Glencoe Icebreaker 10K

The game plan for this week was to arrive at the start line for the Glencoe 10K with tired legs.  On Tuesday I ran an easy 30 minutes.  Wednesday was my two hour long run.  On Friday I ran 53 minutes of speed work with 8 x 2:00 speed intervals.  20 some odd miles of running this week including speed work?  Crazy!

For Glencoe I figured I had nothing to lose.  My goal was to run uncomfortably…to push as hard as I could just to see what I was capable of.  If I blew up, oh well!  I could blame my hard week.  Best case scenario I might just surprise myself.  When I told my friend and teammate Sharon about my goals her eyes just lit up.  She told me that whenever I thought it was getting hard that I just needed to tell myself that I could do this and she was really encouraging.  (Sharon…by the way….is super speedy!)I didn’t want to make the mistake of starting too far back from the start line, so I got right up close.  This way I wouldn’t have to dodge and weave through the crowd early on.  At 9 am sharp, the gun went off and down the street we went!  I had no strategy…just to push.  I picked out a few folks in the crowd that I wanted to keep in my sight and just went for it.Mile 1 – 8:16

One mile done…let’s see whether I can hang on.  Near the end of the two mile mark is the big hill for the course.  How would my legs feel after tackling that hill?

Mile 2 – 9:00

I survived the hill!  Luckily there was a bit of net downhill to help my legs recover, and some beautiful city views and houses around to look at.  The kilometres seemed to be flying by, although I never was able to be quite as speedy as I was in the first mile.

Mile 3 – 8:48, 5K – 27:03

OK, halfway through.  Time to try and hang on and bring this home!  The best part about this mile is that it is through an out and back section.  I was able to see a bunch of teammates.  I waved at them all, although I didn’t quite have it in my to shout out.  The encouragement from seeing my friends was a nice pick me up!

Mile 4 – 8:55

The end of the mile was at the turn around for the out and back.  I got to see more friends along this section and then it was into Stanley Park for a few little hills along the way.  I tried to not look at my Garmin and just focus on running…one foot in front of the other.  People were passing me but I didn’t care.  I was just trying to hold on!

Mile 5 – 9:09

There was a sign and folks calling out our time with one mile left to go.  They were reminding us that we had breakfast waiting for us, so to just run hard to hurry up and get to breakfast!!  I knew I was in position to set a new PR, I just needed to keep this up.  I didn’t want to ease off and let a PB slip through my fingers.

Mile 6 – 8:51

As I hit 6 miles I arrived at the right turn on to Elbow Drive and the final push to the finish line.  Sharon was there waiting for me and as soon as she saw me she jumped in to push me through to the finish line.  I had forgotten that there was still a fair distance to the finish and I picked it up…but maybe just a bit too fast.  Sharon ran just a step ahead of me, telling me that my pace was great, that I had this, and she picked out people out ahead to focus on trying to catch.  I was wheezing…sounding like I was going to die…but I just hung on.  I couldn’t say anything to Sharon as that would have taken too much energy so I just did what I could to push.  Having her there, there was no arguing that I couldn’t do this!

All of a sudden there was the finish line and friends cheering me in!

Mile 0.26 – 2:08 (8:13/mi pace)

Final Garmin time – 55:10
Gun time – 55:16
Overall 264 out of 544
Females 30-34 – 12 out of 27

I couldn’t believe it, I set a new PR, and by a 1:11…and it was a whole 3:19 faster than the St. Patrick’s Day 10K.  I owe Sharon a huge thanks for pushing me at the end.  I was absolutely done at the end of the 10K so I know I gave it all I had.  So there we go…a super busy week of running and I still managed to eke out a new best.  I’m definitely happy!!!

Thanksgiving Memory 10K

I distinctly remember saying at one point that after I finished the Melissa’s 10K this fall that this would be it for racing for me for the rest of the year.  How quickly things change since I’ve got three races on the go in October alone!  I’ve been told that racing 10Ks will help me to get faster…so…we’ll see how that goes!

Today was the Investor’s Group Thanksgiving Memory 10K.  I woke up to temperatures of –8C and threats of snow.  This week has felt downright winterish in Calgary, which is in pretty stark contrast to the record high temperatures we were having at the end of September.  Crazy stuff!  This morning wound up being a total gong show.  As I sat in the car I realized that the play/pause button is no longer working on my iPod.  Hmmm.  Then as I was driving down the highway towards downtown I was attempting to take the top off my water bottle.  As I finally got the cap unscrewed water wound up coming out over top spilling in my lap and now it felt like I just peed my pants.  Oops!  Thank goodness for moisture wicking fabric because I was nice and dry well before start time!

I parked my car, picked up my race packet and my timing chip, downed a gel 30 minutes before go time, then found my friend Pam.  We stuck around indoors for as long as we could, but finally we made our way outside and I ran into Making Waves at the start line.  It was great to see that despite the cold temperatures and dreary day that quite a few people showed up for the 10K run and 5K walk. 

September was just a dismal month for running.  During a lot of my training runs I was struggling to hold sub 11:00 miles and any form of speed work just totally wiped me out.  Then October hit and I really lucked out and had a very solid week of running leading up to the race.  I had no idea where things would line out for today but I was really hoping my good running streak would continue.  As we took off from the start line I wished Pam good luck and started in.  I wanted to hold a pace I thought was somewhere in the gray area between comfortable and uncomfortable.  The route was a familiar one as we ran the pathway along the Bow River west away from downtown, where I do most of my lunch time runs.  It was a pretty straightforward out and back route. 

Every time I would glance down at my Garmin I noticed that I was holding a pretty steady pace.  I was feeling really strong and like I could keep this up for the entire race.  I hit the 5K mark around 28:21.  If I was going to PR today though, I’d need to hustle a bit and go for a negative split.  I realized as I turned around that there was a good chance that I was in the first half of the pack.  That never happens for me on a 10K!  I worked to apply a bit more pressure and slowly but surely speed up.  I wanted to push things but I didn’t want to push so hard that I blew up.  Somewhere around the 4 mile mark I realized that my left shoe was feeling a bit loose.  A glance down confirmed it, my shoe lace was coming undone so I had to step over and retie it.  Doh, 9 seconds lost!  The brief stop messed with my momentum slightly and the push was hurting just a wee bit more.  As I raced toward the finish line I realized that a PR would be tight, but if I could just keep this up I would have it.  I was running in with another guy and he and I were both breathing so loudly, just pushing to get to the end.  And there it was!  According to the Garmin my final time was 56:21, good enough for a PR by 11 seconds!!!  Despite being chip timed the final results only show gun time, but here are the stats:

Females 30-39: 11 out of 46 (although, really out of 47 because Pam was missing her chip)
Females Overall: 30 out of 131
Overall: 90 out of 251 (well, really out of 252)

Garmin Time: 56:21.94
Gun Time: 56:34.8

Once the race was over Pam and I grabbed our lunch which was included (a personal Papa John’s pizza, cinnamon bun, and a juice) and went indoors to eat and catch up.  Not a bad way to end the race!

Overall I am really happy with my race – I progressively got faster (with the exception for the mile split where I had to stop and tie my shoe), I hit a negative split, and I PR’d.  And I think I could have kicked it up maybe another half a notch.  We’ll see…I have a 10K rematch in two weeks at the Halloween Howl!

Leduc Women’s Sprint – Race Report

Pre-Race

D and I drove up to Leduc on Saturday morning. We checked into our hotel, changed into some workout gear, then headed off to the race site to do a little prep work. The bike is a two loop course, so we rode through it once, just to see what it was like. Quite flat, but loads of wind… We were hoping that it wouldn’t be so windy on race morning! On the way in it seemed like I caught a bug in my mouth. I turned my head to spit…while in aero…and nearly bit it. Note to self…don’t turn head to spit while in aero!

For dinner we went to Olive Garden. It seems to have sat well in my stomach for both Great White North and Lake Stevens, so why not? The restaurant was busy, so we hung out in the bar for a bit.

A pint of Big Rock Traditional Ale, salad and breadsticks, plus the Capellini Pomodoro with chicken…dinner of champions I tell ya! We went back to the hotel where I helped D run through a transition practice, we watched the end of Mean Girls, and I was asleep by 10 pm.

Race Morning

We were up early and ready to go. We had made the decision to pick up our packet race day since it wasn’t convenient on Saturday. The only thing we wouldn’t know was our swim time. Apparently heats ran from 8:10 to 8:45. We ate our breakfast at 6:30, then headed to the race. Imagine our surprise when we got to the race and D’s swim heat was 9:45 and mine was 10:25! I got hungry as the race approached, but luckily I had a peach to eat, plus I took a gel just before the swim. I stuffed another gel in my bento box on the bike just in case. Finally my heat was up and it was go time!

The Swim – 750m

I had gone to the pool to crank out 750m on Friday so I had an idea where my time would be at. 16:40. I lined up in the back of my other lane mates tagged at 16 minutes and got in the water. In no time at all the girls in front had pulled ahead so it was just me. I made sure to just focus on my stroke – being efficient and powerful. I felt good throughout the swim. The girl in front wound up lapping me and I tried to hang on to her toes for as long as possible. All of a sudden my swim was up! We exited on the deep end of the pool. Not sure why, but I always forget how to get out of the pool during a race. Let’s just say my exit was less than graceful. Race day adrenalin must be an amazing thing because:

750m swim – 15:31
45th out of 174 overall

T1 – 1:39

Why is it so hard to put socks on wet feet? Despite this being a sprint I didn’t want to take any chances with blisters, so socks it was! I was methodical in getting through T1, took the bike of the rack, and ran out.

The Bike – 20km

I knew my chance to be strong on this race would be on the bike. I’ve been riding quite powerfully on the flats lately so I was keen to have a good ride. As soon as I started riding it was…SMACK..in to the wind. It was brutal! I just got down into my aero bars and tried to pedal away. At first I had a tough time finding a good gear to be in. My small chain ring felt too easy, but anything in my big chain ring felt too hard. Ideally I would have like to have aimed for a 90+ rpm cadence. But here’s a secret…I’ve been riding blind without a bike computer since the end of July. The cadence stopped reading on a Tuesday night ride and the speed stopped reading that weekend. I wasn’t too concerned about replacing it before Lake Stevens but it would have been useful for today. I had a good idea of what 90 rpm felt like, so I just went with it.

I was passing ladies all over the place on the bike. Anytime I went past someone I yelled out, “Great job!” When I hit the turnaround on loop 1 the wind was at my back. Go time! My average pace went from 16.3 mph to 18.3 mph. Good times! This was a double loop course though, so it was back out into the wind. As my brain was telling me how much I hated the wind I tried to change my train of thought. I didn’t hate the wind, I loved it! It was me against nature and I felt awesome! It kind of worked actually. When I hit the turnaround again and had the nice tail wind I told myself that it was go time and time to drop the hammer. It was awesome! Back at transition before I knew it, and I was never passed on the bike. Very happy with my ride!!

20km bike – 37:37 (19.8mph)
7th out of 174 overall

T2 – 1:06

Bike racked, bike shoes off, running shoes on, grabbed my visor and put it on as I ran out of transition.

The Run – 5K

The goal for the run was just to see how fast I could run and to hold on. The run was also a two loop, out and back course. The way out was okay. I was afraid to look down at my Garmin in case the number scared me and I back off. And then at the first turnaround I did. Oops. The way back had a VERY slight uphill and I could really feel it. Plus I was running into the wind now. Uck. 5Ks hurt. D was done with her race by the time I was done on the bike, and it was great to hear her cheering me on as I finished up the first lap.

Lap two I was fading. Why did I look down at my Garmin? I admit I had a couple of short walk breaks to try and bring the heart rate back down. As I was nearing the end of lap two I passed a girl heading out and she just looked at me and said, “Crap, you are fast!” I didn’t feel fast, but what she said totally made me smile. This wasn’t going to be a PR for me, but no worries, it wouldn’t be too far off. I felt perilously close to a post finish line barf…but somehow I held it in. The run was done!

5km run – 27:02 (8:41/mi)
40th out of 174 overall

The Finish

So…here’s the deal…part of the reason why I’ve been beating myself up about my crappy runs this week was because I really wanted to do well at this race. My super secret…how amazing a day it would be…goal would be to see if I could get a top 3 in my age group spot. When I realized what time I’d need to pull off (looking at last year’s results), and that the age group went in 10 year increments instead of 5 I figured my chances would be slim. I figured that as long as I raced well I’d be happy. And I was super happy with my swim, bike and run. Mission accomplished!

I showered and changed, then found some preliminary results. I was floored…but not all the racers were in yet so I wasn’t sure my placing would hold up. D and I waited a bit longer for final results and the awards ceremony. So how did I do??

Final Time: 1:22:55 (that is a 16:13 PR over the St. Albert Sprint Tri a year ago)
Females 30-39: 1 out of 66
Overall: 12 out 174

I am blown away! I never thought it was possible to pull off that amazing of a PR and win my age group. I went up to collect my award (a gift card for Element Multisport in Edmonton) and D snapped a shot. Just as she was taking the picture the race director says to me, “I hate having my picture taken, don’t you hate having your picture taken?” Nope, not when this is my first time getting an award!!!
After that D and I packed up the car and stopped off at White Spot for a celebratory beverage and some lunch. Talk about an terrific weekend! Not only am I super happy about my race, I am very happy that I was able to race with D. She rocked her first tri, and thanks to the staggered start we were able to see each other more on the course than otherwise. I was so glad to share this race experience with her!

Wasa Lake Olympic Triathlon – Race Report

What a day at the Wasa Lake Olympic Triathlon!!

The Day Before the Race

Wasa Lake Provincial Park is in British Columbia, just north of Cranbrook in the Kootenays.  I drove out to Wasa Lake first thing Saturday morning (which is about 4 hours away from Calgary), met up with some friends for swim in the lake, then headed off to Cranbrook.  I had an important matter to take care off.  My bike!  Friday night my rear tire was flat AGAIN!!  I really wanted to take it into a bike shop to have them look at it as I was really worried that something was wrong and that I’d flat on the race.  I dropped my bike off at Gerick’s, headed to grab my race packet, wandered the town, picked up my bike and went off to the pre-race meeting and carbo load dinner.  Then it was back to my hotel, the Elizabeth Lake Lodge.  This place is a great, small, family run establishment.  It backs on to the Elizabeth Lake Conservation Area, and the beds are super comfortable.  I went for a walk around the conservation area, took a ton of pictures of geese, ducks and things that look like chipmunks? 
Then it was back to the room to relax and get things ready for tomorrow.  As I was laying all of my stuff out I could not find my race number belt!  I thought about just pinning it on to my top, but then I worried it would rip (or rip my top) when I took my wetsuit off so I need another alternative.  Walmart to the rescue!  I drove over there, picked up some elastic and then made my own race belt out of it.  I watched the end of S.W.A.T. on TV, then called it a night.

Race Day

Or so I thought…I woke up at 10:45, 2:20 and 3:45.  Sometimes I was waking up thanks to my stellar hydration the night before, but for the most part it was just nerves.  Finally the alarm went off at 5 am and I was up, showered, got my gear together and the car packed up.  I must have had to pee at least three or four times before leaving the hotel.  Nerves?  I felt really bad for waking up the hotel owner at 6 am so I could check out…  I figured that a coffee was definitely in order for this morning so I was pretty excited to see that Starbucks had opened up just a few minutes before I drove past.  See, don’t I look happy?  Plus, they had a bathroom, and I mysteriously had to pee again.
It was a 30 minute drive to Wasa Lake and I parked my car shortly after transition had opened up.  Even though my wave wasn’t starting until 8:55 am we had been warned at the pre-race meeting that there wasn’t a lot of parking and I figured I didn’t need to stress over that.  I’d just get there early and take my time setting up.  As soon as I parked my car I had to pee again.  Sheesh!  I walked the 1 km to transition with my stuff, and started getting set up.  As soon as I started unpacking my bag…I found my race belt!  Hurrah!
After things were set up I hit the porta-potties, got my chip and got body marked, hit the bathrooms (again, and again, and again), then headed out to check out the beach we’d be starting from.  Pretty, eh?
There was a pretty long run up the beach, along a path and over some grass into transition.  Two kiddie pools were set up so we could wash our feet off before going into transition.  I looked at the water and debated long and hard over whether I wanted to use them or not.
I watched the sprinters take off at 8:15, then it was time to hit the bathroom and wriggle into the wetsuit.  By the time that was all taken care of the men’s wave had already started.  I got in the water to warm up, but soon saw the men coming straight towards us, and figured I’d better move over.  As soon as I started waiting around for the race to start…I couldn’t believe it.  I had to pee again.  I’d already been 5 times since I’d arrived at the park, but I figured this was as good an opportunity as ever to “christen my wetsuit.”  Which reminds me, I need to take it upstairs to rinse it off.  I managed to find a few friends in the water and then all of a sudden, it was go time.

The Swim – 1500m (well…maybe not…)

We had a one loop swim and the Olympic women were the last to go.  I rather liked that idea because it meant that I wouldn’t be clobbered by any men out there.  When I started I was feeling really good.  My new wetsuit is absolutely fabulous.  I was just swimming consistently.  There was a bit of crowding and contact in the beginning, but as we settled into our pace (i.e. as I drifted towards the back of the pack) things were a bit more settled.  I hit the first buoy a lot quicker than I had anticipated.  My sighting was a lot better on this race than it was in Oliver.  Maybe it was the calmer water, or maybe it was that I can see better out of my Aqua Sphere goggles.  I’m not sure.  The second buoy that we would turn at seemed farther away than I realized initially.  Despite feeling good I started to question why on earth I was in the water.  I’m not sure why I hit that low point in the swim.  Hopefully I can work on loving the swim the entire time I’m in the water.

As I was swimming along I accidently kicked a lady next to me.  Not hard, but it felt like my pinkie toe hit something on her and all of a sudden…wow…it hurt!  It wasn’t until I was almost through with the swim that the pain went away.  I found out later in the day (on the drive home actually), that the skin where my pinkie toe and foot meet actually split.  Ouch…

Once I hit shallow water and could grab the sand I stood up and started the run up the beach, along the pathway and towards transition.  Well, I started off running but I was feeling dizzy and quickly decided that walking would be a better option.  And I decided to take a dip in the kiddie pool (remind me to disinfect my wound).  I looked up and saw the clock as I went into transition.  It said 28:xx.  What?  Either I just bought a miracle wetsuit from Cindy, or else the swim was short.  Or both.

28:25 – 376 out of 504 overall, 178 out of 259 females

T1

Getting the wetsuit off my ankles was hard.  3:23 (back calculated from the bike split)

The Bike - 40km

As I got going on the bike it became a game of “let’s see how many people I can catch.”  The bike course is for all intents and purposes flat.  Sure, there is a general trend of uphill or downhill in certain areas, but nothing to differentiate the cyclists out there.  So that meant that there were large packs of riders out there.  And since I had come out of the water towards the back I had plenty of those packs to pass.  Drafting?  I don’t know if everyone was really paying attention to how close they were to people in front of them.  As soon as I got close to someone I’d yell out “on your left” and pass them.  I didn’t want to be riding close to anyone.  There was the odd woman who didn’t want to get passed so they would speed up as soon as they realized you were going by.  And then there were some ladies that were in no hurry to pass and all of a sudden there is a group of 6 women or so, taking up the entire lane.  I just played my own game, kept my cadence at 90 or above and tried to stay in my own space.  At one point I passed a girl on a mountain bike with aero bars..??  I also passed a guy (they started 25 minutes ahead of us) just before the turnaround.  The only guy I’d pass on the bike, but that’s okay!

The bike was a straight out and back for the most part, and once I hit the turnaround to come back I decided this would be a good time to down a gel.  The gel went down fairly easily, and I grabbed my bottle of nuun to wash it down.  As I reached down to put the bottle back in the cage I fumbled it and it launched down the road.  15K left to go and no more hydration.  Oops.  The rest of the bike back was uneventful, but I did manage to maintain a pretty sweet speed over the duration of the bike, and I think it is fair to say that I really made up some good ground (like 93 females worth).

1:13:45 (from the Garmin), 249 out of 500 overall, 85 out of 257 females

T2

As I finished off the bike I felt like my bladder was bursting.  I was debating whether I should hit the porta-potties after putting my run shoes on but before leaving transition.  After the bike was racked all was forgotten.  Time to run.  1:26.

The Run – 10km

As I got going on the run I felt like I was moving so slowly.  I was just trying to run at a comfortable pace, go out slow, and ease into things.  Imagine my surprise when I looked at my Garmin and saw I was at a sub 9:00/mi pace!  How did that happen?  I was determined to not look at my heart rate.  Maybe that’s silly…but I didn’t want to know if it was high or not since I might freak out and question whether I can maintain what I’m doing.  So I really just focused on being comfortable.  And I was for the first 3 miles…8:52…8:52…:8:56.  I hit the 5K point at 27:33.  And as usual, I couldn’t quite hold that great pace for the final 5K.  But here’s the story….

When I got off the bike I thought my bladder was having issues, but as I started in on the run it became readily apparent that my stomach was the one with issues now.  Things were a' gurgling and it was not a happy time.  There were no porta-potties on the run, and when I ran past a park bathroom I debated ducking in (although it was being cleaned, so it wasn’t available).  I was about 4.75 miles in though and I did not want to give up a PR because I stopped to hit the bathrooms.  I’d be okay with missing out because my body rebelled, but unless I spontaneously combusted I was pretty sure a PR was still a good chance.  So I slowed down…9:21…9:33.

At 5 miles in we ran right past transition…and kept going.  Steve King was announcing the folks coming in and we kept right on going.  (If you have done Ironman Canada recently, besides last year, he has been the race announcer for I’m not sure how many years.)  We ran over grass and over sand and up a little hill, then out on to the street to do an out and back.  Oh that was cruel.  That out and back felt so long…  Finally I turned around and headed back towards the finish…9:19…

I passed one girl on the final uphill to the finish but couldn’t catch the guy in front of her.  And then he kept running in front of me as my friend Tara tried to grab a picture of me crossing the finish line.  I didn’t remember what the clock said for my finish time…but for sure this would be a PR over Oliver!!
56:32 - (a brand new 10K PR!!!), 330 out of 495 overall, 134 out of 256 females overall

2:43:30 (a PR over Oliver by 14:54!!)
303 out of 495 overall finishers (9 folks quit the race somewhere throughout)
115 out of 259 females
27 out of 43 in the F30-35 category

Post Race

Ugh, I was not feeling good as soon as I stopped.  The issue in my stomach had subsided a bit and all I wanted was to get something to drink…fast…  Thank goodness for water and Coke.  I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to eat anything, but after hanging out for awhile I thought it might help things, so I grabbed a veggie burger, some pasta salad and some watermelon.  Luckily it all sat well, but my head was still feeling a bit off.  Not much to do about it other than start the 4 hour drive back to Calgary.

On the way back through Kootenay National Park we saw a bunch of cars pulled over to the side of the road.  That can only mean one thing in the park – animals!!  I pulled over, rolled the window down and got the camera.  Two black bears were across the highway.
That’s all well and good, but I couldn’t believe it when a large group of people who had gotten out of their cars for a better shot, then started moving closer to grab an even better shot!!  Seriously folks, do you want to become dinner?
Anyhow, I am super happy with my race.  Yes, the swim course was short, but it would still have been a huge PR day for me regardless.  I’m going to have to figure out what caused such major stomach upset on the run…and fast…because the Great White North is only a few short weeks away.  Yikes!!

Calgary Police Half Marathon – Race Report

I picked up my race packet for the Calgary Police Half on Thursday. Here is a shot of the race shirt. I am quite fond of it!
And the back...This is a really popular race - it sells out quickly. There is also a 5K race (that I ran last year), that the shirts aren't nearly as nice for and it isn't chip timed. I had signed up for this race as a way to keep up some fitness over the late winter/early spring. I've had a bit of a tough time getting some of the long runs in though lately. This morning I woke up feeling pretty nervous. I felt like this was a test in high school that I hadn't studied for. I just really had no clue what to expect of this race. I headed off to the race start at Mount Royal College. I was running a bit late and missed the warm up with the team, but as soon as I got inside the college I ran into my friend Tara. I had enough time to hit the bathrooms, then we went and hung out at the start. Tara's goal was a bit more ambitious than mine so as soon as we started I wished her good luck and we split up.

Initially I really wanted to aim for a negative split on this run. When I checked out the elevation profile of the race I realized that may be a tough goal. The first half is somewhat downhill, but the second half is a whole lot of uphill! I decided to run the downhills at a pace that felt good and see what happened on the uphills.

About half a mile in I ran into my teammate Pam. We ran together for about a mile and then I pulled ahead. I was enjoying the downhill! We alternated with running the pathway around the Glenmore Reservoir and running on streets. I was a bit worried that we would bunch up anytime we were on the pathways, but we were all spread out quite nicely actually. After running the eastern part of the reservoir we turned and ran directly went on 90 Ave SW. This was where the fun started as there was a steady uphill grade all the way along. We turned and got back on to the pathway around the res near Weaslehead Flats. Anytime I run this part of the rest I find it is one of the most difficult parts of the run. For some reason I always manage to really slow down in this part and today was no exception. I was slowing down and it was feeling like the energy was seaping out of my legs. I needed to get past the people nearby as it felt like we were all slowing down together and I wanted to get past that. I hit the halfway mark around 1:01. If I could keep things up I would make a fantastic time but I was pretty sure that would be tough.

There is a huge climb out of Weaselhead. I've run this hill quite a bit, so I knew what to expect. I also knew that my friends Dawn and Karen would be there cheering runners on. As I got to the hill and climbed up I kept repeating in my head, "Karen and Dawn....Karen and Dawn..." since I knew I would get a huge boost seeing them! Dawn managed to grab a shot of me halfway up the hill.After the climb my legs were pretty tired. I was sort of in a "hold on" space of mind from here on out. Without about 2 miles left to go the wheels started to fall off. I had just finished thinking that I could do anything for 2 miles...no need to walk... And seeing the continuous uphill just got to me and I had to take a break to walk. I was disappointed that I had let the hills get to me... Time to start running again and just keep going. Uphill... Uphill...

As I neared the finish line at Mount Royal there was someone lying on the side of the road getting some help from the police. So close to the finish. I hope they are okay.

Just past there I saw Angie and the rest of the Team Tri Life athletes cheering the finishers on. Time to kick it in for a sprint to the finish! I blew past a few people and crossed the finish line! Done! My previous PR from the Last Chance Half was 2:07:41. Results for today?

2:05:22
Overall: 1055 out of 1833
Females 30-39: 145 out of 311

This course is a tough one, so I'm really happy that I managed a PR today...and after feeling somewhat unprepared for the race as well! Afterwards I cheered a few people in, but as I started to cool off I went inside and ran into Andra. We caught up on each other's races and she grabbed a shot of me.I met up with a few more friends, we grabbed some of the post race snacks and hung out for a bit. Then it was time to head home and get on with recovering... Stay tuned!

Spring Trio 5K - Race Report

Ah...the monkey on my back...trying to go sub-30:00 on a standalone 5K race... I've been trying for awhile, but it just hasn't happened! My first chance for this year came today, at the Spring Trio 5K race.
I actually had 20K on the schedule so I figured I would run a nice and easy 5K, race my 5K, then go out and finish off the last 10K. I seem to race better on tired legs so this seemed like it might be a good strategy. I drove out to Eau Claire and got going at 9 am. I wanted to keep my pace above a 10:00 mile. I had plenty of racing to do later and I didn't want to waste my speed quite yet! I ran the 5K...finished in 31:45...then made my way to the start of the race. I picked up my timing chip, hit the bathrooms and found a few of my teammates who were racing . My parents were signed up for the 5K as well.

There was a 5K, 10K and a 15K race and we all started at the same time. It was slightly congested for the first few minutes but pretty soon things spaced out. I settled into a pace where I felt like I was pushing it, but that I thought I could still sustain. I hit the turnaround for the 5K before I knew it. We had to climb up an overpass to a bridge and the effort up the bridge caused something in my stomach to knot up. I ran along the bridge, and back down a hill to get back on the pathway and passed the one water stop. I ran past it. I didn't feel like I needed it, I didn't want to slow down to drink, and I didn't know what my stomach would think of it. At this point the pathway was pretty empty of racers. I wasn't sure how many people were racing the 5K but I didn't see a lot of people ahead of me. From here on out it was flat to the finish and I just wanted to sustain things. I turned the corner and put in the final kick to the finish...

When I woke up this morning for some reason I had the time of 27:55 come into my head. I figured if I could run somewhere around a 27 or 28 minute 5K that would make me pretty happy.

The final results?

Net Time: 26:46.0
Gun Time: 27:03.2
Females 30 - 39: 4 out of 12
Overall: 15 out of 53

I'm blown away by my time! I never figured that I'd be able to run it this fast! And fourth in my age group too? I wasn't really a contender for 3rd place since the lady ahead of me beat me by 1:23...

I hung out and cheered my teammates and my folks in. Everyone raced really well! My parents even placed in their age group! Talk about a good day for the Runner Leana family.

My teammate Tracy raced the 10K in just under 45 minutes (and she placed third in her age group!), then she had another 10K to run as well. Even though our paces don't really match up she offered to run together and having the company made the run fly by. I knew we were running at a pretty fast pace (for me) but I didn't want to look down at the Garmin to confirm that. I thought knowing would start to affect me mentally and that I wouldn't be able to hold up for the full 10K. We wound up running the 10K route that Tracy had just raced. The water stop at the turnaround had been taken down, but there were still cups and an open bottle of water. We hadn't counted on the morning heating up quite so much so we stopped and grabbed some water since we weren't carrying any. As we hit the back half of the 10K we got a bit more silent, but I never thought about slowing down.

We hit the finish line and I stopped the Garmin. 10K in 58:10. That's practically race pace for me! This taught me that I could sustain a fast pace over a long distance and that I could run strong on tired legs. I've had trouble mastering the art of the negative split on a 10K and this taught me to place a bit more faith in my legs and to keep pushing no matter what. So a huge thanks to Tracy for running with me!!

I met up with my folks for lunch, then came home and had an easy recovery spin on the trainer for just over 30 minutes. It is amazing how much that easy recovery spin helps to keep the legs loose!

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

I am a big, fat liar.

All of this time, I've been lying about my 5K PR. Within the last few weeks I've discovered a whole bunch of friends on Facebook that I knew circa grade 5 and 6. So one night I dug through old photo albums trying to find fun pictures to scan in and share. In the back of an album I found this:
After the race I had the wisdom to write down my race time from my watch on the back of my bib, since it was significantly different from the gun time on the results website.30:03...just a few seconds shy of reaching that sub-30:00 goal. It was a pretty neat race. My university co-op department put a team together and we got to run around Science World in downtown Vancouver. Because my gun time was so off (30:29), and that is what shows on the results online...I'd kind of forgotten about it. All of this time I thought that my 5K PR came from my very first 5K ever, a 30:28:
And yup, that is Nikki of Slow is the New Fast who came in at 30:27. I thought I beat that PR at the Calgary Police 5K back in April 2008.
Apparently I was wrong! Bring on the Spring Trio 5K - I've got a new PR to set!

St. Patrick's Day 10K - Race Report

The St. Patrick's Day Road Race, put on by the Calgary Roadrunners, is quickly becoming an annual tradition for me. This was my third year running the race. I like this race because we get to run around the University of Calgary (which is a different route from most of the races around here), plus you get stew and rolls at the end...plus you have your chance to win your weight in beer at the awards ceremony. Who wouldn't want to win their weight in beer?

The last two years the race has been chip timed, but apparently there was a bit of a snafu with the timing company changing hands shortly before the race, so no chips today.

I've sort of felt so so this entire week. Not necessarily really sick, but not entirely 100% either. Waking up this morning I could tell that this was the worst I felt all week. I was getting winded going up the stairs in my townhouse. Oh no... So I rooted around my bathroom and finally found a thermometer. 100.1 deg. Enough to qualify for a low grade fever. I debated my situation. I could throw my pyjamas back on and crawl back into bed. I could run with the fever. Or I could pop something and see if it did anything to my slight temperature. My choices were Tylenol PM or ibuprofen and I went with the ibuprofen since I didn't want to get sleepy in the process... A recheck told me that I was down to 98.7 deg when it was time to leave the house. I was running late for meeting my team for the warm up run though. Oops.

I pulled into the parking lot for McMahon Stadium and headed over to the Red & White Club where all of the runners were congregating. There was a shoe drop for the Mustard Seed and I took the advantage to donate four pairs of gently used sneakers - 3 pairs of Nikes and 1 pair of New Balances - that were all purchased around the time I thought my feet were a size 9 until a running store told me that I was actually a size 10. So no sense keeping those around... I was also able to exchange my t-shirt for a smaller size...whew! I also ran into a teammates and friends milling around. Then coach Angie found me and told me to head out for a warm up run...then it was time to start.

The route has been adjusted this year and they had us starting on top of a slight incline behind the stadium, running down a pretty icy road. As we got going there were people elbowing and jockeying for position and I just wanted to not wipe out on the ice. Once we got out onto University Blvd I was able to settle in to my pace. Because I was obviously not my healthiest I didn't want to focus on racing a PR, I would just run and see what would happen. And I didn't want to look at my heart rate because I figured it would be pretty sky high.

At one point about 2 mi in I was trying to run past a couple of girls decked out in Lululemon gear and wearing their iPods. First there was room on the right between one girl and the curb, but as I made my move she drifted towards me and I very nearly tripped her. Oops! I was finally able to get past them, but they surged back ahead. Not that I have anything against girls in Lululemon gear wearing their iPods but I wanted to pick them off. I wasn't feeling too bad as we neared the point where the 5K folks were supposed to turn off. My pace was dropping, and finally on a hill I got past the Lululemon girls and never saw them again. They may have been 5k runners but at least I succeeded in picking them off! When we hit the 5K point a lady caught up to me and asked me about what pace we were running. It looks like we hit the 5K mark around 28:40...so that was pretty good. The trick would be if I could keep the pace up or negative split. As we started on the second loop I was really feeling any incline in the road a whole lot more, and I wasn't able to generate as much momentum on the downhills. My pace dropped slightly, but I was still going fairly strong. I didn't want to pick it up too much for fear of tapping out before the end. Anytime I looked down at my Garmin I noticed that my heart rate was in zone 5 so I figured a complete blow up may be possible.

Finally we hit a turn towards the stadium and there was some glorious downhill. I saw Karen and found more room in my legs to really pick it up. As we hit the parking lot for the stadium we were routed around it for the extra distance thanks to the route change. I really wanted to try and keep the pace up but the road was extremely icy. I figured I'd rather slow down a bit rather than run the risk of wiping out, but I was able to kick it into a higher gear for the final straight shot into the finishing chute. No idea what the clock said but my Garmin read 57:25. 6.26 mi. A brand new PR (on a slightly long course). On a morning where I probably shouldn't have been racing. No negative split, but I'm okay with that.

After finding Angie and a few teammates (and running into Dawn) I grabbed my sweats from the car, then headed indoors to get my stew and roll. I ran into my old favourite Bikini Boot Camp instructor Sheena, and it was really great to catch up. I also noticed Susan's husband and kids cheering her on, but by the time I saw Susan she was leaving the hall to head home. Susan, sorry I didn't have a chance to meet you!

I stuck around for the beer drawing and sadly I am 0 for 3 on winning my weight in beer. Shucks. Maybe next year!

WDW Marathon Race Report

*Warning - this is a long one!*

The Plan

While I was stuck in Kelowna on my unplanned "snow day" I spent a big chunk of the afternoon working on my marathon race plan. I had a loose goal in my head of a 4:30 marathon, mostly because the McMillan Running Calculator said it should be doable based off of my Last Chance Half marathon time. I knew the conditions were going to have to be pretty optimal to try and hit that goal, so while it was in the back of my mind, I wasn't basing my success in the race off of whether I'd be able to hit it or not. In terms of strategy to reach said goal? I didn't want to start off too fast and then risk blowing up later, but I also didn't want to start off to slow and have a tough time catching up. So the plan was to:

• Run the first 10 miles at a 10:20/mi pace, heart rate sub-160.
• Hold the pace over the next 10 miles, or if possible speed up to a 10:10/mi pace. Heart rate can build to 165.
• Over the final 6.2 miles hold 10:10/mi, or speed up if at all possible. Heart rate can inch over 165.
  

Before the Race

I was in bed and asleep at 9:00 on Saturday night, and awake right at 2:30 am on Sunday. I felt pretty well rested and ready to go. I showered, got my breakfast ready and headed out the door. My mom was participating in the marathon as well and my dad was our chauffeur/cheerleader/race photographer. He drove us to the start and I chowed down on my oatmeal in the car. Once we pulled in to the Epcot parking lot I said my goodbyes and good lucks to my mom and headed off towards the tents. If you haven't run Disney before, you congregate in the Epcot parking lot for porta-potties, entertainment and bag check, but then walk a fair ways to the actual start line from there. As I was walking through the parking lot I noticed a familiar head of hair emerging from one of the cars. - Maddy! Not bad considering I wasn't wearing my glasses! I hung out with Maddy and her friends at the start for a bit (and got to meet Marathon Chris) and then it seemed like it was time to head towards the start line.

Except Claire and Cranky weren't there yet. I had promised to wait for them at the start so I wished everyone well, then found a quiet spot to sit down. I still had a pretty good amount of time before the race was supposed to start and the porta-potty lines were insane, so I figured if I waited for them (and until things thinned out a bit) I might be in better luck. As I sat there I turned on my iPod (the only time I ever had an intention of wearing it) and just tried to get my head in the right space for the race. I was feeling nervous, but having the quiet time on my own really helped a lot. Finally Angry, Claire, Cranky and I all congregated, grabbed a quick picture, then made our way towards the start. We were all in different corrals and by the time I made it down to my corral the race was about ready to go. Since it had been cool out I wore my NKOTB sweatshirt and felt a bit sad as I donated it to one of the clothing bins. I wanted to hit the porta-potties again but didn't think I'd have time. A few people were rushing and trying to jump the fencing to get into the corral and I saw one fellow who didn't jump very well and got a bit stuck half way over. Not a good way to start the race I'm sure...

The Race - The First 10 Miles

The marathon has two different starts just to help with congestion on the course. I was at the back of the blue start since my predicted finishing time was 4:30 or less. Everyone over that was over on the red start and the courses would converge just after 3 miles in. They sang the national anthem and I started to get a bit teary eyed. I know, it wasn't my national anthem, but it still made me feel pretty emotional! Fireworks went off right overhead at the start of the race. Pretty spectacular stuff!

I decided to wear a Canada shirt for the race because last year I had noticed that a bunch of folks got huge "Go Canada!" cheers with their patriotic shirts. I figured it would be a lot easier for people to shout "Go Canada!" at me rather than trying to read my name on my bib and shout it out and I figured I could use the enthusiasm. I saw tons of other people with the same idea and if at all possible I tried to run with them a bit to ask where they were from.

The race started off on the highway and we headed towards Epcot. My dad was on the side of the highway and even though he let me know exactly where he was I couldn't spot him. I tried to be mindful of my pace right off the bat, but as soon as I started running the humidity smacked me in the face. I was definitely not used to that. I aimed to keep a 10:30/mi pace if possible since 10:20 seemed a bit optimistic.

We entered Epcot for the first time around mile 2. This is one of the highlights of the race since it is dark and the park is empty save for your fellow runners and the wonderful cast members who are out and cheering you on. As you run around World Showcase the lights are flashing and music is pumping. As I ran past Morocco I decided to take advantage of the bathrooms since I had missed the porta-potties at the start line. My heart rate was at 164 already by mile 2. Definitely higher than I expected it to be, but I thought it might be nerves and might adjust. So I just went with it...

Once the two courses converged things got a bit congested. There were so many people running around the same pace as me and we hadn't had enough time to quite spread out yet. Once we exited Epcot it felt like things were so crowded until we hit the main parking entrance for the Magic Kingdom. We'd be running on a single lane on-ramp or off-ramp and it felt like it would take too much energy to try and get past everyone. My pace crept up over those first 6 miles and once things opened up after that I knew I'd need to speed up a bit if I was going to try to keep a 10:30 pace. I must have weaved around a fair bit because each mile marker started to get further and further off... Before I knew it we were at the Transportation and Ticket Centre which is a huge spot for people to cheer you on at. You get so much energy running through here that it starts to get you excited for Magic Kingdom around the corner. I even managed to catch my friend Anne here and she gave me a huge cheer. Once I left TTC I tried to give my dad a call to let him know I was almost at the Magic Kingdom, but no luck, he couldn't hear his phone ring.

I ran up to a lady that was wearing a Vancouver Half Marathon shirt to find out where she was from. She was not overly chatty, it looked like she was hurting pretty badly already. Yikes.

I crossed the 10 mile timing mat at 1:46:42 (10:40/mi), although Garmin clicked off 10 miles at 1:44:43 (10:28/mi). By this point in time my heart rate had climbed to 175. It would stay in the 170s (or higher) for the rest of the race.

Miles 10 Through 20

As soon as you run into Magic Kingdom it hits you - the crowds cheering you on are huge, music is pumping and your adrenalin is just flowing. Even though my dad couldn't hear my phone call he had a good idea of when I should be arriving and we managed to spot each other on Main Street. From there you run into Tomorrowland and the characters are out in case you want to stop for pictures with them. Last year I stopped for a picture with almost every single character. This year I just wanted to run, so even though I had my camera with me I didn't stop for a single picture throughout the race. I just hoped that the race photographers would be able to catch a few good shots of me instead!

We wound through Fantasyland and through Cinderella's Castle. It can get a bit hairy here as people elbow you and cut in front of you to try and get the perfect picture of themselves running through the castle. This year you could run down the ramp out of the castle, then go stand in line at the bottom of the castle to have your picture captured by a photographer waiting down there. You can see a few folks behind the yellow cones in the picture below heading off to do just that.
From here you run through Frontierland, through the backstage, and then you are out on the road for several miles from here on out. There was a water stop just before leaving the Magic Kingdom and I walked and pulled a gu out from my waist pack. I somehow must have hit my Garmin when I did this and it took me a good 8 minutes to realize what I'd done. At the time I didn't know how off my Garmin was, especially since I had done enough weaving on the course to have accrued and extra quarter of a mile at least by this point in time. I also didn't know when I'd crossed the start line so I felt a bit in the dark about where I was at time-wise from here on out. Oops.

Once I left MK I gave Angry a call since he planned to be waiting for me to run past the Polynesian resort. We spotted each other and he asked how I was feeling. I gave him a big smile and told him I felt great. And really, I felt just about as fresh as a daisy at this point in time. There is something about this marathon course that causes a bit of unraveling once you cross the half way point though. Last year in the Goofy this was where I knew I would pretty well be walking the rest of the way if I wanted to finish. This year that was about when the sun came out and started to heat things up. Well, at least they heated up for this girl from up north. With no real reprieve from the sun things got a bit tougher. You exit MK at mile 11 and don't hit another park - Animal Kingdom - until after mile 16 so it feels like you are running on boring roads for a long time. Everyone gets significantly quieter through this stretch. I also got a bit nervous as I approached Animal Kingdom since this was around the distance when things started to go wrong for me at Quebec. Despite the heat and the slight amount of slowing down that I was doing, things were feeling pretty good still.

You don't have quite the same amount of buzz or get the boost from running through Animal Kingdom that you do running through MK. The only way to get to the park is by car so it isn't quite a popular option for spectators. As I was running through the park it hadn't opened yet. In some ways it was kind of neat to be running through the fairly empty park. The shot below if from mile 17, and I'm pretty happy that it looks like I'm running properly and not doing the marathon shuffle just yet!At mile 18 I exited Animal Kingdom and it was straight highway until sometime after mile 22. I was still feeling the heat and was just sweating buckets. After my hydration disaster at Quebec City I decided to carry my own fluids with me. In Quebec my strategy was to drink one cup of water and once cup of Gatorade at every aid station. The cups of water were so much bigger that I definitely got way too much water and was lacking electrolytes. I wanted to be more in control on this race, so I loaded my Camelbak up with about 1 L of nuun. This way I avoided the water and drank when I wanted to. The 1 L wasn't enough to last me the whole race, but I think this strategy worked out really well.
I crossed the 20 mile marker at 3:33:18 (10:40/mi). Hey, those are pretty even splits!

Miles 20 through 26.2

I did make an attempt to speed up a bit after crossing 20 miles, but it didn't last for very long. Ultimately I was happy if I could keep the same pace or not slow down too much. In comparison I felt infinitely better than I did at this point in my last two marathons. I never hit a mental or a physical wall, I was just slowly tiring. You enter Hollywood Studios just after mile 22 and from here on out you are off the highways. We passed through a chocolate stop just before mile 23 and I grabbed a small Hershey's bar to save for later. Except it kind of melted and turned a bit gross. Oops. We ran out of Hollywood Studios and down on to the Boardwalk towards Epcot. Even though I was tired I was passing people all over the place. That was a huge boost! Then just as I entered Epcot there were a couple of guys from the Canadian pavilion cheering us on. When they saw my Canada shirt I got huge cheers from them, which was awesome. Then it was around World Showcase for one last time, past Spaceship Earth and on to the finish line. I even had a little kick left in me for the run to this finish line. I was pretty sure I was going to have some ugly finish line shots as I was really gutting it out, but I guess the camera guy snapped at the right moment...!
When I finished I really had no idea how I did. I just had a general window that I knew I fit between - somewhere between 4:36 and 4:50. I was hoping I had made it in under 4:45, but ultimately I was just really happy with how I ran the race since it was such a drastic improvement over the last two. After all, I really ran this one, which was my goal all along. When I got back to the hotel my results were up though (and have since been adjusted by a second):

4:44:51 (10:52/mi)
Overall Place: 5501/14953
Gender Place: 1909/7144
Division Place: 329/1167

Post Race Thoughts

I estimate that I probably ran nearly an extra mile just with weaving around the course. After all, even though my Garmin was stopped for a full 8 minutes I still measured 25.83 miles, which would mean my average pace was closer to 10:30/mi. I could analyze my pace graph until the cows come home - should I have walked more in the beginning and would that have saved me from slowing down in the end? Or did I take advantage of the cooler temperatures and would slowing down have been inevitable once the sun came out?

The bigger question for me is, is my heart rate accurate during this race? Was I really red lining it for 2-1/2 hours? Or was my reading just messed up? When I did my VO2 max test back in September I conked out at 181 bpm. It is hard to believe that these numbers are accurate, but...who knows?
Anyhow, at the end of the day I'm really proud of the race I ran. I had a good time out on the course and I believe I ran a good race for the day. After walking most of the marathon last year I really wanted to come back and properly run this course. Mission accomplished, and a big PR achieved in the mean time!

Race Report - Last Chance Half Marathon

Pre-Race:

-

Saturday I was still feeling pretty blah from this cold I've been fighting. I was still getting pretty winded just walking up the stairs in my townhouse. Run a half marathon the next day? Ha ha! I slept in, downed plenty of vitamin C and had a nice carbo-loading dinner on Saturday night. And wine. Something about the anti-oxidants in red wine... I thought they might help.
I woke up at 6 am on Sunday and was feeling infinitely better than I had felt the last few days. Still not 100%, but definitely better. I chowed down on some 10 grain hot cereal with a banana, had a bit of cantaloupe and some hot tea. I hummed and hawed on what to wear for quite a while. The high was supposed to be 10°C (50°F) and sunny, but it was still fairly cool as I was getting ready to leave the house. I decided to not bundle up and go with capris, a long sleeve top, and a mid-weight top over it. As I drove downtown and saw all the runners fully bundled up on the pathway I was hoping that I made the right decision. I parked my car and made my way over to our team meeting location and chit chatted with people as they showed up. I was ready to run this thing. I ditched my sweats back at my car, hit the bathroom, then lined up for the start.

---

The Race:

-

Instantly I was glad that I didn't wear a ton of gear. As soon as we started running we were in the sun and it was pretty warm. I wanted to hold myself back on the first three miles to something in the low 10 minute mile range. I thought I was holding back, and I saw all kinds of people zoom past me, but when I looked down at the Garmin I was running around a 9:30 mile. Oops. Perhaps not the smartest choice, but I figured I'd try to back off a touch, but otherwise just hold on and see if I could keep this up. One thing that I did differently on this race was I carried my own water bottle with me. I looked at where the water stops were going to be and it didn't really match up with my gel intake strategy so I figured I'd stick to my plan and just bring my own water. I then grabbed a cup of Gatorade at each of the four water stops. When I hit the 5 mile mark I stopped to walk long enough to down an Espresso Hammer Gel and some water, then got right back on to running. I was still feeling pretty strong. By this point in time the pathways had kind of thinned out and I kept leapfrogging with the same people all the time. One was a girl with the noisiest jacket ever, and another was a man that was breathing so loudly that it was incentive to try and speed up a bit. After this I started to see the leaders heading back towards me and they were booking it! We hit some rolling hills as we continued east along the river and in towards the Calgary zoo which zapped some energy from my legs a bit. At 10 miles I downed my second gel. I tried to keep going strong, but somehow or other mile 11 got away from me. It was my slowest mile clocked at 10:11. I'm not sure what happened here. Somewhere along this point we crossed under the bridge at Edmonton Trail. This isn't really the best part of town and there were a bunch of people all hanging out by the bridge getting high. The cloud of noxious fumes was massive...blech... I really was hoping to pick it up for the last couple of miles but my hip flexors were starting to feel pretty tight by this point in time and I was pretty well just able to hold on. I knew I was in for a PR by this point in time, the question was just going to be by how much.

Chip Time: 2:07:41.7

Gun Time: 2:08:17.7

Overall: 295 out of 488

Females 30 - 39: 53 out of 107

That's a PR by 7:15 folks! We even got a medal to boot:

Post-Race:

-

After the race all the participants headed over towards The Garage inside Eau Claire Market for brunch and the awards ceremonies. We had the whole place to ourselves and we were treated to fruit salad, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes. While it wasn't included, the brunch was all washed down with some yummy Grasshopper wheat beer. Delicious.
In the evening I refueled at Bolero, a fantastic Brazilian churrascaria in town here. I showed my medal off to my niece and she thought it was pretty cool - she wanted to wear it herself!

PR Baby!

I'm exhausted, but I raced to a huge PR today at the Last Chance Half. I promise details and pictures soon!

Melissa's 10K Road Race - Race Report

Pre-Race

This was a girls' trip out to Banff, and four of us were running the 10K. My friend DGB picked me up in the morning and we all set off to the mountains. The race didn't start until 10:30 and we made good time out there, although it took us a bit of time to negotiate the town and find a parking spot. We arrived at the race start with fifteen minutes to spare - enough time to pick up our race shirts, check our bags and snap a picture before the race started.

The Race

I wanted to try and push myself from the get go and see how well I could hold up along the way. I'm a big fan of running comfortably and I need to push myself into the uncomfortable territory to start seeing some more pace improvements. The race was pretty crowded from the start so there was a lot of dodging people, but I didn't want to get stuck behind someone slightly slower than me and back off the pace. I was in front of DGB and our other two friends, but I knew it wouldn't be long before DGB shot out in front of me. As we crossed the bridge on to Banff Avenue we saw two runners that were late for the start running in the opposite direction. Oops! On Banff Ave a girl tapped me on the shoulder to say hello and ask how I was doing. At first I didn't clue in to who she was, but as she sped away I realized that she's one of my tri teammates! Apparently my brain is not good at recognizing who people are while I'm running... The first mile clicked off in 9:04 (+14 ft).

At the start of the second mile we started climbing up Tunnel Mountain. I knew this was going to be a long climb for almost the whole mile and I didn't want to stop and walk at any point. I saw DGB up ahead and managed to keep her in my sights for most of that uphill slog. My pace slowed down, but I knew I just had to keep going and make it through this uphill section. We gained 214 feet over 0.71 miles and then we were rewarded with some fantastic downhill. Second mile, 10:10 (+71 ft).

My goal for mile three was to just keep the momentum going and not slow down the pace at all. I could still see DGB...unbelievable! Mile three was done in 8:56 (-92 ft).

As I was running along Cave Avenue I heard someone call my name. It took me a moment to register who it was, and it was my coach! She asked me how I was feeling and we chatted for a few seconds before she sped ahead. Mile four done in 9:30 (+40 ft).

From this point we were running along the trail to Sundance Canyon and this is where a lot of people falter on the race. The trail narrows and you run an out and back along it. Heading out is mostly downhill. I really wanted to take advantage of the downhill momentum and people in front of me were just a tad too slow and I really wanted to get past them. There wasn't a lot of room to pass, so for the most part I'd hop off the trail into the mud to keep going. I hit the turnaround just a few seconds after DGB and we high fived. At the turn around there was a guy standing off to the side who looked like he was about to toss his cookies. My stomach wasn't feeling all that swell either so I turned around as quickly as possible and sped out of there. Mile five clicked off just past the turnaround in 9:14 (-39 ft).

Now it was time to run uphill along the trail towards the finish. I didn't want to look at my watch to see what my pace was, or what my time was, I just wanted to keep focused on running. A lot of people walk up the hill and there isn't any more room to pass on the uphill than there was on the down. I weaved through a lot of people and ran off into the mud on the side just to keep going. Frayed Laces has this great quote that she uses to help her power through tough workouts - "There will be a day when you can no longer do this...today is NOT that day." I just kept telling myself over and over that today was not the day to walk. Finally I was up and out of the trail and heading back down towards the finish. Mile six done in 9:09 (-1 ft).

After that it was time to kick it in for the finish. I crossed a chip mat so the announcers could call in the finishers as they were crossing the line. My name was called but I was so focused on the sprint for the end that I didn't hear it. According to the gun time we were all just within the window to make it in under an hour so the announcer was encouraging the crowd to really chear for us so we could make it in. I hit the finish and stopped the Garmin. Done in 57:49 - a new PR by 7 seconds!

Post Race

DGB had made it in just ahead of me so we congratulated at the finish line then moved off to wait for our friends to make it in. We were all within a few minutes of each other and everyone was feeling great about their race. I grabbed my stuff from the bag check so I could throw some sweats on since I was cooling off quickly. I ran into coach to let her know how I had done - I had accomplished my mission of running hard. She exclaimed that there were no more 5:11 marathons for me! After making our way through the food line we decided to head on out and grab a real lunch. We settled upon the Elk & Oarsman. My stomach was feeling pretty iffy during and after the race, but somehow or other I managed to scarf down a delicious elk burger with a green salad and sweet potato fries. After lunch we wandered around Banff a bit, then made our way back to town.
Other Thoughts

This race was ultimately a big deal to me. Like I said before, I wanted to see if I tried to run hard would I be able to do it the entire way, or would I blow up or throw up? Well, definitely no blowing up, and although my stomach was not so happy for most of the day I didn't throw up either. I know that I need to work on my anaerobic capacity (more details on this later) so this race was a chance to see what happened if I pushed myself into that zone and tried to stay there the entire time. I always qualified my previous PR at the Ryka Iron Girl in Seattle by saying that it was very flat and at sea level. I hadn't been able to break an hour in a 10K since then. Melissa's is one tough course in the Rockies and to PR it feels great! It was also a fantastic trip out to Banff with good friends! So the final details:

Overall Time: 57:49
Overall Place: 848 out of 2707
Females Overall: 343 out of 1760
Females 30 - 39: 130 out of 673

Race Results Quickie

No time for a race report on Melissa's quite yet, but I just wanted to let you all know that I PR'ed today! 57:49!!!

Speedy Indeed

Why is there never a ChampionChip and a timing mat around when you need one? Today I hit the pathways downtown around the river for a little 5K run over lunch. When I saw my pace for the first mile I was pretty sure the office towers had interfered with the Garmin signal because no way I was running that fast. When I clicked off a mile it was right were I expected it to be though. I thought for sure things would even out come mile 2. Nope, only 1 second between mile 1 and 2. Interesting... I tried to keep it up and sprint for the finish, and voila, a new 5K PR:

28:44

And I wasn't even racing today! Apparently I haven't been pushing myself enough...

Marathon Des Deux Rives - Race Report

I had a good friend in San Antonio who had run a marathon in Hawaii a few years back. Her motto was "friends don't let friends run marathons" and I think I now understand what she was getting at! But let me back up to give you all the details on my race on Sunday August 24th.

I crawled in to bed early on Saturday night to relax and watch the men's Olympic marathon. The commentator kept saying how tough marathons are, how it is such and mental race, and how much these guys are hurting as they race toward the finish line. Ah, maybe not the best thing to listen to! I fell asleep while the race was on and missed the end though. I woke up way before my alarm at 3:30 am Sunday morning. I had probably gotten about seven hours of sleep. I lounged in bed for an hour, then got up to shower, have some breakfast and get dressed. All of the participants for the full and half marathon would catch the ferry in Quebec (about a 10 minute walk from my hotel) and we would cross the river to Levis. From there we would catch buses to our respective starting lines. The ferry ran between 6 and 7 am, then the race was set to go off at 8:30 am. My mom was racing the half and we managed to get on one of the first ferries. It was a really neat way to start the race morning off.After we got off the boat in Levis we said our goodbyes and good lucks and went to catch our respective buses. The moment I got on my bus I started to get nervous. At least half of the people on the bus were wearing Boston marathon garb. I had a pretty good inkling that I would be in the back of the pack for most of the race...

The morning was beautiful but you could tell it was going to be a hot one. It was pretty humid and there weren't too many clouds in the sky. Probably the best thing about the start for the full marathon was that we were starting in the parking lot of a school. They had the school building open for us to sit, relax and use the bathrooms. Ah, running water and flushing toilets at the start line - it was heavenly! They also had water, Gatorade and coffee available at the start which was really nice. I hit the bathroom then found a bench to sit and have a nap on. I had about an hour to kill. I wound up in one of those moments were you are half in and half out of sleep. I dreamt that someone was trying to give me some food off of a fork to taste and I was aware enough that I knew I was leaning forward and attempting to taste the food, but then my sleepy body would snap my head back to avoid the weight pitching forward. I bet I was a sight to watch!

Um...so anyhow...after my nap I started the bathroom dance as my bladder was feeling really nervous. Finally things were under control and it was time to line up at the start line. As the course was point to point all of the announcers were at the finish line and they were being broadcast out to the start of the full and half marathons and 5K and 10K races. They counted us down and then a canon went off to signal the start. Wow...that was cool!!

As an engineer I have to say I love the metric system. Conversions are so easy! When it comes to running I really hate metric though. I grew up running the mile in school so I still equate all of my distances in miles a lot better than kilometers. Marathons in metric are 42.2 km long. Marathons in Imperial are 26.2 miles long. I'd rather be reminded that I have 25 of something left to go rather than 40, no matter what units you are talking about. The interesting thing about this race is that your kilometer markers count down, always telling you how much left you have to run. I would have just preferred to have 26 of them instead of 42!

The first few miles were around the school and Levis as we made our way toward the St. Lawrence River along Blvd de la Rive-Sud. It was kind of boring and absolutely no shade. Within no time sweat was pouring down my face. There were a pretty surprising amount of spectators along the way cheering us on though. About 3.5 miles in we were directed out on to one of the bike paths following the river. It was so beautiful along the pathway. I was really enjoying the scenery and the race was feeling terrific. Around this point you could start to tell some of the people who had started off too quickly. There was one interesting fellow...he looked to be in really good shape (because he was only running in some little, itty bitty shorts). He was running with a wash cloth in his mouth. Not sure why he needed to hold it in his mouth as opposed to holding it in his hand. That couldn't have been very comfortable...

At every aid station I was grabbing a cup of water and a cup of Gatorade, but it seemed like the amount of Gatorade was so small so I was taking in less than I wanted. I had a plan to take a gel every 5 miles as well.

Running through Levis was amazing! You were essentially running between bike paths and neighbourhoods and everyone was sitting out on their porch cheering you on. Most of the people in Quebec speak French so they were all shouting "Bravo madame! Bravo!" which was such a cool thing to hear. I smiled and waved at everyone and tried to say "merci" as often as possible. So many people had sprinklers and hoses set up to cool us off while we were running. I was just amazed at how supportive the people of Levis were. I absolutely loved it. Right up until the halfway point of the marathon was probably the most scenic part of the entire route as well as the houses you are running past are all so quaint and historic. Unfortunately I didn't grab any pics along the way to show you. I did grab one shot of a group from France that had some fantastic spirit. I can't believe this fellow ran the entire way, wearing the Eiffel Tower!Another cruel thing about the race was knowing that you had to run all the way down the Saint Lawrence to cross the Pont de Quebec, and then you would have to run all the way back up the Quebec side of the river. It felt like the bridge was so far away...all the time... This shot was taken with 29 km (18 mi) left to go. The bridge looks so small!

When we finally did make it to the bridge it felt like such a great accomplishment. There were some pretty good hills to get to this point so it felt good to be past that. It was also very cool to have the entire bridge closed down to traffic while you were running over it. After the bridge was when things started to fall apart. We went down an off ramp then had to run up some ramps and by this time we were out in some pretty strong sun around 11:30 or so. I started to get really emotional by this point in time. Saying positive things to myself wasn't really working out and I really started to question my ability to run a marathon the way I wanted. I was walking more than I wanted and my pace was really starting to drop off. I knew the weather at Disney World in January played a part in my race and I was really upset that hot weather seemed to be affecting my second marathon as well. I questioned whether I was using the weather as a crutch because I just wasn't mentally strong enough to make it through. How could I hope to reach some of the goals I have set for myself in the future if I can't run a marathon? At one point I was about to start crying...possibly out and out sobbing... Except I realized that I wasn't crying, I was starting to hyperventilate. I knew I needed to walk for a bit to calm down. Once I got past this I'm not sure how much I was walking and how much I was running. When I hit the 10K marker I knew it was going to be touch and go to make my goal. I was feeling okay with running - my legs definitely had the strength, but I was questioning how the rest of my body was feeling in relation to the heat and I wasn't sure that I was doing all that well. I knew I needed more Gatorade but by this point in time, since the aid stations were catering to the shorter races, some of them only had water at them and I was starting to get a bit concerned about whether I was keeping up with my electrolytes.

Somewhere around the 5K mark I heard the wail of two ambulances heading towards me. When you aren't really feeling that great it is enough to scare you into trying to take it a bit easier. The ambulances were pulled off the road, into the park, and there was a cluster of medics around them. They were far enough off the road that I couldn't see what was going on. I went past and sometime soon thereafter the ambulances were blaring down the street on their way to the hospital. I read this morning that a man did collapse and die at this point of the marathon. He was running the race with his son - what a tragic outcome for them.

Also around this point I noticed my hands were feeling weird. I looked down and my fingers were like sausages. My hands were swelling to the point where my engineering ring had really worked its way up my little finger. Thank goodness I was just about done...

When I hit the 1K marker I felt like I had it in me to finish this race running. I wanted to finish the race running! Crossing the finish line was weird...I was happy to be done, but disappointed that this day didn't turn out to be quite the day I had hoped. I know I'm being hard on myself about that though, and that I ran the best race I could under the conditions. If the race would have started at 6:30 instead of 8:30, or if the temperatures would have been lower, or if there would have been more cloud cover I know my outcome would have been different. The temperature held pretty steady throughout the last part of my race at 26 deg C (79 deg C), but it felt like 32 deg C (90 deg F) with the humidity factored in.

Once I crossed the finish line I headed off to the med tent just in case I needed to be worried about the swelling in my hands. The swelling went down and I was sent on my way with an order to make sure I hydrated. I grabbed my post race food - the bullion was the first thing I downed and I'm sure that made a big difference. I sat down for a bit with my mom who had a fantastic half marathon that day. She knocked a good half hour off her previous time which was pretty amazing. Congratulations Mom!

Anyhow, I did actually do pretty well on meeting a few of my goals, so here are the details:

1. Run faster than my 6:21:05 finish from the Disney World Marathon in January. I figured that since I wouldn't be running a half marathon the day before this should be pretty doable. Mission accomplished!
2. Beat Katie Holmes' NYC marathon finish time of 5:29:58. Kind of silly to want to beat a celebrity, but hey, I wanted to run faster than her!
3. Beat 5:00:00... I guess this is the reason why I'm disappointed. I was on track to meet this goal for a lot of the race, and the fact that it slipped away from me is why I was sad. BUT, I did PR big time, and I did run the best race I could for the day, and I know I also ran the smartest race I could for the day.

Time: 5:11:03
Overall: 972 out of 1141
Female 30 - 39: 53 out of 67