hear) the blister didn't burst, and it was just full of water, so it was going to be ok.

I watched my friend Matt finish, not far behind (he had to start 15minutes after me).  Then we headed back to catch Lorraine, as she came into the finish.

We did it!

And, it didn't start raining until the awards.

We enjoyed an AMAZING post-race meal (this race is famous for all of the food) and I received a mug for my AG award (2nd place 30-39)!

Thank you so much to Lorraine for being such an awesome road-trip-race-buddy, and to my brother and my cousin Janice for cheering!

Summer…oh, how I love summer

I love that I have neglected this blog, as it is a very clear indicator that I would rather be doing all of the fun summer things we've been doing, than sitting and typing at a computer.  I don't want to confuse anyone with this post, as it is in NO WAY a recap of summer, as I have 2 entire weeks left to enjoy of this lovely month of August, and there is still plenty of time for some awesome times ahead, before Labour Day is upon us (just to be clear).

This summer has included lots of awesome stuff.  Including, but not limited to, the following list:

- Canada Day celebrations with our dear friends, the Parkinson family.  Every year, we join the parade in Glen Williams.  It is almost always a scorching hot walk with decorated bikes, and fun for the kiddies.

Happy Canada Day!

- A trip to Centre Island with some work friends/families.  Lots of fun on the ferry, rides, and a lovely picnic!

 "spinning inside some sort of bear at Centreville" selfie

It was a tight squeeze, but Jeff enjoyed the teacups the most

- Beach.  Beach.  Beach.  Lots of beach days with the boys, splashing and building (and demolishing) sand things.

- Ripley's Aquarium.  Such crowds, but awesome to see and do.  Elliott is a self-proclaimed marine biologist.  He was kind of a 'tour guide' of all of the sea creatures we saw that day.  Only a monsoon slight downpour as we headed there from the subway.

- Birthday fun for my niece Lyla at the Ridgetown Zoo.  The zip line trumped all of the animals.  It was kid-friendly, and not scary.  I still declined to participate.

Fireworks.  Happy Birthday, Lyla

- Watermelon and Popsicles.

- Two subway rides with the kids.  Still a novelty for them!

Museum stop at the subway

- Splash pads.

- Storybook Gardens with the work crowd.  It was a gorgeous day, and lots of fun.  The kids even had the chance to roam in the bunny pen.  Highlight of the day, for sure.

Those gracious little bunnies...

- Hanging with Grandma and Grandpa at the farm.

- The ROM.  The boys are allll about seeing cool stuff.  Museums are kind of the way to go here.

Strike a pose, Elliott!

- Bike rides, walks to the park, canoes, caves...

- Campfires!  S'mores.

- Running.  So. much. running.

- Swimming.  A fair amount of open-water swimming.  Zero indoor pool swimming!

- Biking.  Not nearly enough biking.

- Racing.  Ya.  Since I last posted about three races, I have done FOUR more.  I will get to those race reports.  Promise.

Summer is really the best.  I love having time to cuddle with the boys, listen to their antics, (with more than a moment to spare) make bigger breakfasts, hang in our jammies, stay up late, bbq, use up lots of sunscreen and bug spray, run in the daylight, and enjoy the longer days.

Needless to say, I am going to miss the carefree days of summer, when school begins, and we are back into that routine.  But, I am not going to say I didn't enjoy the summer to the fullest!

…more on the four races that happened soon!

Three-for-One Thursday!

It seems that I have to complete at least two whole races before I feel the need to blog about it.  And it's summer, so there are lots of races happening, which means, this post is as long as the 3 whole races I am reporting on.

Here I am, writing another multiple-race-report.

The Waterloo Classic 10km, The Guelph Lake 1 Subaru Sprint Triathlon, and the Downtown Classical 5km in Guelph.


I will start back in June, with the Waterloo Classic 10km…

This was my first time running the Waterloo Classic, but the race has been around for decades.  My friend Lorraine was also running the 10k, so we carpooled.  I picked her up bright and early, and we drove to Waterloo (about 30 minutes away).

Lorraine and me pre-race…it was heating up before 8am!

We met Robert, Tricia, and their son Andrew (…part of the cheering squad!) at the race.  Robert introduced me to Robin, an amazing masters runner, and she and I quickly started to talk about race-pacing and decided we might be a good match for pacing.  A race buddy is always a good thing!

*the only issue Robin and I had, was speaking in actual "paces".  She (logically) speaks in km/pace, and I (un-logically, considering my geographic location) speak in mile/pace.  It was hard to translate for each other!  Note to self: wear calculator watch next time??
I have always gone by per/mile pace.  I just find it mentally easier to count to 26.2, than 42.2.

We did our warm up run, then entered back into the stadium for some strides until it was go-time.  The race begins and finishes in the stadium at Wilfred Laurier University.
The 10k and the 5k begin together, and follow the same route for the first 2.5km, then the 5k runners turn around.  The 10k makes a big loop, then comes back to a different turn-around, then back to the stadium.  It sounds confusing, but it was fairly straightforward when we were on the course.

Robin and I started together, and it was so nice to run with someone beside me.  We stayed together until just past the halfway mark, then I pulled away a bit.  Robin is a very strong runner, and she is good at keeping her pace!  I was striving for a slightly faster finish time, so I knew I would have to speed up a bit to achieve my goal time (but I still came a bit short).

Funniest Race pic. Ever.
What on EARTH is happening here?
WHO is the guy in green?

As I was nearing the turn to the stadium, Robert came back to cheer those of us in the 10k. He had run the 5k, so he was lonnnnng done his race by this point!  It is so nice to grab some encouragement heading toward the finish line!  It was getting very hot, and we had just climbed a big incline, so I needed every bit of positive energy I could get.

I had been hoping to hit the sub 42 minute mark in this race (I guess I will just have to keep trying) but it just wasn't meant to be.  I am not good at running in the heat, and that sun was H O T.

The results:

Chip time: 43:11
Age Group: 1/39
Gender:   7/239
Overall: 55/542


Annnnnd, up next is the….

The Subaru Guelph Lake 1 Sprint Triathlon:

Triathlons are awesome in that most of the time, they take place over more than one day.  There is a "race weekend" atmosphere, that, if you go and cheer on at the other races, you really immerse yourself into the races!  I love that.

My friend Tricia was doing the try-a-tri distance on the Saturday afternoon, so the boys and I packed up and headed to Guelph Lake to cheer.  The planning and volunteers needed at triathlons is astounding.  There are people everywhere, buzzing around like worker bees, making sure everything is ready to go. Three mini-races happen within each triathlon.  That is a lot of ground (and water) to cover!

Tricia had an awesome race.  She looked strong and focused.  A job well done, Tricia! *especially in that HEAT!

Could you ask for a cooler bib number?!

I went home that night, and was eager to get everything sorted for my race the next morning.  So, so many things to pack up.  Bike, pump, helmet, bike shoes, sunglasses, wetsuit, goggles, water bottle, running shoes, visor, towel, easy button, kitchen sink, etc etc.

The next morning it was time to head back to Guelph Lake.  I love that the race venue is less than 15 minutes from home.  If I had forgotten any of the above mentioned items, I could have even rushed home to grab them (not that I would have wanted to!).

I had picked up my race kit the day before when I was cheering, so I only needed to pick up my chip and get marked.  This made it all a bit less panicky for me.  I racked my bike in a good location (although there was a tree branch sticking out directly above my head) and quickly tried to find my race buddies.  Lorraine, Sylvie and I were racing together.

So glamorous, those wetsuits!

For some reason, I always end up in the age group with the pink swim cap.  I have a collection of 3 swim caps from 3 different triathlons.

We did a warm up in the water, then headed over to the starting line on the beach.  I could not believe how much more calm I was this year, compared to last year at the Guelph Lake Try-a-Tri.  I was so nervous I thought I might throw up last year, (with good reason, trust me) but this year I was just eager to get going!

The gun went off for my age group, and off we went, into the water.  It was like swimming in a percolator.  Waves, bubbles, feet, butts, hands, and pink caps.  Everywhere.

As I swam along, trying to find a place (there were NO places without limbs flailing) I realized the woman swimming beside me was coming up for air at EXACTLY the same spot as me, inches from my face.  I have never been SO close to a complete stranger's face in my life (and hopefully I won't ever be that close again?).

By the time I hit the second buoy, I was feeling in the groove.  There was a *tiny* bit of space around me, and I was feeling that beach getting closer by the stroke!

As I ran out of the water, I started unzipping my wetsuit and running as fast as I could.  I was tired, but I promised myself that once I got up the (big) hill to transition, I could sit down for a bit (sure, the sitting would be on my bike, but whatever!).

up close and personal, coming out of the water!  Thanks for the photos, Tricia!

750m swim (plus transition): 15:50

Transition one went well.  My wetsuit came off with no issues, and I managed to run out of there without tripping on my own two feet or (worse) my bike!

Off I went on the bike.  Biking is my weakest link in triathlon, so I just tried my hardest to keep up.  I was passed by everyone a bunch of riders, but I promised myself that I would just have to catch them on the run.

The bike portion had a couple of hills, but I did manage to try out my new aero bars (for the first time) and I liked them a lot.  I know, trying something new on race day is probably a dumb idea, but they were very comfortable and I figured something new to distract me from getting passed was a very welcome thing.

19km bike (plus transition): 41:10

Finally.  Finally it was time to run.  I dismounted at the line, and dashed (ok, "hobble-ran" in bike shoes) back to transition.

I racked my bike, threw my bike shoes, and wiggled my bare feet into my runners.  I plastered the insides of my running shoes with vaseline that morning, and it was awesome for slipping them on (with speed laces).  I also didn't get ANY blisters during the run portion, and I have that vaseline to thank!

I bolted out of transition, passing a few people on the way out.  My legs were feeling all wobbly, but they were just going to have to catch up to my brain, because I was on a mission to find all of those people that had passed me on the bike.

I heard my name being cheered (thanks, McRae family, and Morgan!) and it gave me the push I needed to get out there on the run course.  Wearing a watch might be nice on the run, but my splits weren't as important to me as just going as fast as I possibly could.  I think I redeemed my race on that run course, which is hilly.  Dang it.

Finally in my element on the run!

5km run: 21:05

It was an awesome race, and, as it was my first sprint triathlon, it was an automatic PB! yay!

Final time: 1:20:44

I was 4/32 in my age group (A medal for the top 5!) and 36/235 women competitors.

Yay Fourth!

A very fun day indeed!

Lorraine, Sylvie and Me, post-race
Non-alcoholic beer…still hits the spot.  Who knew?

Moving on…

The Downtown Guelph Classical 5k!

This race is run by the Guelph Victors.  They are the amazing Track/Running group in Guelph that I used to run with quite often, and now, I only seem to run with them when I can fit it in.  There are so many talented runners in this group.  It's astounding and inspiring.

The Downtown Classical 5k is a race that begins at the Guelph Youth Music Centre, and features members of the Guelph Symphony out along the course.  How cool is that?

It is an evening race, beginning at 8:30pm.  I actually pictured this being a hot, humid summer evening. But, as luck would have it, the evening was calm and cool.

I hung out with lots of Victors while waiting for the race to begin.  I did a warm up run, then met up with Robin, who suggested we do "60-seconds-at-race-pace" about 5-10minutes out from the start.  Normally, I do strides at the end of my warm up run to get set for shorter races, but this 60 seconds thing was a good one.  It really woke my legs up into race mode.  Maybe a little too much (foreshadowing…)

With a trumpet into, the gun went off, and so did we!  As I ran through the turns of the first 800m of the race, I realized just how much easier running on the road feels compared to gruelling track work!  All of the speed sessions were starting to come together for me, in that moment.  I settled into a small pack of quick ladies (and a couple of dudes) and decided to hang on for as long as I could.  I was just too into the race to look down at my watch.  I hate looking down at my watch constantly, especially during a race.

When it beeped indicating the first mile, I looked down to see "6:03".  Ooops.  This was more than 10 seconds faster than I intended on going.  But I was still in the little pack of women, and felt fresh, so I hoped there was some sort of "classical 5km miracle" that would keep me going and not crashing and burning.

The course is just lovely.  We spent about half of the race on gravel trails, and the other half on paved road/trails.  Can't complain about this course.  The weather didn't hurt either!

Miles 2 and 3 came in at 6:23 and 6:26.  Yep.  Although I kept up with the others, we all seemed to slow a bit in the second half.  Live and learn.

The finish line was a welcome sight, as I rounded the corner.  I was so happy to see 19:43 on the clock!

Personal best!

I only took one photo, before I left my phone in the car.  Don't mind my creepy neck :/

543.  Quite a good number!

That's that.  3 race reports in one!  Phewf.  Writing about races takes almost as much time as training for them.

Happy Running, biking, and  swimming!

Two for One! A 5k and a 10k Race Report!

I didn't run two races at once...I just didn't write a recap for either race until this moment.

I ran the CHOK Bridge Race 5km on June 1st, and the Moon in June 10k race in Burlington on June 7th...

Race Recap #1 - The Bridge Race 5km:

I've been running the Bridge Race for many years, as it is a fun 10k race that covers ground in two countries all at once. The fact that it occurs at the beginning of June is kind of nice, as it is usually lovely weather.

This year, they decided to offer a 5km race option.  My brother Scott usually runs this race with me, but this year he wasn't, so I thought it might be better to skip out on the bus ride to the states, the "cramming my passport in my shorts" thing, and start and finish the race all in one country. I also really wanted to put a 5k on the books at the beginning of the season, to see where my 5k fitness is.

I attempted to park right at the race start, but, due to some construction woes, I ended up parking right underneath the Bluewater Bridge. I had to do a warm up run anyway, so it didn't really matter where I parked!  It was a lovely morning. The sun was shining and the air was perfect.

Lovely morning for a race!

After a nice warm up run, I went over to the water to watch the 10km Race start.  The starting line for their race was across the river, so I could see the big swarm of runners take off.  Yes, it would have been a good photo, but it didn't occur to me to take a picture.

I made my way to the 5km starting line.  I haven't run a 5km race since last fall, so I was all giddy and nervous.  I actually haven't really raced anything since last fall, so this was exciting.

Before I knew it, the gun was going off, and we were on our way.  I pressed start on my Garmin.  Another woman swooped past me, going super fast.  Like, crazy really fast.  I looked down at my watch to see my pace, and all I saw was a graph/data displayed.  Seriously?  Again?

I must have hit the bezel (ugh, Garmin and your bezel!) as I was hitting the start button.  This is the third race that I have messed up with my Garmin.  I am starting to believe this is "operator error."  I had to accept the fact that I was running this race blind.  I hoped that it was somehow still recording my pace/time, but that wasn't the case :(

Just before the 1km mark, I caught up to the speedster woman, and went for the pass.  The man that was in first place was pushing a girl in a jogger, and he was g o n e.  We merged with the 10km route, about a kilometre into our race.  I felt kind of bad, running fast past people that were running for twice as long!  We ended up in Canatara Park, in the shade for the second half of the route.  Nice and breezy.

I was pushing my pace (at least I think I was?) as I wanted to get to that finish line with a good time on the clock!  That big red finish line arch could not come soon enough, as my legs were really pushing it.

There was only one finish line clock, which displayed the 10km time.  That was no help to me!  And without a working watch, I just had to stand around and wait for the results to be posted.  I got to cheer on lots of 10km finishers as I waited, which was nice.

When the results were posted, I found out I was 2nd overall, in 19:47.  I'll take it!  I also was the first female, so I was a prize winner! Can't argue with that.

My car was parked perfectly for my 5km cool down.

The Bridge Race is always a great start to the season, and I love that there are now two race distances offered.

Heading back to the bridge on my cool-down run

Race Recap #2 - The Moon in June 10km, Burlington

A year ago, I ran a different Moon in June, in Windsor ON.  It was a great race, and it is (still) my PB at 42:02.  I vowed last year when I came in 3 seconds over my goal time, that I would return to the race in 2014 to beat my time.  (I went off course last year during that race so I was very frustrated by missing my goal time).  Due to scheduling and location, I decided to run a race closer to home this year.  Another Moon in June would be perfect.

An evening race is intriguing, yet a bit scary.  Not spooky, but scary due to the unknowns.  What do I eat all day?  Will I be too tired to race at 9pm, when I am usually in bed by 9:30?

I went ahead and worried throughout the day, while chasing the boys around and doing errands.  The nice thing about racing at bed time, is that one can still do all of the normal Saturday things, including enjoying a picnic for dinner in the park, without any impact on the race.

pre-race socks and sandals. *yes, I know my 5-year-old is not wearing a helmet in the background :(

I kept dinner light (hence the picnic) and got ready to head out as the kids were getting ready for bed.  I made it to the race venue nice and early, but parking was a bit of an issue.  Over an hour before the race, and downtown Burlington was packed with cars and people!  I drove around, and finally found a spot a good couple of kilometres away.  I decided this would work out well for my cool down run later.

I walked with my pre-race banana and water bottle into downtown to the starting line area.  The nice thing about this race was the fact that City Hall was open for bathroom use before the race started (just like the Chilly Half Marathon that they host in the winter at the same spot) so I didn't have to brave the porta-potties this time.

I headed out for a warm up 20min. run, including 3 sets of 100m strides.  I did my warm up on the race course, which is always a bonus.  The more familiar a race course is, the better!

It came time to line up.  They had two corrals, side-by-side.  One for the 5k racers, and one for the 10k racers.  There were waaaaaay more 5k racers!  I got a spot relatively close to the front of the 10k corral.   I had my race plan and I was ready to get this thing started.

Off the gun went, and we took off.  Of course, starting with the 5k runners did not help my compulsive need to go out too fast.  My first mile split was 6:34.  My fastest split.  Ugh.  Of course it felt great, although my mouth felt so, so dry.  This has never happened to me before.  I am going to blame it on the night time race.

After about 2km, that feeling went away, and we were weaving through a residential neighbourhood.  This race was two loops for the 10k, (obviously one loop for the 5k) which I like.  I like having no surprises in the second half of a race.

I came up to the half way mark (back to the start) in 21:05.  Could I do a negative split?  (spoiler alert: No, no I cannot)  I had passed the only other female runner within sight in the kilometre right before the half.  My goal was to stay ahead of her, keep my pace, and stay focused.  I took a small cup of water at the halfway also.  I proceeded to gulp a tiny bit in my mouth, and the rest went up my nose.  Usually I save the whole, "water up my nose" thing for the swim portion of triathlons, but I guess I'm now integrating it into races on dry land! sigh.

I seemed to be keeping pace with a really tall dude at this point.  I decided that keeping with him was a good bet.  Focusing on keeping pace with him would distract me from glancing at my Garmin (which was really hard to read in the dark)!  I know it has a glow button, but I couldn't remember how to do it, and the darn thing was working for me, so I didn't want to mess around with it!

I actually considered wearing TWO garmins just in case I had technical difficulties.  In the end, pride won and I only wore my trusty older one

By the time we hit the 8km marker, ("we" being me and the tall dude) we were passing walkers from the 5km race.  It was interesting weaving around people (harder to keep the tangents).  It was at this point that I had to really make a conscious effort to keep up my pace. But that is what racing it about, right?  If that last kilometre or two feels easy, we wouldn't keep coming back for more races.  I guarantee it.

In the pitch dark, I ran my heart out toward that finish line, which (I swear) was creeping further and further away every time I looked up!  My legs and arms were pumping and I was giving it my all.  I crossed the line in 42:36.  I didn't have those 37 extra seconds, but I was very proud of my effort.

My splits:

1 - 6:34
2 - 6:43
3 - 6:52
4 - 6:52
5 - 6:56
6 - 6:50
.2 - 6:46

The race was wonderful, with one exception.  After crossing the finish line, we didn't see anyone passing out water (or anything).  That was not cool, Moon in June.  Water is kind of important to me after a race!

When I asked around, I was told there was water down the street at the waterfront.  Ohhhh, ok.  I guess I will just walk that way!  I wandered down the street, where there were the sounds of live music.  The waterfront was packed with people (most of whom were not in running gear--was I in the right place?). I kept walking past a big outdoor stage until I saw a "Moon in June" sign.  Was it a mirage?  Would there be water?  I walked in through the gated area (I was admitted as I was wearing my race bib) where I was directed, not to water, but BEER!  Well, ok then.

Mill St. Organic is my FAVOURITE beer!!

I was able to locate the results sheet postings while in the beer tent area (really, it was a race on a Saturday night.  What else should I have expected, but free beer and results in the beer tent area?!)

I was 3rd female overall!  I was 2nd in my Age Group!  There were prizes for these things! Yay!

When I went to wait around for 1/2 an hour collect my prize, I found out that my 3rd overall had bumped my 2nd place Age group prize, so instead of a handy umbrella, I won  this lovely trinket...

It's original, I'll give them that!

This Pink Flamingo (now named Pimo...short for Pink Moon) actually came in very handy.  As I ran (cool down run post-beer...seems legit?) in the dark back to my car, the spikes from this bad boy kept me safe from any crazed downtown night life.

I am glad to have those two races under my belt.  I am happy with where I am sitting at this point in the season, after such a long long winter of zero running, and only "old-lady hobbling".

Happy Running!

(Throw Back Thursday) Race Recap: My First Marathon

The Ottawa Marathon is approaching at the end of May.  Although I am not running in our country's largest marathon, I am excited that the event is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year.  The Ottawa race weekend holds a very special place in my heart.

You see, it was my very first ever marathon, back in May of 2000.

My brother and I decided to run a big race, and (with a real lack of experience or knowledge of options) we chose the Ottawa Marathon. They offered a "half-marathon" also, but we had never heard of such a race. Anything with "half" in the title didn't seem as special. Hell. We were going for the whole marathon!

I remember searching for training plans on my computer (slowly...with dial-up internet) and printing one off so I could gain enough miles to "complete" the race.

Back then, they offered an "Early Bird" option for the marathon. Looking back, it seems really funny, but at the time, we thought it was best to take that option. That way, we would have plenty of time to finish the race. (Plenty being a whole extra hour). 

My parents came to Ottawa to watch us race. It was the tulip festival, and Mother's Day weekend. They arrived by train the day before, and Scott and I drove on our own.  We went to the "race kit pickup" together. One big room, shortish lines, no expo. Our kits came with long sleeved cotton t-shirts (which seemed fancy, but we DID fork out a whole $50.00 in registration, so a nice shirt and medal seemed appropriate!). Of course, I still have that long-sleeved shirt. 

Race day, we woke up early (the early bird start was at 7:00am) and ate Vector Cereal.  We tried at stretch as best as we could, then we walked over to the starting line.

The starting line had no corrals, and only 200 people, max. They welcomed all of the early birds and the gun went off!  We were on our way!  The route was two loops.  We briskly ran along and soaked up the perfect sunshine and air of the day. We came up to a water station, but didn't take any (this was a common theme of the day...foreshadowing...)

The route was lovely. The canal, the landmarks, the nature.  We clapped and bounced and cheered along with every spectator we saw. We were having f.u.n.  I had never heard of a sponge station before, but it was definitely welcome (I'm going to guess it was around the 15k marker). The sun was getting warm.

We came through the half (which was back at the starting line) in about 1:45-1:50.  Our parents were right there, cheering. We smiled huge smiles and yelled out our loudest, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!"  We headed out into our second loop feeling fantastic. Legs still full of energy, caught up in all of the excitement.

Normally, when one runs a marathon, one starts back in a corral, waaaay behind the elite runners. One never gets to see them speeding along on the course. Between our "early bird" start, and the double-loop of the course, we had the fortune of seeing the lead runners pass us!  On our second loop, a truck with cameras, and some cyclists passed us, with big signs that said, "lead runner". It was really cool to be "passed" by the leaders. Don't worry, we stayed alllll the way over on the side, out of their way ;)

The lead women also had a car and cyclists, and of course they passed us too. It was exciting.

We passed by all of the same landmarks, beside the canal, under the same overpass, through the same park, over the same overpass, past the same sponge station, etc. as the first time. By the time we hit the opposite side of the canal, this runner was starting to feel the fatigue. Big time.

Remember the part where I said I didn't take any water?  So, I had this crazy idea that all of that water slogging around in my stomach would make me feel crappy, so I kept my sips to an absolute minimum. Gatorade?  Noooooo.  That would be even worse on my stomach, wouldn't it?  Drinking stuff during a marathon is really just for wimps, I thought.

Listen... I really didn't know any better!  I had done all of my training runs without water or Gatorade,(I had never even heard of gels) so surely I would be fine for all 26 miles?  Yes, the World Wide Web was around, but it didn't occur to be to consult it for "fuelling during a marathon" information. I thought my own strength and determination were all I needed. It's funny, because I am the kind of person that reads up on everything. Not with this. I just didn't think about it too much (clearly!)

Fast forward through a couple of slightly slower miles, to about mile 22.  Evil mile 22.  As we approached a water station, I confessed to my brother, "I really think I might need a walk break."  Of course he was happy to oblige, even though he didn't show any signs of fatigue. I also decided maybe I should take some water AND some Gatorade.

We walked through those gulps and plugged on.

The next 4 miles involved more of this. At one point I said, "you go ahead, save yourself. I am just
going to go lay down over in the grass for a minute."  Of course, he wouldn't have any of it. He told me, "we started together and we said we would run it together."  He really is the perfect brother.

I know if he had finished the race without his little sister, my parents would have been very upset, (and he probably knew that too) but I also know he would never have left me in his dust after coming all that way.

Even with my slower pace, spectators were amazed as we passed, and were going crazy. We realized that they didn't know we had actually started an hour earlier!  So we started yelling back, "no, no, we're early birds!" As if we didn't deserve their cheers somehow. Even if you aren't running a sub-3hr marathon, cheers are welcome. Duh.

Finally. Finally.

We came up to the curve to the finish. I couldn't believe it. I am sure that my legs were just shuffling at that point. My feet were probably barely lifting off the ground. I could see Mom and Dad!  We were finishing this thing!!

The relief on my mother's face is something I will never ever forget. I am guessing that, rightfully, based on how fresh and speedy we were through the mid-point, they calculated us finishing a lot earlier!

We came through the (small) chute and received our medals. We hugged and shuffled (oh, my stiff,
stiff legs) and stared at each other in disbelief.  We had finished it!

My dad had parked my brother's pick up truck about 50 meters from the finish (I told you this race was tiny back then!). My dad had to lift me into the truck to drive the 2 blocks to our hotel. When we entered the hotel room, Scott collapsed on one bed, and I collapsed on the other.  Mom helped us untie our running shoes. We both fell fast asleep, but not before saying, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!" again.

We had to drive back from Ottawa that day, which was about a six-hour drive for me, and eight hours
for Scott. When we stopped for dinner, my quads were happy to remind me just how far we had run that morning!

I worked at a shoe store, and the next day while I worked, I almost cried while re-stocking shoe boxes on the shelves in the back room.  The lifting and squatting in absolute pain was a completely new feeling for me!

Our finishing time was 4:18:22 (chip time) or 4:20:47 gun time.

How, you're probably wondering, or why did I ever decide to go for marathon number two? Or, three, four, etc?  I really feel like you can't just do one marathon.  There are so, so many things I learned during that race. There are the obvious things, like fuel for endurance, but there were so many things I learned about myself. Like my ability to persevere beyond reason. My ability to forget about the pain once a medal is wrapped around my neck ;)
And, we can't forget that I confirmed the best brother in the world award always goes to Scott.

We ran Ottawa Marathon again in 2002. We each ran our own race, and he finished waaaaay faster than me. I did manage to finish faster than my previous time also, but that could've had something to do with a better fuel plan.

Look a those young, fresh faces!  We had noooooo idea what we were in for!

Happy Running!

Three Thoughts for Tuesday...

Catching up with the cool kids

I am on twitter now!  For real!  I made an account about four years ago, when I really had no idea what twitter was all about (I'm still just a tiny bit confused). I never used it. My profile picture was an egg. For four years.

Then, during a staff professional development session at school, the workshop leader shamed me for still having an egg profile picture. Well then.

So, I changed it on the spot, and I have successfully tweeted a couple dozen tweets. Most of my tweets have photos (perhaps I should've done Instagram instead?) but I really enjoy reading other people's tweets.

My twitter handle is @amys406 if you do the twitter thing and you want to read tiny micro-versions of the sort of thing I write about on here.

Why @amys406?  I probably should've been more creative, but in all honesty, I wasn't sure I would ever really use it. AMYS 406 was the licence plate of my first car. It was pure coincidence that the ministry issued that plate for my car, so it was my lucky, freebie semi-personalized plate. The only problem was that people always asked me, "what does 406 signify?!"  Ugh.


PHD in Running?

Here's the thing.

I am a runner.  I have been a runner for as long as I can remember, and it is definitely one of the things about me that makes me who I am. I would say that a big part of my identity is running, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

What I am not, however, is a doctor. Or a kinesiologist, physio therapist, or any of those things. So, imagine my surprise and confusion when people ask me (all. the. time.) for advise about their specific, running related injuries. I love love it when other runners talk to me about their training and all of the excitement that goes with it. That is awesome. Let's talk about braving the elements and getting out there!  I could do that allllll day.

But please do not think of me as some sort of *reliable* advice-giver about the pain in your leg, back, foot, ankle, etc that came about after running. I really do not feel confident making a diagnosis of the problem. I actually feel like my expertise as a high school art teacher that enjoys running (on a hope and a prayer that I don't hurt myself) is not what anyone should take as trustworthy!  In the very least, isn't that what Dr. Google is for?!

Back to Track

Today was my very first track session since the cold days of January. I was a bit scared of my lack of speed, but I was also very excited to see what I could manage.

I plan to join my friends in the Guelph Victors throughout the summer, but for my first one, I knew it was best to leave my pride out of it, (that's how injuries happen?) and run within the zone my coach gave me.

She gave me a workout of 2 miles warm up, 8x 200m (with 200m jog recovery between each), 800m easy, then 8x 200m (with the same 200m recovery) then a 2 mile cool down. She wanted my 200m @45 seconds (remember, this is my first speed work in 5 months). I managed all but one of the 16 @ 42 second pace. I did one at 41 seconds (the third to last) and tried with all my might to get the last two down to 41, but I just couldn't do it. 42 wasn't so bad.  You have to start somewhere.

I realized that all of my pool running really helped my running form. I have zero scientific evidence to back this up (see above) but I feel like all of that focus on my form in the pool really made my arms and legs work in a better rhythm. Is that possible?



Happy Gorgeous Sunny day running!