Beresford 10km road race

Weather on route to the start

 

It was a wet, raining, grey Saturday morning. I woke up, dragged myself out of bed and headed to the kitchen. I was surprised at the amount of sleep I was able to get the night before. 'Am I really running another 10km today?' I think to myself as I weigh out the options for breakfast. I could be brave like my sister and opt for pancakes, or stick with something I am more familiar with. In my normal fashion, I play it safe and end up eating an English muffin with peanut butter.

Unpredictable weather meant lots of consideration on what to wear. Ended up with capris, long sleeve, hat and a headband. I felt good, ready to go. Driving to the start point was filled with fun music and an anticipation for what was ahead. The race started later than most, at 11am. Thankfully the clouds covered the sun and prevented it from getting too hot.

Gathered with the other 280 runners (of the 400 or so that were registered) under a white tent, trying to avoid the rain for as long as possible. Eventually the crowd started moving forward towards the road, it was time. And just like that we were off. I decided to move to the middle of the pack for fear of being the very last person. I was running ahead of my sister Nikki, her friend Miranda and my dad. After about one song, I see a race marker in the distance. Is this 2km? 3km? Wow that flew by!! As I approach the sign I am disappointed. 1 kilometre. How is this possible? I must have gone farther than that by now. Regardless, I push on. 2 kilometres, 3 kilometres, 4...  I feel like my running partners are right behind me but don't want to turn around to check. Must keep going forward. Rain is pounding down on me but I am warm. Rain on my face is actually a relief and I try to catch a few precious drops in my mouth as I saunter along. I jump over and around puddles. I feel like a trooper. 'I'm sure no one else has ever run in the rain like this before! I am a pioneer. A real go getter.' I run out of music around 8km. I sigh and stop as I frantically try to remove my iPod from my makeshift rain proof plastic flyer bag protection. Press play. And then I'm off again. Pick it up with 500 metres left. Turn one corner, turn another. See the finish line. Hear people cheering. Run, run, run. And it's over. Another race is over. I watch others cross the finish line and cheer them on. Back at home, I peel off layers and have a long hot bath, and think about the next one.


Miranda (pushing baby Sahen!) and Nikki finishing
Time: 1:08:11



Dad finishing
Time: 1:09:01

 

Me after the race with my favorite post race drink, chocolate milk
Time: 1:05:03
 

Bluenose 10k review

Well, I did it! I completed the 10km race in the Bluenose for the first time!

Surprisingly, I fell asleep pretty easily on Saturday night. I don't really have much of a pre-race routine. Just tried to drink some water and go to bed at a decent time. Laid out what I needed in the morning as I didn't want to have to wake up super early. I then woke up at 2:45am (probably because of the water I drank...) and then was up for about 45 minutes with pre-race jitters. Annoying, but not really unexpected.

I woke up at 6:45am, as my sister was picking me up around 7:15am. Her mother in law and sister in law were walking the 5k, so we needed to be there for their 8:10am start time. As a pre-race breakfast I had an english muffin with peanut butter. Managed to eat the whole thing! We dropped them off at the start and then went to warm up. My parents ended up staying at Cambridge Inn which was basically AT the start line. It was perfect! I was able to dump my warm clothes there, warm up inside, use the bathroom (crucial) and relax for a bit before our 9am start time. I was running with my sister Nikki, her husband Ray and my dad. Nikki and I had planned before hand to stick together, whereas the guys went their own pace.

The race was definitely worth any pre race anxiety I felt. It's just amazing to see thousands of runners and walkers. Everyone was having fun and there was so much energy. I think my favorite part of the race was going along Agricola St. It was at the beginning of the race, I was starting to warm up and feeling really good, lots of people out to watch us go by. It really made me feel like a superstar!

I felt good during most of the race. I was a little unsure of what to wear because of the weather, but decided on shorts with my knee high socks, the race tshirt with a long sleeve over it. I had cheapo gloves that I lost after the first 2km or so as my hands were warm enough. I managed to run up all of the hills and only had a few short walk breaks just to stretch out my quads and to readjust my hair (note to self: buy new hair elastics that have some elastic left in them!). The first half of the race was definitely faster than the second, as I felt myself slowing down upon going back over the bridge to Halifax. I think what did it was the incline on the bridge followed by the incline up North to Gottingen, brutal! But I managed to hang on. Unfortunately I did get a side stitch during the last km of the race which is the worst!! I was kind of bummed about that because I can usually pick up my pace at the end and finish strong but I didn't feel up to it during this race.

I managed to finish with a time of 1:06:25. Not my fastest 10k, but I'm happy with the time considering the amount of training I did.

I thought the volunteers and organizers of the event did a fabulous job. I really can't comprehend how they pull off something of this magnitude. I think they will have to consider changing things next year if they expect this many participants again. Trying to get food and something to drink was almost impossible due to the sheer amount of people. Maybe different waves of start times to avoid a huge rush following the race?

Anyway, a few pictures of the event (click to enlarge):

Nikki and I coming up to the finish

Dad, me, Nikki, Ray, his mom and his sister

Dad & daughters

Silly posing to celebrate our accomplishment!

Next up for me is another 10k in Beresford, NB on June 8th. Only two weeks away! ACK!

game of life run!

I participated in my first 5km race of the year! My sister Nikki and I ran the Game of Life race this morning at the beautiful point pleasant park. The event supported Commonwealth Games Canada's grassroots sports programs in Africa and the Caribbean.  This program uses sports as a means for social development of people in these countries. When I was younger I played basketball and soccer in city leagues and in school, and also coached a basketball team of boys aged 9-10. I believe that participating in sports gives children confidence and team work skills that can extend to multiple areas of their lives. SO of course I thought this was an awesome cause!


I love that the event was held at Point Pleasant Park. The route followed the perimeter of the park which is a wide trail with great views of the ocean. Thankfully it was bright out (cloudy) and not too windy. A breeze off the ocean can be mighty cold, so I was glad it wasn't too bad today! They had tons of volunteers that were helpful in guiding the way. It was a simple out and back, with the first half being up hill. This made the second half of the race a treat! Knowing the last half was downhill was definitely something I looked forward to.

A few negatives were that the 10km race was an out and back, TWICE. Maybe some people don't care as much as I do, but I think that would be extremely boring. I think they could have taken advantage of all the trails in the park and made it a loop or something. This would have meant more volunteers though, which maybe wasn't possible. My only other negative were the other people at the park. Since the race was small (I would estimate 100 participants in the 5 and 10 combined) they did not close the park. The park is notorious for people bringing their dogs, and some areas are off-leash. I believe these people had every right to be in the park; however I wish some people had shown a little more consideration and tried to move their dogs out of the way of the runners. Nothing that could have been controlled by the race coordinators though!

Overall it was a great start to run season, and I'm happy with the result. Nikki and I ran together (except for the final sprint). The clock time when running through the finish said 31:47, yet my chip time was 31:55 or something. This doesn't really make since to me as usually the chip time is lower? Either way I'm happy with that time!

Now I just need to get my butt in gear as I decided I'll be doing the 10km in the Bluenose! IN ONE MONTH! Ack. Stay tuned for my procrastinator training plan.

p.s. I returned the sneakers I posted about earlier. Still on the hunt for ones I like...

4 years and recovery

Yesterday was a great day. My boyfriend Jamie and I celebrated our four year anniversary! We are proud to say that we survived our long distance relationship and are very happy to be living together again!

The celebration was fairly low-key. He surprised me with a dozen roses and chocolates. It was warm out, so we did the 10 minute walk to Ace Burger. It was my first experience there and it was fantastic! They serve only local food.

I had the lamb burger on herb foccacia with goat cheese (top). Jamie had the deluxe burger with back bacon and cheese on a kaiser. On the side we both had seriously the best fries I have ever tasted. And of course they were loaded with salt! (the best). The restaurant was very quiet and laid back which I really appreciated. I'm not always in the mood for a loud, noisy place so a Tuesday night was the best time to visit.

After our fantastic meal we did a crossword together, cuddled and watched a movie and ate some chocolates. Definitely a fantastic way to celebrate our four years together.

Although the meal was amazing, I woke up today feeling a bit sluggish. So I thought I would document how I recovered after some overeating the night before. Now, don't get me wrong... I do NOT regret what I ate!!! Even writing this post is difficult because I want to re-eat that meal right now. That being said, I find overeating is a slippery slope. Once I begin to eat junk food, I tend to throw my week out the window and give in to all of my cravings.

So to counteract this trend, I started off my day by drinking lots of this:

Good ole H20 to try to negate the salt I had last night, and to keep me refreshed. For breakfast I ate oatmeal with a cut up apple on top and some peanut butter. Definitely my favorite breakfast of the moment.

For lunch I had tofu with veggies topped with Thai sweet chili sauce. Seriously the easiest meal ever:

In order to get my exercise in I went on a 10km run with my sister Nikki and brother in law Ray. It was tough. I haven't been running as much as I'd like and I definitely felt it today. It was wonderful to get outside though and spend time Nikki and Ray. I was cold the entire run! I thought I would maybe get away with not buying thermal running pants this winter but today changed my mind! Brrr!!

The upside was that I got to try out my new lulu lemon hat:

featuring post run sweat!

If you're interested in this hat you can find it here. I got this hat for Christmas and it's very soft and comfortable. However as you can see from the picture it doesn't cover my ears! So a little disappointed about that.

And finally for the end of my recovery day I had a delicious smoothie. I forgot to take a picture of it because I was hungry and it just looked so good! I used the same recipe as I did for this Breakfast Smoothie I posted awhile ago, so you can check out a picture on that post.

Overall I think it was a successful recovery to a Tuesday-night indulgence and I can continue my week on track!

happy new year!!

Happy New Year to all my readers! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season spent with family and friends. For New Years I went to a party at a friends place. It involved eating and dancing, which are two of my favorite things, so the night was definitely a success.

And today I signed up for the gym! It made me a little sad because every gym will now be compared to the UMaine Campus Recreation Center... and most gyms come up a little short. That being said, I have signed up at GoodLife Fitness for the year. There are a ton of these gyms in my area, which is great because I can usually find at least one fitness class occurring at a time that fits my (currently non-existent) schedule.  I'm happy that they offer Les Mills classes which include step, body pump, and something similar to kickboxing. The major flaw that I've noticed is that they don't offer a kettlebell class (well, they do, but you have to pay an extra $300 for 3 months... no thanks). I'll keep you updated on how I'm adjusting to the new gym.

With the new year comes the new years resolutions. I really haven't thought about it too much. Last year I believe mine was that I would continue to stay active throughout the year. I really think I achieved that goal. I'm wondering if I should set something more specific, or stay with something vague.

That being said, my sister Nikki wanted to set a specific goal for the month of January. I like the idea of something more short term, rather than thinking of the LOOONG year ahead. Her goal is to run 10km at least once a week and do these arm exercises 3x/week. My month long goal is to log my eating on loseit.com every day, run 10km at least once a week, and do the famous 8 minute ab video 3x a week.

What are your new years resolutions? Did you meet yours from last year?

valley harvest run

Last weekend I participated in the Valley Harvest Run in Wolfville, NS with my dad, sister Nikki, her husband Ray, their nephew River and Ray's mom. River & Ray's mom did the 5k whereas the rest of us participated in the 10k. It was Thanksgiving day which made the race extra special. Knowing that we would be having a turkey dinner later in the day was definitely a motivator for this race!

It was a GORGEOUS day. Clear beautiful blue skies, no wind. It was chilly, so I left my fleece on until the beginning of the race. I ended up stashing it on a fence near the start line and then retrieved it afterwards.

The route was an out and back that had 3 hills. At the beginning of the race the entire road was closed which was a great way to spread out at the start. After the first km or so we only had one side of the road for us to run. And I just have to say that people drive way too fast when going by runners! Especially a race!! All it takes is one slip in your footing and you could be in front of a car. I urge anyone who runs on the road to be VERY cautious of drivers and remember to wear reflective clothing as it's getting darker earlier now!

Anyway, back to the race. At the very beginning of the run I saw a guy ahead of me who had a shirt that said 'PUSH' on the back. So I thought to myself 'ok, I can push'. And so, I pushed myself and it paid off. It's funny how something so simple can stick with you. I reached the 5km marker with the FANTASTIC time of 25 minutes!! Seriously, the FASTEST I have ever run 5km. I felt elated and surprised when I looked down at my watch and saw that time. I thought to myself 'if I can keep this up I can finish in 50 minutes!!'

Sadly, I could not keep it up. Around the 7.5km mark the pain (followed by doubt) started to set in. My right knee was hurting really badly. There was something that just wasn't right. It felt very tight along the outside of my knee with every step. And with pain like this, thoughts such as: 

What if something is really wrong?

This hurts so bad!

I should keep running...

Should I stop?

Am I really hurting myself?

start entering your mind and it's hard to block them out. I continued on with a very slow pace and was ecstatic to see the finish line. I finished with a time of 1:03:43 which is a PR (from my previous 10k of 1:09). My original goal was to finish in under 1:05 so I'm super happy!! 

My knee ended up REALLY hurting me for the rest of the day and the next day. It was stiff and sore when I put my weight on it. I put some ointment on it and walking around helped. However I think what helped the most was the glorious Thanksgiving meal my Nanny prepared! yumyum.

I went for a brisk walk on Tuesday (2 days post race) to test out my knee and I had zero pain! It has been fine ever since.

Other finishing times: Ray - 58 mins, Nikki - 1:01, Dad - 1:02

And as always, here are some pictures from the race:

Me, dad and Nikki post race, all wearing the race shirts

Medal - my iPod doesn't pick up the incredible level of detail.

Ribbon around the medal.

So I leave you with one question. My next race I want to try to inspire someone by wearing a shirt with something motivating on the back. Any suggestions?

 

terrible 10

UGH!!!! That is the only way I can describe today's run.

I took about 10 days off from running following my last race. This was kind of by accident. I meant to take a few days off to recover, but then life got in the way!

So after 10 days off, I thought I should try to run 10k today. PROBABLY not the best idea.


So my terrible run all started last night when I returned home from the gym and couldn't find my iPod touch. I really couldn't imagine it being stolen as it was within view at all times while I was working with my trainer. Also, I remembered it being in my pocket as I walked to my car. Regardless, it was missing. All was not lost though, as I had my older nano which I used for my run today.

So despite the lost Ipod, I tried to pump myself up by dancing around my room a bit before heading out. I was looking forward to the route I had mapped (I use map my run) as it incorporated running in the woods as well as running through campus. 

It was a gorgeous day... clear sunny skies, great temperature with a medium breeze. LOVED IT.

And then, about 2 minutes into my run it hit me:

"this sucks" 

"why is this so hard?"

 "i want to stop" 

"my legs are sore"

"i should probably stop" 

"i have so much farther to go"

etc etc etc

After what felt like a lifetime I did complete the 10k. I estimate that I ran about 7.5k and walked the rest. It really wasn't a terrible run but the constant mental block made it feel insanely difficult! It was a huge reminder that so much of running is mental.

I found this article on runner's world that talks about overcoming those horrible mental blocks. I'm going to try to incorporate some of their suggestions into my next run.

While running I try to say to myself at least once "you're doing it!!" so I can really appreciate the fact that I made it past the first step - getting into my workout gear and onto the road. Other mantras I use are: 'you can do it!' 'you've done it before!' 'not much farther'. I also try to make myself smile when running feels really difficult. It may sound silly but it helps. And if someone sees you smiling and running, then they will know that you are having a great time, and maybe you will motivate them to run too!

How do you get passed your own mental blocks? 

Update: Found my iPod. Wasn't stolen, just misplaced! :)

i did it!

I ran my races last weekend!! Really happy with my results and that I felt good during both of my races. My stuffy nose seemed to magically go away while I was running, which was amazing. The races took place in Fisherman's Cove, Nova Scotia. The routes were along the water and provided BEAUTIFUL scenery. So many times I wanted to stop and take photos!

I finished the 5km run with a time of 31:21, which is a mile pace of 10:05. We ran the 5km at 7pm, and had gorgeous weather and a beautiful sunset:

Source: http://www.facebook.com/sylvie.theriault.77

The 10km took place the next morning, at 7:30am. I finished with a time of 1:09, which is a mile pace of 11:06. My goal was to finish in less than 1:20, so I am very happy with my time! I'll be interested to see what my finish time is for my next 10km when I haven't ran a 5km the night before!

Some more photos from the event:

Prior to the 5km race with one of my supporters, my bro-in-law, Ray.

Happy while running the 5km!

Runners in the 5km race, you can see me in purple!

ARRRR!!! Me and some pirates

The Tartan Twosome medals. Anyone who ran in 2 events (5km + another) received one!

I will post more pictures soon of the 10km race, and when the official photos are released. I also have some new exciting race and exercise plans that I will share with you soon!

Are you taking part in any fall races? Tell me about it! 

do over!

I went home this weekend to Halifax for a wedding (which was actually in PEI). My weekend was filled with spending time with family (both mine and my boyfriend Jamie's)!

Lots of laughing, eating, and sleeping. And of course lots of driving (21 hours in 4 days, ugh).

AND absolutely no running. So this week I am going to re-do week 7 of my running plan. My eating has also fallen towards the not so healthy side recently, with this weekend being the worst! To counteract my weekend I am planning on monitoring portion size more closely this week and increasing my water intake.

Six and a half weeks until my dual-run (5k Friday evening, 10k Saturday morning) and I want to be in my best condition!

Here are the songs I chose to download for my new running music. I got some ideas from this Women's Health Magazine article, and thought of some on my own:

The Prodigy - Firestarter
Refused - New Noise
Outkast - B.O.B
Fatboy Slim - Rockafellar Skank
Daft Punk - Around the World/Harder Better Faster Stronger (remix from their live album)
Franz Ferdinand - Do you want to?
MGMT - Kids
MSTRKRFT - Bounce (All I do is Party)