Catch up time

Holy Moly...I haven't blogged since October 2018...not even a year end review...shame on me!  I guess that is what happens when the cold weather hits and you lose all motivation to do anything physical.  I have to admit that I really fell into a funk around Christmas and I had to work hard to pull myself out of it.

No worries though...spring has sprung...we might not have warm temperatures or a ton of sunshine yet, but we have birds singing and the grass is getting greener. :-)

I thought I'd catch you up a bit...I've run three races so far this year.

The Frostbite 5 Miler
You never know what type of weather you are going to get for this one.  It's held in February each year, and sometimes people can wear shorts...sometimes it has to be rescheduled due to snowstorms...so unpredictable...and a nightmare for organizers I'm sure.  This year was no exception....sunshine and warm temps the day of the run...it was G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!

I met up with my good friend David at kit pickup...nervously chatting about how I thought I'd run.

David & I at the finish

I actually did better than I had anticipated given my level of training...I almost hit a PB which surprised the heck out of me.  I haven't raced a 5-miler since my double stress fractures of 2017.

Apparently I can 'get air' when I want

A great little medal.  They also had hot soup/chili for runners
after the race!

Next up was the Osprey 5k  in Riverport, NS.  I have never done this 5k and had no idea what to expect.  Fun fact:  My vice principal from Grade 7-9 is the race director...you just never know when your paths will cross again.  This would be my first 5k race of the season...no expectations at all.  My PB from last year for 5k was at the the end of the season for 26.02.  I knew I'd be no where close but hoped for maybe 27.30.   I wish I had gotten a picture from kit pickup as there was a fiddle band playing music to get people moving. :-)  Precisely at 10am, the horn blasted and we took off. 

I was so cold at the start I wasn't sure I could
run in just a tank

A funny thing happened about 1km into the race.  Someone came up behind me and said "I wondered if I'd see you here."  I turned to the left, and who was it?  My very first boyfriend...yup...grades 5, 9, and 12.  LOL  He has just taken up running and this was his first race.  Wouldn't you know he passed me at the turn around point...damn men and their natural abilities.  LOL  Just kidding...congrats to him and I'm sure I'll see him at more races!

I was able to finish the run in 27.00 even with an overall pace of 5.20/km.  The course was completely flat and such a beautiful route as we ran next to the ocean the entire way!  The water is my happy place...so running + the water = YES PLEASE!  I'll be back again next year!

And finally that brings us to this past weekend and the Run for Jessica 5k in a local community close to home.  Even though this course holds my overall PB for 5k (25.29....how did I ever run that fast), I knew I wouldn't get even an SB at this race as the course is bottlenecked for the first km.  This year was no exception!  You know what was an exception...the darn cold.  It's May 26th and I was freezing to the point that I couldn't run in just my tank...brrrrrrrr.  As I anticipated, the first km was sllloooowww....6:05, and then the crowd spread out and I was able to start a better pace.  Whenever I run a 5k, I always doubt how I'll finish at about 3.5k...it's a mind game...LOL.  Then I say...you have less than 1 mile left...you've got this...and I'm off.  My final km was 5.07 yesterday for any overall time of 27.20.  That makes me wonder what I could have run it in if that first km was better.

So there you have it...my first 3 races of the season.  Time to start increasing the distance of my long runs on the weekend to get that 5k time down!  I'd like to sign up for a fall 1/2 perhaps, but we'll see how training goes.  It's cool now, but I can guarantee you at some point, we runners will be complaining about the heat and humidity that is bound to arrive with summer.

I hope everyone has had a great start to their running year...and here's to more miles. :-)