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!

HSBC Calgary Half Marathon - Photos

HSBC Calgary Half Marathon - Race Report

Today was the big day - I ran my first ever half marathon! The weather was perfect - about 14C or 57F most of the way, and overcast the entire time. I woke up at about 4:30 am and made it downtown just before 6:00. I hung out in my car for a bit, trying to eat my peanut butter sandwich, which was tough because my mouth was so dry from nerves probably! I made my way over to the start, checked my dry gear bag and then hung out inside the Mewata Armoury with everyone else. I met two ladies, one running the Nike Women's full marathon in October, the other going Goofy in January. It was fun chatting about our upcoming races! Moving outside I started talking to a fellow originally from South Africa. He only runs half marathons now, but he has run the Comrades Marathon 8 times, finishing 7 of those times (check out the link, it is an intense race). A really interesting fellow to chat with! You have to love the friendly atmosphere at these races.
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We were off at 7 am with an honest to goodness shot gun start, and were running through downtown. About 2.5 miles in we reached the Stampede fair grounds where we were greeted by lots of folks. A fellow at the entrance was stamping hands for anyone who wanted to come back and get in for free today, but I didn't take advantage of that unfortunately! All of the concessions were closed except for a coffee shack, and I heard a few murmurs around me of how great a coffee would be at this point in time. We exited the fair grounds and started making our way towards the zoo. At one intersection a woman was pleading and crying with the cop who was stopping traffic for the runners. I guess she was late for work and really needed to get through, except there really wasn't anything the cop could do. I really liked running through the zoo, however if the race would have been more packed at this point it may not have been as much fun. The route narrowed and we zig zagged downhill and we ran past a few animal enclosures. I didn't notice too many animals out, although I did see a little mountain goat. We zig zagged up hill out of the zoo and were back to running on roads. There was not too much in the way on entertainment on the course, but I really enjoyed the Elvis impersonator getting close to the end. We ran past him twice and he was having such a good time calling out to the runners and cheering them on that he forgot where he was in the song he was singing. The worst part about the race route was definitely the finish. Two big overpasses to climb all in the last half a mile. I also measured the course a bit long at 13.43 miles, so while I definitely got my money's worth, it was hard to kick it in for the end since you weren't sure exactly how much longer you had to go. Running into the finish felt great though, and it was an amazing feeling to have the medal put around my neck.
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They had quite a bit of food out for the runners afterwards - bagels (with peanut butter and jam), bananas, oranges, rice pudding, cookies, granola bars, yogurt and coffee. You could even sign up for a massage afterwards but I skipped on that since I didn't want to wait around too long.
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All in all a great race, with my only downside being a blister I developed on the arch of my right foot about 5 miles in. There was amazing volunteer support along the course. They did a great job. All of the course marshals had maracas to cheer the runners on and keep us motivated. A few more bands along the way would have been great though. I have to say, I thought there was supposed to be gel available at at least one stop along the way and I didn't see it. Since I was carrying my own this didn't impact me at all. My results were posted by the time I got home from the race:
Final Place 1522 of 2090
Place in Sex 750/1199 F
Place in Division 152/205 Women 25-29
Gun Time 2:23:05
Chip Time 2:21:32

HSBC Calgary Half Marathon - The Race Expo

This weekend I hit the race expo for the HSBC Calgary Marathon. The expo was being held at the Mewata Armoury downtown. Packet pick up was smoothless as I got my race number, timing chip, shirt and swag bag. Once I grabbed all of that I was able to turn my chip in and get my personal chip registered, then it was time to look at the goodies! First up was all of the official race merchandise. Brooks is the official gear sponsor and they had jackets, tees, long sleeve half zip tops, all of which you could get with either the half or the full marathon logo. You could even get a finisher's shirt that they will imprint with your finishing time on it once you are done. The Running Room is also a big sponsor of the race, and they had a lot of gear for sale. The founder of the Running Room, John Stanton, was there signing copies of his books. Plus they also had a prize wheel you could spin, and I won a coupon for 20% off my next purchase at the Running Room. Other exhibitors included PowerBar (you could sample one of their drinks), Goody (more Stay Put hair elastics), CanMar Grain Products (sample some of their golden roasted flax seed), Accelerade (they make a sports drink with a 4:1 ratio of carbs to proteins, but I'm not sure what I thought about the taste), Herbalife (free sample of their Liftoff energy drink) and tons more. I picked up a skirt from runningskirts.com in choqua which I can't wait to try out. I also was able to get my zebra print Gym Girl from Skirt Sports as well. You could also purchase tech shirts from last year's race at a really good price, and the aqua colour of last year's shirt goes really well with my new skirt! The blue and white shirt is from this year's race, and it says "Run Calgary" on the back. My dog Finlay wanted an up close look at all of the stuff that I picked up at the expo obviously..!!
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The run starts at 7 am tomorrow. The weather forecast is OK, but not the best for the morning: 13C rising to 21C (55F to 70F), cloudy, with a 40% chance of showers. Here's hoping the rain holds out, but otherwise the temperature and cloudiness sound pretty good.
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Wish me luck tomorrow!

Skirtastic!

I am excited about the Calgary Marathon race expo next weekend. I'm a big fan of running skirts and I never run in shorts anymore. They are much more comfortable and it helps to avoid the rather annoying and painful "chub rub." Tights are a cold weather necessity, but I abhor those as well (mostly because they are so darn unforgiving).

Anyhow....my favorite running skirt company, Skirt Sports, is having a booth at the expo, and with any luck I'll be able to pick up one of these:

I figure the zebra stripes are bound to make me look fast....

There is also another company, Running Skirts, that is also going to have a booth at the expo. Maybe it is worthwhile trying another brand to see how it compares? I have a New Balance skirt that just arrived in the mail that I will be trying out soon, so we'll see how I like that one. Ah, who said running was an inexpensive sport?

The Little Engine That Could

Wow, I'm not sure where this sudden burst of energy is coming from! I must make sure to conserve some of it for the Calgary Half Marathon coming up in two weeks. Yesterday I did some upper body weights, then drove downtown for some hill work at McHugh Bluff. It was pretty warm out -- 30 deg C (86 deg F). I parked the car, jogged for a mile over to the curling club, then ran up and down the hill four times (152 feet in elevation gain over 0.3 mi). Well, I use the word ran loosely. I sort of chugged to the top like the Little Engine That Could (I-think-I-can...). That's OK, I'll worry about speed later. I then jogged the mile back to the car to complete 5 mi for the night. Then it was time to reward myself with some Vietnamese food. Yummy...

Happy Friday!

Footstock 10K Race Report

Packet Pick Up
I drove up to Cochrane Friday evening to pick up my bib and t-shirt for Footstock. It was a pretty small expo, just a few booths. When I got my t-shirt I asked if I could use my own timing chip which seemed to create some confusion. Luckily a lady was able to help me out and we changed my chip number in the computer system. After that was sorted out I walked over to the HSBC Calgary Marathon booth to scope out the medals from last year. While I was there two other ladies came up to the booth and started talking about how tough and hot the full was last year. Fingers crossed it won't be that warm this July... We started chatting and they just ran a marathon in Rome this past March. Sounds great! Apparently they love signing up for races to get the bling. I had a good time chatting with them and it sounds like they run a lot of races, and they are interested in the Goofy Challenge one year. After that it was time to head home, carbo load and get some rest!

Pre-Race
I was actually scheduled to run 8 miles today, so I headed out to Cochrane a bit early to get in that extra 1.8. I wasn't as early as I wanted so I tried to get it done quickly and finished in 19:17. As I was heading back some of the volunteers were out getting the water stops set up. Time to drive off to the race start!

The Race
They had quite a few events going on today - a full and half marathon, a 10K and a 5K. Tomorrow they are having a kids tri and an adult du as well. The marathoners started off at 8 am, then all the 10K folks started lining up for our 8:20 start. The race started off on the road, and the one and only hill was in the first mile for us to climb. Only one side of the road was shut down for us, and unfortunately some drivers were impatient and didn't understand the need to slow down as they were driving past us. Luckily we made it off the roads pretty quickly and were on to Cochrane's red shale pathway that runs all along the Bow River. It was absolutely beautiful out, sunny, but not too hot. The 10K course overlapped a bit with the full and half marathoners which was pretty neat. There were also great spectators and volunteers out there. I really appreciated all of their cheering! We did an out and back on the pathway, and it started to thin out quite a bit.

When I realized we were close to the finish line I kicked it into overdrive for what I could muster for a last sprint. I passed a couple of people, but all of a sudden....whoosh....past me....flew the 4th place half marathon finisher. Holy smokes he was fast!!! I'm not sure of the official results yet, but I recorded 1:05:39 for a 10:36/mi average pace. I shaved a bit of time off my last 10K, and that was with the 2 mile warm up beforehand!

After the race was probably one of the best spreads I have seen...a pancake breakfast with sausage and coffee! They also had bagels, bananas, oranges, cookies, juice boxes and yogurt as well. I saw the medals for the half and they were super cute, plus they got really nice technical tees. I may add this one in for next year. I got to see the medal for my upcoming Calgary half (well, last year's medal anyway), and I have to say that the Footstock medal greatly trumped the medal from the Calgary half...sniff, sniff.

All in all, a great morning!