October Races, part 1: 5K

Fall has arrived for real, it seems, but that wasn't the case for most of the month. We've had unseasonably warm weather in the second half of September and into October. Well, I guess it wasn't unseasonably warm every day, but certainly more days than usual.... and of course.... on race days.

First up, was the Fall Classic 5K on October 15th.

This was a big race for the club (Health and Performance), as we had 70 or so athletes in the race! You can see how well everyone in the club did by reading the H+P recap here. There were some fantastic performances by many of my teammates!

For myself, since I ran the 15K at ENDURrun in 1:02:00, I knew there was no reason I couldn't go sub-20 in this 5K. If I didn't... something either went horribly wrong or I really didn't race it... especially since the course is a net downhill. Enough of a downhill that I would want an * next to my result to indicate that the finish time was aided by the course and not a truly accurate reflection of fitness level/ability on that day. Due to the course, instead of sub-20 as my goal, I had a goal of sub-19:30, and 19:15 in the back of my mind as what I truly wanted to aim for.

So, after that disclaimer.... here's how it went.

I arrived at the shuttle bus location, got onto the bus, sat down, heard another runner talking about their race number.... crap. I forgot mine at home! So.... I got off the bus, back in my car, drove home, grabbed my number, back into the car, back to the shuttle bus, and to the start line location. Luckily, none of this took very long and I was still at the race start at least 45 minute before race start. I went for a warmup jog with Emily and Gillian, did some strides with Gill, then got into the start (I didn't miss it this year, like last year! haha).

The gun went off, and it was a bit of a frustrating start, someone went down, people were all over the place, it was crowded... but it happens. I started 3 or 4 rows from the front, so I can't even imagine what it was like behind us. The race started in the parking lot of a school. Once we got onto the street, it was a lot better, but there were still the usual people here and there that started closer to the front than they probably should have, which made me (and many others) have to dodge runners not to trip over them. Once that was done.... it was great.

I ran hard, but controlled... and I don't really remember a ton about the race itself. I know that I was keeping an eye on some runners that I'm not normally in sight of, which was kind of cool. I tried to not let them get too far away.


The kilometers passed, and I intended to hit lap as I saw each marker, but turns out I completely missed the first one. I hit lap for the first time at the 2km marker.

My splits per the markers were:

1 & 2

7:25 - quicker pace here, but also the most downhill part of the course.

3

3:52

4

4:00

5

3:56

As I was coming around the final corner and could see the finish line clock, and I saw that it still started with 18 (just barely, but still under 19). I  I actually hadn't been paying much attention to pace or time, just ran. I knew I was going to finish in 19-something, but didn't pay any more attention to time or pace than that. I focused on runners that I wanted to reel in, and worked hard to try to do so.

I crossed the finish line with 19:15 on the clock, and a chip time of 19:11. I had achieved my goal and it felt great. Hopefully, I can run around the same time in the spring on an honest course.

After a short cool-down with Sam and Jon, it was time to head to the food and awards area. It was great to see so many people I know place so well in this race. I ended up 8th female, 50th overall, which I was quite happy with.


I don't race a lot of 5Ks, but now that I've run this one well, I think I might do them a tiny bit more often. It's certainly not my race distance of choice, but they can be "fun" from time to time. 

The County Marathon - October 4, 2015

As I mentioned in my last post, my drive to Picton took longer than usual, but I was still there in plenty of time to swing by the Crystal Palace to grab my number, shirt, etc.and to meet up with Pat, his family, and Kyle, who were already having lunch at Coach's Pub just a block or two down the road.

After consuming a wrap and some fries, it was time to head to Barley Days Brewery, which was conveniently on the way to Pat's cottage and was also one of the sponsors of the race. 

Pat and Kyle at Barley Days

After some samples and purchasing some bottles of Wind & Sail Dark Ale (4), Harvest Gold Pale Ale (2), and Snake Bite Apple Ale (1), we headed to the final destination of the day: Pat's cottage. 

Pat's Cottage, on Lake Ontario

 

After getting settled in at the cottage and getting race clothes, etc ready for the morning, Christian (another friend from ENDURrun) and his wife stopped by and we had a pasta dinner. During the conversations that occurred, Christian mentioned that he was just running this marathon to cross October off his list (he's running one every month in 2015), so he didn't care about his finish time... so.. I took this opportunity to suggest that he could run with me if he wanted to. He asked what I was planning to run and I said "sub 3:30"... he said OK. So... it looked like I would have some company!

Dinner time!

After dinner and dessert, there was a bit more chatting and hanging out before heading to bed at a reasonable hour. There were races to run in the morning!

Marathon Morning: 

I got up 5:45ish, poured a cup of coffee and made myself some oatmeal. After eating my breakfast, I hopped in the shower quick, got ready, packed up my car, and then we all drove in a caravan of sorts to the start. My car was staying at the start but the other three cars were being taken to the finish. Pat's daughters (Hunter and Taylor) were running the half and had to be shuttled to the start line from the finish area, so Donna (Pat's wife), Taylor, and Hunter drove their two cars and Kyle's car to the finish. 

The start was at an arena, so there was a lot of space indoors for people to wait and plenty of washrooms. No getting cold standing around before the start... that was definitely nice.

 

 

Bag check was being done right next to the start line, which was also great because you could keep extra clothes on until the last minute. I had arm warmers on, but took them off just before I handed in my bag. Pat had handed out throw away gloves that morning, so I kept those on for the start of the race.

Race Time!
I got ready to line up and noticed a 3:30 pace bunny, so I said to Christian that the bunny is not allowed to pass me, and plopped myself just a little in front of him.

Air horn blew and we were off. I started slightly quick, but not horribly quick and I settled into the pace that I wanted to be in pretty soon after.

Christian didn't start right beside me, but he caught up to me just after the first turn and we ran together for pretty much the rest of the race. 

 

There was an aid station every 2k, which seemed to make the time FLY by. I kept thinking wow... there's another one already? and said things like "we're already at 16K?" It was a great feeling.

 

A Pit Stop..

What I was dreading before the race, happened. I had to make a pit stop. I was thinking about it for a bit and then decided to stop at the 20K aid station to use the port-a-potty. I was in and out in less than a minute, but saw an unfortunate sight when I started running again.... the 3:30 bunny was ahead of me! The pace group had passed me when I was in the john.... I started trying to catch them because I was supposed to be ahead of them! But... then realized what I was doing after a few minutes and thought about it logically. I was running on pace for what I wanted to do, which meant I was running slightly faster than that pace group, which also meant I would catch and pass them eventually. There was no need to try to catch them NOW. So.. I resisted the urge to chase. It was too early in the game.  

I did pass them eventually... it took about 10K to do so.

The rest of the race

Christian stopped a few times on the course to use port-a-potties and to say hi to his wife. This was mentally good for me since it mixed things up and I sort of had a little game of sorts... "how many km until he catches back up to me?" :)

So... the first time he stopped... it was 2km. The second time.. 3k... the final time was over 4. That was around mile 23 or 24... I don't remember exactly, but I know that it was when I decided to push. He mentioned to me after the race that I was pulling away from him up a hill, which was very nice to hear.

 

 

I was extremely focused for the last bit. Not that I lacked focus early on, but I pretty much had tunnel vision for the last 4km. I had a job to do and I was going to haul my ass to that finish line as best I could. 

As I had mentioned to a few people, I had a dream two nights before before the race where I was looking at the race results and my finish time was 3:28:00. My goal for this marathon was sub 3:30, so the time in my dream made sense... and on race day, I crossed the finish line and looked at the time... 3:27:57. My net time was 3:27:52; a new PR by almost four and a half minutes!

My previous best marathon was 3:32:19 at the Buffalo Marathon last year and prior to that, was 3:51:28 at my very first marathon in 2011 (Mississauga).

Back to this year... overall it was just great. The temperature was really good... the wind was a little strong and in a less than ideal direction, but the course was nice and there were more spectators than I expected.

I'm very happy with how I ran my race. I ran smart.

I ran the first half of the race in a little under 1:45 and the second half just under 1:43. It was my very first negative split and it felt good.

Race results can be found here.

My medal - it's in the shape of Prince Edward County

After the race, I enjoyed some Barley Days beer while chatting with some other runners and then watched the awards, where I won a pair of Altra shoes as a draw prize.

After the awards were done, Pat drove me back to my car in Wellington and I headed up to my sister's house to spend the rest of Sunday hanging out and drinking wine. Thanks Alison!

This was one of the best race weekends I've had in a while, since it was truly a race weekend away and not just a race that happened during a regular weekend at home. It was great to stay with runners the night before the race, (Thanks again Pat!) and it was nice to be able to extend my weekend into Monday and not have to drive straight back home on Sunday afternoon. I'm looking forward to having more weekends like this in the future.

ENDURrun Stage 1: The Half Marathon

As usual, I didn’t get to bed as early as I should have last night. I did some running around the house, locating items, gathering items, and packing items to bring to the race. I will make sure to be ready earlier for the remaining stages. At least now that my running stuff is more organized, it’ll be easier to be ready for the rest of the week.

Since stage 1 went better for me in 2011 than it did in 2012, I decided to have the same breakfast today as I did two years ago: a toasted English muffin with peanut butter and a banana as well as a cup of coffee. 

Ed and I pre-race in our ENDURrun swag from 2012 and 2011

I tried to run smart today. It didn’t quite go as planned, as I started quicker than I should have, but I felt like I did regain a fair bit of control and was able to finish strong. I feel as though I ran better than I normally do and had more “left in the tank” at the end of the race than usual. As a bonus, I even ended up with a new half marathon PB of 1:49:59! So far, I do not feel like I overdid it or anything today, but I guess the following stages will reveal whether or not that is true.

First place Ultimate finishers for today were Mark and Catherine, who will have the honour of wearing the gold jerseys tomorrow for the 15K time trial. I sit in 4th place of the ultimate females after stage 1, but anything can happen over the remaining 6 stages.

Now to rest, fuel, recover, and get ready to race in the 15K time trial tomorrow

But first… here are some photos from today’s stage.

New to 2013 – Menu board to specify which items are vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, etc.

Susan, Dave, and Kyle post-race

Thanks for a great morning, everyone. Let’s do it again tomorrow!