Midsummer Night's Race 15K

My second time running this race and I wanted a bit of redemption from last year. I spent last year's race feeling sick to my stomach, finishing at 1:53:31 with a overall pace of 7:35/km. Like last year, I wanted to use this race to see where I'm at for my fall half marathon. A few weeks ago, my goal time was 1:47 but with the training I've been doing, I decided to go for a 1:45 finish time with pace of 7/km.

My husband and I trekked out to the island. We got down to the ferry docks around 4:15. I figured I had an hour and 15 minutes before the start of the race, that should be enough time. Wrong. Joined the giant line up of racers and waited. And waited some more.

Finally got on a ferry just after 5. I put on my sparkle skirt, pinned on my bib and got my fuel belt on while on the boat. Got off the ferry at 5:28 (feeling really bad for the 30K people who started at 5:30), found one of the girls from my clinic that I was going to run with (she got down to the docks at 5 and managed to get onto the same boat), quick bathroom stop and went on a search for the start line. Some signage on the Island would have been great. Volunteers were directing people over the bridge - half of which had 5K runners coming over it, the over half was mostly blocked by a van. Finally found the start line a couple of minutes after the 15K had started. I had no hope of finding the 1:45 pacer so just got in and went.

Turns out I was smack in the middle of a bunch of walkers so did a whole lot of people dodging for the first kilometre. The paths were generally pretty narrow and there was often runners going in both directions. At one point on the course there was 15K people on the right going one way, 15K people on the left going the other and the 30K bike escort yelling to clear the centre for the 30K leaders. Throw in a bunch of pedestrians, baby strollers, beach goers and some quad bikes for extra fun. Good times.

Yay! I saw a photographer so did crazy "I love running pose/face".

The scenery on the course was beautiful. I do regret that I didn't take any pics on my walk breaks. We hit all kinds of different terrain - pavement, I think there was some gravel, sand, grass and what I am now calling The Boardwalk of Doom. The boardwalk started around the 10K mark and went on for almost 2K. Bouncy wooden route. You would hit a board that looked nice but it would sink an inch or two. I saw one woman just ahead of me trip and cut up her arm. Luckily a bike aid cam to help her pretty quick. Just before the Boardwalk of Doom, volunteers were yelling to watch out for the posts - little series of 3 or 4 posts at the start of the board walk about waist high. Impaling oneself right in the gut at that point in the race would have sucked miserably.


Enough about the course issues - back to my run. I felt really good for the majority of the race. Me and my clinic buddy were keeping up 10 & 1's with an overall pace of just under 7min/km. I did have to stop quickly to retie my shoe as I could feel some blisters forming (they're not pretty). We were hitting the route markers just under where we needed to be for a 1:45 finish. Around 12K I said I'd never felt so good on a race (which was completely true).

Yay! Still hamming it up for the photographer!

Than I hit a bit of a wall just after 13K.

I'm still working on where the wall came from. I probably didn't have enough of my Honeystinger chews. I was drinking mostly nuun and not straight water as my fuel belt bottles had heated up and so my water tasted like plastic (think I'm going to get some new bottles).  Might have been the time of day. Might have been mental, I'm not sure. The mistake I made when I hit the wall was not sticking with my running buddy but taking an extra walk break and telling her to go on. I am regretting that now as I think I could have pushed through it better if I had someone with me.

I kind of struggled through a kilometre. I tried to shake it off, said to myself "just run". I came around the bend and saw the finish and  just needed to get it done.

I managed picked it up for the last 500 metres as I just needed to be done. I crossed the finish strong having no idea where I was with my time goal since my garmin was acting up.

I finished with chip time of 1:45:05 so I'm pretty happy (if only I hadn't stopped to tie my shoe!). Overall pace of 7:01/km This is 30secs/km faster and 8.5 minutes off  of last year. 15 secs/km off my best half marathon time and I still have another 8 weeks to go with my training. I'm feeling confident I can hit my 2:30 half in October.

Post race, the line ups for the ferry were ridiculous so my husband and I went for a drink and some food in the hopes that the line would clear up a bit. Didn't really happen so after a 50 minute wait, we finally got on a boat to leave.

Overall a good night with some snags. I love this event still but if its on the Island again next year, I might skip it.

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.

Sporting Life 10K 2013

I've been collecting my thoughts for a few days on this race. There were a lot of issues, most of which I thankfully didn't experience myself. I've decided that this post is just going to be about my experience with this race. I do encourage people to check out this post (including a very scary video) and this post on Kenny's blog. I'm definitely going to think twice before signing up for this race next year.

Race kit pick up was fine and easy for me. I was getting my kit, plus for two friends. I went on Thursday so not too busy and they still had the full range of shirt sizes. Race kit wasn't very exciting - shirt, bib and a coupon for Sporting Life.

Race morning, I took a quick cab ride over the the starting area. SO MANY PEOPLE! I did manage to find my friends relatively easy (thank goodness for cell phones) and we huddled inside the Running Room for a bit. I had gone back and forth a lot trying to figure out what to wear. I hate being too warm when running so went with a long sleeved top and cropped pants.

I went to check my bag (and cozy hoodie) 15 minutes before we needed to be in the corrals. Encountered a line up which ended up being about 100 people long. They finally ended up opening one of the trucks and my friend chucked my bag in (thankfully didn't lose my keys or metro pass).

With my co-workers. I look happy, but I was cold!

In past years, Sporting Life has been quite strict with making sure everyone is in their proper corrals. Not so much this year. They weren't very well marked and no one was checking bibs. I had no idea whether I was at the front or the back of the purple corral.

Waited, waited, waited some more. We had no idea whether or not the race had started. We slowly inched up to the start and were off - very uneventful.

I was going to run with one of my friends who was aiming for 1hr 8mins but he took off pretty quick. I debated catching up, but decided just to run my own race. Put the ipod in and stuck with my 10/1's.

There were so many people so I did a lot of dodging. People walking 4 across. Lots of pedestrians just stepping out into the street.

Despite the cold start, I was generally happy with my clothing choice for the day. Only cold parts were my hands. I had my hand held water bottle in my right hand - eventually had to switch it to the left when I realized that my fingers were numb and turning purple. What a difference a week makes! The Sunday before, I had been dumping cups of water on my head to cool down!

The main stretch of the race down Yonge Street was fun as always. I was using 7 min/km's to keep pace, and was hitting the race markers well ahead of pace so I knew I was in good shape. I didn't speed up though at any point - I was very worried about doing my normal crash and burn in the second half of the race.

Turned onto Richmond. I tried to speed up a bit running by the opera house in case any co-workers were out. Waved to one of the security guards.

More people dodging going down Peter Street. Almost got hit by a bike as someone was crossing at Front Street. Really needed more coarse marshalls.

Was happy to turn down Bathurst and across the bridge. An earlier finisher was yelling "You're almost there! Just around the corner than you can get a BANANA!!!". I was laughing at that.

Lots of people out in the last stretch on Fort York Boulevard. Saw a sign saying "Thank you for sending her to camp" with a little girl standing under it. Choked me up a bit.

I picked up speed for the last 500 metres and crossed the finish line with my arms in the air.

Can kind of see me - with arms in the air.

 Almost smashed into the back of another runner who had crossed the line and just stopped (not cool).

Finished with a time of 1:07:18, over 5 minutes off my previous 10K PB of 1:12:55. Overall pace of 6:44/km which is my third fastest pace EVER according to garmin connect (faster paces were on a 5K run and a 3.25 run). I ran the first 5K in 33:41 and the second in 33:37 so no crash and burn here! I might have been able to shave a bit of time off if I hadn't been so worried about burning out, but I'm happy that I stayed strong for the whole race.

Post race, had to walk about half a kilometre to get my medal (after stopping for traffic for a few minutes at Fleet Street). Since I had done this the year before, I knew the drill but there wasn't anyone giving instructions at the finish line so it was a mess. Got my medal, managed to find my friends (thankfully carried my cell phone with me), picked up a bagel.

Found what I thought was the giant line for bag pick up - turned out it was for free coffee. Managed to find my bag quickly (no one was really guarding the bags) and got my hoodie. I was sooooo cold so very happy to be in something warm.

While I'm very happy with my race times, I'm not sure if I'll be running Sporting Life next year. The race organizers want to increase the size from 27,000 runners to 30,000 next year. I really don't think they were ready for such large crowds this year so unless there are some major organizational changes, I'll be running Yonge Street 10K instead.

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.

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.  

Harry's Spring Run Off 2013

Goal: 56min 57 secs (7:07/km)

Actual time: 55min 20 secs (6:55/km)

So to start, I'm extremely happy with my time. First time in a race that my pace has been under 7 minutes per kilometre!!

I ran this race with a bunch of my co-workers. 4 of us ran the 8K, 6 people ran the 5.

Pre-race I met up with a couple of daily mile friends. Nice to meet people in person.

I started out the race with one of my co-workers. We originally thought we'd be running similar paces, but I think I was pushing his pace a bit. We both managed the first big uphill on kilometre 3. He ran it, I walked it to save my energy. I think my plan worked out a bit better as he was pretty spent. We split up just after that.

Loved running through the park. Lots of volunteers out yelling encouragement.

The big hill that takes up the last 400m of the course was killer. I ended up walking up it with the intention of running to the finish line. My legs were pretty jellyish even with walking, but ended up crossing the line with arms in the air. Was very happy to have beaten my goal.

My splits for this run:

Km 1: 6:30
Km 2: 6:20
Km 3: 6:23
Km 4: 7:28 (took an extended walk break)
Km 5: 6:28
Km 6: 6:38
Km 7: 7:11
Km 8: 7:34

Clearly I faded towards the end. This was a good reminder for my upcoming  half not to go out too fast. I think I'll stick with the 2:30 10/1 pace bunny to keep me on track.

Happy 8k'ers

Things I liked about this race:

• Swag: medal, great shirt and a beanie!
• Beautiful course
• Well organized
• Not too big
• Easy to get to by transit
• Started at 10! Some of my co-workers were complaining about getting up early but I've never had a race start so late before.
• Great volunteers

Things I didn't like as much:

• Hills!! Need to train better for them next year (will definitely be doing this one again!)

Midsummer Night’s Run - 15K

I shouldn't wait a week before posting a race recap - I'm having troubles remembering things. Eek!

 

Rocked out in my new pink Team Sparkle skirt.

I also covered my upper body and face with various forms of glitter- body glitter, glitter eye shadow and three different eye liners – hot pink, turquoise and glitter. I don’t normally apply make-up specifically for a race, but I was going for a sparkle theme so why not?

Met up with my co-worker that I convinced to sign up for this race. He was a bit freaked out by the distance, but left me in his dust after 10 minutes and finished 10 minutes a head of me.

The course itself was great – flat and scenic. It started off hot, but got cooler as the race went on. My cousin was running the 30K and we passed each other on the course – he picked me up, spun me around, set me down and ran off. Bit disorientating, but a nice on-course boost.

The whole starting a race at 6:45 didn’t well for me – I didn’t eat properly throughout the day and kind of paid for it during my run with stomach cramps. Slowed me down quite a bit and I was ready for the finish line. 

Finished in 1hr 53 at a pace of 7:35/km. I didn’t make any of my time goals, but this was still a better pace than my last half marathon (barely – 7:39/km) so I’m hopeful that a 2.5 hour half is still in my near future, but we’ll see.

At the finish line, we were giving aluminum water bottles and giant medals.

I think if I had run the 30K, I would have been disappointed that all 3 distances (5K, 15K and 30K) were all given the same medals, but I’m okay with it. It’s a serious piece of bling and the biggest medal I have!

Things I liked about this race:

• Course – beautiful. Fabulous views of the sky line.
• Giant medal
• Post race party seemed good, but I wanted to head home so didn’t get any food or drink
• Well organized shuttles that brought me to and from the subway
• Festive atmosphere – loved all of the people dressed up for the fairy theme.

Things not too crazy about:

• Time – need to prepare better for an evening race
• That’s about it.

Will definitely do this race again, maybe with lower expectations and a more elaborate costume.