Waterfront Half 2013 Recap

7th half marathon in the bag!

I had a lot of mixed feelings going into this race. Hip strain + spotty training for 6 weeks did not put me in the best spot to run 21km.

I got a ride down to the starting area with a friend than hung out in my office for a bit to keep warm. Met up with my running room clinic and we headed to the start line together.

I still had some hopes for hitting my 2:30 half so I positioned myself between the 2:30 continuous and 2:30 10/1 pace bunnies. After standing around for quite sometime we were finally off. When my foot hit the starting mat, I told myself that I'm going to finish no matter what.

The first 7K flew by. I was feeling good, chatting with people from my clinic, cheering everytime I passed a course marker. I was about 2 minutes ahead of my pace band for a 2:30 finish.

Heading onto the Lakeshore, my hip started tightening up. I stopped a couple of times to stretch it out a bit. I turned on my music for a bit of motivation (no idea what I was thinking when I put together my race playlist. Had to keep skipping songs). Still about 1 minute ahead of my pace band.

Kilometre 17 is where everything started going downhill. My hip went from tight to painful. My right glute hurt, my whole quad hurt. My hamstring started cramping up. I must have been overcompensating for my right hip so the left side started hurting. I went from 10/1's down to 5/1's with the occassional road side pigeon pose thrown in to help loosen things up. I debated stopping, but I was so close to the end, I wanted to finish. And really, if I had stopped, I would have still had to walk back to the finish anyway to meet my husband and get the subway home so may as well get a medal.

Smiling through the pain

Alternating between running and limping, I made my way up Bay Street. The crowd support along the way was what kept me going and in relatively good spirits. I just wanted to finish.

Happy to be done! Can't believe I purchased an overpriced race photo!

I finished at 2:33:44, 42 seconds behind my half marathon PR. I'm happy because I did that on an injured leg. But at the same time, I'm frustrated cause I could have crushed my 2:30 goal on a good leg. Oh well.

I stopped off at the medical tent for some ice and a chiropractor tried to loosen my leg up a bit. Limped my way to the subway and back home.

Despite not having the race I wanted, I had a really great time. The atmosphere was amazing, so much energy. The spectators were great, the race was so well organized.

 I'm disappointed that I didn't reach my goal this year of a 2:30 half marathon, but I've got big plans for 2014 so it will come.

Niagara Falls Women's Half Marathon

Half marathon number 6 done. I didn't hit any either of my time goals so no new PR for me, but I'm okay with that.

Saturday morning, the husband and I headed out to Niagara Falls. Our first stop was race kit pick up which was very quick and well organized. Besides the usual shirt (which I quite like) and bib, there was a bunch of health & beauty products and best of all, a bottle of wine. Big improvement on the race kits (if you can call it that) from Goodlife and Sporting Life.







After picking up all of my goodies, I stood in line for a bit to meet Kathrine Switzer. She spent a good couple of minutes with everyone, asking about their race goals, whether this was their first half or not, taking photos, signing bibs and books. She greeted everyone with a big hug and just made everyone feel special.

Ready to go.

Sunday morning, we drove over to the starting area (conveniently the same spot as packet pick up and lots of parking).

The much advertised "classy" porta potties.

Tents were set up. Tables out with linen tablecloths (all very civilized). Great announcer getting everyone pumped.

The start line was a bit disorganized. They asked all of the runners to get into the starting area 15 minutes before the race started and line up appropriately. They did have signs for finishing times (sub 2, 2-3:30, 2:30 - 3, 3+), but I don't think they were spaced out enough so runners were just getting in wherever they could. Than they brought a marching band through the starting area which was kind of fun, but everyone had to move to the sides.

 The organization was also just left up to the runners which I don't think is ever a good idea. The crowds weren't huge (1700 runners & walkers) but once I crossed the start line, people on one side of me took off and people on the other kept walking.

I looked for the 2:30 pace bunny and none was to be found. Their Facebook page listed bunnies for 2:30, 2:45 and 3 but I only saw the 2:15 bunny and the two 2hr bunnies. I'm not having good luck with pace bunnies.

Katherine Switzer gave a little pep talk, we did the wave a couple of times, high fived our neighbours and were off!

Yay! Happy!

The course was quite pretty, all along the Niagara Falls Boulevard, the falls and the Niagara River.

Very flat, just a couple of little inclines.










Running by the falls was nice with the cooling mist.

It was pretty hot, very humid and quite windy. Not my favourite running conditions. My right leg started hurting early on and I just felt kind of groggy for most of the race.

The course is an out and back that takes about 7km followed by another (longer) out and back. This would have been a fun race to do with a bunch of friends cause you would see each other a couple of times along the course. The race leader passed us back of the pack people on the first loop quite early. Everyone was cheering and clapping for her and she actually acknowledge us and gave us some applause too which was really nice.

Coming back to the starting area at 7km, there were quite a few spectators and the marching band from earlier. My husband was out taking pictures. I yelled out to him "this isn't going very good so far! I'm struggling" He told me later that he thought this was the half way mark and I had run 10K in 45 minutes (ha!) so was a bit confused.

The crowds, seeing my husband and getting a high five from Kathrine Switzer gave me a second wind and I was feeling better for the next 4k's.

With the heat and humidity, I was trying my best to stay hydrated. I had my fuel belt on with two bottles and took at least one cup at every water station (either to drink or refill my bottles). Around 15k, I ran out of water in my fuel belt. The next water station was around km 16. They had about 10 cups of powerade out and had run out of water! Not good. Next water station was at km 20 so I took two cups to refill my bottles. They were also handing out timbits which was the most disgusting thing I could imagine eating at that point.

My leg was hurting quite a bit so I was alternating between running and limping. Saw a friend right before turning into the final 200m. Lots of people and cheering in the final stretch. Sorry to say that I didn't finish strong or with my arms in the air. Kind of went out with a whimper.

Looking tired.

Despite feeling cruddy for most of the race, I finished in 2:34:06 making this my second best half and just a minute behind my half marathon PR.

Firemen handed out the medals followed by volunteers handed out cold, wet washcloths (more races should do this). Picked up a bottle of water, powerade, a chocolate milk and snacks in a box (once again, much better than Goodlife and Sporting Life).

Besides the water issue and the start line disorganization, I really liked this race.
The course was scenic, the swag was good. The runners seemed very encouraging of each other. The volunteers were very enthusiastic. One interesting note - the top 3 runners were all over 45, the first place runner in age group 50-54. I would definitely do this race again at some point, probably not next year as I'm determined to make SeaWheeze happen.

Now that this race is done, I have a few weeks off before starting training for the fall. Looking forward to a few weeks of unstructured running and exercise.

Goodlife Toronto Half Marathon 2013

5th Half Marathon done!

I had forgotten that Goodlife is a much smaller race than Scotiabank. 4500 half marathoners at Goodlife versus 9600 at Scotiabank (looked this up). This explains the lack of booths at the expo. It was much smaller than Scotiabanks. I had been hoping to pick up a head band and renew my Canadian Running magazine subscription, but they weren't there and no headbands to be found. I did end up registering though for Midsummer Night's Race 15K (they lured me in with a free hat). Also picked up my "Boston We Run With You" shirt.

Morning of the race was a bit warmer than I would have like. I was wishing that the half marathon was starting at 7:30 with the marathoners, rather than at 8:30.

I took a cab to the start line instead of transit - best decision ever. 15 minutes in a comfy car rather than an hour+ standing on a bus. One of the things I like about Goodlife - it starts at Mel Lastman Square and the North York Civic Centre is open (indoor washrooms!!).

I made my way out to the start and watched for the 2:30 pace bunny. Finally found her 3 minutes before the race started. There was about 10 or so people following her.

We started out down Yonge Street at a good pace, especially considering we were dodging walkers (start corrals would have been nice). Looking at my splits, we were averaging 6:30/km so a bit quicker than needed. The group voted to speed walk up the wonderful hill that is Hogg's Hollow at the 4K mark. We lost part of the group at that point.

Took photo while running - didn't really work.

Around 6km in, our pace bunny had to pull out due to hip pain. Those that were still with her tried to stick together to keep the right pace. This worked out for the most part, but my whole strategy of "stick with the 2:30 pace bunny" left me completely unprepared. I didn't have 10/1's going on my garmin so I had to either wait for someone else to call the intervals or check my watch. I didn't have a pace band on so was trying to do math in my head while running to figure out the splits. Lesson 1 - BE PREPARED.

Still feeling good and enjoying the run down Yonge Street. Really enjoyed running down Rosedale Valley Road.

I started slowing down right after turning on Bayview, around 14K. Rosedale Valley Road had lovely trees making for a nice shady run. Bayview = bright hot sun. Not fun. My pace slowed down considerably. Was very much ready to be done.

Only smiling because I saw the camera.

My garmin was all over the place along Wellington and Front Street. Sometimes I would hit the route markers before my watch clocked them, sometimes after.

I was apparently running in a zig zag formation. It kept auto pausing. Lesson 2 - TURN OFF AUTO PAUSE.

I was very happy to turn down Bathurst than along Lakeshore to the finish line. This was really the only place other than the start line that had a good amount of spectators. I already knew that I wasn't going to make my 2:30 goal so just wanted to get in under 2:35.

Chip time: 2:33:03
Pace: 7:16/km
Previous Half Marathon PR: 2:37:50
Previous Half Pace: 7:29/km

After the race - grabbed a banana, some water and some chocolate milk. Managed to get my bag quickly once I found the bag check. Did some stretching by the water.

Watched the marathoners coming in.

 Managed to grab a TTC bus easily to Union Station.

 Even though I didn't hit my goal, I still improved by time by almost 5 minutes.  I also felt amazing for the first 13km. I really enjoyed running with the pace group for most of the race and I love the Goodlife course.

Toronto Goodlife Half Marathon Goals

My fifth Half Marathon!

I'm excited going into Sunday's race. I think I trained well for the most part and I'm definitely a better runner now than when I started my training in January.

Each of my half marathons have gotten progressively better.

My goals for this race:

A+. Sub 2:30.

A. 2hr 30minutes. 8 minutes off my current PR at a pace of 7:07/km.

B. 2hr 35 minutes. Still a PR at a more reasonable pace of 7:23/km

C. New PR. Honestly, I'll be kind of disappointed with this but if I'm not having a good race, I'll take what I can get.

Since I have serious issues pacing myself, I'm going to stick with the 2:30 pace rabbit as much as possible. My biggest issue is always starting too fast and slowing down substantially during the second half. If I'm feeling good after sticking with the pace bunny, I'll speed it up a bit towards the end.

My mantra for Sunday.

Weather should be good and I'm looking forward to the downhill course and running along Rosedale Valley Road (my favourite stretch from last year). If anyone is out tomorrow, look for me and say hi! I'm wearing a blue shirt and a white hat.

Waterfront Half Marathon 2012

I sat down to write a post about my goal's for Sunday's half, but maybe I should get the recaps from my last one up first.

Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon
October 14 2012
Goal Time: 2hr 30
Chip Time: 2:37:50

This is going to be super short considering this race happened almost 7 months ago.

I went into this race with the time goal of 2 hrs 30 minutes. My previous half time had been 2:40:27 in May so this was a bit of a stretch. My training leading up to the race had been okay, not great.

I had signed up for this race to raise money for the Arthritis Research Foundation - a cause near and dear to my heart. SWTM was going to be my 15th race and my 4th half marathon and I wanted to help others with arthritis who can't do this kinds of things. I ended up raising $1000 for the foundation which I'm very proud of.

Race morning was rainy and kind of chilly. One of my favourite things about SWTM is that it starts right in front of my workplace, so I stay inside as long as I can.

I stated off pretty good, maybe a bit quick. I ran 5's/1's. The race course had been changed since the previous year, running up University and Yonge to Bloor, making it's way over to Bathurst before heading down to the water. I really liked the course changes as there was more to look at.

I felt pretty good until around kilometre 15 or so when my hip starting acting up on me. I pretty much alternated between a slow run and a limp for the last 6k.

Limping 

I pretty much gave up on my time goal and just wanted to get it done. My main thought for the last few kilometres - "I have $1000 worth of support behind me. I can do this."

Happy to be done!

I did hit a new PR of 2:37:50 but this definitely wasn't a strong race for me. My biggest take away was that I need to vary my training more, work on strengthening my hip and increasing the run part of my run/walk intervals.  

Toronto Women's Half 2012

This past Sunday, I ran the Toronto Women's Half Marathon. My 3rd half marathon and my 6th event in this series.

I arrived at the Park about an hour before the start time. I mostly hung around the bag check area trying to find Jennie. Gave up as there were too many people there and got into the start corral. Managed to find Jennie and Lyndsay right before we started.

We ran 5/1's together for the first part of the race. It was fun having people to talk to and made the time go by.  We split off around the 9km mark or so. I needed to slow down my pace a bit. I threw in my earphones and turned on my nano and continued on.

I had set my garmin for 8 repeats of 5/1's which wasn't really going to work for 21km. I ended up resetting it about an hour into the race and again about 10 minutes later. So I was kind of running blind for the last hour and a half. I had no idea how long I had been running or where my overall pace was at. I only had the route markers to tell me how far I'd run. It was kind of refreshing. I just ran at a pace that felt good, walked when I needed to and hoped for the best.

While I really enjoy the park setting of all of the TO Women's races, the narrow paths are a bit bothersome. Often got stuck behind other slower runners because the path wasn't wide enough to go by them.

I started struggling a bit around kilometre 13. Just felt very tired both mentally and physically. I ate a bunch of chomps and drank as much water as possible and struggled on.

Around 19km, I passed the chocolate station where volunteers were handing out cadbury thins. The thought of chocolate at that point was disgusting. I took one and managed to fold it up small enough to stuff into my fuel belt. Was much more enjoyable later in the day.

I was very happy to get to the last leg of this race. I saw Jennie near the end and she cheered me on to the finish and I managed to pick my pace up for the last bit and finish strong. My chip time was 2:40:27 so I met my goal of a 2:40 half and beat my PR by 3 minutes.Yay!

Overall, very happy to finish my third half marathon and three races in a month.

Things I liked about the Toronto Women's Half:

• Size - running a smaller race was nice after the 20,000 people at Sporting Life
• Finishers necklace - while I love a giant medal, I like being able to wear my necklace around.
• Park Setting
• Lots of inspiring women runners
• Running with friends
• The friendliest volunteers that I've encountered at any race

Things that could be improved:

• More water stations. I think there were 5 stations. I think at least 2 more would be good. Thankfully ran with 4 bottles on my fuel belt.
• Narrow pathways that are open to the public

TO Women’s Half Goals

3 races in 4 weeks ends tomorrow and I’m ready for a break.

Super excited though for tomorrow. I think that the Toronto Women’s races will also be special for me, cause it’s where I ran my first 5K in August 2010. Tomorrow’s half marathon will be my 6th race in the series.

I’m not expecting huge improvements on my time from the Goodlife Half as it’s only been 4 weeks and I think that the course is going to be a bit tougher (ie. not downhill) and the weather is probably not going to be as perfect as it was for Goodlife.

Goals:

A – 2:40 finish. This would be a bit of a push, but if I pick up the pace during the second half of the race, might be manageable.

B – 2:43 finish (same as Goodlife). Based on my 10K time from two weeks ago, various running calculators put me at 2:43.

C- Finish with a smile.

Toronto Goodlife Half Marathon

Finally getting to my recap of last Sunday's half marathon. Figure I need to get on it as I just picked up my race kit tomorrow for this Sunday's 10K!

Sunday's weather was absolutely perfect and I woke up feeling excited and ready to run. And it was my birthday! As a birthday present, my husband drove me up to the start line at Mel Lastman square. The marathon started an hour before the half, and it was just started as we arrived. Made me a bit emotional watching them start.

The North York civic centre was open (including the washrooms) which was great. It wasn't cold out, but it was nice to get inside for a bit.

I made my way out to the start line and found the 2:40 pace bunny. There weren't any corrals which could have been annoying, but it seemed to work out alright. considering there was about 5000 runners.

I quickly lost the pace bunny and kept at 4-1 run/walk intervals. Yonge street was a bit hilly but it was fun running under the 401, by all the stores, along some of the route that I'll be on again at the Sporting Life 10K.

I was moving at a decent pace for the first half of the race. My garmin was a bit off, but I hit the 5K marker around 36 minutes in (my 5K PR is 36:23) and the 10K marker at 1:13 (my 10K PR is around an 1:19:50) so I knew that I was en track to beating my previous half marathon time of 2hrs 50 minutes.

We stayed on Yonge Street until just north of Bloor and turned down Rosedale Valley Road which was beautiful! No spectators, but tree lined sstretch of road.

I started getting tired around 14K and my 4/1's turned more into 3/1's, then 2/1's, then 1/1's, but I kept going. Turning onto the last stretch onto Lakeshore Blvd, I got a second (maybe 4th) wind and was able to come in strong.











My parents and husband were on the sidelines. I saw them a ways out and was waving my arms in the air. They almost missed me, but may have gotten a picture or two (they did! Just added them to this post).

I finished with the official time of 2:43:40 which was a full 7 minutes off last October's half. I'm very happy with this, especially considering that I didn't run at all between March 28th and April 18th due to my stress fracture.

Met my parents and my husband who were all "Happy Birthday". I was like "oh yeah, it's my birthday!" Completely forgot about that while I was out on the course.

Things I liked about the Goodlife Half:

• Start at the civic centre - being able to go inside
• The shirt - I think it's my new favourite
• The course - I loved the course. Largely downhill which probably helped with my time and through some great areas of the city.
• The finish line - I really liked finishing by Ontario Pace (rather than on Bay street like at the Waterfront Half). More room to meet people, stretch. Prettier being out by the water. No stupid little hill right at the end. This was a change from the usual course (normally finishes at Queen's Park) but I hope they keep it the same next year.
• Giant medal

Things I didn't like or could be improved:

• The Waterfront marathon seemed to have more spectators and music along the course.
• Could have used more water stations. They seemed to be spaced out quite a bit at the later parts of the course so I was happy to have my fuel belt on.
• Start corrals. They weren't necessarily needed, but I always think they're a good idea.
• The bib was really big. I've compared it to my other bibs and it's an inch bigger top to bottom which was annoying. I have a short torso and with my fuel belt on, pinning it took a couple of tries.

Overall, it was a great first race of the year and I'm looking forward to the next one which is in two days!

Big Medal

 Finished in 2:43:40 so met my goal of finishing anywhere in the 2:40's. 7 minutes off my previous half marathon PR. Recap to come soon.

Ready… (I hope)

Despite a few set backs (stress fracture, cold, chest cough), I’m super excited for tomorrow.


Half marathon day and it’s my birthday! And I kind of love this shirt.*

I don’t have huge expectations for tomorrow. With my lack of training for most of April, the distance is going to be tough. I’m definitely a stronger runner than I was for my first half last October, so I’m hoping that carries me through. I’m thinking of this race as more of a rehearsal for the next half at the end of the month.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a goal in mind. Here are my A, B and C goals.
A – Anywhere under 2hrs 50 minutes for a new PR
B – Similar time as last October – 2 hrs 50 minutes.
C – Just finish.

Off to bed soon to rest up.

*Not wearing this shirt tomorrow.

Spring 2012 – Race Plans

My current plan for the spring is 4 races in 6 weeks. I am registered for all of these so I’m committed.


Toronto Yonge Street 10K on April 22nd.
This is the former Sporting Life 10K, but Canada Running Series and Sporting Life are no longer working together on the race. I registered for this way back in May when the registration was pretty cheap.


Goodlife Fitness Half Marathon on May 6th.
I went back and forth a lot on this race. I wasn’t going to do it because I didn’t want to do 10K, 12K etc in the cold and snow. However, I set a goal last month to take every possible opportunity to enrich my life and decided that this fell into that category. I don’t have high expectations, but I’ll be able to finish. Also, it’s on my 32nd birthday!

Sporting Life 10K on May 13th.
Again, another race I wasn’t going to do, but they were offering a $50 gift card to Sporting Life and registering was $45 so I pretty much made $5! Also, it will be interesting to compare the two 10K’s. They’re both following the same route so the organization will be different.

And finally Toronto Women's Half Marathon on May 27th.
Running Jennie convinced me. I love the Toronto Women’s Runs and will already be through half marathon training so why not?

So that’s the plan for the spring. I was thinking of adding Harry's Spring Run Off into the mix, but maybe not.
Very much looking forward to being done with the cold!

Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon 2011 Recap

3 days later and I'm still collecting my thoughts on my first half marathon. Its kind of a blur.

Pre Race

I got up at 5:30 which ended up being about 20 minutes too early. Had a shower to wake up, ate a bagel with jam and juice for breakfast. Headed off for the blue line buses to get downtown. Noticed other runners on the bus which was fun.

Conveniently, the start line was directly outside of one of the locations I work at so I hung out inside. No porta potties or bag check for me (thank goodness cause the bag check situation turned into a two hour nightmare for a lot of people). Filled my water belt, called my husband to say hello, ate a cliff bar.

I headed out to the start corrals twenty minutes before the start and thankfully I allowed myself a bit of time as I went completely the wrong way and ended up walking around for 15 minutes to get to my proper corral.

I hate being in start corrals by myself, but I just took the time to take in the whole atmosphere. I was chilly in my t-shirt. Next time I need to bring a throwaway sweater.

Race

Being in the slowest corral, it was 15 minutes after the official start that I finally crossed the start line. There was a good crowd along the first stretch which was fun.

I was super pumped up and on a bit of a adrenaline high for the first three kilometres. I loved running down front street as I normally walk that route to go to work.

I hit the 5km mark in 40 minutes so I knew I was on my 8min/km pace.

Around 8km, my left hip starting hurting during my walk breaks.

I was super happy to reach the turnaround point around 12km at Windermere. Turns out one of my staff was around there but I didn't see her.

The volunteers and spectators were great. I enjoyed the signs along the course and the encouragement from random people at the side of the road.

I walked up every hill to conserve energy and I walked between kilometre 19 and 21. My hip was hurting, my feet hurt, my right knee felt wonky. I had a cup of Gatorade at the last water stop and that gave me a bit of energy.

When I turned onto Bay street, I was determined the run the rest of the way. I took out my earphones so I could hear the crowds and get the full experience.  I saw my parents and my husband around the 300 metres to go mark. They were yelling and waving.

This is when I started to get emotional. I started thinking how when I started running in March 2010, 3 km was super tough and all I wanted to do was get to my first 5km race. I remembered limping the 10 minute walk to the subway station in 2008 when my arthritis was at its worse. I thought about how happy I was when I got the okay to start working out again in 2009 and I was able to get on an exercise bike for 15 minutes at a time. And here I am now, about to finish my first half marathon.

I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 2hrs 50 minutes and 45 seconds. Not a great time for most people but I'm super proud of it. Got my medal, picked up a bottle of water, a bagel and a bottle of Gatorade. Saw the ridiculous crowds at bag check and snuck out through an opening in the fence. Found my family and headed home.

I loved every minute of this race. It was tough, the food selection at the finish line was lame and the weather wasn't ideal but it's always going to be one of the highlights of my life.