Or Not a PR :(

Well that just sucks!  Guess I should have known.

At the race this past weekend something was off with my finish time but I chose to be ignorant and went with what I heard ... not what I saw.

When I crossed the finish line I clearly heard the guy call out 56:16, but when I looked at my Garmin it said 57:09.  I thought that was strange, but my friend was standing at the finish line and she too clearly heard 56:16.  I knew the seconds were out by a bit because I missed the start, but I had kind of wondered if maybe I screwed something up when resetting my watch.  Apparently not! :(

The results have now been posted and my official time was 57:16.  Darn!!  Guess it was wishful thinking that my Garmin was wrong. 

I will however record this as a 57:09 though because I did start late.  I was doing a warm-up jog to the start line and just as I got close I heard the guy counting down .... 3-2-1.  I still had to reset my Garmin, so knew right then I'd be going with the time on my watch, not theirs.

Oh well, so I didn't PR. :(  A little disappointing, but it's OK.  It's only 31 seconds slower, that's not so bad.  I haven't been training enough and (not that I'm making excuses) I'm still plagued a bit with some discomfort in my left hamstring which I had been having treated late Dec/early Jan.  I don't seem to have the strength I need for the hills these days.  It's not really a pain so much, but there is something there still.  I'll be back in early March for some maintenance treatment so we'll see what the doc has to say then.

On a completely different topic .... I made chicken enchiladas last night ... Oh Heaven!  I'm not overly talented in the kitchen when it comes to making dinners, but this dish is incredible.  YUM-MO!  I can only eat half of one, but that just means that I have leftovers for lunch today.  T minus 2 hours to me and some deliciousness! MmmmMmmmmMmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

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Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

A Teeny PR

Another race done in the winter trail series and I got a teensy, tiny PR .... 12 whole seconds - hahhaaa, but I'll take it.

I'm happy with that, but admit that I'm a little afraid that this is my peak.  Will I ever get better?  I had hoped for a lot more improvement.  I want more, alot more ... but, to be honest with myself, I haven't really been training for improvement.  In fact, the last few weeks I haven't been running a whole lot at all.  So really, I don't exactly deserve big PRs right now.  Guess I have to want it more.

The trail was great.  Even though we've had alot of rain, the footing on this one is fantastic.  It's very hilly though, with one major steep hill that you have to run twice, and then multiple little rollers for a good 4K of the route. 

My Garmin was quite a bit short on the distance.  It was the exact same route as last year, however the Garmin showed it being about 1/2 Km shorter which is fairly significant.

So, overall the weekend was fantastic.  A teeny little PR for me.  Both kids won their soccer games.  My son's coaches said it was his best game all season - he was rock solid!  Can't believe that he won't be playing much longer :(.  Saturday my daughter's boyfriend came over and we all watched UFC together, such a nice kid. 

This week I'm going to put a more concentrated effort into running and actual training.  Need to build my distance back up again.  Only 5 weeks until my half marathon and I HAVE to rock that!!!

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Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Not Alone

The results are posted from this weekend's race.

I placed 4th out of 12 in my age group, and 8th woman overall.  Not so bad I guess. 

Comparing times to last year it would seem the majority of runners were 1:30 - 3:00 slower this year compared to previous years.  I already pretty much knew the course conditions were a huge contributor to my 50 seconds slower, but it's kind of nice to know that it affected many others by at least this much too.

The next race is Feb 6th and I know that course will definitely have good conditions.  We'll see what I bring to that one.

Yesterday I took a rest day.  My legs were definitely tired from the race.  Also, my son had a soccer game last night that was awesome so I'm glad I didn't miss it.  I'm sure going to be sad when he's not playing next year. :(

On another note ... does anyone know if the sun still exists?  Or has it become extinct?  I've seen nothing but gray since I don't know when.  YUCK!

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Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

My Husband Loves Me

Sunday was race #2 in the trail series I'm doing.  For me it's the toughest course of this series.  And today some of the footing was insanely horrid.

We lined up for the start and the race director informed us "there is water out there, you can't avoid it so don't even try."

Hmmmm .. apparently he hasn't met stubborn Heidi.  :)  Does he not know that I havee pretty much BRAND NEW SHOES ON!!!  I can't be getting those babies soaked to the bone.  I knew they'd get muddy, but soaked ... I don't think so.  I actually looked at my husband and said "Wanna go home?"  I was half joking, half serious - not that he'd ever let me leave - LOL.

So, race starts and I got a clean break.  Last year at this race I got caught in a mob.  Really throughout the whole race I had my own space which was great.  My pace was a little slower than I would have liked to start, but it was steady and I figured I could hold it throughout the whole thing.

This route goes along a crushed gravel path that is slightly soft packed as it's a shared horse trail.  Just after the 3K mark you turn off this trail to a single track narrow dirt trail.  Quite narrow, fairly slippery, some logs to jump over or duck under.  There were a few little puddles but nothing worth the description the race director gave us - until ......

About the 4K mark the trail is completely closed in with blackberry bushes, grasses and trees on both sides.  There is nowhere to go except through the trail.  Suddenly in front of us is the mother of all puddles.  My sweet, dear, loves-me-without-question husband stops, squats down and instructs me to HOP ON.

He CARRIED me through the muddy part.  And when I say muddy, understand that we're talking 8" or deeper swamp puddles with deep, soft, slippery mud and tree roots ... for about 150 feet.  He didn't even hesitate and I didn't ask him to do it ... nor did I turn down his offer either!

After that section it was super muddy for another 1/2 Km.  We were slipping everywhere and I'm still shocked I didn't go down.  There was some walking required to get through safely, alot of very careful tip toeing.  Certainly not ideal conditions. 

And once you broke out of the muddy single track trail and came back onto the gravel horse trail ... up you go.  Though the more I run that hill, the easier it gets.  The first year it nearly killed me, today it just slowed me down some.

And when you get to the top ... you get to do it all again.  Yep, that's right, two loops through the mud bog ... and hubby carried me both times.  Can you say love???  Can you say awwww?

My time was slower than last year by 50 seconds, but I'm not surprised.  I had hoped to improve, but given the conditions I'm pleased.  It was not the day to PR on this course. 

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Heidi

Resolution Run 2011

After spending New Years Eve with a couple different friends, and driving the kiddos all over the countryside so they could hang with their respective friends, we kicked off New Years Day with another race!

This is the same one I did last New Year's Day (Resolution Run 2010).  An 8K / 5 mile trail run.  Finish time was 20 seconds faster than last year.  I'm pleased somewhat with that, but not entirely.

You see ... I quit on myself and for that I'm very disappointed.  This was a huge lesson on "Why you should not always trust your Garmin!". 

Since I've been spending the last two months training alongside my friend for her marathon, my pace has dropped dramatically.  Then the last two weeks have been injury recovery from over training.  Honestly I didn't expect a whole lot out of this race and really did not think I would improve my time.  I figured it would be 2-3 minutes slower than last year.  So, for that, I am very pleased with the results.

However ... back to why you shouldn't always trust your Garmin and why I was disappointed in my performance. 

Hubby and I warmed up with a nice little 1 mile easy jog.  My breathing was a little heavy and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to "race" or just go for a fun run.  It was BLOODY cold out (-4°C / 28°F), although gorgeous sunny & clear.  The race started and I felt FANTASTIC!  I haven't felt like that during a run in a while.  It felt like flying.  Nothing hurt, my movement was floaty and light ... it was wonderful. 

I'm running along, feeling fantastic, but also noticing that my Garmin has not yet beeped the first mile.  I have a pretty good feel for pace & distance and was sure that it had been more than a mile.  Eventually it beeped and I looked down and saw a 9:53 mile.  I actually exclaimed outloud, "Are you f*%&ing kidding me?!".  That is only slightly faster than what we have been marathon training at.  It felt SO much faster than that.

A few minutes later I checked it again and it said average 9:58 pace - apparently I was getting slower.  I got mad!  I swore that I'd never run/train for a marathon ever again.  The shorter distances, faster pace is just too important to me.  It's not worth it to me to throw that out the window just to run a marathon.

Then I shut down.  I quit!  My heart wasn't in it anymore.  My time was gonna suck, I may as well walk a bit.  Though I didn't take it quite that far.  After beating myself up for a bit I finally decided just to do what I could on that day and hope to improve on the rest of the course.  Not long after that I saw the 4K marker.  Huh???  Something's wrong here!  The distance on my Garmin was about 2 miles which is only around 3 Kms.  Somewhere I'd lost almost a Km.

This revved me up a bit.  I stopped paying attention to the distance on my Garmin and just ran.  I missed seeing the last 3 Km markers and picked up my pace at the end much too late ... but I still beat my time from last year.  In the end my Garmin read about 1/2 mile/1 Km short.  My friend has the newest Garmin and hers also read the distance short.  Though I asked another lady who had an older version than mine and hers was 100% spot on.  I'm not impressed!  There was a fair bit of tree coverage, but being winter it was not solid.

Never again will I rely solely on the distance on my Garmin in a race.  I knew in my mind that I was running faster and should believe in myself.  Technology is only a tool.  I still love my Garmin, but the trust is broken a little.  It's funny how every race teaches you just a little bit more.  I also need to learn to push through and not shut down when the going gets tough.  I push through so much other crap in other areas of my life and don't quit, but when it comes to my abilities it's a personality trait I've been fighting against for years (and years).  When I was a kid, if I wasn't among the best, I didn't do it - end of sentence, not to be discussed.  As I get older I'm improving on that, but it's still a ways to go.

Race Results - 8K/5 miles @ 8:41 pace - 43:27

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Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Race Recap & Halloween pics

Another amazing weekend!

First, there was Fran's Virtual Pink Dress Run. For me it wasn't a long or fast one, but it was a fun one!  I had planned to participate both Saturday and Sunday, but as you will see below, I wasn't able to work in the pink on Sunday.

We went out for another nighttime trail run. This time on a safer trail. It was only 2.5 miles long, but it sure is alot of fun running in the dark. So quiet, a bit mysterious, challenging not being able to see exactly where you are.  We put a flashing LED on the dog and let her rip around. She looked like a little UFO.  Here's me in my cheesy pinkness:

Sunday morning we had a race.  It was the 40th Annual James Cunningham Seawall Race.  If you are ever in Vancouver, take the opportunity to run around the seawall.  It's just gorgeous!  And if you are local, try out this race.  The distance was a bit odd at 9.5K (5.9 miles) but it is the distance of the entire seawall - which the race represents.

As I said the other day, this race was about participation, location & FUN!  It was definitely all of that and more.

When we started out I had no intention to actually "race".  I was going to run at a comfortably fast pace and just enjoy the route.  At the start line I contemplated running with our friends, but quickly decided that I wanted to run a little faster than that.  However, I didn't bother weaving through traffic like I would normally if I were racing it.  If traffic opened up I moved through, but I took in the scenery and enjoyed checking out all the costumes.

I had made a conscious decision to NOT look at my Garmin until at least the 5K mark - just because.  I wanted to run by feel and just see what happened.  I expected to finish between 55 minutes up to an hour, or about a 9:30 pace, give or take.  Around 3K though I was feeling a bit tired and wondered if I even had it in me.  I've been running alot of 10:00 paces lately due to a variety of reasons and had no idea if I was capable of more right now.

At the 5K mark my husband asked me if we were at a 9:30 pace.  I checked and was shocked to see that we were at an 8:35!  Especially since we were running in costumes (which you will see shortly).  This inspired me to put in the effort to hold, or improve, on this pace.

By about 8K I wanted to be done.  This is tyipically where I fade on this distance.  I just wanted it to be over.  I was HOT and parts of my costume were beginning to bother me.  My husband also started to get bothered by chafing from his get-up.  But I wanted to finish strong and do the best I could do on that day.

We crossed the finish line together at 50:02.  My Garmin said 49:59, so I was happy to be under 50 minutes, but I must have missed the first timing mat.  Oh well, close enough.  Our average pace was 8:27, which is faster than the last race I did (without costume and with a faster start). 

I was 10th out of 59 in my age category.  I'm pleased with that!

Every race sure teaches me more and more about my strong & weak points and I'm learning where to make little adjustments.

Now ... for the costumes.  We had decided as a group to go as cats, however my husband couldn't wrap his head around that for himself (and neither could I really).  He likes to go big or stay home.  When we were in high school he dressed as a caveman for Halloween once and spent the whole day grunting instead of talking and he ran around hunched up and sniffing everyone, climbing on lockers.  He considered dragging out this costume again ... which immediately made me think of the Geico commercials "So Easy A Caveman Can Do It".  I told him if he was going to wear the costume, he had to carry a sign with that saying on it.

Here we are pre-race:

As soon as we arrived people starting asking for pictures.  The race photgrapher grabbed us immediately.  I can't find any race photos posted yet, but I'm sure we will be in some.  The entire race people were laughing at his sign and couldn't believe he was running in that outfit.

The sign provided quite a bit of wind resistance and by the last half of the race he said his shoulders were feeling it.  My boa wasn't nearly as annoying as I thought it would be, but certainly added some unnecessary warmth.  I worried that feathers would get stuck all over me, but it wasn't an issue.  The great thing about my feathers was that they fell off constantly, so our friends behind us had a good laugh knowing they were trailing us the whole time.  They kept watching to see if my feathers trailed off to a washroom - which I'm pleased was not an issue this race (yippee!).

After the race we scored WELL!  There were a ton of door prizes to be given out and we stayed for it all.  They started out calling bib numbers, but most of the people weren't there, so they resorted to calling random things - which is my favourite!  I'm very keen when it comes to that game and almost always leave with something.

They called out for the first person who has bunny ears ... first person who is bald ... etc.  Finally they got to the first leopard and I dove to the stage and won myself a $10 Subway card.  Moments later they called out for someone with ears (as part of a costume).  I didn't want to go as I had just won something, so I shoved my friend who was in the same type of costume.  She was a moment late, but she sprinted and then literally flung herself on stage doing a roll into the announcer saying "Me, I have ears!".  It was hilarous.  She won a $50 gift certificate to a swanky restaurant.  I don't remember what the call was for, but my husband then won a visor and key chain.

The announcer was running out of ideas and so she called for the first three people to do 5 push-ups.  My friend and I didn't even consult one another.  We both lunged to the stage and dropped for 5.  Though I literally dropped!  I went down and crashed belly first to the ground with barely the strength to get up.  But I squeaked them out and I won a $25 running room gift certificate and she won a $10 Subway card.  SCORE!  It amazes me how many people don't even bother trying for these things.

Then it was time to announce the costume award for the day.  They chose 3 people to come up to the stage and then the crowd got to cheer individually for each one to choose the winner.  My husband was among the 3 ... and he easily won!  WOOOHOOO.  I have quite the hollering cheer so that helped, but he had tons of crowd support.  Funny thing was he didn't even know there was going to be a contest.  Numerous people came up to him earlier saying they hoped he would win the prize.  He won a Polar Heart Rate Monitor.  I'd say overall we more than got our low entry fees back.

Aside from the prizes, it was a fantastic race and I will definitely enter it again.  The location is gorgeous.  The entry fee is low.   Seeing so many people in costumes is fun.  Just awesome!

This is post race, at home again.  Make-up a little smudged, but still happy.  After this I showered and crashed.

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Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Thanksgiving Day Race Report

I seem to have found a formula that agrees with me for nutrition leading up to a race.  In the day or two before a race, I limit my starchy carbs dramatically.  Breakfast the day before was a couple of eggs - not my typical oatmeal, no toast, no cereal.  Even Thanksgiving dinner for me consisted of just turkey, broccoli & carrots with my one indulgence of cheese sauce.  Also, as much water as I can remember to drink.

I have done this twice now, and both times felt fantastic the day of the race.  I think for my upcoming half marathon I will extend this to maybe 3 days prior.  It seems to agree with me.

Another thing that seems to bring me success is a good pre-race warm-up.  For Monday's race I did a good 2 mile slow warm-up.  By the start of the race I was all ready to go - systems cleared (wink), muscles warmed-up, core temperature warmed up.

I had no intention of going for a PR in this race.  It was a last minute decision to do it and was mostly about going out there with my friends and enjoying the course.

The Start

We started at the VERY back of the pack.  This was a new thing for me.  I've never started at the very back.  It wasn't a huge race, but decent ... about 1200 people.  We actually walked across the starting line.  Though right away I knew I had to break through the pack or I would feel frustrated - I don't like to shuffle.  I said goodbye to my friends and began the weaving game.

Mile 1 - 8:30

The first 1/2 mile I was weaving the entire time.  People were leaving room, but you did have to find it.  I only really got walled a few times.  It wasn't until after the first mile before I could run freely without having to dodge the whole time.  I think I could have picked up 45 seconds or so in this mile had I started closer to the front, but I don't regret starting at the back.  It was almost fun dodging everyone this time.

Mile 2 - 8:49

The only slightly challenging hill was a bridge.  It's a long one though and seems to go on for a while.  I've run it before and knew to pace myself.  Because I'd reserved a little there, as I crested the bridge I picked up speed and started passing people who had flown past me going up it.  I checked my time and was pleasantly surprised with how I was doing ... so, I decided to hold her steady and finish with a decent time.

Mile 3 & 4 - 8:26 and 8:29

It was an absolutely GORGEOUS route, the sun was shining and reflecting off the water.  I really forced myself to look around and enjoy the scenery instead of just focusing on my finish time.  I wanted to experience this run.

There was pretty decent support throughout the run.  For a small run there were quite a few people out there with bells and pom poms.  The people at the 5K water station were great.

Mile 5 & 6 - both 8:21

I was starting to tire here.  This is typically when I peeter out in a 10K and start to lose steam.  I wanted to push a bit harder, but my legs were feeling the after effects of my mountain climbing. 

This is when I remember a technique that some runners do.  I started picking off runners.  I'd look ahead and say to myself, "the women in the green, catch her".  Then when I did I'd pick another person.  This completely carried me these last two miles.  What a great way to occupy your brain.  Every time you catch someone you feel a sense of accomplishment.  Of course, there is a strategy to who you pick to pass.  It has to be attainable.

The Finish - 7:41 pace for 0.2

With 0.2 to go, I gave it my all.  I LOVE to finish strong.  Although this almost got me in trouble because I was weaving through some people and missed seeing a park bench until the last moment and had to hop the corner of it.  Whoops! 

Finish Time - 52:18

Just over a minute slower than my PR, but I'm totally happy with it.  I never intended to PR, wasn't prepared to PR, and given the course differences this will probably never be a PR type race.

What a fantastic race though!  Great support, the most incredible food at the finish (yes, I ate myself silly!  No regrets on that), probably the prettiest course I've ever run.  Awesome!

Sadly my husband couldn't run it as he is still nursing an injury, plus he had a job to finish that morning. :(  I know he'd love it and I really hope we both get to do it next year ... of course with our friends who took me there.

My friend has a great picture of me from after the race.  I'm waiting for her to send it to me and then I will share.

Race's are so much fun!  I wish I could do them all the time.

Speaking of upcoming races ....

My blog buddy Fran is hosting a virtual run on either October 30th or 31st (you pick) - the Virtual Pink Dress Run.  Conditions are that you must wear pink and post of picture of you wearing it.  Check out her blog HERE and join us if you can.  It's an international affair. ;)

Keep Active!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Sun Run Race Report

What a weekend!  I am E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D!!!!

Friday morning I went into Vancouver with a few of my running friends.  We had to pick up our race packages and figured while we were down there we would do a little, easy run on the Stanley Park Seawall.  It was an absoluely gorgeous day and I REALLY enjoyed myself.  Afterwards we went to a nice little Sushi place .. YUM!

I had been having some pretty big fears about getting an upset stomach again during a race.  So all day Saturday I was pretty obsessed about what I ate.  I ate pretty clean and included a banana and basically plain pasta (which I like) for dinner - which was eaten early.

When I woke up at 6AM on Sunday my tummy felt off, but an hour later everything was fine.  I didn't eat breakfast, as planned.  I wasn't hungry at all and I didn't want to risk anything.  We left home around 7:20.  We had planned to take the Sky Train downtown (as is suggested) but my husband missed the turn-off and traffic was flowing so nicely that we just kept going.  It turned out to be a good choice.  We got there way faster than we would have on transit and even managed to find free parking - a small miracle in itself downtown Vancouver. 

Though the parking we did find was about 2Km or so away from the start.  We jogged very slowly over to the start, with a short bathroom stop at a Starbucks (WAY better than the huge line-ups for the porta-potties at the start area).

We still had plenty of time and walked through the crowds to find our starting corral.  When we got there we found a couple of people from the walkers division had pushed their way in.  This really bothers me.  I heard them talking and they were planning to walk the whole thing anyway.  So why would you jump the line and get in other peoples way???  I found out today that at least one of these people didn't even finish the race.

This was from us to the starting line.  There was probably 10 times this many people behind us.

Towards the start

Now ... you know it's going to be a good race when your bib numbers include two of your favourite numbers (17 and 7).

Waiting to get into the corrals

The elites took off then it was our turn to move towards the start line. We managed to get ourselves up pretty close to the start line. That was wonderful! Immediately we got off to a good pace. About 10 seconds into the race my husband gave me a kiss and said he'd see me at the finish line.

The start was incredible!  We moved up a division from last year and it was an awesome decision.  Yes, there was still alot of weaving, but in general most of us were pretty even paced and most runners in this section seemed experienced and were respectful of each others space.  So nice!

I felt fantastic.  I've been having off/on pain in my leg and have been taking things pretty easy to let it heal.  I had NO pain during the run ... and still don't.

I heard my Garmin go off at mile 1.  It seemed early and I debated looking at it, but caved ... so curious.  I nearly fell over! 7:25 for my first mile.  WHAT?  I have NEVER done a 7:25 mile, even on a single mile.  I think a grin came on my face then that never really went away for the rest of the day.  My aim was to have an average pace of 8:30/mile.    I was ecstatic to have so much wiggle room.

Mile 2 my average pace was still well below my goal.  Then mile 3 ... I was still well below ... 7:42 average.  My time at the 5K mark was 23:53 - blowing nearly a minute off my previous 5K PR ... and this was for a 10K.  I was in shock. 

Though in all fairness I will say that this course leads itself to giving you a wicked time on the first 5K.  Alot of gradual downhill and easy flats.  Not there is much in the way of hills on this course, but they are definitely in the second half of the course.

It was getting pretty hot and I could feel fatigue setting in.  I started dreaming of finish times that I had not even considered.  I already knew I was up for a killer time and decided to just enjoy the rest of the race.  I could kill myself, but decided to leave a little on the table and just be super happy with what was going on.

I had to take a moment to pull out my camera when these guys went passed.  They were hilarious and it was quite fun running in their vicinity for the last few Kms because the crowd really got going for them.

Around 8K I was T-I-R-E-D.  My body felt fine and my breathing was fine ... I was just a bit drained.  The heat was probably the biggest factor as we haven't had very warm weather lately.  We came up over the last bridge and I picked it up a notch.  Finished my last 1/2 Km at 7:19 pace.

Final time .....

50:59 (chip time)

60 / 1203 Age Group (35-39)

3885 / 39855 Overall

I was in the top 10%.  WHOA!  I still can't believe it.

My goal for this year was to run a 10K under 52 minutes.  WOOOHOOO!

And yes ... I did follow through on my promise.  Here is me with my shirt off on the streets of Vancouver. 

Though I don't believe I made the news as there was a stabbing incident going on at this time.  We didn't witness it, but did see an ambulance about 10 minutes after this picture was taken.  There apparently was also a death later that day, which police have classified a suicide. Something about a man taking off his clothes (including a race day shirt) and going into the water. 

I knocked 8 MINUTES off of last years time.  Never, in my wildest dreams......

Funny thing, there are four ladies I went to school with that do this race together every year.  They have been WAY faster than me.  Last year 3 of them finished under 49 minutes.  This year ... I beat them all!  Two of them by less than a second .. but still. 

My husband rocked his time too.  Last year he was about 52:40 ... he took 7 minutes off and finished in 45:43.  WOW!  I bow to him.  Doubt I'll ever be that fast.

What an amazing day and an amazing race.

I had a smile on my face ALL day!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

Heidi's Springtastic 10K - RECAP

WOW, what an awesome race!!!  I must say, I should seriously consider becoming a race director.

The distance was bang on - exactly 10K.  The water stations were EXACTLY where I needed them.  The footing was great.  There were a few challenging hills.  It was an interesting route with lots to see along the way.  The starting corral was amazing, no crowding at all - which made for a fantastic start.  The only thing that was really lacking was traffic control.  It was like it was non-existant.  Although there was only really one place where I needed it.  Ahhhh, a perfectly planned race.  Heeheeee!

and the results:

1st in age group
1st female runner
1st overall
and ... course record holder.

Really?  Does it get any better than that??!! ;)

To top it all off it was an incredibly beautiful day.  Although I overdressed a bit and it got rather hot.  But I'm not complaining.  I'd rather be a little warm with sun beaming in my eyes than to have the rain dripping off my eyebrows like I did last week!

I finished my 10K in 52:42!  8:30/mile pace.  I have finished that distance a few seconds faster in the past, but I don't really count that one because my phone rang half way thru and I had to stop my watch to take the call.  This, however, is my FASTEST non-stop 10K.

The first mile and a half I did UNDER 8 min/mile, and that included one hill.  I was smokin'!  I have to plug the Garmin into the computer to get my splits.  First though I need to buy a new mouse as ours passed away over the weekend.  RIP Mousy!

Not bad considering I haven't really had much running happening the last couple weeks.  Miles 3 to 4 were the hardest.  I felt really tired and just wanted to be done!  I know that's due to my lack of training.  But after that my competitive spirit picked up and I could feel my drive coming back.  Now I want to kick it in to high gear and see what I can do for next month's race.

A year ago I ran my first 10K in 59:22 and was ecstatic to be under an hour (race report here).  I feel like I've come a long way in a year.

Next month I am registered for a massive 10K race - the Vancouver Sun Run which last year had about 56,000 participants.  Although the start is in waves, it's, as you can imagine, pretty crowded.  Last year the first mile was spent weaving through throngs of people and after that it only slightly subsided to frequent dodging.  With that in mind, my goal for this years race is to finish in about the same time as I did yesterday.

The sun is shining and I plan to do another 10K-ish run today.

Have a wonderful day!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

My First Half Marathon Report

I had expected to write up this race recap on Saturday, but I just couldn't.  Then Sunday I went out shopping pretty much all day.  By the time I got home I was wiped and had barely enough energy to breathe.

So ... Saturday was my first half marathon.  As you may recall, I was rather worried about the weather.  We'd been having off/on torrential downpours.  However, in that aspect Mother Nature was kind and we had relatively clear skies.  A few sprinkles here and there, chilly to start, but really quite mild.  Actually, perfect running weather.

I was SO prepared.  I laid out my clothes the night before.  Had our water bottles filled with our favourite Gatorade mix and loaded into our running packs.  Packed some on the run snacks, extra clothes for after.  Timing chip zap-strapped onto our shoes.  Bib numbers pinned onto our shirts.  Everything was perfect.

I woke in the morning feeling totally refreshed (often before a race I have troubles sleeping, from nerves).  I felt so confident.  I wasn't hungry at all, so didn't eat.  I'd had dinner around 6 the night before, but still wasn't hungry.  I had snacks for on route, if needed.  I've run on an empty stomach in the morning lots of times and I do just fine.

We arrived with enough time to do a decent little warm-up and of course the obligatory potty stop.  In the waiting line we got talking to some people and it seemed this was a first half for alot of the participants.  It was all very exciting

I was feeling SO confident and ready!  I'd done all the hard work and I was ready to have it recorded officially.

The first 5 Km was AWESOME!  My husband ran about the first 3Km with me.  He was having some leg pains at first, but they eased up after a bit and then he went on ahead.  He's slightly faster than me so I never expected to run with him the whole time.  It was nice to run the first little bit together though. My pace was awesome and I felt like I had a ton of energy.  I KNEW my time was going to be great.  I had already prepared my facebook status and blog report in my head.

Around the 4 Km mark I thought .... hmmm, my tummy feels off a bit, I may need a bathroom at some point.  But I seemed to recall there being a stop somewhere along the route.  At this point we were passing the starting area and I could have veered off, but it was a bit further off route than I wanted to go, and I wasn't 100% certain that I actually had to go, or if it was just nerves.  Besides, my pace was really good and I thought if I can build up a little reserve, then I won't need to worry about taking the time to stop.

Between 5 & 6 Km was the only real hills on the loop.  Two short, somewhat steep hills, and one gradual hill between them.  About the time I reached the top of the 2nd hill I knew for sure that I needed a bathroom, and fairly soon.  I asked a volunteer if there was potties along the way.  She didn't know.  So I continued on, hoping one would magically appear. 

We rounded a corner then started a long gradual downhill.  That's when the trouble really started.  By this point I had drastically slowed down and was starting to seek out possible bushes to duck behind.  Though, we were running through a subdivision with very few "natural" type areas.  I even went past a cute little family who were sitting out in their driveway on lawnchairs watching the runners go by.  I seriously considered asking to use their bathroom, but just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Shortly after that I had to reduce my 'barely-a-jog-pace' to a walk.  I'm still going downhill!  Runners are passing me, and being the wonderful support system that runners are ... everyone is encouraging me to carry on.  But I knew I couldn't.  As competitive and driven as I am, I wasn't willing to crap my pants - that's not success in my books!

At the bottom of the hill there was an out and back and then we were to turn back down towards the start area for the 2nd loop (where I knew there were potties).  I asked the volunteer at this cross street if there were potties up ahead.  She didn't know if there was, but of course there were the one's at the start line.  At this point my average pace was still OK that if I had had access to a potty right there, and been able to pick it up a little bit on the 2nd loop, I still would have beaten my time goal for this race. 

Sadly, I had to make the agonizing decision to abandon the course and head down to the potties.  My gut was wrenching, I had silent tears slipping down my cheeks, and was walking at a snails pace just praying I would make it.  I'm also mad, mad at the world, disappointed at the hand I've been dealt.  A blind chicken should have been able to take one look at me and realize that I was not in a happy place.  As I passed the start of loop 2, there are people standing there cheering everyone one.  The race director (I think) leans in to me and gives me a big smiley face and says something along the lines of "Smile, it's not that bad".  I, uh .... kinda lost it here for a moment.  All my anger came out and I replied along the lines of, "Yes, it is that bad.  I need a bathroom and there aren't any port-a-potties out there and I gotta take a crap!".  Yeah, not my proudest moment and I bet he was a little surprised.  But seriously, I'm clenching my stomach, I have tears in my eyes, I'm walking slowly and I look mad as hell ... read the signs buddy!!!

Just as I'm about to turn off, my husband comes running by.  He is absolutely sick with worry at this point.  He had expected to see me on the turn around a while back and has been desperately looking for me.  When he saw me up ahead of him, he figured I'd twisted an ankle or something.  He said he wanted to stop right then and there.  He knew this was my thing and he didn't want to do it without me.  I told him what was wrong and told him to go on.  This of course, upset me even more.

So I get finished up in the potty, and then I don't know if I should continue on, or just quit and wait for my husband to finish.  I'm already off course (not that anyone else knew that) and the race for me is over.  I decided to continue on.  I figured I don't want to sit around for an hour waiting for him (he had the car keys too), I may as well run what I can, plus I still want my medal even if I didn't do it properly - I paid for it!!! ;)

As I'm coming back onto the course, I see just up ahead is the runners that I had been running with right before I had to stop.  So I figure at least I can continue on and have a good idea of where I would have finished if I hadn't had this issue. 

The next couple of Kms are good.  My pace is right back where it should be and I feel fine, but then ... it hits again!  I have to slow my pace again, but at least this time I'm in a park and there is a bathroom nearby.  Continue on and go past the starting area again about a Km later and figure, hey, last chance ... may as well make one more stop and hope that will do.

I finish up the last 7Km or so without incident, but really my tummy is still not feeling great and my pace is really slow.  I went through a million thoughts.  I was never going to race again.  Well maybe I'll race, but I'll never race longer than 10Km again.  Well, maybe I'll do another half, but never this one.  By the end I had come back around to ... I can't wait to do this race again and nail it!

My husband met up with me at about 19Km and jogged the last little bit in with me.  He was so worried about me, and felt so bad.  As I came across the finish line I didn't even want to hear my name being called out.  I barely even wanted the medal.  I just wanted to go home!

My "finish" time was 2:07:33, but that really means nothing.  According to my Garmin I ran 12.1 miles - though I know I walked at least 1 or those miles, maybe a bit more.  So, three extended potty stops, 1+ mile walking, off course ..... GRRRRRR!

My husband however did awesome!  He said it was a while before his leg pain eased, but he ran very well.  His goal was to finish under 1:55, though he said when he started he didn't think he would be able to do that.  His finish time was officially 1:48:46, so he blew it out of the water!  I knew he'd be around that time.  I'll get to that time one day too!

As it was, I didn't get to leave for a while yet.  My husband had dropped his sweater part way on course and we walked out to get it.  I figured it would be good for my legs to have a little walk.  You guessed it ... part way out the stomach attacks again!  GRRRR!  Then, when we finally got to where he'd dropped it, it was gone.  He dropped it by a volunteer.  So we head back to the finish and talk to the organizers ... no one had handed it in.  We left our name & #,  hopefully it gets returned, but at least it wasn't anything super special if it doesn't.

My tummy was off for the entire rest of the day, including a bit the next day.  So I don't think it was a matter of something I ate, or nerves, or runners tummy.  Apparently a friend of mine had a similar thing earlier in the week and she doesn't even run (I hadn't seen her so I didn't get it from her). 

I'm pretty sure we're going to do another half at the end of April.  I just can't leave it at this.  I KNOW I can do this!

Maybe one day I'll laugh about it.  For now it's still a bit hard to swallow.  Though, when my friends ask "How'd it go?" I give a little giggle and say "uh .... shitty!"

It's just so disappointing!  I'm NOT disappointed in myself.  I don't think there's anything I could have done differently.  As my facebook status says:

There are some things you just can't train or plan for, you just have to accept them and move on.

When my sister saw that she called me up and said, "Aww, what's wrong Pooh Bear".  Hmmmm, funny you should call me that!

Hope you had a better weekend than me!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

A Race AND a Long Run

Sunday we completed the last race in the trail series.  It was an 8K and a rather hilly course.  I had forgotten how hilly it was.  Silly me should have remembered to read my race report from last year. 

I went in to this race thinking there was one long hill and one short steep hill.  While there was those, there was also a multitude of smaller hills throughout the entire course.  In discussing it afterwards you would refer to "the flat section", which was about a 1/2 Km long at the most.  The rest was all up and down, and I'm not much better about going down than I am going up.  One steep downhill I decided to try picking up the pace and I nearly did a face plant.

Anyhow, overall it went well.  Actually, it went VERY well.  Not only did I beat my husband's time from last year by a teeny bit, but my time improved 7 and a half minutes faster from last year!  That's huge and I'm very impressed with myself.

I was 3rd in my age group and 46th out of 102 runners.  Last year I was 99 out of 170, so I've moved up the scale there.  Finish time 42:19!  My husband rocked his finish time too with 37:14.  Hmmm, can I improve that much by next year???  That's a pretty big stretch.

Afterwards we hung out for a bit, talked to a few people, drank some water.  Some guys came up to me afterwards and said they paced off of me the whole race - that felt pretty good.

I was rather disappointed after this run with the organizers.  The information for this series indicated that there would refreshments and snacks provided afterwards.  The first race they had pizza, bananas, sliced oranges, and some bread things.  The 2nd race they just had apples & bananas.  And this last race - NOTHING!  Last year there was things like bagels & peanut butter, plus fruit.  I just feel that they cheaped out.  I'd rather pay a little bit more and have them actually provide something.  Guess it just goes to show that you have to provide for yourself and if there is anything there it's a bonus.

Obviously I don't race for the after run snacks, but I just thought this was pretty poor.  Especially since they had indicated it on the information sheet.  It's called fuel and on this particular day I was counting on it!

I find for shorter runs I don't like to eat much, if at all, because it upsets my tummy.  And I woke up with an unsettled stomach so didn't chance eating before the race.  As I mentioned the other day, we had decided to run home after the race.  This probably was a pretty bad idea on no fuel, but we did it anyway.

Getting started after sitting around for a while was tough.  My legs felt like lead.  Leaving the park we had to go up a long hill and I seriously questioned my sanity.  The first couple miles had some minor hills in them, but to me they felt like Mt Everest!  I could feel every step all the way through my legs and bitched constantly.

After that the land levelled out and I was able to pick up my snails pace.  We had planned to stop halfway to home and have a bite to eat - but then my in-laws called and offered to make us breakfast.  I much prefer home cooked food and hey, it's way cheaper, so we fought through and went straight home.

Total distance on Sunday was 12.1 miles (19.5 Kms).  I know after running a hard race AND following it up with a long run home on very tired legs... I am going to rock that half marathon.  By comparison it has got to be easier.  This was the toughest run I have ever done!  I have done longer straight runs and they were way easier.  The only way I made it home was by sheer determination and stubborness.  The gas tank was empty and the cylinders were all broken, so there is no other logical explanation.

Last night, in my effort to be more consistent, I did 1 mile on the treadmill, then some weights & such.  Just a bit, almost a rest day, but I want to keep things moving.  Today I'm feeling refreshed again and ready to go.

Hope you are having a great day!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

10K Race Report

Sunday was our most recent trail run on the roster.  It was supposed to be sunny and warm-ish (10C / 50F), but instead it was drizzling and damp.  Here on the coast when it rains it's a very damp cold, it can be above freezing but feel well below freezing.

Normally when we arrive there is a long line-up for unregistered participants, and little to no line for pre-registered.  This time however it was reversed and we had to wait quite a while to get our numbers.  This didn't leave us a whole lot of time for warm-up and stretching, but we got in enough.

Thankfully though they started the 5K runners in a different area and waited until they'd all gotten out onto the trail to start the 10K group.  Plus we started on a much wider trail.  It was nice to get off to a faster start!

And a fast start it was .... my first mile was under the 8 minute mark, that's really good for me.  I look forward to the day I can sustain that kind of pace over a longer distance.

The next 3 1/2 miles were SUPER hilly.  There is a hill on this trail that is referred to the locals as "Heart Attack Hill".  At the top is a bench where people often stop to catch their breath.  It's long AND steep.  My "running" speed on this hill dropped to 3 mph, maybe even a bit less.  We had to do a loop and run this hill TWICE!  I knew it would be on this course so I expected it, but it was still super tough.  Plus, the entire loop itself had a number of respectable hills.

The second time going up that long, steep hill I wasn't sure I could hold my cookies.  I actually had to stop for about 10 seconds at the top and get everything back in order.  But I knew once that was done that there would be a slight downhill and the rest of the course was flat.  Course knowledge is a wonderful thing!

After all those hills my average pace had dropped to 9:04, which was slower than I wanted to be.  For a moment I mentally checked out thinking I couldn't reach my goal, but I worked hard to push through that and then I knew that I could make up time.  So I really pushed to pick it up in the last part of the course. 

Running in a series is neat because you see familiar faces, you tend to run with the same people.  I knew from previous races who is typically just in front of me, who typically goes out faster than me and that I can pass later on, who runs faster uphill but then levels out ....  I used this to my advantage.  There is this one guy who always passes me at about 4K, then finishes about a minute in front of me.  This time when he passed me I pushed HARD!  I stayed on his tail and when I found I had just a bit more energy I passed him and wasn't going to let him by me again.  It wasn't about beating him for the sake of beating him, it was about knowing that if I beat him then I'd have beaten myself.  I'm nowhere near the point of competing within the field, so it's all about competition with myself.

With about 1/2 mile to go I could hear someone coming up behind me.  I really wanted to finish strong.  So I picked up my pace AGAIN and saw that my average pace had gone from 9:04 min miles to 8:57.  By now my stomach was beginning to churn again but I kept up my pace.  At about 6.15 miles the guy behind me passed me and I couldn't catch him - though I also could not see the finish line which should have been in sight by then.

The distance ended up being 6.35 miles (aka 10.25 Km) and I finished in 56:28.  My average pace was 8:53 min/mile - 5:32 min/Km.

Afterwards, the guy who passed me at the end came up to me and said "WOW, good pace!".  Apparently he'd been pushing hard to pass me too.  Glad I at least offered him a challenge.

My goal for this race was 55 minutes, and if you convert the distance to an actual 10K then I finished in 55:08.  Pretty darn close! 

I think that with all these hills, I should be able to break 53-54 minutes on this distance.  Though my goal for this year is to break 52.  I definitely need to do some hill & speed training to improve my game.

Tomorrow I'll recap a few things I thought about this race (and the series) as well as how the remainder of my day went after the race.  Race recovery is tough!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

New Toy...

I GOT A NEW TOY!!! I GOT A NEW TOY!!!

For a while now I've been pretty envious.  I read people's race reports or just reviews of their daily runs and often see these types of little comments:

"I checked my pace and ....."

"I ran 9.65 miles at an average pace of ......"

These comments often make me feel a little jealous.  I'm a total numbers gal.  I gotta know what I can do, what I want to do, and that I did it. 

I have created an excel spreadsheet to add up my mileage and I've also created formulas to calculate my pace per mile, pace per km, etc.....  So this numbers thing is something that really works for me.

During a race it KILLS ME when they don't put out mileage markers and I have no idea where I am on a course and no idea (other than by judging how I feel) what my pace is.  My best race so far is when they had someone at the 1Km mark shouting out your time and at every 2Km marker we passed a time clock.  I was able to judge where I was at and adjust accordingly.

Maybe this is just because I'm new-ish to racing, but I have a hard time judging when I should or shouldn't push.  Sometimes I push too early and run out of gas and sometimes I wait too late and then scramble to try to make up time and finish the race knowing I had more in me to give.  I really hate when that happens.

So .... after very brief consideration (10 minutes reading reviews online and a couple of messages to Syl) I went to Costco last night and bought myself the Garmin Forerunner 305!  I had a little money put aside that I'd received unexpectedly and was waiting to use it for something I really wanted just for.  This was it!

Heeeheeeeee .... I was like a kid in a candy store!  While waiting for my daughter, I sat in the car and read the manual and was actually giggling with delight at all the neat things this little puppy can do.

I won't have a chance to really put it to the test until this weekend, but at lunch today I went for a 1 mile walk .. ahem 1.05 mile walk ... and I'm totally giddy!

******************************


I was shocked yesterday to see the results of our race posted already.  Typically they take 3-4 days, so this was quick.

Heidi's Stats...
Time:  58:31
Overall Place:  53rd out of 105
Age Group Place:  4th out of 16
Women's Place:  8th out of 44

I feel pretty darn good about that.  Yeah, yeah ... maybe I'm manipulating the stats until it makes me feel good, but so what :).

Hubby finished in 52:05 - last year 57:29.

Fastest in my age group (and also fastest woman overall) was 47:20.  Fastest overall was a male under 20 with 37:05.  Oh to be that fast!!!  WOW!

******************************

The next couple of days are a bit tough on me.  I've got another bookkeeping deadline to meet by Friday for our personal company and it's literally taking up every spare moment I have.  I haven't even cooked dinner the last two nights (thank goodness for a MIL who lives right next door!).

So no workouts at all until it's complete.  Sucks because this week was supposed to be my heavy weights week.  But I'll get right back at it.  I guess the good side is my foot is really getting a pretty good rest.
******************************

Oh, and if you're looking for a good ab workout to try check this out:

OH SHE GLOWS - Ab Workout

I came across this today via Desitnation: Athlete's blog and it looks like a good one to put on the roster.

Hope everyone is having a great day!!!!!

Heidi

♥♥♥♥♥

10K (??+) Trail Race Report

Yesterday the hubby & I did another trail race.  The stars aligned once again and we had good weather (we are notorious for rain at this time of year so no rain is a minor miracle).

When my alarm went off in the morning I was still tired and did not want to get up.  But I was feeling fairly hungry and knew I had to eat something before we left.  I just had a piece of toast with peanut butter.  I didn't want to have too much and upset my tummy.

I was hoping to leave the house about 8:15 leaving us lots of time to get our numbers and do a long warm up.  At 8:20 I couldn't find my husband.  Eventually I found him outside CHANGING THE OIL ON MY CAR!  The race started at 9AM - ack!!!  I mean, yeah thanks, my car needed the oil change - but come on!

Anyhow, he came in, had a quick shower and when we arrived, there was still a huge line-up of late registrants.  Luckily we were pre-registered so we got our numbers quickly and still got in a good warm-up.  I took an Ibuprofen as a precaution, but everything felt great and I expected a pretty good race.

We started off on a somewhat narrow path (I don't know why they do this!).  Unfortunately we were a bit further back than maybe we should have been.  So the 200+ runners start off at the pace of a snail going backwards upside down - ridiculous.  Then as the faster runners were trying to pick through - past the people who for some reason figure they should start out running side by side with their friends, yakking & taking up the whole path.  This makes me angry!  If you wanna yak, fine, but stay off to the side until the crowd seperates and then enjoy your merry time.  GRRR!  I try to make a point of staying to the right and only moving over to pass, then go back over.  It's like driving to me ... mind you, many people don't obey that rule on the road either. :(

So this poor lady gets sandwiched between a few people and I don't know if someone ran her over or if she tripped or what but she goes down - HARD!  I was a few people over but I saw her land face first, in the gravel, with her hands behind her back.  When she lifted her head, her nose was completely scratched and bleeding.  There was a good half dozen people helping her already so we carried on, but I sure hope she's OK.  They really should start with a few waves.

We ran this same course last year, though I only did 5K and hubby did 10.  This year we both did 10.  It's a good trail, and it didn't seem nearly as hilly as it did last year.  It's funny how as you get fitter those hills seem smaller or non-existant.  There was one killer hill just before the end of the loop - three switchbacks to get up it!  I don't care who you are .... that one is tough!

At the end of loop one (you bypass a short turn-off to the finish if you're doing two loops) my time was around 28-29 minutes.  This really surprised me.  I know I can easily run 5K faster than that.  On the first loop I was running with this man and we got chatting a bit (nice guy, I ran with his son last race - ironic??).  So I figured maybe that cost me a bit of time.  I went ahead of him for loop 2 and pushed a bit harder figuring I could pick up a little time.

I knew at this time that I would not meet my goal of finishing in 54-55 minutes, but I was thinking I could get it done in 57 or less.  There were no distance markers along the way so it made it kind of hard to judge your pace (I'm not blessed with a Garmin or anything like that).  But, I followed close to my old guy - hahaa, so I figured I was on target.  There is this older man, and every race he passes me about 3/4 of the way through and then I can't catch him.  So this time when he passed me I focused on him and stayed as close as I could - which I did fairly well.

I was feeling really good.  I felt like I was pushing hard, but I also felt strong and had no aches.  I did feel a teeny bit hungry and thirsty though.  When I came around the corner to the big hill I knew I was almost there and just focused on keeping a good steady pace, even breathing and getting up that hill.

Shortly after I crested the hill I saw my husband standing at the final bend waiting for me.  He had a "look" on his face and told me I was at 57:30 and if I pushed it I could maybe break 58.  My heart sunk!  I immediately got this feeling of failure.  I was so far off my goal time and I couldn't understand it. 

I actually gave up.  I refused to sprint at the end.  Not because I was too tired, not because I was sore - but because I was disappointed.  It's a bad personality fault, what can I say...

I finished in 58:30 - ugh!  I'm still having a hard time processing this.  I'm still wondering if the distance was longer than 10K.  That's not a bad time for a 10K, but I know I can run it faster than that - even with hills and terrain and all.  Last year my husband ran it in 57:30 and I really wanted to beat that time.  I had set a goal that I was sure was achievable and being so far off it left me just shaking my head.

So now I wait until the next 10K (Feb 22nd) where typically people seem to run it 5-10% faster than this race.  This would put me finishing it around 54-56 minutes, which is where I'd expect to be.

Now ... so I'm not all doom and gloom ... here's the positives.  Last year I did the 5K option and finished in 32:46, which I was disappointed in too as I was running 5K in under 29 minutes at that point (this also leads me to believe this course is longer than described).  If I take that time and double it, my 10K time would have been at least 65:30.  So that means I improved by 7 minutes, or 12% - and that I'm impressed with.

My husband finished in 52:15 yesterday, this also means he improved by 10% (5+ minutes) from last year.  I think we've both done well.

I'm going to take a few days off of running as I am a bit sore today.  But I'm going to ramp up the weights this week.  However, it's only 2 weeks until our next race so I can't let it completely slide.
.

Resolution Run

Last year I began doing some races, and quickly decided I loved it.  The more I do it, the more I love it.  I began last year with a trail running series.  There's a total of 4 races and I did 2 of them, got sidelined by an injury on the last one.

This year however my husband and I decided to sign up for all 4 races in the series in advance.  It cost less for 4 races in advance than it would have for 3 races if we signed up on an individual basis.

The first race was January 1st ... an 8K trail run .... they call it the Resolution Run.

We've never been big partiers on New Years Eve, but we do usually hang out with friends, eat too much food, maybe have a few drinks and stay out late.  So the prospect of getting up early to do an 8K run on New Years Day was a little daunting, but we decided to do it anyway. 

However, we still went out to a friends house, ate too much food, stayed out until 2AM.  My husband had 3 or 4 beers, but I wasn't into it and just had Diet Pepsi & a tea (such a party girl - hahha).  We had to get up at 8AM to get to the run on time.  So the night out, coupled with virtually no sleep the night before ... I was beat! 

The race started at 10AM and we got there about 20 minutes early to sign in and do a warm-up run.  Boy did we need it too, we had that really cold, miserable, damp weather that is typical here on the coast.  Your bones freeze!

It was a nice course, almost no hills, and nice terrain.  Though lots of tree roots and rocks along the route, plus a couple logs to jump along the way.  There was about 200 people running and the beginning of the race was crazy.  You could barely move through the narrow trails.  It took about 4-5 minutes to break through the crowd and be able to set a reasonable pace and even once in a while when the trail narrowed we got stuck behind other runners waiting for an opening. 

I'm not super pleased with my time, but I am happy.  In November we did a really rough conditions, extremely hilly 7.7 km race and I finished in 43:11.  This 8K, easy terrain race took me 43:43.  Yeah, slightly longer, but the difference in terrain should have meant a better time.  But given that I really haven't run in the last month it's pretty good.  I ran the 2nd half faster than the first, which is something I aim to do in races.  Once we broke out of the initial pack very few women passed me, though a fair amount of men did.  Actually, for the first 4-5 Km no women passed me, but I guess their stamina was better than mine in the second half.  Last February I did my first 8K race and it took me 49:54 to finish it ... so yeah, 6 minutes improvement is pretty good I guess.

My husband finished in 39:39 and he's feeling pretty disappointed.  His last race (the 7.7Km) he did in 37:10, so he expected better.  Last year 8K took him 42:40ish.  But I still think that's a rocking time and I can't wait until I can run it that fast.  It's kind of neat that a year later I'm now running the times he ran last year.  He has about 10" on me, all in the legs, so it makes me feel really good when I can run as fast as he has.

Our next race is a 10Km, fairly hilly route, on January 24th.  My goal for that is to do it in 54-55 minutes.  I'm giving myself a cushion because I recall some pretty big hills on that route.  I've got work to do in the next 3 weeks to get back to my faster pace and to get in better condition.

This last race really reminded me that I need to get back into regular training.  The actual run wasn't too hard, but at the end I was completely out of gas.  I was just a breath away from loosing my lunch after finishing the race.  The volunteer at the end was removing the tag off of my bib and I thought I'd lose it right there.  Not a good feeling!

It feels good to be back into training again, and eating cleaner.  My body likes me!  This race was exactly what I needed to kick the new year off just right.  Hopefully the event posts the results today so I can see how I did in comparison to the others.

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Personal Best!

Yesterday was such an awesome day!

In the morning we went out and got our tree.  Then my son played a wicked soccer game (best of the season).  Then, before it got dark I went out and did that 5K run.  After that we put up our tree, decorated it and had a nice relaxing evening.  Perfect day!

Certainly my run didn't involve any winter storms, crazy snow, insanely cold temperatures, nor santa hats or bells.  But I promised Syl I would be out there running with her.  And that I did.

Here's my cheerleading prior to the run (sorry for the blurriness, but I thought they were still funny):

I was going to go by myself, but my husband asked to come along. 

Here I am on my way out the driveway:

Follow the pink Syl ......

The weather was pretty darn good.  Clear skies, a bit of wind and just above the freezing mark.  The route we took was good for doing a fast 5K.  Straight forward and pretty much no hills.  The only thing we had against us was temperature and a strong head wind going out.  I was certain that I could finish under 27 minutes.  But I did even better than that:

Under 25 minutes!!!!!!

Wooooohooooooooooooooo!   I was thrilled!!!!!

After that we got our tree up.  Sure is hard to get a decent picture of a Christmas tree.  I'm not that skilled with my camera.  Believe it or not this is one of the smallest trees we've had in many years.  Normally the angel is shoved up into the ceiling.  But decorating it is still a challenge:

When it was part way decorated we sat back and relaxed a little with some mulled wine.

Ahhh a perfect evening!

7.7 Km Cross Country Race Recap

Yesterday my husband and I participated in a 7.7Km Cross Country Race.  It was one of an 8 part series put on through local running clubs. 

This was us at home after the race.  Soaking wet, clod to the bone, muddy - but very proud of ourselves!

To say it was gross is an understatement.  Apparently this is what cross country running is all about.

It had been raining non-stop for the previous 36 hours (and alot in the 2 weeks prior).  We've been experiencing a Pineapple Express here and the amount of rain has been unbelievable.

All morning it POURED, and it was cold.  I had NO desire to go out in it, but I couldn't yak on here about doing this run and then just not do it. 

We got there and there were more people than I'd expected would show up.  Apparently these people are die-hards.  I knew beforehand that most people who run this race are associated with clubs and are accumulating points towards the whole series. 

Knowing this, when we lined up to start, I just positioned myself near the back to let the faster people go ahead without me in their way. 

This was a 4 loops course of 1.9Km per loop. 

We started off across this field and within seconds were drenched!  The water in the field was up over our ankles and I'll I could do is shake my head and question my sanity in even entering this race.

Through the water logged field (about 400M), then around a bend that was muddy and boggy in many spots.  The "the hill" ... it was fairly long and quite steep at the top.  On it's own it wasn't so bad, but as we were doing 4 loops, I knew I'd face this thing time and time again.

Once at the top we followed a gravel trail that was pretty good, except the one area where there was a deep puddle over the whole trail and we all resorted to running through the muddy grass (which just got worse loop after loop).  On my 3rd loop I went into a mud hole over the top of my shoe - it was gross!

After that was the gradual descent which consisted of a number of up and down hills - you never really did feel like you were going downhill because every time you went down you'd just recovered from going up.  Along this route was numerous puddles to jump (or run through) and a downed tree to jump over.

My goal going into this race was an un-optimistic 44 minutes.  I had hopes of finishing in that time, but in my heart I really didn't actually think I would.  And once I got a taste of the course I pretty much erased that thought from my head. 

At the 1Km mark my time was 5:32.  I knew to finish in 44 minutes I had to do each loop in 11 minutes or less.  Considering that was my first Km and it was nearly halfway through the loop I figured there was no way I'd reach my goal.  So I was shocked to see my time at the end of the first loop was 10:29.

But, even knowing that I still thought ... no way I'll keep it up for the whole thing. 

End of the 2nd loop my time was 21:20 ... hmmm I'm still on target.  On the 3rd loop this woman came running up beside me and the two of us ran neck and neck for most of the lap, until just near the end she passed me.  Funny how that gives the passer a boost and the passee a feeling of defeat - which I tried to swallow.  At the end of that loop my time was about 33:30, so I was still on target - but quickly running out of gas.

Going up that big hill for the last loop took alot of grit.  But that woman who passed me seemed to be slowing down so I gave it all I could.  I knew I had just over 1 Km to go and I could push hard through that.  With about 1/2 a Km to go I was right on her tail but I couldn't quite manage to catch her. 

At the finish my husband came back and met up with me.  He said he was surprised at how fast I was running and when I took off for my final sprint he couldn't believe how fast I was going.  At the finish line I almost caught that woman again.  She ended up finishing 3 seconds in front of me.

The final result .... I finished in 43:10!  Almost a minute faster than I didn't think I could finish it in.  WAHOO!  My husband finished in 37:10.  In February we both ran an 8Km trail race (though not nearly as grueling) and my time was 49:04 (or :54 - I'm not sure which) and my husband's time was 42:40.  So we both made huge improvements in the last 9 months.

I was suprised how even each of my loops were.  I guess I've learned how to pace well.  My loops were 10:29, 10:51, 11:00, and 10:50.  I'm pretty happy with that.

After talking to some seasoned cross country runners they said this was comparable to (at minimum) 8.5Km, or maybe even 9Km road race, given the conditions.  I can't wait to test that theory on my next 10Km race!

Here's an idea of what we endured through all that mud & water....

And my lovely brand new socks .....

these ended up going straight into the woodstove!

And ..... as a pure bonus .......

I won my age category and got a $25 gift certificate to a local running store!!!!! 

I was surprised to say the least.  I even asked the presenter if I was the only one in the category - hhahaha.  Though, as it turns out there were only 4 women age 20-39, so it's not exactly a huge field. 

Honestly I'm more proud of my personal achievement and the gift certificate was just an unexpected bonus.  If I'd been over 40 I would have been almost last in my group - hahhaa.  Guess I shouldn't admit to that ;)

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