Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Around the Bay 30K Race Report

After a late night on Saturday, Sunday morning's alarm came early. Actually, it didn't come at all. Hubs apparently slept through it, but fortunately woke up in time - 15 minutes before we had planned to leave! Oops! At that moment, I was very relieved not to be racing this one or I would have been stressed to the max. Instead, I frantically calmly got ready as quickly as possible and made breakfast to eat on the way. We hit the road just 25 minutes after waking up. (I usually like to be up 1.5 hours before leaving the house for a long run or race.)

It took us an hour or so to get to the site and we found some close and cheap parking. After making a quick pit stop and assessing the weather (COLD! it was about -10C/14F at this point), we bundled up for to run a few miles before the race. We just ran a simple out-and-back that conveniently included one more pit stop so we could avoid the crazy lines at Copps Coliseum (race HQ).

Thankfully it seemed to warm-up considerably and it was turning out to be a beautiful sunny morning. We made a quick wardrobe change at the car and headed to the Coliseum. I was able to meet up with Quinton and it was awesome to catch-up briefly and exchange some good lucks. Q went on to kill it, so make sure you check out his report if you haven't already. (Unfortunately I failed to take a picture! Boo!)

I did take a pic of the finishing area inside the Coliseum.



Pretty soon it was time to meet Juliana and I quickly realized that we had not decided on a very wise meeting place. It was so crowded and impossible to find anyone. I sent hubs on his way and continued scouring the crowds. I waited as long as I could before I had to join the sea of runners heading to the starting line. I managed to bump into a bunch of others from my training group and my first question was: "Has anyone seen Juliana?" Most of them had seen her earlier, but no such luck in tracking her down. I stuck with my friends and was relieved that at least I knew I would have some company.

We snapped some pics amidst the crowds while waiting for the start.



Finally, we were off! Without making an official decision as to who I would run with, I settled in with my friends W and G. We had started as a larger group, but quickly separated in the masses of people. It was extremely crowded (which I remembered from last year) so we were doing quite a bit of weaving as W and G tried to find their pace. We were taking one-minute walk breaks every 15, at this point. We leap-frogged with several others from our group along the way and it was fun seeing everyone. I took advantage of having my camera and snapped their photos when I could.

The majority of the first half looked like this:



With the sun beaming down on us, it was heating up fast. There were articles of clothing strewn all over the road and I was really glad to have ditched a layer at the last minute, but I was still very warm.

I had decided not to carry my own fluids since I was already carrying the camera as well as my cell phone. The water stations were unfortunately pretty difficult to navigate; for the most part, they were only set up on one side of the road and weren't nearly long enough. They always seemed to come out of nowhere and I had to squeeze my way through traffic in order to grab a cup, losing W and G in the process (they were carrying water). I would then speed through the crowds to catch up again - impromptu fartlek training!


As we approached the half way mark, W started pulling ahead. G had stopped talking and I could tell that she was having a bit of a hard time, so I decided to hang back with her.

We crossed over the famous canal bridge where the footing was interesting.




We were finally enjoying some views of the water so I took it all in while trying to keep G's spirits up by pointing out this or that.




G continued to struggle but we were working our way through the miles. I was more thirsty than usual and going through water like crazy, so at each aid station I would run ahead to get her a refill and fruit when it was available. It felt good to have a mission!

I knew the toughest part of the course was coming and G was slowing down, but she hung in there and we tackled on kilometre at a time.



The biggest hills comes around 26K and the race is pretty famous for it. This guy is there every year dancing, high-fiving and blasting Queen at the base of the hill.




At the top of the hill, the grim reapers await, right alongside the cemetery. (How appropriate!) The one in front claimed that she doesn't show up in pictures. ;)




After that, we just had a few K to go and it was all flat or gradually downhill. G was pushing as hard as she could to keep going, even though she was not feeling well at all. She was having hot and cold flashes at this point, so I gently asked her not to pass out so I wouldn't have to carry her the rest of the way. I was counting down the K's and telling her "just 15 more minutes and you get to stop!" I don't know if I was helping or not, but I have definitely been there and I know it would have sucked more to be alone.

She hung in there and pretty soon we made the turn back into the Coliseum for the big finish.



Official Stats:

Chip time: 2:55:44.9
2968/5878 Overall
128/192 M25-29 (oops, apparently I registered myself as a man)

After collecting medals & food, I started making my way upstairs to the Coliseum seating area where hubs and I had agreed to meet. The place is a zoo so it was a good thing we had decided on a very specific spot. On the way up the escalator, I randomly bumped into Alex who I have not seen in forever! After squealing like little girls and sharing a hug, it was great to catch up for a few minutes.

Still no luck in meeting Laura, even though we are always at the same races. She's like Polkaroo.



We had a great showing from my training group, with several PRs and strong races. I was admittedly jealous seeing everyone's excellent results, but it was very rewarding to see my friends reaching their goals. I ran very comfortably, had a lot of fun and racked up some quality time on my feet - exactly what I set out to achieve.

But next year? This course is mine!




38 comments:

Kerrie said...

I'm sure having you there helped a lot! At the Mercer Island Half, Zoe was a huge help to me when I was dying during the last 5K.

Great report!

Running Ricig said...

hahahahah I just cracked up when you said you registered as a man! AWESOME

misszippy said...

Great job! that looks like a tough course...perfect training to make you even stronger for the marathon!

Heather said...

Great chronicles of the course and under 3 hours is awesome. Love the pictures. I ended at 3:18 with 10 and 1s but had an 'interesting' experience on this particular race: http://themoosepyjamachronicles.blogspot.com/2011/03/it-happens-around-bay.html

ShutUpandRun said...

Great job and nice picture tour!! I am still laughing your registerd yourself as a man, that's something I would do.

Nice of them to put a hill at 26K

chris mcpeake said...

great report! Way to stick with your plan which is much harder then it seems (I totally didnt stick with mine).

kristen said...

It is hard to run a race without racing- yay for you! (and glad you didn't miss it!)
And I loved the Polka dot door reference :)

Anonymous said...

even tho u were not racing, u still did a great job. and hving u as a pacer was prolly very good for ur friend.
i mightbe out there next year too!

great race report!

Quinton J said...

As always...it is wonderful to see you at races. Yeah...we completely forgot to snap proof. Next time for sure. Good luck with your training over the next month. I'll call Hazel and tell her to look the F' out because you and the hubby are on your way to blaze that race.

Steel Springs said...

What a great race/training run! That's a fun way to get in a few hours of running. I'm sure your friend loved that you were there to keep her going. It's so funny that you registered as a male!

Jill said...

Ah, sounds like a really fun race with all your friends. And you got to meet Q - how fun is THAT!!!

Johann said...

Great run and report, well done! I like that photo of the finish area. I have never finished any race indoors.

Anonymous said...

ahhhh!!! loved seeing you too! my boyfriend was asking about the race and I said, 'it was great, but even better, I SAW MARLENE!!'

total girl.

Jen Feeny said...

So many fun things about this race, the grim reapers at the cemetery, running across that bride, and the big finish in the coliseum?!?! Love it! Can't wait to see what you do when you race it next year!!! See you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Well, on the plus side you chicked a lot of men - without even racing it. Great report.

Runners Fuel said...

Looks tough. Great job!! Those grim reapers would have freaked me out.

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner said...

Every time I register for a race I triple-check every category. I have a fear of registering myself as a man or in the wrong age division, etc. Um, those Grim reapers are scary!

Laura said...

Nice job and great recap.
I like to think of myself more as stealth than polkaroo. :)
Problem is you are always wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy at the front and I am wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy at the back.

Tricia said...

great job supporting friends and getting in a training run

Emily said...

i also love that you registered as a man. hilarious. seriously stellar training run from you. you're going to be SO strong for your full!

Amy said...

Nice job on the non-race race! Sounds like fun!

Denise said...

i would have cried at the site of the grim reaper. i can't stand scary costumes!

now you know the course even better and can tear it up next year!

Sandy said...

Congrats on the race. Too funny that you registered yourself as a man!!!

J said...

Great race girl! You did so well! Sometimes I wish we could "race" every race and not use them as training runs because it stinks when you happen to be in good shape but have a target race so you don't want to run really fast and hurt yourself! Its such a tough thing! I have a race this weekend (15k) and I want to race it but I know I shouldn't!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

BUMMER that you could not find your friend :( Sounds like you helped your other buddy through a tough day.. I hate it when I feel thirsty the whole race.. I want to go water free at Boston but I am SCARED!!

Jess said...

Odd question, but what's a "polkaroo"? A Canadian kangaroo? ;)

Nice job on the race and pacing your friend so diligently!

Gotta Run..... said...

It can be SO HARD to hold back when all you want to do it take off. Smart girl. So glad you enjoyed the time on your feet :)

Char said...

It sounds like you were smart to do this as just a training run - with all the congestion at the start it would have been really stressful. And when are you planning on having the gender reassignment surgery? ;)

Anonymous said...

Always so smart about choosing when not to race, but just get in some good miles with friends :) Glad you and G pulled through together - it's tough to have those days, but we've ALL been there, which is why only runners understand runners!!

And um, Polkaroo?? heh

ajh said...

Sounds like you helped out a friend.

Lindsay said...

i hope next year you set 2+ alarms... ;)

we already knew this, but you are a great friend for pacing your other friends!

Nicole said...

WAHOooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!


CANT WAIT!!!

MARLENE HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EndorphinBuzz said...

Looks like a cold day! G is lucky to have had you as a pacer / coach / supporter. You still did a pretty good time, good work!

Being Robinson said...

that looks like a fun race. the chicago marathon has those same kind of grates you have to run over. fun stuff!

Unknown said...

Great pictures, I love the blue skies!
Nice job putting in the miles and for having such a great attitude over all! You are always like that, I love it!!

Richelle said...

Great race! I'm sure G was really thankful to have you by her side. Too funny about the gender mix-up!

Mark said...

Great report...looks like such a good race! A great training run!!

Cory Reese said...

Great race report! Love reading your blog.