SOUTH HURON TRAIL RUN 8K - Runpiker Series #5

This is my blog post from last year's run. A little bit different than the one I am writing today. :)

"On your mark, get set, go!" Start

Bib tag collection Finish

I do not have an official time yet from today's race (it's not posted yet), but this is my unofficial Garmin time - 54:08 (6:43/km). I am quite sure my official time will be in the 54:20-30 range (Editor's note: official time turned out to be 54:23)

For a change, I brought along our camera and took photos of quirky signs and places between Exeter and London, as well photos of the event set-up itself. Sorry - no photos of the trail or race itself because I was too busy running to stop with my camera! :) This photos will give you a much better idea of what these smaller-in-size community runs in the Runpiker Series look like in comparison to larger city venues. (As a head's up, Blogger is very basic so often the way I arrange photos and commentary does not turn out the way I intended. The "Preview" option is useless so the odds that this post will look disjointed are very good!)

I drove up to Exeter solo (~45 minutes). My race partner is currently in the Bahamas visiting a friend so she was not going to be there (too bad, too, as she does a good job pushing my pace in races!). The weather forecast was looking quite accurate - it rained overnight and it was already warm and muggy first thing in the morning. I knew this race was going to be a sweatfest!

I headed to the registration area to pick up my race bib and swag. I was really, really surprised when Bib #3 was pulled out for me. When I expressed surprise at receiving a single digit bib for the first time, the volunteer told me it was an indication of how early I registered. Different races have different methods for assigning numbers so this was cool for me for a change. :) Photos of my swag are at the end of this post.

After dropping the swag off at my vehicle and grabbing my racing gear, I headed over the finish line to see the participants in the Fun 2K arriving.

For fun, I took photos of some kids as they ran in. The look of excitement on their faces was priceless. This also gives you a perspective on what my finish would look like - taking a path through a cornfield, turning the corner onto the community centre grounds, catching a good whiff of manure, and then running to the finish. :) I love this pic of of the little girl, with her ponytail flying behind her and both of her feet in the air. :)

I tried taking a photo of me in my bib and pre-sweating, but ended up laughing my head off after this first and only amateur attempt. I am sure that whoever was in the washroom at the time was thinking that I was a freak (I would!). I didn't take too much time to experiment with this because I had to go warm-up before race start.

This is where I ran to warm up - by the gate entry to the community centre. Do you see the police truck on the left? The O.P.P. (Ontario Provincial Police) drove up while I was warming up to attend to a call - a car in the driveway had the back window smashed in. :( I am not daring/rude enough to start taking pics of the home owners while they were talking to the police officer. They probably thought I was odd taking photos of the sign. :(

This was my last photo before starting the race - a pic of other runners taking their places behind the start line (grey duct tape!). :) I stood somewhere in the middle - there was a lot of people up near the front, most likely because this race wasn't chip timed and they knew that the additional time it took to cross the line would be added to the total time. :( One of the organizers said a few words, thanked everyone for their support, warned everyone to be careful on the slippery boardwalk, and then literally called out, "On your mark! Get set! GO!" And then we were off! :)

This was Race #34 for me - my 4th 8K in two years. I would like to think that I have the whole "starting rush" thing mastered by now. It's amazing how many different kinds of 'starts" there are! I've been in crowded starts where everyone is pushing and jostling because we are trying to all fit through a narrow area, I've experienced slow starts in which it's challenging to get up to speed because there are so many people in front starting slowly, and I've experienced the swooooosh! in which it feels like everyone has just passed me with lightning speed, leaving me in the dust.

Well, today was a "leaving me in the dust" type of day - LOL! It was a very, very fast start and I went with the flow for bit before gaining some sort of control over my pace. As always, it is a little disconcerting to see how many people are flying by me and flying ahead when I am running at a faster-than-intended speed for me. I've written before on this blog how a race size seems to determine the average pace of participants. I don't have the official results yet as I am typing this, but I bet that when I analyze it, the average runner in this particular race will have had a much faster pace than what I see in larger, city venues. At this point of time, I just have to maintain a healthy attitude about racing against myself and beating my own pace as well as having fun. If I were out there to compete against others, I would have a very bruised, black & blue ego by now! LOL!

1 km - 6:17 / km (10:07/mile)

Not only did I watch as the majority of runners flew away from me, but I kept having runners come up from behind to pass me, too. :( It really began to feel like I was going to be running at the tail end for awhile! I keep reminding myself of the game plan, and to run this race "well." Fortunately, this faster start didn't burn me out (I've experienced that before at races) so I was not panicking about whether I could make it through the race to the end.

2 km - 6:48 / km (10:57/mile)

I currently hate running over grassy ground. We started the race running on pavement along a few streets, and in order to access the entrance of the trail, we had to run across a section of park grass. I'm not accustomed to it, and it doesn't feel as easy and smooth as pavement. I am sure it makes for a better workout, but I'm not in the mood for that at the start of a race. :) The gravelly path is nice, but the boardwalk sections do prove to be damp and a little slick from the rain the night before. I slow a little on the boardwalk because I'm a nervous nelly about slipping and falling. :)

3 km - 6:52/km (11:03/mile)

This is when I start passing several runners. I am yo-yoing with a few run/walk runners ... I pass them when they are walking/they pass me when they are running. A few of them look like they are purposely using the walk/run method, whereas others look like they were caught up in the fast start and are now paying for it. :( There is a group of us and I start to pass each one steadily as we swoop up and down and around on this trail.

4 km - 6:59/km (11:14/mile)

Last year, it rained a little on us and it was great in the heat and humidity. No such luck this year - it's just thick air and mugginess. :( We are not running hills, but there are a lot of inclines, and I am pretty sure we are running a slight incline at all times because I can feel that this isn't flat ground. I like the path - it feels good under the feet, but it's slower than asphalt. I am very pleased to see the 4 km marker because it's the hump and because I have just finished passing 7-8 people so I am now on my own in the woods. I didn't stop at the water station (I'm wearing my water belt) so I lost a few people who did stop, and I ran up a few inclines that slowed others down. I think at this point that I might be running the rest of this race alone.

5 km - 7:02/km (11:19/mile)

I see people! I see 2 Purple Ladies, an Orange/black lady, and the Woman in Black. much further ahead. I feel good knowing that I have just caught up to the tail end of another group of runners. :) I'm hoping to run closer to them as a way of making me run faster ... I just checked my average pace and I am slower than my established minimum goal (6:45/km; 10:52/mile). :(

6 km - 6:54/km (11:06/mile)

Once again, we are running over grass in another park to connect to a laneway leading to a road, and it's on an incline so I am finding this tough. :( Just ahead is where the second water station is set up. The two Purple Ladies keep running past it, but both the Orange/black and the Woman in Black stop for water. I follow the Purple Ladies and I am pacing behind the slower one. We start running for stretch on the paved road and I run faster to make up for some lost time on the trail. I move to the left to pass Purple Lady #1 and soon after - swooosh! - the Woman in Black sprints through the middle between us - she clearly has a second wind and prefers the speed of the pavement like me. :) I pass Purple Lady #1 just before the turnoff back onto the trail, and then I am following Purple Lady #2 for a stretch. She starts to slow after awhile so it leaves me chasing the Woman in Black. She is setting a good pace and I see my average pace finally declining. Woo hoo! And although this trail is tougher to run than what I am accustomed to, I am feel okay. :)

7 km - 6:26/km (10:21/mile)

I catch up to the Woman in Black and because she is not wearing headphones, I decide to say something. She clearly knows that I am on her tail, too. I tell her that she has done a great job setting the pace, and that I have been following her. She tells me that she's finding it tough. :( I tell her that she might feel like it's tough, but she's looking good so keep it up. :) She then does what I am was hoping she would do - she surges ahead. She's either inspired by me or thinks I'm a weirdo, but it doesn't matter. She is doing what I needed her to do - run faster! And I can keep pace behind her - go go go because we are in the last km and I need to bring my average speed down a little more to meet my goal! We run past Blue Dude - he suddenly appeared on the path in front of us - and then I see walking runners ahead. It looks a like a group have tired just near the end. I follow the Woman in Black until we reach a 90 degree turn off the trail onto a dirt incline path to the left beside a cornfield. Most of the tired runners who were walking are still walking up the incline. To my surprise, the Woman in Black comes to a complete stop at the corner because she has decided to walk up this incline, too. I'm gunning for the finish because I have a PR to set so I run up this incline past a few walkers, and then turn another 90 degrees to the right onto the community centre grounds and head straight for the finish. Some of the walkers have started running again and I pass a couple of them, but I am not able to pass them all. I don't have my usual faster running reserve at the very end, but I am running steadily (between 5:20 - 6:00/km) on this stretch before I pass the timing clock @54:23 (I think- we'll see when the results are posted).

So in conclusion it was a good, fun race for me. :) I enjoyed running it because it's different from what I usually do. My achilles on my right foot is a little tender today because of a rock I stepped on that was on the path (I'm lucky I maintained balance and did not turn over on my ankle), but other than this, I am really glad I did it. I am a little disappointed with my time - I was hoping to see a "53" in my time. :)

After the race, I headed back to the Ag building for watermelon, Gatorade and pieces of bagel. I checked out the prize table and woo hoo! For the third time this year, I won something - these socks - LOL! They happen to be my size and with the extra cushioning in the heel and ball areas, they will be great for winter running when I can hide them under running pants. :) I'm assuming they were donated as a prize because they weren't selling. :)

I didn't overdo it at the refreshment tables because I had something else in mind for the drive home - ice cream from Dairy Queen. Terrible food choice, but I was hot, sweaty, and in need of cold. I couldn't resist because it was located right there at the gate of the community centre. And what I like about this photo is that there are two volunteers in that ATV staring at me, wondering why the heck I am taking a photo of my ice cream cone in the parking lot! This is the saddest looking cone ever, don't you think? The photo doesn't capture how ugly it looked. It tasted good. :)

On the way home, I stopped to take all the photos in this blog post. I noticed many of the signs on my way up to Exeter, but didn't stop because of my timeline. It was a slower, meandering drive home.

I always try to stop in at Lucan Architectural whenever I am in the vicinity. There are some very interesting things here - recycled items from old homes for sale to people who are looking for authentic items for their century homes. Wrought-iron gates, bird baths, statues, and benches surround the store on the outside and old windows, cupboards, hooks, etc. are inside. They have also branched out and are selling colourful tin items made in Mexico, which are attracting more people to stop by the store. These colourful tin items really do catch your eye as you drive by, and as you can see by the next photo, I couldn't resist this:

To end my verbose post, I have photos of the swag. I was confused by the bag at first with the one reinforced corner and drawstring. I thought it was very odd until Ben pointed out that it was probably a pocket bag ... he was right. :) Two mini lotions, post-it notes, future run brochures and a United Way temporary tattoo. :)

I am off tomorrow and then it's back to HM training with Week #8 on Tuesday. The weather forecast this week looks rainy and less hot so I'm hoping it will be a good one, especially after reducing my mileage last week to give myself a bit of a break.

Happy running!

GO THE DISTANCE RUN 8K - London Honda Series #3

BIB GAME: 19 + 1 = 20

20 is divisible by "5", my favourite number. :)

91 - 1 = 90

90 is divisible by "5", my favourite number. :)

*****

In 2009, I participated in the 3K Fun Run. This is when the Go the Distance event was still held downtown London on a Sunday morning race before it was changed to an evening race.

3K was pretty much all I could handle at that time!! :) :) My results?

June 2009

21:50

Pace 7:17/km

Last year, I participated again in this event, but it was my first 8K race. I was very proud of myself at the time for being able to run in the 8K instead of the 3K. It didn't matter that I ended up not enjoying this race at all because of the hot and humid weather and because I had not run it wisely - I still did it!

Out of the two 8K races I ran last year, this race was my fastest/PR, which is not a fair comparison with one being a road race and the other, a hilly trail race. I do not have a blog record, but this was my result:

June 6, 2010

8K @57:47

Pace 7:04/km

So how am I doing one year later? :)

*****

Official Time

8K @54:46

Pace 6:51/km

Gun start / Chip Finish

Garmin Time

8K @53:40

Pace 6:43/km

SOCKS were the swag this year, and IMO, they are very, very cool! I love my race tech shirts collection, but these socks receive two thumbs up from me! :) Sorry about my cheap camera pics ... or is it the photographer's lack of skills? :(

Sorry this post is late, but the gorgeous weather here enticed me to spend my day outside for most of it instead of being inside in front of a computer. I think (hope) you understand. :)

I achieved my goal of running under 55 minutes with 14 seconds to spare, according to the chip time. When I saw the weather forecast, I knew that the humdity, combined with a late day run, was not to my benefit. I'm an early morning run gal, and I love running in cooler weather. Therefore, I set my goal conservatively, and as you will see, I kept my run conservative, too.

Ben dropped me off on campus. I told him not to come to this event, and that bringing me to campus was all I needed from him this time. I could have walked, but I didn't want to arrive hot and sweaty ... I was going to be this way throughout my run so I wanted a little more time staying fresh. :) I picked up my chip and sat in the shade with other runners, waiting for the 3K to end and the 8K to start. I found my old running partner again so we sat in the shade together, discussing our Bayfield race last week, reminiscing about this same event last year, catching up on each other's news, and then deciding to pace each other in this race. I usually warm up before a race, but I decided not to bother for this one. I was feeling very casual about it and I decided that using the first 2K of this race as my warm-up was good enough for me.

Similar to last year, it's hard not to run faster in the TD Waterhouse Stadium. Check out my first km:

1 km - 6:35

So much for "warm-up," eh? Well, it felt good. I didn't feel like I was overdoing it and it was nice to keep pace with a solid group of people around the track before we exited and headed out onto the University of Western Ontario campus. At the 1 km marker, we were following a runner who decided that she would "jump" over the 1 km sign ... only she missed and ran into it, making a huge noise and nearly tripping herself. She looked sheepishly back at us as she continued to run. As dumb of a move as I think this was, I actually felt very bad for her because I knew we would be running past her soon and that it would be tougher for her to run the remaining 7K after embarrassing (and possibly injuring) herself this way.

2 km - 6:37

I discussed with my running partner before the starting gun to be patient, that we would start passing a lot of runners in the first 2K because they would run out too fast to keep up with the others. She told me after the race how she kept thinking about this, and then how delighted she was when, as we had our cadence synced for several km, we passed multiple runners. I didn't count, but we did "well" with our passing. :)

3 km - 6:43

There were several things I truly enjoyed about this race. One was knowing the course ahead of time so we knew exactly where all the inclines and downhills were. Another was having someone to pace with, which clearly was pushing me in a good way. I also felt relaxed and back to my 'norm' of just having fun being in a race, knowing that I was going to PR regardless so just go with the flow. :) I too k the time to thank race marshals/volunteers as I ran passed and even joked with some of them who were putting extra effort into cheering all of us on.

4 km - 6:48

I was trying to slow down somewhat because I didn't trust the 6:30-ish pace, not on a hot and humid night, so I felt better taking the speed down a notch. We were running well and enjoying the park scenery so there was no need to push it ...

5 km - 6:31

Sweet downhill section of the run. :)

6 km - 6:55

This is when I lost my running partner and the heat started getting to me a little. My partner wanted to run faster at the 6K mark, and I told her to go for it. Later, she told me that she had made an error, that she had meant to run faster at the 7K mark, and that her pace had significantly slowed in the homestretch when she was spent. I knew she had wanted to push it, but after my 5K race/PR last week and taking the time off this week to enjoy a break between training sessions, I really, really just wanted to coast at an easy pace.

I had the energy to pass a number of walking runners on a steeper incline. I literally ran up it past several people. One of the race marshals yelled out, "Number 191 !! GOOD GAME !!" I smiled and gave her the thumbs up.

7 km - 6:53

This is when I passed a runner I had been catching up to for a few km. She was slowing down and as you can see from my pace, so was I ... but not enough so that I couldn't pass her. Just after the 7km mark, she came up from behind me and passed me. I could hear her breathing and could see she was struggling, but I was still smiling and thanking volunteers, and after checking my Garmin again, I decided to coast it in because I was clearly under time from last year.

I saw this same runner start walking again and I was going to run past her a second time, but in the spirit of my Donnybrook Dash run, I slowed beside her and asked if she would like to pace it in with me. She picked up her pace and we started to run together. I knew she didn't have the energy to chat so I said a few encouraging words ... "we are almost there ... maybe 200m tops." We approached another runner who was walking so I turned to her and said, "we're pacing in together - join us!" So she did. :) I swear I felt a little like a Mother Hen with a runner under each 'wing' as we closed in on the stadium. The second runner said she had started walking because she really needed to pee! I laughed and told her that the faster she ran in, the faster she could go pee! She then decided to run faster. :)

8 km - 6:43

As my original "chick" and I approached the stadium entrance, she asked me wearily if we had to run around the track again, I told her, no, that the finish line was literally straight ahead, less than a minute to go. As soon as we were in the stadium and on the homestretch , I said, "Let's go! We can do it! We are there!" And we ran in together as I waved and smiled at a few people I know who were cheering us in. :) After we crossed the finish line together, I turned to this runner, shook her hand, and congratulated her on a great run. She thanked me genuinely for running with her.

I met up with my old running partner, and we found leftover water and watermelon together. We then had a good time discussing the race in detail. :)

And guess what? I won a door prize! #188 was called, but this runner was no longer there so they asked for the nearest number ... which was me. :) I now have a red and black London Honda Series gym bag. :) And the sweetest, sweetest part about it was that, as I was heading back to my spot after picking up my door prize, the runner I had run in with ran up to me and said, "Way to go, Coach! You deserve it." Doesn't that make you do, "awwwwwww." What a sweetheart!

I forgot to include in my blog post for Bayfield last week that I won a door prize there, too! I was happy to receive something special on the day I became a member of the "5K in <30" club. I won a cosmetic bag filled with Crabtree and Evelyn hand cream, lotion and shower gel. :)

As for POINTS ... they have not been officially posted yet, but I strongly suspect that I just jumped from 17th place to 6th place, if my figuring is correct. :) I was last in my age and gender group - 12th out 12 women. However this still earns me 9 points and it is a double points event. Therefore, 18 points added to my current 18 points knocks me into the top 10. :) I just might be a contender this year. :)

Half Marathon training begins tomorrow ... and Mondays are now officially OFF/REST DAYS so how's that for starting training! :) :)

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.