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#	Date	Member	--	Location	Type
1	Apr-18 2024	bunsontherun	0.0km	Northhill GYMVMT	M-S 0930-1030 Full Throttle Flex with Crescent Patton 4 Stations, 6 Activities Per Station, 55 Secs Per Activity
2	Apr-17 2024	bunsontherun	8.2km	Calgary/Glenmore Landing	Run A little more walking then running and I blame it on what I was listening to on Spotify. Normally Conan O'Brien needs a friend is comical and fun, but the interview with Goldie Hawn was a much more serious and interesting fare. As I did not want to miss too much, I spent more time focusing on listening rather than concentrating on my run. After run had social visits with three groups, including Jan V who was proudly wearing her Boston Marathon 5 K Community Run Medal, Boston Marathon Medal and now her Abbott 6 Star Medal.
3	Apr-16 2024	bunsontherun	0.0km	Northhill GYMVMT	M-S 1630-1730 Muscle Pump with Elisa Choi
4	Apr-15 2024	bunsontherun	0.0km	Northhill GYMVMT	M-S 1630-1730 Muscle Pump with Sara Stewart
5	Apr-14 2024	bunsontherun	10.1km	Calgary/Lakeview Loop	Run I was a little exhausted in this run after doing circuit training class yesterday morning and a walk in the afternoon. Further both my knees were a little sore and I could not shake it off. Oh well, still got out for a workout.
6	Apr-13 2024	Slacker	1.0km	Terrys Loop, Canatara Park	Run
7	Apr-13 2024	Slacker	5.1km	Canatara Park to Casino	Run
8	Apr-10 2024	Slacker	7.0km	Confederation, Telfer Rd.	Run
9	Apr-13 2024	bunsontherun	5.2km	Calgary/Riverbend/Ca rburn Park	Run
10	Apr-13 2024	bunsontherun	0.0km	Northhill GYMVMT	M-S 0900-1000 Full Throttle Flex with Crescent Patton 4 Stations, 6 Activities per Station, 50 Secs per Station

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My Race Results

QuickChick Race Results

Total Races	42	5K	8	8K	1	10K	7	Half Marathon	11	Marathon	3
Personal Bests		5K	21:42	8K	39:45	10K	42:43	Half Marathon	1:39:01	Marathon	3:51:56

Change order by clicking on red column name. Weather linked to Race Location name.

Race	Location	Date	Distance	Bib	Chip Time	Gun Time	Pace	Overall Pos.	Gender Pos.	Category	Category Pos.	Note
2015
Digby scallop days 5k		Aug-7-15	5.00 km		21:42		4:21					Second place
Annapolis royal fun run		Aug-1-15	4.00 km			17:03	4:16
Perth kilt run		Jun-20-15	8.00 km		39:45		4:59					Hoooootttt!!
yonge st 10k		Apr-19-15	10.00 km		44:37		4:28
2012
BEER MILE	East York CI	Jun-15-12	1.61 km			08:49	5:29	4/8 50%	1/2 50%			Canadian, from can. This may be my new sport.
sporting life 10K		May-13-12	10.00 km		47:45		4:47					Great first 5k, then felt awful, either allergies or iron, I don't know. Wanted to take a nap!
Yonge St 10K		Apr-22-12	10.00 km	44
Hair of the Dog	Beach	Jan-1-12	9.00 km		43:13		4:49					Was fourth woman, could've been third for sure if I hadn't missed the start, and prob better if I had less fun last night. :) Not even half marathon pace, but it was a good time!!
2011
Waterfront Half Marathon	Toronto	Oct-16-11	21.10 km		1:41:10		4:48					Wore shorts, t-shirt, armwarmers. 10-13 degrees, wind out of west. Perfect amount of clothing! Felt very strong almost the whole way.
Yorkville 5K		Sep-18-11	5.00 km		22:32	22:32	4:31
Dartmouth Natal Day 2 Miler		Aug-1-11	3.20 km		14:33		4:33					Man this one sucked- hot and hilly, and legs were really dead from the race I WON two days earlier. Oh well. :)
Annapolis Royal Fun Run	Annapolis Royal NS	Jul-30-11	3.90 km		16:34		4:15					I WON!! :) :) :)
Heydenshore Hoedown 5k	whitby	Jul-23-11	5.00 km		23:05	23:05	4:37
Bread and Honey 15k	Streetsville	Jun-5-11	15.00 km		1:13:32	1:13:45	4:55	100/446 22%	13/225 6%	F30-34	2/39 5%
Sporting Life 10K	Toronto	May-1-11	10.00 km	1316	45:15		4:32	1207/12157 10%	206/6926 3%	F30-34	44/1250 4%
2010
Hearth Place 5k on the runway	Oshawa	Oct-24-10	5.00 km		22:07	22:07	4:26	13	2	F30-39	1/41 2%	Comeback race after 2-month lapse in real training. Used as a benchmark. Ran without a watch, not sure I'd do that again. I felt like I was really racing, not thinking about splits, etc. I am motivated again!
Midsummer Nights Run 15K	Toronto	Aug-21-10	15.00 km		1:10:28		4:42	68/1138 6%	20/798 3%	F30-39	12/227 5%
Heydenshore Hoedown 5K		Jul-23-10	5.00 km		21:46	21:50	4:22	11/204 5%	4/157 3%	F30-34	1/26 4%	Heydenshore Hoedown 5K... This was a fairly small race in Whitby. It appealed to me because a) it was in the evening, b) it was a weeknight, and c) they gave out cowboy hats. So, I rounded up a few Runpubbers and we made the trip out. I warmed up for almost 5K with Pat and our friend Susan. Pat was going to help Susan try to break 20 minutes. I was seriously nervous, and since Susan is faster than I am I kept second guessing myself, feeling like I couldn't keep up (in the warmup!!), etc. My parents came, which was great, but which also added a bit to my pre-race nerves (what if I crash and burn?!). I haven't felt that nervous in awhile. Pat summed it up perfectly- the course was decent (not totally flat but easier than the other two I did this year), it was not 40 degrees (it was muggy, though... but not bad)... I had no excuses for not doing well. Yup, pretty much. So the gun goes off and there's actually some jostling at the start! A couple girls tried to push by me and I stood my ground and wouldn't let them. They felt my elbows just a bit. I was running pretty much at the front, trying to guage what other girls I could reasonably hang with/pass. There were probably 6 girls in front of me. I passed one at about 1km and didn't see her again, and two more just before the turnaround. At about the 3km mark, I hear this pleading whine behind me, "Baby, I can't do it". There was a girl on my heels, being paced by her boyfriend/husband who was banditting. I don't care so much that he banditted. Pat has done that for me before, and this guy wasn't in anyone's way or anything. What bugged me was that he audibly gave her directions about how to pass me!! I actually heard him say "take her". She surged by me on a hill and her breathing was really, really ragged. I knew I could pass her. At the top of the little hill, before she could recover on the downhill, I passed her hard. She actually let out a whimper! Seriously!! At that point, I was thinking "no girl who whines and cries to her boyfriend on the racecourse is beating me". Yeah I have a bit of a competitive streak!! I pushed as hard as I possibly could and finished in 21:46. Initially I was disappointed, as it was only 3 seconds off my pb. My first km was 4:07 and I didn't look at my watch after that, but I felt like I ran as hard as I could the whole time. I was definitely at my redline and I actually thought I was going to get a significant pb. Oh well. I am happy that I ran tough and raced it hard. I'll have to do another one, I guess. Who knows... maybe on a cooler night I could've run 1 second per km faster... that would've done it. I got happier with my result, as well, when the list of finishers was posted and I saw that I was the fourth woman and first in my age group! I wish that the course had been straighter (it was almost all curves) as the second and third place women were about 20 seconds ahead of me. I didn't see them at all, though. I gave it all I had so I probably wouldn't have caught them, but it may have given me the seconds I needed for a pb. Our other group members did great too- Susan was the first woman overall, Leo was the first men's master, and Jacqueline was the 3d woman overall in the 10K and first in her age group! What a great night. :)
Utica Boilermaker	Utica New York	Jul-11-10	15.00 km		1:11:18		4:46	1569/11529 14%	242/5115 5%	F30-34	37/736 5%
OTMH Classic 5K	Oakville	Jun-20-10	5.00 km		22:09	22:09	4:26	42/462 9%	4/205 2%	F30-34	1/24 4%	I was really hoping for (kind of expecting) a pb at this race- my pb is from last year- 21:43, and I paced it terribly!! I had heard today's race was flat and fast, and I've been running well lately. Today's race was NOT flat (2 short steep-ish hills in the first 2K)... and I wasn't too fast- just didn't feel like I was able to get to redline pace. I'm not sure why- I guess I should be doing more speed workouts (fast short stuff), and it was also hot. Also, I felt like I was thinking more about racing with the people around me than I was about my splits. I was in a small pack pretty much the whole race and I wasn't getting passed by a lot of people, and I think maybe if I had been I would've had more incentive to push. I did push hard when I heard a girl come up behind me at about 4K, though, and I'm thrilled that I did because I won my age group by 2 seconds! I am also happy that I didn't feel any huge bonk at 3K the way I have at the other two races I've done. I think I slowed down in the last 2K, but not as badly as I did at the Good Friday race. The km markers today were a bit off, I think- I was at 8:04 at 2K and 13:04 at 3K. My 3K time trial on Wednesday was at 12:48, which is about 21:20 pace. I didn't see the 1K marker, and I forgot to press split at 4. My finish time was 22:09, which I'm not thrilled with (but the AG win softens the blow! LOL), but at least it's faster than I was in April. The course was certified, so I know I ran 5K. HOWEVER... I was so impressed with this race when we got there... best race kit EVER (candy! toys!), no portopotty lines, tons of volunteers, fast registration. However, they unfortunately weren't the best with the really important stuff... when I got to 4K, a guy beside me asked if we turned right or went straight. I replied "Right, I think" as I had seen people in front of me go right. He said "I don't think so- I'm pretty sure we go straight". We went straight, and sure enough 200m down the road (we measured in the car after) there was a "5K run" sign with an arrow pointing right. As I crossed the street where people in front had gone right, the girl who had been at the front of our little pack was turning around to get back on the right course. She ended up finishing behind me (I was 4th woman, but I should've been 5th as that girl broke away from me at about 2.5K). So I ended up running 5K, and I think the people behind me did as well (it was less spread out) but the first 20 or so runners ran 4.6. There's a big gap in the results between about 19 and 22 minutes. This is totally inexcusable to me- mess up the food, or start your awards late, or give me less stuff in my race kit or no shirt, but DON'T mess up the freaking course marshalling. It didn't end up mattering in the overall awards or in my age group (the woman who should've been 4th was not in my age group), but I would've been PISSED if I had run, say, 20:40, thought it was a massive pb, and found out it was only 4.6km. They had a 1K race and a 3K race today as well- too many racecourses in one small area. The area that the lead runners accidentally cut off had pylons on the road and definitely looked like it was legit, but it was part of the 3K course. Anyway, I guess I have to do another 5K. I KNOW I can run 21 or at least in the low 21's. I know I can hit 20:xx before long. It's not far out of reach with the right day and pacing. A group of us is going to start 2 speed workouts a week, so that'll help I know. I would like to find a 5K that is actually flat, and preferably one in the evening. I have no problem hitting half marathon/15K pace in the morning, but I think I would do better at that redline pace at an evening race as that's when I normally do speed workouts, and that's when I feel the best. Dave just checked and there's one on July 23 in Whitby at 7pm, with a free bbq, beer and wine after. Sold. At least if it's flat- haha. My next race is the Utica Boilermaker. I'm happy with my half marathon and 15K pb's this spring. I have gained good strength at my tempo pace. I have work to do at the shorter distances, and that's going to be what I'll do this summer. Hopefully at least one or two 5K's and 10K's. Then I have the Waterfront Half and the Toronto Half in the fall, which will hopefully show the work I've put in on speed!
Bread and Honey 15K	Streetsville	Jun-6-10	15.00 km	436	1:08:15	1:08:24	4:33	72/374 19%	12/177 7%	F30-34	3/26 12%	Bread and Honey 15K, June 6 I wasn't planning to do this race. I was registered for the NCM 10K, but then got super sick the Thursday before and had to bail. I was on antibiotics until this past Thursday, and even as late as Wed night I noticed that my body was NOT happy pushing the pace during a speed workout, and bailed. I ran again Thurs and Friday though, fairly short, and Friday I felt great so I decided I'd give it a go today. I've never really raced 15K- I've done the Boilermaker twice, but I've never really raced it (once I was coming off an injury, the second time was recovering from anemia) so I had no real idea what time or pace to run for 15K. I figured I'd just go out hard, about as hard as I would in a half, and try to pass as many people as I could! And... that's pretty much what I did. I missed the first few km markers so I don't know all my splits. I know I was at 7:22 where there was a mile marker, and I was at 46:30 for 10K (slower than my 10K split in Mississauga). I figured I'd be around 1:10 ish at that point, as my Mississauga 15K split was 1:09:37, but I picked it up in the last 5K apparently... I finished at 1:08:15! This was a fantastic race. I loved the course- it was not exactly hilly, but not flat either, and it really gave my legs a good amount of variety. There is one section with a really long out and back, and it was cool to count how many women were ahead of me. It was really motivating to try to make up placements. This one girl was ahead of me till about 8K- she was running really strong. I tried surging for a few seconds at a time to catch her, but it took awhile. Finally I got her and thought she was gone, but she appeared at my shoulder at about 13! "No you di-ent" I thought to myself, and surged ahead. She sprinted by me at about 14 and I thought that was it, but I guess she surged too hard and she slowed down again. I passed her at about 14.2 and gunned it for the finish. Of course at the end we did the whole "You pushed me the whole race! No, you totally pushed me! Good job! Yeah, good job!" like total girly girls- ha ha. It was great though- I know she got me an extra few seconds at least! I love smaller races where you can race people like that, and not just the clock. In terms of how I felt, I would say I felt more like I was running a half- I picked it up from about 12K because I was thinking to myself "hmmm, do I feel too good?". I was definitely done at the end, but it felt great pretty much the whole way. I was pushing hard, but it didn't feel pukey or brutal the way a 5K or 10K does. I think this may be my new favourite distance- it's like a half where you get to stop before it really hurts! LOL. Or maybe I should've gone faster? Maybe it should've felt more like a 10K? I don't know. I'm happy anyway! I ended up 12 out of 177 women, and 3d in my age group... but the first two were the first overall women so I got bumped to first in 30-34! I was really thrilled to see that the first two were so far ahead of me- I hate when I know I probably could've passed someone if I had just picked it up that little bit. So while I was joking that I "fake won", I feel like I won among the "non-elites"! So... I guess this means that my runs are going to have to get faster now. My pace today was 4:33/km- I'd like to see if I could hold that pace for a half by the fall. My next race is a 5K on Fathers Day- not sure which one. There's one in Oakville that Bryan was mentioning, and there's also one in Mississauga, and one in Brampton. Time to turn it up with some shorter intervals to sharpen up that faster speed! Then, of course, comes the Boilermaker 15K. It is WAY, WAY harder than today's race... if I can be the same time with a month of training, or even within a minute, I'll be happy.
Mississauga Half Marathon	Mississauga	May-16-10	21.10 km		1:39:01		4:42	373/4914 8%	63/2821 2%	F30-34	15/428 4%	MISSISSAUGA HALF MARATHON... The first race report that involves no "poor me" whining!! ;) I decided to do this one about 10 days ago after a great Runpub run (and a couple glasses of wine). I am so glad I did! I've done decent training- 45-60km per week including two decent (20-22km) long runs since Montreal, a 10K race, and a few decent tempo runs. Oh, and one good interval session. Things are finally starting to come together! It was a perfect day to race today- probably 12 degrees at race time, sunny, a bit of wind at our backs. The Mississauga course is ideal for me as I'm a strong downhill runner. I got to the start with very little time to spare (Gardiner closed!! Major portapotty lines!!), but that was a good thing- less time to stress. No warmup, but that turned out to be fine. I actually ran with an ipod, which I haven't done in a race for awhile. Basically a few of my really breakthrough runs have been to good playlists, so I figured I'd bring it. Again, good decision. I don't think I needed it for the first hour-ish, but I know it helped in the last 8K or so. My race plan, which was Pat's idea, was to do 4:30-4:45 splits. Just aim for that window and see what happened. No goal numbers per se (although I was hoping for under 1:40), no pacebands, and I didn't look at most of my splits during the run. That course is FAST. My splits for the first few km... 4:36, 4:39, 4:38, 4:27, 4:18... 22:41 for the first 5K! I felt all fast b/c I was running with the 3:10 group!! Then they took off and I was running with the 3:15 group, which STILL made me feel good... till I realized- whoa, that's pretty darn close to the pace I was going for. Holy crap that's fast. Put it out of your mind. The next 5K were great- lots of downhill with one SMALL hill just before 8K. 9:16 (2km), 4:49 (hill), 4:21 (downhill!), 4:44 (starting to climb a bit to the only real hill at 10K... I think there was a water stop here too?). 10K split was 45:53! Hopefully that bodes well for at least breaking this year's Sporting Life time in Ottawa (I'm thinking it'll be a tough go if it's hot). 10-15km were where I first started to slow down just a bit... the 3:15 group turned away at 12K or so, and while I was a bit relieved that they disappeared before they had gotten too far out of reach, I didn't have them as a "beacon" anymore. 4:55 (hill), 4:34, 4:39, 9:34 (2km)- 15K split 1:09:37. Hopefully THIS bodes well for sub-1:10 at the Utica Boilermaker 15K (hard course) Kilometres 15-18 were done in 14:22, and then my last three are 5:02, 5:03 and 4:58 (1100m). Finish time: 1:39:01!! I used the Powerbar gel blasts- 2 at 6K, 2 at about 9K, and then I sort of just grazed and had one every 2K or so with my last one at 19. They were GREAT. Every time I would get a bit tired I'd pop one and think to myself that I'd had my "rocket fuel". LOL. They don't stick in your teeth, and they taste like sour gummy worms. I think they really made a difference- I didn't fade as badly as I did in Montreal. Running with music helped towards the end- several times I focused on running to the beat and it allowed me to speed up. All the songs on my playlist were chosen because they were close to a 90/180 bpm cadence. Oh, and the racing flats were great! My new Nike Lunar Racer 2s are a 9 (I usually take an 8 1/2) and they were MUCH more comfortable throughout the race than my old ones were last year in Ottawa. I am now fully behind wearing flats for a half provided they've got room! Overall this was a great race for me because not only am I thrilled with my time (even though probably two longer strides somewhere in there would've given me 1:38:xx), but I know I can improve. I need to continue doing my long runs and the tempo work I've been doing so that my last 5K are stronger. My next half will likely be the Waterfront half in September, unless something super fun comes up in the summer, and who knows? I'm sure there's at least a minute or two that can come off.
Sporting Life 10K	Toronto	May-2-10	10.00 km	1238	44:24		4:27	913/11901 8%	132/6684 2%	F30-34	25/1222 2%	Sporting Life 10K RACE REPORT... Last year this was such a breakthrough race for me. I ran faster than I ever thought I could (42:43), and it really kicked me into a new gear training-wise. However, all year I had this nagging feeling that it had been a fluke... silly I know, but all my other race times have not lived up to that one. What was different about that race... perfect weather? NO expectations or pressure? Who knows. It felt incredible the whole time- I gutted it out for maybe a km, but it just felt great to be running so fast. This time... not so much!! We got to the race area at about 7:20, and easily took care of all the necessary pre-race business. I found myself with a solid half hour to warm up, and not feeling at all stressed. I ended up warming up about 15 minutes with some strides. The race felt hard right from the gun. The first 4K were pretty good- 4:11, 4:05, 4:20, 4:18. Then it started to feel incredibly hard. I was red-lining the whole time, and getting slower. My 5K split was 4:40 for 21:37. Then... 4:31, 4:32, 4:43. Ouch. I was able to pick it up just a bit in the last 2K, which I'm glad about anyway- 4:39 and 4:23 were my last two splits. In the last km a guy next to me answered his cellphone, which threw me into a bit of a rage and made me run faster for part of that km. I did not look at my watch at all and I'm glad, as I was really disappointed with my final time of 44:24. I felt like puking at the end and so because of that and because I was disappointed, I had a bit of a sucky teary-eyed walk of shame through the chute. Then I saw a shirtless angel who told me very earnestly that he had heard the course was 800m long. LOL. That's all I needed- I laughed and pretty much immediately felt better. Pretty much all our group was a minute or two off what they were hoping for as well... I'm not glad about that, but perhaps something was tough about the day that affected all of us. It wasn't really hot, about 20, but it was sticky and muggy. I'm not sure it really slowed me down all that much as I wasn't particularly overheated- I dumped some water on myself and drank some at both stations, though, where last year I didn't even consider taking any. Now I have to figure out what to do next. Where did that 2:19 go? I'm about the same weight I was last year, but I'm going to be more careful till NCM and see if I can drop a couple pounds. This year I feel like I've been running better than I was before last year's SL race. I've definitely been doing more fast running. I have much less endurance base than I did last year, which I mentioned in my 21KMtl report. However, I certainly have enough base that I should be able to run a strong 10K. Overall I feel like I'm fitter this year than I was last year at this time, but my race results aren't showing that at all. I don't feel like I've been that wimpy- I've really suffered in my races and mostly pushed through it, so other than a few km in Montreal I don't feel like I've been a suck- I've run really hard. Some progression runs would be a good thing, as I've been fading really badly so far this year. Some more speed work, also. I had a great workout last week (6 x 1500) but before that my last V02 max workout had been St. Patricks Day. I've been doing OK for tempo runs, and I guess those will help too. I may... MAY do the Mississauga half on May 16. It'll depend on whether I feel like I'm running well in the next couple of weeks, and whether I can improve my time from Montreal. I'll keep you posted. I'm totally on the fence. Any ideas/opinions about whether you think this is a good idea or a bad idea are welcome. Ottawa could be hot, and it's not QUITE as easy a course, so I think my goal for Ottawa will be to better my SL time from THIS year. Or just run like hell. Maybe that's a better goal. Big shout-out to Pat Menzies for being a great pacer. As always he quietly just stayed a bit ahead, and said something nice every few minutes. He thought we were going to be doing 4:12/km, but was very nice when we discovered that wasn't going to happen. :)
21K Montreal	Montreal	Apr-18-10	21.10 km		1:43:04		4:54	624/2092 30%	80/742 11%	F30-34	17/125 14%	I wasn't really sure what to expect for this one- my long runs have been decent but not terribly long, with my longest being 22km, and I haven't done a ton of speedwork- only a hard 20/hard 15 run the Wed after the 5K, and a couple decent tempo runs home from work. My tempo pace has been 4:40-4:45, so I hoped that on a good day, this would be a realistic estimate of my half marathon pace. This morning I made a few gambles... #1 being my wardrobe choice of a tank top, arm warmers and shorts. It started to pour pretty much as soon as we started running, and it was cold. I was actually OK for the first 16km or so- I was cold but not uncomfortable. The last 5, I was pretty miserable and wished I had worn another layer. Gamble #2- I started out at my estimated half marathon pace. I figured I would rather start out optimistically and flame out than start out slower. I don't regret this decision, but it didn't pay off either. I felt pretty strong at the start- I was not exactly comfortable, but not uncomfortable either. Lorne blew by at 2K or so and I just knew he was going to be way ahead of his 1:40 goal!! He was on fire and I was so happy to see that. Jeffery and I ran for a bit and chatted, which was great. Heather caught up to me at 2km or so and we hung together leapfrogging back and forth till 13 or so. Then I started to feel the effects of my lack of mileage/long runs/speedwork, and I started to slow down. I stayed fairly focused and tried to keep pushing, but I just kept fading. I tried thinking about the first 16km as "the first race" and the last 5K as the second race, and tried to call on my pain tolerance from Good Friday to get me through the last 5K. It was different though- my lungs were OK (whereas in the Good Friday 5K I was gasping)- it was my legs that I just couldn't motivate! I'm not sure honestly how much was mental and how much was physical. I was feeling more and more uncomfortable and cold as the race went on. At about 16km we must've switched directions or something, as I really noticed the wind and I felt like I was getting even wetter. I did NOT walk (I walked a couple times in Ottawa when I ran my half PB) so that's good, and I feel like I tried my best, but I'm afraid I could've done better from about 13km (when I lost Heather and Jeffery) and the end. I didn't push myself to keep up with Heather when she pressed forward, and unfortunately I have to admit I just didn't believe I had the speed to do it- I resigned myself to the fact that she was faster and thought I would flame out. Perhaps I did have the speed and I wimped out, I don't know, but honestly I have to say I need to work on both my physical strength but also my mental strength. I finished at 1:43:04, which is 1:02 slower than my pb from last year. This isn't great, but it isn't awful either- I'm not really bummed out, but I'm not super happy either. I know my pb last year came after more long runs, more speed, and a confidence-boosting huge 10K pb, so 1 minute off isn't that bad. I'm running better right now than I was last year, though, so I was really hoping for better. Oh well. I may do the half in Mississauga, or I may just try to really bring it in the Sporting Life, Ottawa and the Boilermaker and save another half for summertime or early fall. We'll see. I know I'm capable of sub 1:40, or at least faster than 1:42- it'll just take a few more weeks of training. My splits... 1- 4:39 2- 4:41 3- 4:34 4- 4:54 5-6 9:45 (2km) 7- 4:51 8- 4:44 9- 4:55 10- 4:53 11- 4:49 12- 4:43 13- 4:50 14- 4:47 15- 5:05 16- 5:11 17- 4:51 18-19- 10:23 (2km) 20-finish 10:25 (2.1 km)
Good Friday 5k	Burlington	Apr-2-10	5.00 km		22:12		4:27	99/471 21%	19/236 8%	F30-34	6/63 10%	I had done 4 weeks of interval work leading up to this, and my long runs have just recently hit 20K on the weekends. I've recently started running home from work again. So basically I feel like I've been "training" normally for about a month after my brutal injury-ravaged fall and recovery winter period. I figured this would be a good litmus test for where I'm at, and I didn't want my "get back on the horse" race after Waterfront to be a half-marathon. My pb is 21:43 from last year- I was in my best shape at that point, doing frequent interval work. It's the only 5K I had ever run, though, and I paced it terribly. So yesterday I wasn't really expecting a pb, but I didn't rule it out either. We got to the race start and I quickly realized that this wasn't "nice friendly Chilly Half" Burlington streets, but "Around the Bay" Burlington. Those who have run the Burlington part of ATB will know what that means. I did about 13-15 minutes of running before the race, including a few strides. I probably should've done more but the washroom line was brutal. Next time I'll leave myself even more time. I decided to run without looking at my watch, which was a really good plan and something I'll do in 5K/10K races in the future. My goal was just to run as hard as I could the whole time, without being able to talk. I totally ran by perceived exertion. First km- started out feeling pretty good, not too fast right away, but a good downhill towards the end, so started out fast. 4:02. Second km- BIG BIG hill!! Like, at least half the kilometre! I just kept the exertion steady... 4:33. Glad I didn't look! Third km- small rolling hills- it was the toughest km because I had to recover from the big hill without really getting much of a break in terrain. 4:52. Seriously. This is where I know I need to work in the future on my training- more hills. I know more speedwork will make me less liable to slow down as much too. Fourth km- started to pick people off again- 4:27. Fifth km- picking people off, finished strong (nice little 100m or so of downhill at the end)- 4:17. Finished in 22:12. While this isn't a pb and there were some slow splits in there, I'm happy because I did run the whole time feeling like I couldn't talk. My breathing was definitely red-line level. Also I finished strong and like I had nothing left. I feel, actually, like it was at least an equivalent performance to my other race, as the other one was dead flat. I feel like a pb is definitely within reach at Emilie's 5K in June- it's a much kinder course and I'll have several more weeks of training/racing under my belt. Now the next task is to get my endurance up for the 21K Mtl! This race doesn't predict a half pb, but whatever. We'll see.
2009
waterfront marathon		Sep-27-09	42.20 km	651		3:58:53	5:40					I apologize in advance if this sounds like a sob story. Truth be told, that's pretty much what I've been doing for the last day. I know it's not the end of the world- I finished, it's just a race, it's not something more than that. However, I still am not really able to talk much about it without breaking down. Here's what happened... the only thing I ask is that please- please- don't say "that's still a great time". No it wasn't... not when you hoped to go 18 minutes faster and when you lost all 18 minutes in the last 10K. Yes I was still under 4 hours, but please keep in mind that the only satisfaction I got from finishing was that I didn't walk off the course. So- my training was stellar. I enjoyed the whole process even though it was really physically draining. There was one week where I was ready to pack it in, but I took a cutback week and was back in the saddle pretty much right awa. Pat Menzies agreed to coach me in the spring, and he was fantastic. He gave me some excellent workouts and advice without making the process more complicated than it needed to be. Basically my training was the "run a lot, run long, run hard, run easy to recover" old school method. I really enjoyed it. I didn't do hill repeats, opting instead to run up some really big hills in most of my long runs and in my weekly runs. Instead of traditional mile or km interval workouts, we did a lot of longer intervals (2 x 15-25 minutes at just faster than half marathon pace, which for me was about 4:30-4:45) and progression runs (say 10-12km, first half at 5:00 ish, last half 4:45 ish). It made a lot of sense for me, as in each of these hard workouts I found myself mentally battling to get through the last little bit, just as you need to in a marathon. Basically I feel like I trained as hard as I could, and I can't really think of what more I could have done this summer to prepare. Fast forward to yesterday. Last weekend, I got a cold, but fought most of it off by Wednesday. I was a bit sinusy till Saturday, but woke up pretty clear-headed yesterday considering I had only gotten about an hour and a half of sleep. I decided I was going to shoot for 3:38, which is a 5:10/km pace (easy math!) and it gave me a bit of a buffer in case I slowed at the end. For the first 25K, I felt absolutely fantastic. I felt like I was holding back just a little bit, as I was always either right on my pace or a few seconds ahead. I hit the half at 1:48:55 and 30K at 2:36, again bang on, and it was starting to feel kind of hard. But, that's normal, I figured. I thought to myself "I have trained for this, I can do this, ignore the fatigue. Your body is telling you to slow down- don't let it". At 32, I was at 2:41:10, still right on, but it was really starting to hurt. Seriously, it was happening that quickly. By 33 I was behind by I forget how much, but several seconds (maybe a minute?). I was suffering. At 35 I realized I had 41 minutes to run 7.2km and I got a bit of a boost, thinking "OK I can do this- just keep going". I picked it up a bit, but not as much as I thought I had. I was suffering more and more- my body just seemed to shut down. At 37, I realized when I saw that I would need to run the last 5.2km in 25 minutes that it was over. It was pretty much a death march from there- my legs hurt so much and were so heavy that I couldn't even pick up my feet. I was doing this horrible shuffle that I am paying for big time today. I began to feel just awful- I felt like I had wimped out, that I just wasn't tough enough. I felt like I had let Pat down, who had been so wonderful all summer, and had run with me many times on an ankle that was practically broken in June. I kept thinking I should be able to just suck it up like he can, but I couldn't. Every time I saw someone I knew, especially people who had come into the city to cheer, or people who had been so excited for me all along, I burst into tears. It was awful- I don't normally complain too much on runs, opting instead to seethe in my head. :) Poor Pat... he deserves a medal for not whacking me one. Worst of all, though, I kept thinking about my best friend Mel, who was waiting for me at the end. She hopped back on the training wagon this summer so we could run Boston together (not a stretch for her), and I had let her down. When I saw her at the 200m to go sign I just broke right down. At this moment in time, I never want to do that again. I really liked training for it, but it was such an emotional hit after putting that much work in, and feeling like there was nothing more that I could've done. The last time I tried to BQ pretty much the exact same thing happened, but it happened earlier. However I had no business trying for 3:40 that time, and I knew it, so I wasn't that upset by my result. This time, my recent 10K, half marathon and 5K races respectively predicted marathon times of 3:20 (ha ha), 3:35 and 3:31, so I honestly thought that I should be able to do it. Maybe I'm just not cut out for racing marathons. I think my next move, after I recover, is going to be to run some shorter races and get some confidence back. If I recover quickly and well enough, I may try to go sub 1:40 at the Hamilton half. Or I may shoot for sub 21 at a 5K in December. So, I know it's not the end of the world... again sorry for the sob story. I still love running and I still love racing. Someday maybe I'll do another marathon, and when I do I'm sure I'll still be shooting for Boston. I still don't think it's unrealistic. It'll probably be awhile, though.
Peachbud 5K	Grimsby ON	Jun-30-09	5.00 km		21:43	21:43	4:21	59/456 13%	15/273 5%	F30-34	2/51 4%
Ottawa Half Marathon	Ottawa	May-24-09	21.10 km		1:42:02		4:51	720/9107 8%	114/5982 2%	F30-34	25/825 3%	This is the sixth time I've done a NCM event, and the third half I've run there. Coming off the Sporting Life 10K, I have to say I felt a bit aggressive going into this race. Predictor sites said anything from 1:34 to 1:38, depending on which site and whether I added a minute to my SL time. My A goal, I will now say, was to fall somewhere within that range. B goal was sub 1:40. C goal was a PB. I got goal C, so that's good. So one night over beers at RunPub, Pat said something about how it would be cool to pace me again to the half. I joked about how I'd sign him up and get him a hotel in a heartbeat if he'd run with me again, and as it turned out he had family in Ottawa and I was able to get him a bib for free (thanks to an RM angel! ). So, he came up with us and ran with me again, which was AWESOME. It is so great to run with someone who is such a good racer and so confident in what needs to be done and when. We started out, um, aggressively between the 1:35 and 1:40 bunnies. Not too fast, I think, but aggressively. It felt hard from 4K on. We lost 1:35 pretty quickly but hung with 1:40 for awhile, till about 10K I think. The hills in Hull over the first 10K, while not huge or terribly steep, were constant and they took a lot out of me. I didn't slow down a lot, but I did lose a couple minutes over the last 10K just based on overall fatigue and the aggressive start. I struggled a lot for pretty much the whole race, but in a good way. This is what I'm most proud of. I raced the. whole. time. And you know what... I can say that if I was on a flatter course, or this or that, I could've achieved one of my other goals, but I honestly think that on this day, on that course, I could not have run one second faster. I pushed from the beginning and I pushed right to the end, to the point that I sorta crashed out at the end and had to be held up for a sec... After a minute or two, though, I was fine. Final stats 1:42:02 chip time Top 3% of my category, top 2% of women, top 8% of the race. I'll take it! Oh, and the shoes. Those shoes are definitely 15K and under shoes. They did make me feel faster, but my feet were not happy campers for the last bit and I got some major callouses today for the pedicurist to shave off! Ew. I don't regret it, though. It was a good experiment.
Sporting Life 10K	Toronto	May-3-09 8:00	10.00 km		42:43		4:17	582/10761 5%	65/5885 1%	F30-34	16/1078 1%	Race of my life!! Pat ran with me and was the king of pacing. :) I'm still in a bit of shock from this morning's race, so I may need to edit this a few times. I had the race of my life!! It was just absolutely perfect. I have been running with the "fast kids" at RunPub the last few weeks, and have been doing speedwork with Pat Menzies. We were talking goals for this race- I said maybe 45-46, he said 43, I said WTF??! Or something like that. He offered to run with me, and seemed so confident in me, that I figured "OK, I'll try to be confident too"! I didn't have a number in mind, though. I decided I would go out with the goal of breathing too hard to talk the whole race and almost but not quite puking. Whatever that number was, I'd be happy with. I checked my watch at 1km, 5km, 7km and at about 9.5km, but tried not to pay too much attention. I did press lap at every km, though (except 6- oops) and my splits were: 4:15, 4:12, 4:11, 4:02, 4:25 (that's, um, a 21:05 5K!), 8:28 (5 and 6), 4:30, 4:27, 4:10. I felt like I was going hard the whole time, but in a good way. I couldn't talk, and I was breathing hard right from the start. I only started to feel a bit like "OK this can end NOW" between 7-9km. I allowed myself a glance at the watch just before the end and saw a 41, and out of nowhere came a finishing kick! Finishing time 42:43, 16th out of 1078 in AG, 65 out of 5885 women. I'm pretty darned happy!! I am so thankful to Pat for his help- he didn't run the race for me of course, but I feel like I wouldn't have gone that hard on my own. It was so great to have him with me helping to let me know that no, I wasn't going too aggressively (especially when I saw the 5km split), I wasn't going to fall over, I wasn't slowing down. I feel much, much more confident now about NCM and of course about the possibility of a BQ. In terms of training, I'm not really doing anything radically different, just running with faster people, and not holding myself back as much. I've really been focusing on form, and I'm no longer low in iron. Other than that... I don't know! The shoes, maybe?
2008
EggNog Jog	Terra Cotta, Ontario	Dec-15-08	10.80 km		57:36	57:36	5:20
Niagara Half Marathon	Niagara Falls (duh)	Oct-26-08 10:00	21.10 km		1:46:04	1:46:00	5:02	235/1456 16%	50/851 6%	F30-34	18/132 14%
Waterfront Half Marathon	Toronto	Sep-28-08 7:30	21.10 km	4837	1:45:48		5:01	808		F30-34	33/568 6%
Utica Boilermaker	Utica, NY	Jul-13-08	15.00 km
NCM Half	Ottawa	May-25-08	21.10 km
Sporting Life 10K	Toronto	May-4-08	10.00 km		49:04		4:55					I was absolutely exhausted from a busy week. I had eaten crappy all week. I hadn't done any speedwork. The fact that I got a pb makes me happy! Lack of training really showed in last 5K which were slower than first 5K. Good start to the season anyway.
21KMtl	Montreal	Apr-20-08	21.10 km
2007
Niagara Falls International Half Marathon	Niagara Falls ON	Oct-28-07	21.10 km		1:47:22		5:06
Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon	Toronto	Sep-30-07	42.20 km	340	3:57:52		5:39
Whitby Mini marathon	Whitby	Jul-29-07	21.10 km		1:51:36		5:18			F25-29	3	Ugh. So hot! Didn't taper at all. Not good.
Utica Boilermaker	Utica, NY	Jul-8-07	15.00 km		1:18:50		5:16					Not very motivated to race today! It was very hot and the course was pretty hilly. It was a lot of fun though, so I focussed more on enjoying myself.
National Capital Marathon	Ottawa ON	May-27-07	42.20 km		3:51:56		5:30					Great race. On pace for 3:45 till 30K, then slowed down. I need to do more LT running.
Chilly Half Marathon	Burlington ON	Mar-4-07	21.10 km		1:47:05		5:05					Great run! Km markings were messed up, or I think I could've pushed harder (I thought I was on a faster pace than I was).

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