Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Years of racing in review

My racing career started way back in April 2000 at the 10K Vancouver Sun Run. I was between third and fourth year at The University of British Columbia. I signed up for the race, didn't train because I hated running, and ran my heart out on the day all the time wondering what I was doing. And I'm pretty sure I committed the newbie mistake of wearing my cotton race shirt too. But as the race shirt had my team name on it I thought this was what I was supposed to do. I'll admit, I got into running, particularly races, not because of my own conviction, but because my friend Nikki was interested in racing. Together we signed up for a 5K just a couple of weeks later with our boyfriends (who both kicked our rear ends on the course). That 5K is still my PR - 30:28. Maybe if I ran more 5Ks I could beat it now, but I find it amusing that my first 5K race is still my best ever. By the end of the year the boyfriends were gone and I had four races under my belt - two 10Ks and two 5Ks.
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In 2001 I ran the Sun Run again, along with one more 10K and another 5K. After that I moved down to Laredo, TX which resulted in a major hiatus from running. Initially I wanted to find races to sign up for, but there were barely any nearby, and any ones I could travel for didn't seem to mesh with my days off schedule as I was working 11 days on, 3 days off at the time. I stopped running for several years, and it wasn't until I moved to San Antonio in 2005 that I slowly got into it again. Tally up a 5K and a 10K in 2005 for a total race count of eight.
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In 2006 my cousin's wedding in Vancouver happened to be on the same weekend as the Sun Run. Despite not running seriously at all I really wanted to get out there and do this race again. I had fun in the beginning, but ran pretty poorly in the last half and clocked my worst 10K run time ever - 1:18:12. Despite the horribleness of that race I somehow or other came up with the brilliant idea to train for a marathon. I think maybe it was because my quads didn't hurt the day after the race, and when I got home I found a post card from TNT in my mail advertising the Nike Women's race. I was keen on that Tiffany's necklace. I found my training program, stuck to it, and came out with an injury that sidelined me for a couple of months and nixed my marathon dreams. I wrapped up 2006 with another 10K and two more 5Ks. Total race tally is at twelve by the end of the year.
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2007 was the crazy racing year...thirteen races total.
  1. March 17 - St. Patrick's Day 10K in Calgary - 1:07:03 :: This is a great race put on by the Calgary Roadrunners where you run two laps through the University of Calgary. The post race spread is one of the best I have seen - beef stew and Big Rock beer (beer for a fee) at the end.
  2. May 5 - Go Red for Women 5K in Orlando - 35:23 :: This past year the race wound through Downtown Disney, Saratoga Springs Resort, and one of the nearby golf courses. Pretty good bling for a 5K.
  3. May 6 - Minnie Marathon 15K in Orlando - 1:45:06 :: This race follows the last 15K of the Walt Disney World Marathon course. You start in the parking lot of Animal Kingdom, run along the highway past the Wide World of Sports, through MGM Studios, along the Boardwalk and through EPCOT. Training for a race longer than 10K, and completing it, felt like a great accomplishment.
  4. May 27 - Calgary Women's Run 5.5K - 32:12
  5. June 9 - Footstock 10K in Cochrane - 1:05:38 :: Another race with a terrific post race spread - pancakes!
  6. June 17 - Banff Citizen's Race - 1:00:05 (5.8 miles) :: I remember the weather the most about this one - wow it was wet and cold! My trail sneaks still look terrible. It was a fun race, but transportation between the parking and the race start/finish was a bit unorganized.
  7. July 8 - HSBC Calgary Half Marathon - 2:21:32
  8. September 9 - Ryka Iron Girl 10K in Seattle - 57:56 (PR)
  9. September 22 - Melissa's Road Race in Banff - 1:02:40 :: This is definitely one of the prettiest race courses around here. A good spur of the moment decision to race!
  10. October 21 - Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco - 2:14:56 :: I absolutely loved this race - the scenery, the hills, the Tiffany's bling, you name it. I definitely want to run this one again.
  11. October 27 - Tower of Terror 13K - 1:29:07
  12. November 5 - Banff Winterstart 5 Miler - 51:30
  13. December 9 - Catch the Elves 10K - 1:00:44

In case you missed any of them I have provided links to all my fascinating and riveting race reports where applicable. I've really seen improvements in my race times - especially my 10K. Over the years I've gone from someone who absolutely, without a doubt, hated running to someone who can't imagine not having that next race to train for. Besides going Goofy in 2008 we'll see what the rest of the year brings for me racing-wise. I'm always keen to travel for a good event, so if there are any races I should put on my radar, let me know!

7 comments:

Angry Runner said...

I'm guessing that the 10K is "your" distance. It's a damn good feeling to look back and see the digits on the clock tick lower and lower. Goofy ain't a bad way to kick off 2008 either...

TNTcoach Ken said...

Damn, I don't have the time to write this much stuff, let alone do it! U R da WOMAN! Keep up the great work.

Laurel said...

Wow, what a year! You're my HERO. Great job!

Danielle said...

And here you talk about breaking 60 and then I see your PR is below 60 already anyway...bet you have a sub-55...:)

Anonymous said...

Wow - I made it into the blog! Ha ha. Funny how I dragged you into it back then and now you're inspiring me to get back into it now. After breaking my back and pretty much having to learn to walk, much less run again, I never thought I would. However, despite all the pain, my intervals are slowly getting longer - maybe I'll get to do a half marathon one day...

Keep up the good work!

Melinda said...

Admit it - you really got into running because you idolized your big cousin, right ;-)? Don't forget about the Flying Pig Marathon in May (10th Anniversary this year!!) & the Indianapolis Half Marathon the same weekend, except on Saturday (35,000 runners!!). Maybe one of the Rock-n-Roll or Country marathons (Nashville is pretty close to Cincy!!)? If you want something cool, you should do the Midnight Sun marathon in Alaska in June (really more of a trail run I hear). Want to try a tri one of these years? Heidi & I have discussed trying the Disney triathlon one of these days...

Speed Racer said...

I will DEFINITELY be putting some of these races on my radar.

Angry just told me EXACTLY what the goofy madness is all about, namely: the half marathon the day before. You're NUTS! That sounds so awesome! I have GOT to do a race with you someday.