Banff Winterstart 5 Miler–Race Report

This weekend the Husband and I set out to Banff so that I could run the Winterstart 5 Miler on Saturday night.  The Husband was right in the middle of working night shifts and he managed to get one night off to come out to the mountains with me.  After he finished work early Saturday morning and had a bit of a nap we hit the road.With the race starting at 7 pm I was in a quandary about what and when to eat.  A twitter friend suggested small meals.  I had oatmeal in the am.  When we hit the road around 2:00 we popped by Starbucks so I could grab an eggnog latte (maybe not part of the meal plan but boy is it yummy) and a cheese and fruit box.I had a couple pieces of apple along with a couple pieces of cheese – just enough for a little snack.Soon we were at the Banff National Park gates!  It was a gorgeous day…After checking in to our hotel we made our way to the Elk & Oarsman for a late lunch/early dinner.  I really wanted pasta with tomato sauce and chicken.  Thankfully they had that option on the kids menu.  Yup…33 and ordering from the kids menu!Beer is carb loading, right?  And yes, I know.  The Husband and I are totally matchy matchy with our striped sweaters over white t-shirts.  That was not planned.  I ate maybe half of my pasta and maybe half my side green salad.  It wasn’t amazing, but it hit the spot.I then had to make a quick stop at the packet pick up to change my race registration into my name.  I missed officially registering for the race but I managed to find someone selling their spot on the Calgary Road Runners website.  The host hotel, the Caribou Lodge, was decorated for the event with brightly spray painted running shoes.  After taking care of everything we want back to our hotel, the Fox Inn and Suites, to relax before the race.  Our one bedroom suite was awesome.  A huge and comfy King bed……with a sofa, TV and kitchenette attached.  It was perfect for us since the Husband was on night shift time and was not ready to sleep at the same time as I was.  Anyhoo, back to the race report.The sun set, it was about -6C and it was time to get ready for the race!  I layered up but I planned to wear my Run: Swiftly long sleeve tee, my Team Tri Life jacket (which is crazy warm), tights, Smartwool socks, a toque and gloves.  I also brought along a bottle of water to sip on and a gel to eat 10 minutes before go time.Before I knew it, it was time to line up for the race!Winterstart is an out and back course.  You run 1.5 miles out of town, turn right to run up Tunnel Mountain for a mile, then turn around and run back.  I really wanted to run a sub-11:00/mi pace and to run that hill as best as possible.  I had to walk a couple of times but I felt pretty strong overall heading up.  I tried to take advantage of the downhill and wanted to keep going strong to the finish line.  I had a couple of walk breaks in there, but overall not too bad.  It was going to be tight to come in under that 11:00/mi goal!  I tried to pick it up over the last 1/4 mile…and when I crossed the finish line my Garmin said 54:45.  Sweet!  The Husband found me and we made our way to the after party in the parking lot of the Caribou Lodge.  I didn’t go in search of food too much, but I did find a post-race beer!We hung out with some teammates for a bit, then went to the Chili’s in our hotel for a bite to eat.  The good news is my stomach felt great on the run so what, when and how much I ate obviously worked.  Unfortunately my stomach was not interested in any more beverages or food after the race so it was off to bed for me.  All in all it was a really fun weekend in Banff and I really enjoyed the race.  It was a nice little weekend away!As for the official results…

54:47 (10:58/mi)
Overall 1051 out of 1410
F3039 243/330