Mississauga Half Marathon Goals

We visited the expo and picked up our kits yesterday and had a close call when I realized in the parking lot that I no longer had the envelope containing my bib and chip. PANIC! I had set it down at a vendor booth and fortunately it was still there when I went back for it. Phew!

I'm feeling good about the race tomorrow. Hubby drove the route on Friday and reported some pleasant scenery and a slightly downhill course. There are only a few climbs - nothing like the monsters we faced two weeks ago. The weather looks great - about 8C (46F and mainly sunny.

I know I can run 2:00:00.

I think I can run 1:55:00.

I hope I can run something close to 1:50:00.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Good luck to my fellow runners. If you're going to be there, watch for me in my super bright yellow Sporting Life top.

T.G.I.Foto Friday - Half Marathons

It's Foto Friday and with my fifth half marathon coming up this Sunday, I decided to pay a small tribute to my previous four.

September '07: Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon
(first race ever, finishing hand-in-hand with hubby)
2:12:46



March '08: Chilly Half Marathon
2:01:00



November '08: Hamilton Road2Hope Half Marathon
1:58:27



April '09: Hartwell Half Marathon
1:56:16




So far, each race has been a PR. The question is, will the trend continue this weekend?

Happy Friday!

TIART: Salute to Running Moms

With Mother's Day coming up on Sunday, this week's theme for Take it and Run Thursday at the Runners' Lounge is:

Salute to Running Moms. With Mother's Day around the corner, we thought it would be great to have you talk about a running mom who inspires you, makes you laugh, kicks you in the butt when you need it, coaches you, runs with you, brings you water, or just simply runs.

There are some seriously awesome running-blogging-Moms out there who seem to be able to do it all. You never cease to amaze and inspire me! Here are just a few who deserve some extra kudos this Mother's Day. I salute you!

Heather at Junk Miles

Melanie at 2nd Chances

joyRuN

Toni at My Life and Running

Soon-to-be-Mom Jess at 21 Days

Felice at The Happy Runner

Adventure Seeker

MCM Mama

Marci at I Signed Up For This?!

Nancy at Nancy's World

Lisa at Chasin' Bunnies

Carly at Chubby Chicks Run Too

and an honourable mention to my BFF Sarah who keeps starting to run and then getting pregnant. :) She'll be back on the road after Baby Number 3's arrival this summer.

I'm sorry if I missed anyone.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Some business

Big B On The Road is hosting a great contest before he leaves for Shanghai. Drop by to share your ultimate running song for a chance to win a unique prize all the way from China, and don't forget to wish him good luck at the Great Wall Marathon! Contest ends today, so hurry!



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I received two pairs of WrightSocks in the mail this week that I won through a recent Runners' Lounge giveaway. The very first pair of running socks I ever purchased were WrightSocks and I've been a big fan ever since. I find them light and comfy and the best part is, NO BLISTERS!



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Went for a little 5K recovery run (~30 minutes) last night. Legs were a little tired, but no soreness after Sunday's race.

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My marathon clinic instructor returned from Big Sur this week and sent me an email asking about how it's been going these last couple weeks. I excitedly reported my recent PRs, to which he replied "You still need a PR in a full marathon!" I guess I won't be retiring just yet.

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My 4th race in 4 weeks is coming up this weekend: the Mississauga (Half) Marathon. Melanie will be there running her first marathon, so drop by to give her some love! See you at the finish line, Mel! I hope to see fellow bloggers Yumke and Marci out there too, also running the full.

Did I miss anyone?

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Post coming soon with goals for the race.

Sporting Life 10K Race Report

First and foremost, a special thank you to those of you who were able to support my fundraising endeavor with the Sporting Life 10K for Kids With Cancer. With your help, I raised $645 and our team raised almost $18,000. This year's event raised more than $800,000 for Camp Oochigeas.



I had dinner on Saturday evening with my friend Erin and little Nolan as well as some other team members. We had a great time chatting about the race and I picked up my honorary Nolan's Dream Chasers team shirt (see below). I laid out my gear, attached the new single-use chip to my laces and turned in early for a 5:00AM wake-up call.

After our little fiasco with the car keys I was feeling more than a little frazzled when it was time to line up. Fortunately, I was able to push it out of my mind for the duration of the race.

I was seeded in the red corral, 40 to 48 minutes. My official goal was anything sub- 49:10 (last year's time and PR), but had an unofficial goal of 48:00 in my head.

Photo from Canada Running Series

The race was very crowded (10,000+ finishers) but I seemed to have positioned myself correctly and didn’t have to do a lot of weaving (nor did I get passed constantly). I got into a comfortable rhythm and pace quickly.

Photo from Canada Running Series

It was a mild, sunny morning (about 10C/50F to start) and I immediately felt warm in my 3/4 pants and short sleeve top. Shade from the tall buildings lining Yonge Street offered welcome relief in some areas.

It became apparent early on that the GPS signal on my Garmin was poor, likely due to said tall buildings. My watch was ahead by about 20 metres at the first kilometre marker, a couple hundred metres by the half way point and more than one kilometre by the end of the race. Just take a look at this map that it plotted:



I knew I couldn't rely on the Garmin to hold my pace, so I started using it simply to check the time at each kilometre marker. I didn't think to use the lap button until well into the race, so unfortunately I don't have splits. However, I do remember that my 5K time was right around 24 minutes. I thought to myself, just hold on to it.

And I did!

I still felt pretty good through most of the second half, but struggled a bit through the 6th and 7th kilometres (probably because there were no markers [or I missed them] and I had no idea how much farther I had to go). My mouth felt really dry but I skipped all water stations except the last one (km 7-ish?) where I grabbed a cup and took a quick swig.

When I finally saw the 8K flags and glanced at my time, I knew I had a good shot at reaching my goal and held on tight. Soon enough we rounded the bend into Fort York and I gave it all I had, passing several people and gunning it right through the finish line.

Gun time: 48:48
Watch time: 48:03
Chip time: 47:59.6 (made it by a hair!)
4:48/km (7:43/mi)
F25-29: 74/1175 (93.7%)
Gender: 374/5886 (93.6%)
Overall: 1864/10744 (82.7%)

The National Post has video footage of all finishers, but I couldn't spot myself in the sea of people. That might be a good thing; I'm sure it wasn't pretty.



(My speedy hubby finished in 41:27.)

Thanks for reading!

Long day & SL10K Result

• 5:00: wake up, quick breakfast

• 5:30: hit the road, quick stop for water & Gatorade

• 6:15: arrive downtown, park near finish line, cab to the start with other runners

• 7:00: arrive at starting area

• 7:15: realize we left the car keys in the cab (!!!); PANIC!; called cab company (no help)

• 7:30: realize we are going to miss bag check if we don’t hurry

• 7:45: check bag, line up for washrooms

• 7:55: climb through crowds of people to our corral

• 8:00: ran Sporting Life 10K! *

• 9:00: meet up with friends, eat, discuss the car dilemma

• 10:00: ride with friends to pick up spare house key at Mom’s

• 11:00: retrieve spare car keys from home (meanwhile, get a phone call that the cabbie has our keys!)

• 12:00: drive back downtown in other car, call cabbie to arrange key pick-up

• 2:00: finally meet cabbie after a loooong wait

• 2:30: pick up car, drive both cars home

OY VEY! Our day definitely didn’t go exactly as planned. Thankfully, the race did!

*Here’s what you want to know:

Sporting Life 10K
47:59 (PR)
4:48/km
F25-29: 74/1175
Gender: 374/5886

(Hubby ran an incredible 41:27!)

Race report to follow.

Some bullets, some crazy 8's and a little announcement

• Thanks for all the comments on my half marathon; I’m stoked about the PR but can’t help wondering if I can beat it on the 10th at Mississauga...

• More thanks for the concern over my little frostbite incident. I’m happy to report that it’s a lot better now – still pink and warm to the touch, but not stinging much and it didn’t blister. Phew!

• Logged a 5.5K recovery run yesterday to work out the kinks – legs felt pretty good.

• 9.6K tonight at the park where I did most of my long runs last summer.

• Bugs were out in full force – I swallowed a huge mouthful in the first 100m and by the time I finished I had little black specks all over my face. Ew.

• The weather has been seriously awesome. Love it! It's about time.

• Sporting Life 10K coming up this weekend - 13000 runners barrelling down Yonge Street. Can't wait!

• I don't have an official goal, except that I'd like to beat last year's 49:10; we'll see if I have it in me. When I'm running all these back-to-back races, I know I shouldn't be racing all of them.

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Last week Amanda and Heather tagged me (thanks!) for Crazy 8's, so here's some more random info about ME:

8 things to which I'm looking forward
1. a bubble bath and book before bed tonight
2. Dinner with friends on Friday
3. SL10K Sunday
4. New Moon the movie
5. marathon training this summer
6. Hubby's first marathon (November)
7. Christmas in Cuba
8. Walt Disney World and the Goofy Challenge in January '10

8 things I did yesterday
1. grocery shopping on my lunch break
2. started planning our Canada Day BBQ
3. went for a run
4. ate half a tub of hummus (yum)
5. washed the kitchen floor
6. watched The Biggest Loser
7. put away the winter running stuff
8. registered for the Ottawa Half Marathon (see below)

8 things I would like to do
1. take the summer off
2. travel the world
3. win the lottery (this would help with no. 1 and 2)
4. learn to play piano
5. paint our house
6. follow a meal plan every week
7. re-read the Twilight series
8. stop taking blood thinners (2 more weeks)

8 shows I watch
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. Lost
4. The Biggest Loser
5. House
6. 24
7. Amazing Race
8. What Not To Wear

This thing has been going around for a while now, so I won't bother tagging 8 more people... but if you want to play along, please do!

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So what's this I hear about the Ottawa Half Marathon? A group of friends from my running group are staying at someone's cottage for the weekend and I was offered free transportation and accommodations. At first I was just going to go along as part of the support crew, but the race addict inside me couldn't resist the opportunity for another half - especially at the National Capital Race Weekend. So I signed up! I've never even been to Ottawa, so this should be a fun way to see some of the city.