Saturday: Lindsay and I went down in the afternoon and arrived at the Expo. Honestly...it wasn't horrible but I was expecting a bit more. Quite a few local running stores selling Winter gear for 50% off. There were some Race booths as well which I always enjoy looking at...
Speaking of Races: While there I did Register for the Mid-Summer Nights 30km!! I loved this race last year and it fits in perfectly with training for a fall Marathon...They have THE BEST SWAG as well!
We relaxed by looking at some of the vendors(I looked but no purchases) then checked into our Hotel in Oakville. The hubs was in TO for the weekend for Work so it was nice that we could crash together (love saving money)...He was such a great morning support...he got up with me and Lindsay and headed to Tim Horton's to get us from fresh Bagels to go with our Peanut Butter!! :)
Saturday we went shopping at Mountain Equipment Co-op where I was able to get some bike accessories...more to come on this later...it involves me giving up my parking space at work...
We said goodbye to the hubby and then went to East Side Mario's for Pasta Dinner....It was yummy and a great carbo load! We rested and watched TV for the remainder of the night and watched the weather Chanel a few million times....It sounds like most people struggled with what to wear!
7am Wake up: AWESOME! Loved being able to sleep in...so great...I honestly could not decide what to wear. They were saying with the windchill it could have felt like -18 out there...I should have worn different pants and maybe ditched the jacket for a vest...who knows...at times I was boiling and then other times I felt the wind....just one of those tough days all around!
9:30am: Start....I put myself with the 3:15:00 Pace Bunny...he was doing 10:1's which I planned on doing...all was good for about a KM....he was going VERY speedy then when you hit a water stop he would slow down...I brought my own water and easily could power walk the water stations and knew I would try and use mine for as long as possible...Aid stations were every 5km...
My current 30km PR is 3:09:53 at Mid-Summer Nights Run....I was in great running shape and it was a FLAT course...I was not going for speed this race...I was really hoping to finish under 3:22:00...
I started to get a head of the pace bunny...At this point I felt really steady and just wanted to keep going...I thought I might regret it later but I just went with it!
1-5km...Felt great...Lots of navigating around Runners
5-10km...Feeling strong here...I took my first and only Chocolate GU at 8km....It was a nice treat but as usual my stomach felt "funny:...I decided not to risk anything and just stuck to Water and G2...
The next 10km were a blur...I felt like I was on Auto-Pilot....My pace slowed a bit but I wasn't concerned as I knew the hills would be coming at around the 20km mark...At the 20km I took a salt tab for the first time ever...I loved it...I totally felt better and plan on using these a bit more during training and especially for Chicago!
The Hills: They came...there were a few challenging ones but I just kept going...The nice things about these hills are that they are "Rolling"...I honestly felt like I got a bit of a break on the down-hill..
26km had the HUGE HILL that everyone talks about...before the race I had thought about walking part of it...I did...I ran the first half...took a 15 second break then ran a bit more then power walked to the top...It was a great game plan for me...at the top I felt great...I didn't loose my pace and just gave'r until the finish line....
I passed a few friends who were super encouraging(both running and on the side lines)....and ran right into Copps Colosseum
(Not my Photo)
My Finish Time: 3:12:43 Not too shabby!!!
I wasn't sure if I was going to "RACE" yesterday but my time and my how my legs are feeling today sure let me know that I did! I was really proud of how yesterday went...It was very auto-pilot...I can't remember a lot about the course...I do know I enjoyed it...and just felt pretty darn good...I am sore today...but in a good way...
It also let me know that I am ready...I am ready for May 15, 2011...I am ready to Run...
I wasn't going to run this race....or a full marathon this spring...An opportunity came up to run it and I thought..."Why Not?"...I was too scared initially to register...I was so worried that my training...although I have a lot of KM under my belt didn't feel "quality like"....yesterday changed that for me...I had a great race with a great time on a challenging route with challenging weather....The next few weeks are going to be busy...but I am so excited!!!!
Overall I cannot wait to do this Race Again...the route was great, the volunteers were wonderful...the runners were so awesome! I can understand why this is the oldest run in North America!!!
