8KM

35:48 - Beat Beethoven - Ottawa - Oct 29 2011

Age Group Win at the Chelsea Challenge 10km

I noticed this race last year when I was driving the kids around Gatineau Park to look at the leaves that had changed colour. Traffic was stopped for a bit to allow the runners to get around the corner, and my immediate thought was, "what? a race, on thanksgiving Monday, in picturesque Chelsea, how come I didn't know about this?". I made sure to sign up this year and decided on the 10km distance.

The weather has been amazing lately, race day was no different, sunny, clear blue skies, maybe if one was being picky, it might have been too hot. I got there early, pinned on my bib, strapped on the timing chip and went through a very easy warm up, trying to familiarise myself with the start and what the finish straight would look like coming from the other direction.

The course for the 10km is a hilly loop with a big climb in the first half of the race and then rolling hills and net downhill in the second half.

They started the 5km and 10km at the same time and we were off, I had to make sure and not get carried away trying to chase the 5km runners who shot out of the blocks and were streaming past me. Soon enough they'd turned around to head back to their finish and I was left with what looked to be 6 runners in front of me heading towards the long incline. I knew I wasn't 7th as I knew that there would be some real speed demons who would be utterly out of sight by now, but I was more focussed on keeping my pace up the hill and then on 2 runners in front of me, "guy in blue" and "guy in white". Guy in white seemed to be struggling on the slope already, so I surged past him as I was wary of tucking in behind him and the unconsciously slowing to his pace. The surge took me past guy in blue and for the next few kilometers I could hear him breathing right behind me, but I seemed to put some distance between him as we headed down the hill towards the half way point.

First half of the race 23:21.

For the next 2-3 kilometers, guy in blue would catch up to me on the uphills and then fall back on the downhills. I had never raced like this in a race, usually I just race against the clock and then try and pick off random runners in the last kilometer or so, but this was becoming a bit of a race within the race. I didn't really know what the course was going to do next and had to decide on a strategy, his breathing sounded pretty laboured but I wasn't sure how much he had left in the tank. I decided that I had 3 options, continue as I was, but that might give him the edge in passing me in the finish straight, would I be able to respond? I could let him pass and then hang with him and try and pass him in the finish straight, or I could try and break him by surging on a downhill, but I wasn't sure what was still to come. In the end, the decision was made for me as he surged past me on a the steepest uphill we had faced so far. Initially he put about 15 meters between himself and I. I reeled him in a bit and hung on with him up until just before the 9km point and then he just took off, I couldn't match his speed but just kept pumping my arms running as hard as I could to the laneway that was the finish straight. I picked it up even harder when I saw 45 minutes on the clock, I was so caught up in racing that I hadn't really given my overall time any thought, now I was heading for a huge PB so I kicked as hard as I could and made sure to run right through the finish (rather than slow right down to the line).

Final time 45:22 (Second half of the race in 22:01).

I went over to guy in blue and we had a chat, congratulating each other for a good race. My Garmin clocked the 10km distance as being slightly short, but not by any significant amount.

I was very satisfied with a  personal best on a tough course but was then stunned to see that I placed first in my age group (Male 30-39). I was 16th overall and 13th male finisher, so maybe I caught a break and all the fast 30-39 guys ate too much turkey yesterday and didn't feel like a race today.

Army Half Marathon - Sept 18 2011

This was my third Army Half Marathon and my seventh Half Marathon in total. Since my Marathon debut at the end of May I had trouble getting back to the volume and intensity that I was running in the first 5 months of the year. My children were at home with me all summer and then I started a new job in August, so time was at a premium and I wasn’t able to run with any great regularity.

I knew the race was going to be tough, but I decided to test just how much endurance I had by running it a pace that felt quick but not excessive. The weather was perfect, cool with a cloudless sky, and after a quick warm up and porta-potty visit I was in my start corral and ready to go.

After a slow start due to crowding I got into my stride and speeded up on the downhill portion of Wellington Street. Soon enough I was tackling the first hill of the course along the Ottawa River Parkway and was feeling strong and relaxed. We turned at the lights near the Remic Rapids and could now see all the racers behind us, it was quite the sight to see the mass of humanity that had turned out to race. The Army run is a special one, it is a celebration of all the brave men and women who have served our great country so well and allowed us the freedoms that we enjoy and take for granted every day. The race itself is to raise funds for the families of soldiers who have been killed or injured in the act of serving Canada.

Splits – first 5kms

1 – 5:03

2 – 4:41

3 – 5:01

4 – 4:49

5 – 4:54

Total – 24:28

Heading back towards the War Museum it was time to tackle hill number two and as we turned to head into downtown Gatineau I took my first gel. The downtown portion of Gatineau felt tough with quick turns and a few steep up and downs but it wasn’t long before I was running up and onto the Alexandra Bridge to return to Ottawa. The hill coming up off the bridge was tough, but the crowds were immense and really helped drive me on.

Splits – second 5kms

6 – 5:04

7 – 4:58

8 – 5:03

9 – 5:10

10 – 5:03

Total – 49:46 (25:18)

After a pretty quick 10kms I felt my pace drop considerably but kept pushing and responded well. As we climbed up towards Rideau Hall and ran behind it I really started to struggle, it wasn’t a surprise that my endurance wasn’t there, but with 7kms still to run I took my second gel and just kept looking ahead, pushing myself on without being too worried about the final outcome of the race. All I told myself was to keep running and not to let my complaining mind trick me into giving up.

Splits – third 5kms

11 – 5:18

12 – 5:09

13 – 5:16

14 – 5:30

15 – 5:20

Total – 1:16:19 (26:35)

The mind over matter battle continued until the end of the race, quite a few runners were now passing me, I wasn’t concerned about that at all, I just kept picking out distant targets and told myself to run to them, I had no idea of what sort of time I was on pace for, but when the 1:50 walk/run bunny passed me at 18 km I figured I would try for sub 1:50. Unfortunately, the continuous 1:50 bunny passed me about 1.5kms later and although I tried to hang with him and his pace group, my legs and lungs wouldn’t let me. Soon enough though, I was approaching the “1km to go” marker.

Splits – forth 5kms

16 – 5:13

17 – 5:26

18 – 5:29

19 – 5:33

20 – 5:39

Total – 1:43-39 (27:20)

The end was close (but not in sight as it only comes into view with about 200 meters left). I ran as hard as I could and stopped my Garmin on 1:50:22, a very pleasing result in the circumstances, I had hung on and gutted it out. Sure I could have run a far more conservative race, but I wanted to really test my endurance and practice the art of running on very tired legs. It’s a bit masochistic but I felt I would get more out of the race by running it this way, rather than taking it easy and then speeding up at the end.

Splits – last bit

21 – 5:32

256m – 1:11 (4:46/km)

Now I am excited to get back to regular training and take in a few fall races now that the weather is cooler and perfect for running.

Army Half Marathon - Sept 18th 2011

Finished the Army Half Marathon in a respectable 1:50:22 today. FULL REPORT TO COME.

July & August 2011 - busy summer

It has been a busy summer, what with holidays, looking after my kids and starting a new job in teaching (biology), so regrettably my running has suffered somewhat. Difficult weather has often made it difficult to get runs in but I did as best as I could in the circumstances. I managed 11 runs for 121.55kms in July with a new 5km PB of 22:21 set at the Bushtukah Canada day race. In August I managed only 6 runs for 77.51kms.

The Army Half Marathon race is in September so hopefully I can get plenty of runs in so I can have a go at my PB of 1:44:24 set earlier this year. If not, then maybe an event PB by besting 1:48:50 that I managed last year in this event. Time will tell I guess.