ENDURrun 2018, Stage 6: 10K time trial

Today was the second to last stage of ENDURrun 2018, the 10K time trial.

In this stage, the runners start one minute apart, from slowest to fastest, just like the 15K on Monday.
As the shortest stage of the week, stage 6 doesn't tend to affect the overall standings a lot so I didn't want to run it too hard and risk hurting my marathon, but also don't want to run it too easy and potentially give up time to another runner.

I continued the trend (and "goal") of "slower than last year, faster than two years ago. Last year, I finished in 41:15, two years ago, 45:12. Today, I finished in the stage in 43:49.

I finished 4th ultimate female on the stage today, so I actually did give up a bit of time, but it was only 3 seconds. I am 3rd ultimate female in the cumulative, going into the marathon tomorrow. 

I am not just running the marathon for myself tomorrow, I am also the relay runner for the H+P Women's A team, who is chasing a record for an all women's team. In order to get the record, I have to run 3:29:15 or faster tomorrow. Fingers crossed, I make that happen! I'll certainly try my best.

Standings after Stage 6:

Men
1 Rob
2 Aidan
3 Christian
4 Nick
5 Dave

Women
1 Val
2 Robyn
3 Me
4 Rebecca
5 Lumi

ENDURrun 2017 Stage 6: 10 Time Trial

This is going to be a quick on. It's Sunday morning, the morning of the marathon... so I need to get something up here before I leave for today's final stage!

OK.. the 10K.

Joel (H+P teammate) met me at my house around 7am and we drove to Conestogo. Parked the car by Lloyd's house, left a few things in the yard for post-race and then got shuttled up to the start in Elmira.

The race is formatted the same as Monday's race, so the runners start one minute apart, with the fastest runner starting last. My estimated start time was posted as 8:53, but since there were 4 scratches, I was now starting at 8:49. The other girls were starting 4 or 5 minutes ahead of me, due to some guys between us in the cumulative results as well as relay team and guest runners that are slotted in according to the seed times they provided. On Monday, I had the advantage of starting right after them, so I could keep an eye on what they were doing the whole race. This time, not so much. I couldn't see them at all.

I started behind Thaddeus (also from H+P), and Robyn (also H+P) started behind me. I wanted to reel in Thad and not be caught by Robyn. I never caught Thad, but I did close the gap a bit, and Robyn did not catch me. The 3 of us finished in the following times: Thaddeus 41:41, me 41:15, Robyn 40:25.

Catherine got me by 6 seconds, which I didn't know until the results were announced as I had no idea what she was doing since I couldn't see her. I'm actually not sure if I would have been able to tell a 6 second increase on a one minute lead, anyway.

Heading into today's marathon, I'm 9:45 ahead of Catherine, who is 5:26 ahead of Val. On the guy's side, Rob is 53:32 ahead of Nick, who is 44:20 ahead of Stefan. 4th place Andrew (who started a half hour late on Stage 1 and has been jumping up the list each day) who is 10:19 behind Stefan.

But.. that's enough about today's race! I need something to write about later on. :)

Have a good race today, all who are running! And for those who are following along, Thank you for your support and I hope you've enjoyed my little posts.

ENDURrun Stage 6 - 10K TT

Just like Monday, today's stage was a time trial, so the runners started a minute apart from slowest to fastest.

I was scheduled to start at 8:50 this morning, but wanted to get to Lloyd's around 7:30 to ensure I had a ride up to the start (it's a point to point race) and could leave my car at the finish. I was apparently excited and in a bit of a hurry to get there and I didn't realize it until I saw the police car sitting just off the side of the road and glanced down at my speedometer, that I was speeding (whoops!). I drove past the cop, and as expected... he pulled out.. on came the lights, and I pulled over. I got my very first speeding ticket ever. He asked me where I was headed and thought it was funny that I was on my way to a race... seemed appropriate.

So... after the interesting drive to Conestogo, I parked my car, put my bag in the backyard, and made my way into a car to get a ride to the start.

It was nice to watch people starting their race as I did a slight warm-up (it only totalled about a half mile, but I wanted to get the legs moving and a bit loosened up).

When it was my time to start, I headed over, waited until Lloyd counted me down, and I was off. Steve Schmidt was nice enough to come out this morning and ride his bike on the course. It worked out especially well when I no longer wanted to wear my hat. He took it from me and brought it to the finish. Thanks Steve!

I went into this race looking to finish around 45 minutes. My official finish time was 45:12. It was another super humid day today and I was absolutely drenched with sweat when I finished. At least I know I wasn't dehydrated!

This was BEFORE I went in the pool.

There were no changes today in the top three on either side. Now, with 117.8km down, we have one final stage to run tomorrow: the marathon. It's a two loop course, starting at the same park as last Sunday's half marathon, but I'll tell you more about that tomorrow!

ENDURrun Stage 6: 10K Time Trial

Similar to stage 2, stage 5 is a time trial, with runners starting one minute apart, chasing people all the way back to Lloyd's house. There are some differences, though. Monday's stage was 15K and was an out and back. Saturday's stage was 10K point to point from Elmira to Conestogo.

I started at 8:43am and it was already quite warm and very humid. I was happy that it was a short and flat stage today both because of the weather and because of the body that was a little angry with me. My calves were tight and my foot was iffy. Not horrible, just iffy. At least everything seemed OK once I started running.

I finished the stage in 47:37, which is around a minute slower than last year, but I'm perfectly fine with that. I was thinking about the pool for a good chunk of the race, so that is where I went almost as soon as I was done.

Swimming, massage, food, more swimming, and then out for lunch with some of my fellow runners. What a great way to spend a Saturday morning and early afternoon!

In the evening, we were back at the Schmidt house for the traditional pre-marathon dinner/potluck, which is always a good time thanks to the incredible hospitality of Lloyd and Julie.

Going into the final stage, the marathon, I am in 6th place ultimate female with a cumulative time of 10:42:46. I am a little under 14 minutes back from 5th and 22 minutes ahead of 7th. In all likelihood, those positions will remain the same, but anything can happen. So, we will have to wait and see!

ENDURrun Stage 6: 10K Time Trial

ENDURrun is getting dangerously close to being done for the year. This morning was stage 6, the second last stage of this event, a 10K.

This time trial stage starts in Elmira and finishes at the race director's house in Conestogo. It is a flat course with long straight stretches. It's a fast course, but it takes place the day after running up, down, and all around a ski hill and also the day before a marathon... those factors don't necessarily make the fast course a fast course. :)

I figured I would run 46 or 47 minutes today and I ran pretty much smack dab between the two, finishing in 46:38.

Although the cool temperatures have been great for running, it was cold after today's stage. Normally, when races finish at Lloyd and Julie's house, I immediately jump in the pool. Today.... I didn't even consider going in. I was way too cold. Instead, I threw on my jacket, drank my recovery drink while waiting in line for massage, then put on pants and grabbed a little bit of food.

I am still sitting in 4th place overall female, about 18 minute behind 3rd and 32 minutes ahead of 6th.

Tonight, there is a social event at the race director's house where the runners and volunteers have the opportunity to hang out, eat some food, talk about what has happened this week so far, and also about what to expect tomorrow (or possibly not about running at all.... but that doesn't happen often).

I'm looking forward to spending some more time with everyone this evening as we are nearing the close of our incredible week together. If you are one of the runners or volunteers reading this... See you there!

ENDURrun Stage 6: 10K Time Trial

It’s tough to run a 10K race the morning after Chicopee. My legs did not want to race today, but they had no choice (or at least I didn’t give them one) and my legs and I ran.

As with the 15K on Monday, this stage was a time trial, with runners starting a minute apart from slowest to fastest. Since the 10K distance is a popular one and since it is now the weekend, there were a number of guest runners. The guest runners submit their predicted finish time with their entry and are slotted into the starting order accordingly.

The course for Stage 6 is a point to point from a park in Elmira to the race director’s house in Conestogo. It is mostly on long stretches of country roads with minimal shade. The course is also a slight net downhill, so it does make for some good finish times.

After socializing in the parking lot for a while, it was my turn to start (I started 38th today). I waited for the countdown, while chatting with Lloyd for a wee bit… turns out he had my predicted finish time down as 47:33. Did he actually expect me to run that today? (My best 10K is 47:57)

I went out today, planning on running around a 50 minute 10K. As I ran along, I noticed that my pace for the first bit was a bit faster than I expected, but nothing crazy, so I wasn’t concerned about it and just kept running along, trying to find a good rhythm to maintain and keep going to the finish. It worked out well, as I only had 1 km at 5 min and all the others were a little bit faster. I finished the race in 48:19 and was 3rd female again.

I have my usual post-race food photo to include on this post, but I can’t seem to find my phone right now. I will add it to this post once I locate it.

[Edit: I found my phone, so here’s the photo.]

It was breakfast food day today.

ENDURrun Stage 6: 10K Time Trial

After a good night’s sleep, I felt ready to face the next stage of the ENDURrun today. I actually woke up about 5 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off; it was nice to wake up naturally. I got up, made coffee, and breakfast, which today was a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana.

As I was eating my breakfast, I took a look at the cumulative results to this point. My cumulative time was 11:03:40 for the first 5 stages. Many months ago, I decided that my goal for this whole week would be sub 16 hours. Taking this into consideration, I had 4:56:20 to complete the final 2 stages (a 10K and a marathon) and still meet my goal. With this information, I decided that if I ran a 50 minute 10K today, I would still have 4:06:20 for the marathon, which is still possible. Last year I did the marathon in 4:08:41. My best marathon is 3:51:28 (Mississauga Marathon 2011) and I ran the Waterloo Marathon in 4:03:09 this spring. Hopefully, I have enough left in me to run a decent marathon tomorrow.

We left the house, stopped by Lloyd’s house in Conestogo briefly to see if anyone needed a ride to the start line in Elmira and we were on our way. This race is a point to point course, so it starts at a park in Elmira and finishes right in front of the race director’s house. The post-race food, massage tables, etc are set up in his backyard, waiting for us upon our return from the race route.

This stage was another time trial, so the runners all start at different times and then came in to the finish area fairly close together. Today, I was passed by 3 runners and I passed 3 as well.

I finished today’s stage in 50:48, so I was a bit slower than I wanted to be and well over a minute slower than last year, but this still leaves me with 4:05:32 to run tomorrow’s marathon and meet my goal of sub 16. It’ll be tough to do and I’m not 100% confident that I’ll be able to do it, but I will certainly try. My concern at this point is the fact that I’ve run all the road stages in more time than last year and this final stage is road. But, as I was discussing this with a fellow ENDURrunner today, it was pointed out to me that the trail stages were also the longest stages so far, so I’ve actually run the longer stages faster than last year and tomorrow’s stage is the longest of them all. Perhaps I have a chance after all.

And now, some photos:

My food photo looks a little sad today, but the food was quite good! In this photo there is orange hummus on a slice of bread, a piece of cantaloupe, a fruit pancake, a tuna sandwich, and some fruit salad.

Tonight, we will attend the barbeque to celebrate the last night before the final stage. I am looking forward to our wonderful dinner with the amazing company of the other runners, the volunteers, as well as their family and friends.

Back-to-Back Race Days

This weekend, I ran two races. I ran the 25K Run for the Toad yesterday and the 10K Laurier Loop today. After ENDURrun, this had to be a piece of cake, right? Well… it turns out when you haven’t really been training and having been doing much in the way of long runs, it’s really quite difficult.

Run for the Toad
I had heard great things about this trail race over the years, but never got around to signing up for it and trying it. For one, the longest races I was running before this spring were half marathons, and two, I barely did any trail running before this year. After the trail running I did in prep for and during the ENDURrun, I thought this would be a good year to give the race a try (it didn’t hurt when I won entry to the race in a draw at Runners’ Choice). 

I left the house around 7:40am to head out to Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area where the race is held. I made good time getting there, but it took about 25 minutes to get from the road to my parking spot due to the number of people coming for the race. I parked the car and walked over to Tent City to pick up my race number bib and my race kit, which included a very nice Saucony gym bag embroidered with the race name and year.

After ditching my stuff in the car and heading back over to the start area, I stood, shivering, waiting for the race to start. It was a very cold morning, but it turned out to be good for running (not so good for the spectators, though).

I went into this race with no time goals, but of course, that quickly changed as I started to run and was nearing the end of my first lap. I decided that I wanted to complete the 25K trail race in under two and a half hours.

It was a challenging course with hilly sections, but some very beautiful sections to and some nice views. I kept a fairly consistent pace, but I did start to get tired legs. My legs were not used to this. With less than 2 km to go to the finish, my calves started to feel like they were going to cramp up. As I reached the final steep hill, I figured this would be a good opportunity to stretch them out without actually stopping. I walked up the hill, stretching the calves with each step. It worked well because I was able to complete the race without any real problems. My finish time was 2:28:31. I completed it almost a minute and a half faster than my goal time, so I was happy with this.

I stretched my legs and then headed to the medical tent to line up for massage so that my legs could be loosened up a bit more in the hopes of a good 2nd day of running today. After massage, I swung by the car to grab my bag and make a trip to the showers. After a nice hot shower and changing into some nice, clean, warm clothes, I felt pretty good. It was time to head to the food tent. The food at this event was prepared by St Jacobs Catering. I had a couple different types of salad, a chicken breast, mango chutney, and a slice of Dutch apple pie for dessert.

I watched several of the 50K runners finish their race and once the last person I knew crossed the finish line, I made my way to the car to head home after a long, but very nice day at the beautiful Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area. 

Laurier Loop 
Today I ran the 4th annual Laurier Loop, which was also my 4th Loop as I’ve competed in this event every year. Today, the weather wasn’t as nice as it had been in past years, but as always, the event was run smoothly and with great post-race food and conversation with the other runners and the volunteers.

The 2.5 km loop starts and finishes on the track at Sir Wilfred Laurier University and is run 1, 2, or 4 times depending on the race distance you are competing in. I ran the 10K, so it was 4 loops for me.

I started out my race feeling quite sore in the legs, but they loosened up after about 1km. I started to feel quite a bit better and finished my first loop in around 12:30. At this pace, I should run a 50:00 race. My 2nd loop took a wee bit longer and my 3rd loop was slower still. I needed to pick up the pace on my final loop to make up for this one if I wanted to come close to the 50 minute mark. I didn’t think I cared about time today, but I can’t ignore it completely. I ran my final loop in 12:32, finishing the 10K in 50:52.

I placed 6th overall female, 3rd in my age group, but since someone in my age group placed in the top 3 female, I ended up with a 2nd place medal.

----

I had a good weekend of racing, but next time I attempt this, I should really make sure I’m training properly. My legs are tired and sore. Lesson learned.

It was good to see a lot of running friends this weekend! A few, I saw at both races, but most were at the Toad. Congratulations to everyone on your race weekend and hopefully we’ll run into each other at another race soon.

ENDURrun Stage 6: The 10 km Time Trial

After yesterday’s alpine stage, I didn’t have much time to recoup before today’s stage. By the time I got home it was 1:30 pm and Ryan and I were shooting a wedding at 4:00. I had time to write a blog post, get clean, plop myself on the couch for a while for a quick rest, and then get ready to leave for the wedding at 3:45 (it was only a few blocks away from our house).

I got home after the wedding around 10:30 pm and was in bed around 11:30. I didn’t have the best sleep (woke up several times) and then the alarm went off at 6:00 am.

I got up, had a quick shower and sat down to eat some breakfast (oatmeal, coffee, and water). We left the house around 7:00 to head up to the race start.

Today’s stage was another time trial like on Monday where the runners with the slower previous time start first and then each runner starts 1 minute apart up until the fastest runner leaves last. Today, due to the number of guest participants, we started several people 2 at a time. Since it takes some time while others are starting to run, it gives some added time to talk to other participants before starting your race. We talked about how we were feeling today and what we hoped to accomplish.

I started at the same time as Sandra W today around 8:30 am. The course was nice and flat and actually a bit of a downhill. I ran pretty consistently today and finished the 10 km stage in 49:19, which is actually my 2nd fastest 10K time.

The finish line was right in front of the race director’s house, so afterwards, we hung out in his yard, had some food, went for a swim, had some massage treatment and socialized some more. It’s really great to have such a nice group of runners to hang out with every day this week. This evening, we’re all invited back to Lloyd’s house for a barbeque and pool party to reflect on this past week and look forward to tomorrow’s final stage: the marathon.

6 stages and 117.8 km down, 42.2 km to go.

I finally did it!

I finally got past whatever strange mental block I had with the 10K race distance. You know something is wrong when you can run the first 10 km of a half marathon faster than a 10K race. That was the position I was in for almost 2 years.

In September 2009, I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach 1/2 Marathon, with my first 10 km of that race being completed in 51:27. Click here for my results from this race.

I had run 4 10K races prior to this half. My times were as follows:
Oct 2008 – Zoo Run: 54:57 (chip time)
May 2009 – Mudpuppy Chase: 53:22 (gun time)
June 2009 – Waterloo Classic: 55:54 (chip time)
Aug 2009 – Muskoka Rocks: 54:46 (gun time)

At this point, one could argue that my training was paying off and that’s why I did so well for the 10K portion of the half, but then I look at the results for 10K races AFTER September 2009.

Oct 2009 – Laurier Loop: 52:30 (c)
May 2010 – Mudpuppy Chase: 52:30 (c)
Jun 2010 – Guelph Lake: 53:47 (g)
Jun 2010 – Waterloo Classic: 55:50 (c)
Oct 2010 – Laurier Loop: 52:03 (c)

Then came the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon in December 2010 where I once again finished the first 10K faster than any 10K race. This time it was 51:31. My results for this race are here.

So.. this brings us to today. I ran the Downtown Mudpuppy Chase, which is one of my favourites, due to it’s close proximity to my house and fabulous post-race food. I ran the 10K distance (the race has a 3K, 5K, and 10K) and I finished in a gun time of 49:04. My chip time was 48:52.

I’ve finally run a 10K race faster than the first 10K of a longer distance race! I’ve finally broken 50 minutes, which was my goal for last year that didn’t happen, and I’ve crushed my previous best 10K race time by over 3 minutes!

I think I’ve gotten over whatever it was that had been holding me back. Today was a confidence boost indeed.

Bring on the marathon in 2 weeks!

Laurier Loop – 10K PB today

This morning, I ran the Laurier Loop, which is a 2.5 km loop run 1 time, 2 times, or 4 times depending on the distance you’re competing in.

I did the 10K, so 4 loops. I wanted to see how consistent I could be (there are split times for each lap as you cross over the mat) and I also wanted to finally get my 50 minute 10K.

The goal time didn’t happen, but I did end up with a new PB. My split times were: 12:19, 13:13, 13:33, 13:00.

Since I don’t have any more 10K races this year, I guess I’ll have to strive for that sub-50 next year.

Guelph Lake 10K

This morning, at 10am, I ran the Guelph Lake Conservation Run. The course was nice, a little hillier than I’m used to, but nice.

When I went to bed last night, it was raining. When I woke up this morning, it was raining. Luckily, it stopped before race start and only spit a little during the race. It started up again about an hour after the race.

I finished in 53:14 as per my Garmin and 53:47 as per the timing chip (there was no timing mat at the start). I finished 4th in my age/gender group. It wasn’t my best race, but as I said earlier, the course was nice.

Lessons from today’s race:
- I need to do hill training
- I need to make sure my shoes are not too tight (my right foot went numb and I needed to stop to loosen my laces)
- When re-tying my shoes, I need to make sure my sock does not bunch under my foot (I could feel a fold or something under the ball of my right foot the whole rest of the race after adjusting my laces)
- I should definitely pay more attention to what I eat the day before a race (went out for dinner last night, enjoyed my food, but it didn’t like me… I felt ill last night and didn’t feel fantastic this morning.. I actually had a moment in the race where I started to think about what to do if I need to vomit. Luckily, the feeling passed)
- If the weather is above 10C, even if I feel very cold before the start, I do NOT need to wear a jacket (I brought my jacket thinking I would wear just the vest portion and leave the sleeves in the car, then when I got there, I was cold, so I put the sleeves back on and started the race. About 2 km into the race, I needed to take off the jacket and tie it around my waist)’

So, there were mistakes made today, but I still had a good time. I would definitely do this race again.

Camp Day

Today is Camp Day at Tim Hortons, a day where all proceeds from coffee sales go towards sending kids to the Tim Horton Children's Foundation Camp.

I bought 2 extra large coffees today :)

And I participated in the Camp Day Run, which was put on by Running Room and Tim Hortons. I did a 10 km route in the rain, which ended at Tim Hortons where treats of Yogurt & Berries and prizes were waiting.

Even though it was quite a wet run, it was still enjoyable and it was nice to know that running in my soaking wet Camp Day cotton t-shirt spread maybe just maybe sparked some people’s attention and perhaps they went to Timmies to donate or to buy a coffee.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 10 km
Weather: 20 C, rain.

Whew! I made it!

No walls jumped out in front of me today. My hand was safe and sound. I did, however, see a suspicious looking banana peel on the sidewalk… avoided it like the plague!

Today’s Run:
Distance: 10 km
Weather: 9 C, sunny, very little wind

Better late than never

I was supposed to do a 10 km easy run yesterday, but I put it off to today after looking at the weather forecast. Yesterday was not the nicest of weather and today was 13 C and sunny. Not too difficult a decision to make to postpone my run to today (I didn’t have another run scheduled for today anyway).

I went for my 10K run after work today. It was nice calm weather and the sun was still out. It  was a nice evening for a run. I estimated what I thought might be a nice 10K route without looking at any maps online and it turned out to be the perfect distance, which was fantastic. I reached my distance when I was just a couple houses away from being back home.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 10 km
Weather: 13 C, sunny, just a little wind

Raising funds for KidsAbility Centre for Child Development

On May 3rd, I am running a 10 km road race, raising funds for KidsAbility and Rotary Children's Charities.

To donate, please visit the link below:
https://www.onlineregistrations.ca/mudppledges/searchconfirm.php?lname=Zandbergen&fname=Vicki

KidsAbility aims to help children and young adults with developmental, physical and communication disabilities. The Centre provides services to children from birth to eighteen years of age. Services may be provided in homes, childcare agencies, schools and community settings.

KidsAbility is committed to playing a significant role within the children's services system. As we influence, and are influenced by, this children's services system, we vigorously pursue the our mission to empower children and youth with special needs to realize their full potential.