PINERY PROVINCIAL PARK ROAD RACE 10K - Runpiker Series

1:12:13 (Garmin) 1:12:43 (Official time)

Pace 7:13 min/km

Wow, what a day! :)

First, I nearly got lost driving up north to Grand Bend and arrived much later than I wanted to, but managed to have enough time to grab my bib, check my bag, and use the porta-potty. :) I hate feeling rushed! :( They started the race 15 minutes later than advertised so I think they did this on purpose, knowing that the race location was unusual and out of the way for the majority of participants (just under 600).

Second, it was the only race where I have experienced runners jostling one another to get ahead. There were several "thread-the-needle" runners and I was surprised to see runners in front of me bump shoulders. Very odd to see at a country casual fun run. :(

Third, holy hills, Batman !%@#$! I knew that I would encounter "hillier" terrain at this race, but did not expect the roller coaster ride hills all the way to the 5K turnaround. This was, by far, the most challenging 10K route I have run. I am very PROUD to say that I ran up every hill (the majority of runners in my running pace zone were walking them). I pumped my arms, I leaned forward, and I focused on closer landmarks to detract from how far away from the top I was ... I couldn't believe how many times I had do that!! :) I was a little concerned with my pace because I knew I had all those hills on the way back to run up again, too.

However, it turns out that I didn't have to worry. I am extremely pleased with my pace. Between the race two weeks ago in Stratford and the race today, I feel very, very good about my upcoming half marathon. I didn't run today with the expectation of a new PR (good thing, too, because of all those damn hills!!), but I was still surprised to see how fast I was running inbetween all those hills. I ran "strong" today and except for slowing down at the water stations (to walk while I drank, my new thing after choking on water while trying to run), I was never sluggish at any time during the run.

So! Even though today was not a PR, I am still feeling very very enthusiastic about my performance today. I received a great black s/s tech shirt as swag and I also received a black l/s Runpiker Series shirt, which is quite nice, too. I did not win any of the great draws :( which include hotel and B&B stays nor did I win any door prizes, but oh well!

Runners got a free egg sandwich and coffee. I ate one and resisted temptation to fast food it on the way home so I could fill up on a protein shake at home. I am currently reading a lot about gluten (my mother and sister have discovered that they are gluten-sensitive), and I am considering a change to my daily diet to reduce the amount of gluten and corn syrup processed foods we use regularly, but no major changes until after the half marathon!

I am going to sleep well tonight !!!!!! :)

SIDE NOTE: My sister killed her last half marathon time today - last year 1:54; this year 1:46. She is elated and should be because that is a huge shaving off her time! It was wonderful to call her cell and talk to her about her race/my race while they were driving home from Toronto. She had a GREAT race day and 1:46 is phenomenal!

FESTIVAL CITY 10K - Runpiker Series - A NEW P.R !!!!!!!!

A big post for a big day !!!!!! :) :) :)

I am THRILLED beyond words. I set a new PR today AND "un"officially achieved a goal I set out for myself. My previous PR for a 10K was 1:12:22. I set it in my first 10K last October in the Halloween Haunting run. This year, I have been in two 10K races so far - Embro 1:14:08 and Ingersoll 1:14:13. I went to the race today hoping to crack 1:14 and crossing my fingers that I would crack 1:12 and set a new PR. The fact that I cracked 1:10 has had me on a huge runner's high all day !!!!!!! One of my favourite races to date!!!!

But back to the beginning ... Stratford is 45-60 minutes away from London so Ben and I decided to make a day of it by going for brunch with friends who live there after my race, which is an extra treat in itself - I really do love having my man with me at these runs! :) We parked at the famous main festival theatre, right by the water with all the ducks and swans, including a gorgeous black swan, before heading to pre-registration. Best swag bag to date with a great tech T, a little Shopper's Drug Mart bag filled with moisturizer, cookies, a SS water bottle and the usual advertisements. :) Off to the washroom, which is the best park washroom I have been in to date and was shocked by how wonderfully hot the the water was for washing hands. How pleasant for a change! Then I was off to the starting line. I noticed how most runners wore shorts and a long sleeved T for the run. I opted to stay in my track pants rather than change into shorts, and I kept my running jacket on over my tech T, but took my hoodie off because I was only using it to keep warm until the start. It was my first time in pants and my jacket of the season so this felt a little odd. We were then off!

It was a slow start as, surprisingly, the people in front of me were slower, almost walking, but eventually the crowd thinned out and "everyone" (so it seemed!) pulled ahead of me. I noticed my pace was faster than usual (but on target for an adrenaline-fueled start), but I kept myself in check. We ran around and down out of the park, and through the parking lot where we had parked earlier.

This is when I saw a sight that warmed my heart tremendously. I saw my Benny running across the soccer field to get to the sideline in time so he could see me again. I tell you, I really do know how lucky I am to have such a sweet soul in my life!! :) I am no fool! I grinned at him and ran up to give him a kiss and thanked him for making the effort. As I ran past, I could hear some women calling out to him, but could not make out what they said because I was wearing my iPod buds. When I asked him later about the exchange, he told me that a group of older women had laughingly told him that they could ALL use that kind of inspiration and he just grinned at them! :)

About one K into the race, I started having problems with my iPod. In hindsight, I think I pressed the voiceover button too hard and that it got stuck, but all I knew at that moment while I was running, when checking to make sure I had the right music on, the iPod went dead. I kept turning it on and off and trying to get it to work but it wouldn't. I ran for a little while, feeling panicky about not having my music to motivate me for over an hour and also feeling upset that something bad had happened to my new Shuffle! Some self-talk to calm down, a decision not to stop and walk with it, and voila, after giving the little thing a few minutes off, I turned it on again and it worked. Not a pleasant experience but I got through it.

Stratford is a very pretty city to run in, and I enjoyed the "tour" overall. This is one aspect of running that I am enjoying, seeing different towns and cities in Southwestern Ontario.

Once again, I had a runner yo-yo with me for ~1-1/2K. I did feel bad for him - he would run a few metres, and then stop to walk, repeat. He clearly had burned himself out at the beginning of the race because I encountered his burnout in the 4K-ish zone. My beef if how irritating it is to have someone like him set his sights on me as the person he does NOT want to have pass him. He continuously ran by me, and then start walking. Eventually my pace would catch up to his walking pace at which point he would zoom ahead. It was as if he made it his personal goal to keep ahead of me, which is fine, I guess, except I find it quite irritating, when I am trying to keep focused on my race, to have someone zip zip zip back and forth beside me. I told myself to be patient, and just keep at the pace I was running as this yo-yoing was happening before the race's halfway mark; therefore, he would be walking the rest of the race pretty soon. Sure enough, another 1/2K later, I ran past him and didn't see him again. :)

One of my biggest highlights of the race was seeing Ron. Ron is 70+ years old and has been at every Runpiker's run that I have. A very nice man who is a retired schoolteacher. We first noticed him in Woodstock, how steady and consistent his pace was, and how he blew us away by the middle of the race, always finishing multiple people ahead of us. He ran Embro in 1:06, a good 8 minutes faster than me. Well, when I realized it was him ahead of me (he has a distinctive cadence), I was thrilled. I was in the same running zone as Ron! Wouldn't it be cool to finish behind him? I was so proud of myself to think that my running had actually improved this much! I also got to thinking about how much my long runs HAVE helped because I would not be running just under 7:00 min/km on average if it hadn't been for my long runs. When I started to tell myself to slow down, to bring my pace back down to 7:30, I debated internally whether to let myself keep running at the faster pace because I had run 18K last weekend after all! Clearly I should have a little faith and be a little experimental by letting me run at the faster pace that I was clearly comfortable running! I am so pleased that I did! :)

And then a funny thing happened ... I noticed how I was creeping up behind Ron and a group of women who were running just ahead of Ron. I kept checking my Garmin and realized that I was the one keeping steady - it was Ron and the women who were slowing their pace! The closer I got, the more I realized that I was actually going to pass Ron! And I didn't want to do it! :( My goal was to follow him in, not pass! However, this was happening in the 7-8K zone and I had no choice, but to keep pace and pass him. I realized that his pace was off (comparatively to other races), and I had no choice. After smiling hello and passing the group of women on the hill, I was suddenly out there on my own with 2K to go ...

It was initially a bit of an odd feeling. I am accustomed to watching all the runners ahead of me, and now, here I was, successfully passing 12+ people and no one ahead of me to pass. I checked my watch again and suddenly realized that 1:10 was achievable. What a new amazing feeling!!!! I told myself to go for it and to keep my pace up so I could do it - this was my race to win! I kept chanting that to myself as a mantra.

Well, the last hill UP to the finish line was challenging and killed whatever cushion time I had left to make it in under 1:10, and it was great to see Benny again at the finish line cheering me on. He told me later was so impressed to see me just before the 1:10 mark when I had told him I would be crossing the finish line eventually after this time. :) I admit that I was feeling a little verklempt as I neared the finish line when I realized I had done it. :) :) :)

Now here's the thing ... do I count my actual time or the chip time? :) LOL !!!

Garmin 1:09:26

Chip (official race time) 1:10:19

My little beef with these smaller races is how the chip is not accurate except for those runners right at the starting line. Those of us who start further back because we are slower therefore have another 15-20 seconds to get across the start. In large city races, the chip turns "on" the moment the runner crosses the start line and then again at the finish line. However, in these smaller races, the start line is usually a ladder and a thin rope. EVERYBODY has the same start time. I tend to start my Garmin when I cross the start line so I get a more accurate reading (and usually I am within a metre as my Garmin km alerts beep as I pass the km markers along the route). Normally this is not an issue except in this race. I am officially 19 seconds slower than my ultimate 10K goal for the year, but in reality, I came in 30 seconds faster. How funny that I am obsessing over this, eh? LOL!!!

I am now understanding just a little better about why runners can get so fussy. 19 seconds ... "if" only I had started closer to the starting line ... "if" only I had run up that last hill faster ... "if" only I could have run up that one hill without zig zagging around the runners who suddenly stopped to walk in front of me ... "if" only I hadn't stopped to kiss Benny ... LOL !!!! How crazy is all that but I have a better understanding of it now - I don't want to be that kind of runner, but if a runner is within seconds/less than a minute off their goal, I can see how easy it is to become obsessed with all the run moments that slowed the runner down ... :)

So! Next Saturday - 20K. My final long run 2 weeks before Niagara Falls. The following Sunday - 10K @ The Pinery. I will decide during the race whether to run it to try to beat 1:10 or just to say "no biggie - just enjoy it" because less than 10 recovery days later, I am running my half marathon. And 7 days after the big big day, I have my last 10K of the year - a "rematch" of my very first 10K - the Halloween Haunting. I know for sure that I will be running with my dog, Angus. Ben has already mentioned it multiple times because last year, a woman ran with two dogs. Ben has wanted Angus in a race since. And at today's race, a runner ran with her dog, which inspired Ben to talk about it again. :) I would prefer going with Wallace, but it will mean so much more to Ben to see "his boy" running with his Lit'l Sweety ... :)

Cheers!

INGERSOLL HARVEST RUN 10K - Runpiker Series

1:14:33

Pace 7:26 min/km

This was a strange race. Even before race day, it was proving to be an odd race because it wasn't well organized (the race course was changed; the start times were posted on the website; links on the website did not work; etc.).

Picking up my swag bag and race number wasn't a problem; the tech shirt was very RED and it fits so this was a nice benefit. The line-up for one stall in the women's washroom was so long, I knew I would not get to use it before the race started. Fortunately, the runner I was standing behind was encouraged by my comments to join me in line at the men's washroom, and soon we had several women joining us. We literally took it over! :) Thank goodness because I really needed to use it before the run! :)

There wasn't a distinctive race start. En masse, we walked across the park to a roadway where the race started on an incline (?!?!). I turned to Ben and told him that I was probably NOT going to crack 1:10 today ....

The run itself was very boring, similar to Embro. There was nothing scenic about it. We literally ran all the way to the Cambi plant and then ran all the way around it. This meant that we were running alongside the 401 for a stretch - ick! I had to occupy myself mentally by keeping focused on passing one runner and then her friend in the first 2K. I saw them run out too fast together and knew that I would probably end up passing them. There were two other runners in front of me the rest of the way, but I never caught up to them. They were fairly steady in their pace so kudos to them for being my beacon!

I did not go through all of my water, and I did start stopping for water just to toss on my head after a few sips. It was really hot and the sun beat down on us for most of the race. There were times when I hit "my zone" but for the most part, it just wasn't that enjoyable of a race. Running through a field between the road and a subdivision just wasn't pleasant and nearly getting hit by a truck in the parking lot WHILE RUNNING IN MY RACE wasn't a great experience. However, I kept my sense of humour when reaching one of the water stations. It was on the "other" side of a railroad track, and as I approached, I had to stop because of a locomotive moving in my path! After it passed, I crossed the track, drank my water, and told the volunteer that I had never had that happen to me before! :) :)

I was surprised, and delighted (!), that I have enough oomph! to run fast to the finish line and make it under 1:15 according to the clock so my chip time should be 1:14+. Ben let go of Angus after I passed and I heard people make an "awww!" sound so I knew then that he was running with me. :) :) This was a sweet moment.

Thankfully, I have looked at my results, and I am now feeling better about my run. I ran 1:14:08 in Embro. I did this race, with hot sun and hills, at the exact same pace and time, so it does show some improvement. :) I ran my first 10K last year in the fall. I now have three upcoming 10K races this fall so I am sure that I will be able to set a new PR at one of them! :)

SOUTH HURON TRAIL RUN 8K - Runpiker Series

ACTUAL (according to my Garmin)
8K - 58:24
Pace 7:14 min/km

POSTED (not chip timed)
8K - 59:08
Pace 7:24 min/km

As I type, I am feeling good, and this is what I enjoy so much about running - the natural high I feel AFTER running! :) The run itself went well - I had some strong running moments (6 min/km pace) and I was slower (7:45 min/km pace) at other points, usually after running up one of the inclines. My 8K time is slower than the one I recorded at the Go the Distance race, but I felt good throughout this entire race. The weather was cooler and cloudy, and it rained in spurts all through the race. Because we were in the woods, the rain did not come down on us hard. It was actually quiet welcome! Unfortunately, I found that it also made the air more humid. :( I did not have any yoyo runners near me this time - yahoo! It was nice just to have the handful of people around me in the same pace zone - it made it more enjoyable for running on the narrow path - and I feel pleased about the number of people I passed that never passed me again ... except for #141, my pace rabbit!

#141 was ahead of me most of the time (I passed her briefly when she stopped for water), and when she resumed her leadership position, we smiled at each other and chatted briefly. I thanked her after setting a good pace for both of us. I enjoyed the camaraderie of our running and I couldn't care less if she placed before me at the finish line (I actually preferred pacing her rather than vice versa). It was very sweet to see her boyfriend/husband run at the beginning with her, touch her hand before he took off at a faster pace, and then he was there at the corner near the finish line to pace her to the end. Very touching to watch!

I really liked the trail and would enjoy doing run again next year. It was similar to cross-country running or running on the nature trail in Coldstream so I truly enjoyed it. :)

The organizers did not have enough safety pins so I had to put my bib on with duct tape! LOL! I can't believe that I recently read in my Runner's World magazine the suggestion to carry extra pins with you when you go to a race, and that I actually THOUGHT about getting pins while preparing my running belt this morning, but I didn't! To add to this, my bib was #25, my second favourite after #5 (5X5=25) so I was VERY excited about this! Unfortunately, I LOST my bib while running and as I type, I am hoping that the organizers have figured out that it was ME who came in after #141! I went back to the registration table and asked if I could have a replacement bib (I have saved all of mine and plan to do something with them eventually). The number I got? #250 !!! :) Sweet! :)

I celebrated my successful run with the new "mini" Blizzard from Dairy Queen on the way home (the perfect snack size - I never serve myself more than this much ice cream when I am home, and always feel like I have eaten too much when I have tried a small Blizzard).

Ben was not crazy about the idea of being in Exeter where he would no doubt run into some former co-workers so I went on my own to this race.

My former running partner actually showed up for it, and she was about 5 people ahead of me throughout the run. Good on her for actually showing up and still running.

EMBRO HIGHLAND GAMES 10K - Runpiker Series

A funny thing about today's run ... I took the time to check the number of people and the times from the 2009 and 2008 races. I knew that I would probably be one of the last 5 runners. The race is smaller, and clearly runners with 5 min/km paces and lower had participated in this run before. I have learned from experience that it makes a difference if there is a small # of runners versus a large # of racers in a race as to where my placement will be (i.e. just below average or near the end!). I went to this race with the attitude of, "someone has to be last in a race so it might as well be me!" The entire time I ran, I was 10-15 metres behind Runner #163. I "thought" I had someone behind me running, but she was so much further back from the rest of us, I actually had myself convinced for most of the run that she had dropped out, making me the back end runner. The truck they used with a hand-made sign to warn cars to "WATCH FOR RUNNERS" pulled AHEAD of me and Runner #163, thus emphasizing to me that I was truly at the end! Runner #163 had a steady pace within my range so it was fine for me just to follow him for most of the run. I had my music, and it was a gorgeous day in the countryside ... when the pack is so far ahead, it's easier just to zone out and do my own thing.

I was also feeling a little angry and used that time to try to cool down. JJ had emphasized several times to me before this race about on how much she wanted to run together to pace each other. Once we got onto the road, she took off and ran ahead of me by several minutes for the rest of the race. Now, I have been in several races with her by this point, and I honestly don't have an issue with her running ahead, but I do hate being assured that we will do this together and then having her take off on me so soon without a word. It's an etiquette thing.

As for runner #164, he started walking the hills after the 6K mark and I didn't walk any hills so this is when we started to yo yo with each other - when he walked, I would pass him, but then when he started running again, he would make a point of passing me. I was a little irritated by it because I was doing my own thing - I actually slowed down at points because his pace ahead of me slowed down, but I wanted to avoid the yo yoing. However, I "had" to pass him on the hills because at those points, if I slowed down too much, I was afraid that I would not start running again. Anyway, in the last K, he clearly made a huge effort to pass me and although I can honestly say I didn't care, it was still a little irritating. I acknowledge that I set "goals" while running that include passing certain runners so I "get" that he made passing me his goal - it's just that I was clearly trying NOT to pass him! LOL! My focus was on me and finishing "well", thus establishing a base 10K time for me from which to compare future 10K races this summer.

On a funny side note, JJ ran the whole race with this guy, Martin. He told her that his wife and his brother were running at the tail end. Mr. Yo Yo was Martin's brother, and it was his wife who finished last. Small town run!

(On a side note, at the Woodstock race, I was behind a runner who had a generous backend, and I was behind her for most of the race as she ran with her friends who eventually ran ahead of her ... I "could" have run past her because I had the energy to, but my heart wasn't in it. JJ reprimanded me when I told her this, telling me I should have run to make time, but I told her I didn't have the heart to - I was proud of this woman for running as well as she did, which was as good as what I was running(!), and I was sure it was not easy to keep going after her friends ran ahead. To be "that" person who suddenly runs past her at the end just to cross the finish line one spot ahead of her is soooooo NOT me!).