A momentary lapse in sanity led to...: March 2009

Sunday, March 29, 2009

ATB 30K

Today was my longest race to date – 30K. I did the 5K version of the Around the Bay last year but decided to go for it and do the full 30K this year.

I haven’t been training nearly as much as I should have been so I was a little scared about this race – the longest I’ve even run at one time prior to today was 24K so doing a full 25% more was a bit of a concern. I have to admit that it was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I made it through and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.

The temperature was perfect (about 4 degrees when we started) but it was raining (pouring, actually, at one point) so that was kind of miserable. It stopped by about the halfway point so at least that was a good thing.

I was doing great up until about the 22-23 km point and that’s where the real hills started. I struggled a bit up until the last km and then really pushed myself.

Since I’ve never done this distance before, my real goal was to finish in under 4 hours without having to call a taxi to get me there and I did it!

Now I just have to decide whether I want to take the next step and do a full marathon or not….

Around the Bay 30K Results

Place: 4617/4915
Bib: 3016
Time: 4:03:45.0
Chip time: 3:58:29.7
Pace: 8:08
Category: F35-39
Category place: 346/371
Gender place: 2154/2295
10K split: 1:20:38
15K split: 2:01:11
20K split: 2:40:23

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Chilly Half Marathon

Today, I ran my second Half Marathon – the Burlington Chilly Half Marathon. And the race lived up to its name – CHILLY!

It was -15 overnight, so when the race was starting at around 10:00am, it was probably around -11, plus there was a windchill. I stayed huddled in the hotel until there was about 10 minutes to go, then ventured out with an extra scarf tied around my face to protect it from the wind. And, of course, as I was heading toward the start line, there was a guy dressed in shorts! I actually saw a few people wearing shorts over the course of the race and seriously questioned their sanity.

I, on the other hand, was fully prepared in my winter tights, long sleeved shirt, sweater and windproof jacket (and gloves, earmuffs and scarf). It wasn’t too cold waiting for the race to start… lots of bodies huddled close together.

We started right at 10:05 (not sure why 10:05 for the start time…) and within 10 minutes, I was nice and toasty. My scarf has a new home on a tree somewhere on New Street – I’m sure some homeless person will appreciate it.

I was really hoping to finish this race in under 2:30. I was only over that in Miami by less than 2 minutes and I figured the conditions were perfect for a new PB – flat, cool, I was feeling good… Things were going great for the first 14km. I hit the halfway mark in 1:13 after not really pushing myself that hard and was planning to continue coasting till about the 16 km mark and then really push it.

Unfortunately, at around the 14km mark, I developed a cramp in the muscle on the outside of my left leg (I believe that would be my glute, but could be wrong). I tried every stretch possible (well, except for the one I should have done) to get rid of it but nothing was working. I was able to continue running, but I stopped 3 separate times to stretch, plus I had to walk way more frequently than I otherwise would have. My pace for the last third of the race was pathetic.

Anyway, I finished in just under 2:35 which, considering the fact that I wanted to stop and sit down at about 19km, isn’t bad. I guess I just wasn’t meant to get under 2:30 today. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I probably didn’t drink as much water yesterday as I should have, so that may have been the problem, or maybe I didn’t drink enough on the course. Regardless, it’s done… on to the next.

The next HM is the Blue Nose in Halifax in May. I’m not even going to try for a PB there, as the course is somewhat hilly. My next big race is the Around the Bay 30K at the end of March. At least there I’m guaranteed a PB since I’ve never done it before!