Race Recaps x2

Exciting news...I ran a new 10 km Personal Best, shaving a whopping 2 minutes off my previous time. Then 2 weeks later I beat that PB by 36 seconds! And with that, I'm officially retiring (may as well quite while I'm ahead). Just kidding, I'm not actually giving up on running but I am finished with the races for this year.

Energizer Light Up The Night Race (Photo Source)

This was a unique and fun race. It started at 9:30pm just as the sun was setting and everyone wore headlamps. With over 1,300 runners this looked really cool. The race was 2 loops of a 5km route so you had a few chances to see all the lights bobbing up and down. I must admit that the novelty of running with a headlamp lasted about 2 minutes before the thing kept slipping off my schweaty forehead and knocking me in the nose. I ended up taking off my headlamp and carrying it the rest of the way. I felt great the rest of the run and ran at a steady pace. I was so happy when I saw the finish line and the timmer was at the 45 min. My final time was 45:45.

Pre Race Fuel: This was an odd race to plan for because it was the first one I ever ran at night. I ate how I normally would throughout the day and drank plenty of water. About 2.5 hours before the race I made homemade burgers and salad for dinner. I'm sure this isn't the greatest but I had no inspiration that night to make anything else. I also had one small mouthful of GU in the car to the race but I was too nervous to eat anything else. No matter what, I always get nervous before a race.

Calgary Women's Run (Photo Source)

Last weekend I participated in the Calgary Women's run. I was supposed to run it with my mum but she is nursing a running injury this summer so we couldn't team up for the mother-daughter category. Too bad because we would have killed it (she is faster than me - although I think I'm catching up with these times). Maybe next year.

I ran most of the race all by my lonesome, since the first few girls were super speedy. Well I thought I was by myself but if you look in the pic you see a nice pack behind me to the right (the lady on my left is some random who was running on the path that day). I eyed out that little group behind me at the turnaround point and am pretty sure that's why I ended up running a personal best. My final clock time was 45:09! Nothing like a little competition to push you. Take that previous PB.

Results: Turns out I didn't need my mum on a team to help me place. I was 8th overall and 2nd in my age group! At first I thought I hadn't placed in my age group because the first few finishers were all in my age group, but they actually took the overall winners out of the age category prizes, so I got my little moment of glory (that is a race pet peeve of mine, when the winners get two prizes. Who needs 2 prizes anyway?)

Pre-race fuel: I went with my pre-race staple Oatmeal+PB+Banana. Why change a good thing? Clearly it worked.

And with that, I am officially done all of my races this year. Hockey season is starting up soon! Can't wait.

Race Recap: Rock The House 5km

Last weekend I completed my first 5km race of the year, the Rock The House fun run in support of the Ronald McDonald House. I wasn't planning on running a 5km this year; however, an opportunity came up last minute to do this one, so I jumped on the chance. Overall the race was a casual fun race, with live music and entertainment throughout the course, so I could leave my iPod at home and just enjoy it all.

Planning For The Race

Since it was a last minute decision to run this, there wasn't much planning involved. Basically I decided the night before that I wanted to run a sub-24 minute 5km, which would be a personal best for me (my previous personal best was 24:01). I have been consistently running throughout the summer so I felt like this was do-able. I'm also a bit of a math nerd, so I figured out the exact minute break downs for each kilometer and charged up my Nike+ watch (I'm not cool enough for a Garmin).

The Race

Despite some sore legs from a 10km hike the day before, I actually felt pretty good and energetic during the race. My big fail was spending all that time the night before planning out my pace and timing for each km. As soon as I started, my Nike+ watch switched to miles/hour, not km/hour (damn US factory settings). I gave up on the watch and saw a girl running a few meters in front of me at a decent pace so I decided to keep up with her. This plan worked out really well because she was strong runner and held a steady pace the whole way through. I never did catch her but I did destroy my previous personal best by finishing with a final chip time of 22:19. I was actually quite shocked that I ran it that fast but my Nike + said 3.1 miles exactly so it must be true (my math is so stellar I can convert that to km in no time...)

Race Day Eats

I stuck to my race-day stand by of oatmeal. I find it easy to digest and it gives me enough energy for any distance. Clearly it helped me out with this race.

1/3 c Oats

1 Banana

1 tbsp Natural Peanut Butter

My Thoughts on Beating a Personal Best

Damn it. Now I just want to go faster. Why can't I just be satisfied for once.

Race Recap: Bowness Centennial 10KM

Last Sunday I ran the Bowness Centennial 10km! (and yes, it took me a week to write a recap). Here's a pre-race pic of me. Man I look nervous! I was kind of worried that my leg pain would flair up and I really wanted to beat 50 min.

Every time I race, I try to take a lesson out of it and this time the message was pace yourself! It took forever for the race to start once they got us organized at the start line. First they had a few speeches, then a blessing from an aboriginal, and just when you thought that was it, they sang the anthem! It was too much, especially when you have pre-race jitters. So once the race finally started, I was anxious and went out too fast. I was feeling great at that pace, so I decided to keep it up. If I wanted to beat 50 min, I figured I would have to push my comfort zone anyway. The problem was that at about 7km I realized my pace was maybe a bit ambitious and I totally ran out of gas. I thought I was either going to pass out or puke, and the last 3 km was killer. When I rounded the corner saw that I had about 500 meters to go, I have never been happier to see a finish line in my life. Usually I pick up the pace and finish strong but as soon as I saw the time was at 47 minutes, I slowed down, fixed my hair (I had to look good incase there was a photographer at the finish line), and finished in 48 minutes on the dot. (There was no photographer. Major boo) I was so happy that I beat my time but immediately felt like I was going to pass out. I made Bill raid the post-race snack goodies while I walked it out. Once the dizziness passed, I realized I had run my first sub-50 min 10km and was soooo happy. We peaced out on the post-race events and went out for Vietnamese Pho afterwards to celebrate. I'm guessing Pho is probably not the best post-race recovery food but I felt like I had earned it.

In other news, Bill ran his 10 km in 41-something minutes. He also had the same epic fail as me and went out too strong. So lesson learned, next time I'm pacing my self properly right out of the gates and then if I can pick it up around 5km I will do so.

Pre-Race Fuel

Today is race day and it's not snowing! I was a little worried yesterday when it was raining, but today we woke up to a tiny bit of blue sky and no moisture in the air. Fingers crossed it stays this way. You may think it's odd that I'm worried about snow, but since the two races I've completed this spring have been in snow, I think I'm justified.

We are running the 10km in this race, and my goal is to break 50 minutes. In order to fuel up for the race, I made my pre-race go-to meal: oatmeal. Every runner is different in how they fuel up, but we are all the same in that when we find something that works, we stick to it.

In the bowl:

1/2 cup Instant Oats

1 tbsp PB

1 scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1 tsp Maple Syrup

1/4 cup milk

1 apple on the side

On that note, I better go get ready so I'm not late for the race!

Two Weeks With No Running = Sign Up for Races

So 2 weeks ago I decide to take a break from running to heal my legs. After my half marathon I was getting a pain in my calf every time I ran so I bit the bullet and took some time off. What did I do in the meantime? Well I biked more and did some aerobic-body-pump style workout dvds. I also watched other runners on the pathway with extreme jealousy, and oh right, I signed up for three more 10 km races! My justification was that signing up for them will give me the motivation to heal.....sure that makes sense [insert sarcasm]. Truthfully, my legs are feeling much better, so it's probably o.k. to do some races. It all started with me stumbling across information for a night time race:

The Energizer Night Race (link)

It's a night time race and you wear a headlamp. How could I not sign up for it?!

Then I decided I needed to train for this race (which is in August) by signing up for a race in June.

The Bowness Centennial Race (link)

I don't know anything about this race besides that it's 10 km and in June. The course looks neat and it's a part of the city I don't know much about.

And finally I signed up for a race at the end of August, which I was planning to do all along.

The Calgary Women's Run (link)

I'm still trying to convince my mum to run it with me since we can sign up as a team. For those of you who don't know, my mum is a super fast runner, so my plan is to get her on my team so I can actually win some hardware for once.

Here's to hoping I'm healed in time!