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. :-)

2018 Valley Harvest 5k

Another gorgeous weekend in Wolfville, NS.  The leaves are changing from green to vibrant red, orange, and yellow and it marks the perfect time to head to the valley.  The Valley Harvest run is always on the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend.  For most, that means you run your heart out in the morning, and then savour yummy dinner later in the day.  This year, I chose to have my dinner the day before the race.  Turns out that may have not been the best choice.

Anyways...I woke bright and early Sunday morning (5:15am) to get dressed and on the road.  You know you are a runner when you wake earlier on the weekend than you do during the week for work, right???  Right away, I knew I was having tummy issues.  I had originally planned to run the 10k but knew that was probably not in the cards today...so much for eating thanksgiving dinner the day before.

I was a little paranoid driving the hour away, as the previous weekend, we had unfortunately hit a deer...not seeing it until it was too late. :-(  So I kept looking everywhere to make sure it didn't happen again.  We arrived at the race, gathered our race kit, and then did a small warm up.

Obviously taken after the race

The warm up music was less than motivating to say the least...I wish you could hear the video I took of it but it's just taking way too long to upload.

I was all smiles before the race started, seeing some familiar faces and wishing everyone luck.

We lined up and were off right on time....have I said how much I like that in a race???  I wasn't really sure how this race was going to go.  A...my tummy and B...I had literally run nothing in two weeks...I mean...I don't think I had even put my sneakers on.  I lined up by the 30 minute pace bunny, just hoping to keep them behind of me.  My first kilometer came in at 5.22...I was like...whoa...that is faster than my others in prior races.  I knew the course was fairly flat so I might be able to push it a bit.  Around the 2km mark, I looked at my watch and it said 5:15...and that's when I felt a bit of unease...and then I kind of had an epiphany...I was putting my own fear in my head of 'I can't keep this pace'.  Until I had looked at my watch, I had felt pretty good while running...no shortness of breath...just about right.  The minute I looked at my watch and saw my pace, I thought "I can't maintain this" and the unease started.   At that moment I said "No!!!   Stop convincing yourself you can't do this pace...you can!  Don't look at your watch the rest of the race...just push yourself...be comfortable with being uncomfortable for the next 2.5k...you can do this."  And you know what??  It worked...as I came into the finish line, I could see the clock and was pretty sure that I had set a seasons best.  I stopped my watch at exactly 5k and it read 26.04!!   I am inching oh so close to that 25.59 mark!!! 

Anyone else just want to collapse after a race?

It wasn't until I got home and checked the race stats on line, that I saw that I had placed 2nd in my age category...out of 105.  I was shocked and excited.

That's right...age class 40-49!!

photo credit:  Bob MacEachern

When I first saw this photo, I was like 'oh god'...but then others quickly pointed out that I look focused.  Yup...that is me, looking at the finish clock trying to do mental math to determine my finish time. 

This race ends the 'planned' race season for me.  Now time to maintain and build over the winter months.  I say planned as you never know what last minute decisions I'll make.  LOL