Recent Races - Cobble Hill 10km

So - an update from me has been way overdue.  Life got very busy early this year, and in addition to the usual business, Shane and I also started looking for a house, ended up purchasing a house and have been dealing with all that comes out of that (mortgages, packing, meetings with lawyers, figuring out finances etc).  Also, I've been doing a nutrition course, which tends to eat up any other spare time I have.  However, before I completely forget, I thought I'd do a few quick write-ups about my races earlier this season.

Cobble Hill 10km
January 23, 2011

I was nervous going into this race, as I was somewhat fatigued, from not getting sufficient sleep.  But, as long as the body is not too fatigued, I've learned that it has the capacity to pull off amazing feats, when pushed.  Race-day started off a bit drizzly, but once it was ready to go, it had turned into absolutely perfect conditions.  The rain had stopped and the temperature was just perfect for racing.  After a very quick warm-up I headed to the start-line and soon the race was off (in fact I believe it started a bit early - which is unusual for a race).  I didn't see Shane at the start line and I had thought that he had missed the start (he had actually just barely made it in time and was off to the side).

The first kilometer went blazing fast, and how I wished I could hold on to that pace for the entire race.  I did the first km in around 3:45.  In the first 1.5 km of this race is a turn-around, as we do a short out and back on a side-road to make up the distance.  Then, there's a slight rise back up to the main road.  The 3 km comes shortly after turning back on to the main road.  While the first kilometer went by relatively easily, from the second kilometer to the end of the race, I had to really focus on my pace and try and push myself to keep from slowing down.  In contrast to the Pioneer 8km, where my running felt relatively effortless for the first 5 km, I was pushing myself hard from the get-go on this one.  There was nothing effortless about this race, and I was pushing hard to make my goal of under 41 minutes. 

I lost my splits, so I don't know what they were exactly, but most were around 4:00-4:10.  All I could think was to keep pushing as much as I could because I feared that if I let myself think about anything else, my body would slow down and I'd end up losing time.  Out to the turnaround the race continued to feel hard, although I'd found my place in the pack, and wasn't being passed.  The part after the turnaround and towards kilometer 7 , which is just as we make a turn into a wooded section, is my favorite part of the race.  There's a slight downhill, and in many of my previous races at Cobble Hill, I've regained some energy at this point in the race.  True to form, this little downhill helped me pick it up a bit, and I felt my body lightening somewhat. 

Next came about 2 kilometers on a smaller side-road that is surrounded by trees.  It offers a nice surrounding to the usual drab of a road race, while the road lobs us up small hills, then down again and around slight curves both left and right.  While the scenary offers beauty in this section, mentally and physically it was a tough section.  My body was tiring and each small rise required me to dig deep to push through.  The end was near, but there was still room to falter, if I let myself slow. 

Finally, came the 9 km mark, as we headed back up to the main road and towards the finish line.  I could feel the tensions rise, as everyone around me dug in and the pace started to quicken.  I tried to stay alongside those who were running near me and push through the pain I was feeling.  It often seems in a race of any distance, I want to give up in the last kilometer and barely have enough to keep myself going to the finish line.  I'm not sure whether it's more of a mental or physical thing - is it because I know the end is near, so I'm ready for the race to be over, or do I manage to push myself so hard that I only have it within me to make it to the finish in form?   As I saw the finish line come into sight, a couple of guys passed me, as I saw the clock tick towards 40:48.  My official finishing time was 40:49 -- good enough to meet my goal - but deep down I had hoped for a little faster. 

It was a tough race, and I was happy that I had been able to keep pushing myself.  While my tiredness may have played a small role in how I felt during this race, it didn't overburden my race, and I was still satisfied with my time. 

The overall race win went to Sean Chester, who won the first race in the Island Race Series -- his final time was: 32:24.  Shane came in third overall in 33:30, and while not an overall PB, still a PB for the course.

Pioneer 8km

January 9, 2011

This is the first race in the Island Race Series, the first race of the year, and always a good test to see where the fitness is at.  I hadn't raced a road race since the Marathon in October, and the last time I ran anything shorter than a 1/2 marathon on the road was in May.  So, going into this race, I didn't really know what I was capable of.  I was nervous, yet hopeful.

Last year, I'd ran this race in 33:39, and so I was hoping to get around 33 min, or just under.  The race started in cool, cloudy weather.  I ran off the start line fast, as I usually do, and tried to get the most of the downhill start.  I knew the first km would be fast, so I didn't worry about it too much.  Although I was surprised to see myself running next to Karen Laberee, who has always been significantly faster than me.  It had been quite cool in the days leading up to Pioneer, and there was still some ice on the roads.  Leading up the 1 km marker, there were a number of volunteers pointing out the slippery sections and how to avoid the ice.

Once we got past the 1 km marker, I made the decision to just try and stay with Karen, and see how the race evolves.  I was feeling good, and not like I was overtaxing myself.  The next kilometre continued on a relatively flat section, and then we made the turn into 'downtown Brentwood'.  It's essentiallly just one block of shops lining the street on both sides.  Ahh... it's nice to run outside of the big cities sometimes.  Once we turned the corner, the road changed to a slightly uphill grade. I wanted to stay strong here, and focused on keeping the leg turnover going, while pumping the arms for momentum.  I stayed just behind Karen along the entire climb up to Stelly's X-Road.  Just as we turned the corner, I passed her, as she encouraged me along.

We were now headed towards the mid-way point, as we climbed and descended a few rolling hills back towards Wallace Drive.  I had expected to reach the mid-way point at 17 minutes (I'd slightly miscalculated), but heard a local PIH-er yell out 'Good Job Sonja, 15:43'.  I couldn't believe what I'd heard.  Both myself and the guy who was running beside me exclaimed 'Really? No way...'.  This was way faster than I'd thought.  It felt great, and gave me a great boost as I continued along the race.  I was also surprised to notice how good I was feeling.  I knew that I was pushing myself, but my breathing, legs and body felt strong and fluid.

After passing the school where I attended high-school (Stelly's Secondary), we descended back to Wallace Drive, and turned left this time, towards Centennial Park.  This is where I started to feel the race.  My breathing became more laboured, and I had to push to stay at the same pace.  Then, just as the race started to feel hard, I got a spurt of energy, and passed a couple of people, including a woman running a bright pink hat.  A few of us were running together, and we stayed pretty close to each other, as we ran towards the final turnaround.  As we made our way back along Wallace Drive, past the park, the woman in the pink hat passed me back. I was determined to try and stay with her, and knew that I only had about 1.5 kms left until the finish. This was a great motivator, as it kept me pushing and concentrating on my leg turnover and trying to work through the pain.

The last kilometre of the race is uphill, and always a bit of a battle.  But, this time at least I had pink hat lady to motivate me to not give up before the race ended.  So, I just kept telling myself, keep pushing, keep pushing, don't think about the pain, but just focus on putting all that you can into this last kilometer.  I was able to keep up with Ms. Pink hat all the way up the hill and into the last turn that would bring us to the finish line.  Then, I gave it one final push, just edging out another gentleman, Don Costello, and finishing just one second behind Ms. Pink Hat, Rhonda Callendar. My final time as 32:02.  About 1 minute faster than I had expected.  I'd ran a 4 minute pace for the entire race, which to me was amazing.  I hadn't expected to come in at that time and was ecstatic.  Karen had kept up with me throughout the entire race, and finished just 7 seconds back.  She had been a great push for me for the first half of the race, and I had provided motivation to her for the last half.

Overall it was a great race, and I was happy that the racing year started off as well as it did.  If things continued on like this, it would be a great racing year indeed! My splits were: 3:42; 3:56; 4:08; 3:56; 4:00; 4:10; 4:01; 4:07.

Shane also had a good race, and achieved a PB, despite not expecting to achieve one, coming in at 26:19 and 6th overall. The win went to Jim Finlayson (24:45), and the top female was Natasha Wodak (27:57).

Boxing Day 10 miler

December 26, 2010

This is a casual race that PIH puts on each year, as a fun event to run off some of those Christmas calories.  It's a handicap race, with start times based on performance at a race from the previous year and racers start from slowest to fastest - trying to catch those in front and not be caught from behind. I started 15 minutes ahead of the fastest runner, Sean Chester.  The course is a two-lap course, with long stretches on Mt Newton Cross Road. 

It was a strange race - I got to the race start and a few people were milling about in a very relaxed fashion -- it barely felt like a race.  Other runners were heading out on their first lap, as I got ready to head out on mine.  I started at the same time as Donald Peterson, a local runner who recently ran 24 hours on a treadmill to raise funds for MS.  He wasn't sure how he'd fare on this race, after completing such an arduous event in the past two weeks.  However, as the clock ticked up to our appointed time- 10:31, we headed off at what felt like a pretty brisk pace.  (Donald ended up deciding to only complete one lap -- as he was still recovering from his treadmill ultra-marathon).

As I mentioned previously, other than a few hundred meters, most of the course is along a single road.  Mt Newton Cross Road is a country road with a few relatively significant climbs (for a road race) -- and the steepest climb of the race would come at the end. 

I started off feeling decent, and soon took the lead, running in front of Donald Peterson.  The course climbed up one hill and descended the next, and I kept hoping that the next hill would be the last before the turn-around.  Finally, I started to see the earlier runners coming back towards me, and I knew it was near.  It was fun to see the other racers out on the course, passing and greeting them in turn.  Based on their positions to mine, it seemed difficult to believe that I'd be able to catch them -- but I figured I wouldn't really know until the second lap.  I completed the first segment in 17:55.  I felt pretty happy with this time, although I wasn't really certain what to expect from this race, and wasn't gunning for a specific finishing time.

The way back, my legs really started to feel it - and the race got immensely harder.  This is where I really had to being to work to keep pushing.  At times I thought, why keep pushing - this is just a fun race after all -- let's just cruise and enjoy the run.  But, my race instinct wouldn't let go, and I wanted to try and have a decent performance without getting trampled by the fastees.  At about the mid-way point in the loop,  I saw the fastest runners on their way to the turnaround.  Boy, they looked strong -- I wondered how many I could hold off.

I finished my first loop in 36:15 (18:20 for the segment), having slowed down somewhat.  Now just to do that all over again.  Up a slight incline, down a large downhill and then back to the up, down, and short flat sections.  This third segment felt no easier, and I really felt like I was slowing.  The hills seemed to really break me down.  However, I did end up catching a few runners in front of me.  Then, as I neared the turn-around point, I noticed how I was closer to the runners who had started before me - this race worked, I was actually gaining on them.  I finished my third segment in 18:20 - exactly the same time as for the previous segment.  However, after beginning to make my way back towards the finish, I saw Nancy Baxendale, who had started four minutes after me, and I was almost certain she'd catch me, being that she was so close.  A few of the other faster runners followed, and then I saw Sean Chester.  He was really gunning it, and I figured it would only be a matter of time before I'd see him blaze past me.

This last segment of the course, I began to feel much better, and I started to pick it up a bit.  I was definiteily feeling stronger, but the wind, which had been blowing during the entire race, also seemed to pick up steam, and gave us a nasty headwind (and side-wind) on the return route.  It was definitely a slowing factor. 

I made it about 13 kilometers before Sean came barelling behind me - looking very strong.  I didn't know it at that point, but his goal was to try and break the course record that had stood for 11 years.  As soon as he passed me, I knew I had to keep going as hard as I could, to try and avoid any more fastees from passing me.  I also started to try and catch other runners in front of me.  I figured that if I could pass a few runners, then even if I was passed, I wouldn't lose any positions.  I passed one runner, and put my sights on another ahead of me, as I began the last brutal climb of the race.  The wind decided to make this challenge extra difficult, as it began blowing with extra force at this point.  As if my legs were not already tired enough - they were given an extra hurdle, and I felt like I was shuffling as I crested the hill.  Just as I made it to the top, I passed another runner, and as I looked back, I saw a pack of 4-5 runners coming up behind me.  I was only a few hundred meters from the finish - so I gave it all I had to not get passed by anyone else at this point. 

My parents were cheering for me at the last corner -- and it was great to see them as I dug in for the last bit.  The finish was finally in sight, and I hadn't been passed!  My final time was 1:12:49 (18:14 segment).  I had no idea if that was fast or slow, but I was just so happy to be done. 

As this is somewhat of a non-race race, I have yet to see any results.  So, I have no idea how I fared, or where I placed.  However, I did learn that Sean Chester did indeed end up breaking the course record, finishing in 55 mins XX seconds. It was a brilliant run for him, especially considering the wind, which was pretty fierce during parts of the race.  It also seemed that the gentleman who won the race outright didn't even realize that he was first.  As he was congratulated for crossing the finish line first, he exclaimed "for what?". 

It was definitely a fun race to do, and I'm glad that I decided to run it this year -- despite having a tough run.  It's enjoyable to have another type of format for a race, and a great way to do something a bit different over the holidays.

Stewart Mountain 10 miler

December 11, 2010

This is the last in the series of races that the Prairie Inn Harriers put on at Thetis Lake every Fall.  It's a great course, usually quite muddy and wet, with a fantastic climb at the mid-way point.   The Stewart Mountain climb is a pretty decent length, with some pretty steep sections and has always been a quad and lung burner.

This year, going into the race, I was feeling somewhat nervous, as I wasn't sure how I'd fare on the climb - I've never been a super confidant climber, and as I haven't been training too much on the hills, I thought it might cause me to hurt. The results from the race left me feeling both happy and dissatisfied -- overall I had a good race, but sometimes that's not enough.

The week leading up to the race, it had been raining pretty steadily, so I was pretty certain that it would be a wet course.  As we lined up on the start line, the rain had started to fall, but it wasn't too heavy.  Once we started running, I barely felt it at all.

I didn't expect this race to have a fast start, given that it's a bit of a longer race, with a difficult climb mid-way that you need to save something for.  However, was I ever mistaken - the frontrunners blasted off the start and one guy who doesn't usually lead, I believe it was Richard Knowlton, really took off.  I overheard some of his friends say "What's he doing leading like that -- that doesn't seem like a good idea!"  Apparently he was overtaken a few kilometres later, but held on for a decent finish.

So - I started out at a steady pace for me.  We got onto some smaller trails right off the start, and then wound our way up to Upper Thetis Lake.  I was running around a bunch of guys I didn't recognize and just hoped that I didn't start out too fast.  The race gets much more interesting once we head off the main Thetis Lake trails and onto the single-track. Although, it was also here, that I wanted to speed things up a bit, and found myself behind 3 other guys, who while not going slow, felt like they were holding me up a bit.  This didn't last too long - as soon as we got off the narrow, technical terrain, things sped up again.  Here, we got to maneuver over fallen logs and trash through puddles that took up the entire trail, making keeping your feet dry completely impossible.

Then came the main puddle - it's over knee deep, has a fallen log in the middle of it, and is maybe 25 metres long.  Overall it's not that deep, but it's long enough to freeze the feet.  I emerged from the puddle, with completely frozen feet and then came a gnarly, technical downhill, that my feet did not want to navigate.  At the bottom of this hill, came a gushing stream.  It had definitely expanded, and there was no way, but to run right through it.  As we neared and ran through each of these puddles and rivers, there was a guy running near me who would yelp and yeehaw, excited about each foot drenching experience. 

I knew I was pushing it pretty hard, but overall I was feeling pretty good - although some of the early short hills took it out of me a bit, and I was labouring to climb them.  I only hoped that I hadn't expended too much energy before the real climb, and that I'd be left struggling my way to the top.

Just as we made our way onto the loop that would wind our way up to Stewart Mountain, Joelle McCartie passed me.  I have trained and raced with Joelle, and while we've been similar speeds, I have always been a tad faster than her. I was surprised to see her passing me at that point, and to see how strong she looked.  I had already gone through a few points in the race, where I had battled with myself mentally to keep going hard-- as I didn't want to keep on pushing.  Once Joelle passed me, I was thrown a momentary blow.  'Is that Joelle passing me?...' I wondered.  I knew that she was a strong climber, and she had been training hard over the last year for triathlons - but I hadn't expected her to have become so fit.  I didn't want to lose sight of her, so I kept at it- and staying with Joelle remained my motivation for the rest of the race.

After a few more twists and turns, and a few more puddles, we started the climb.  It's a two part climb - whereby you get a few steep sections, then a slight levelling out for a few hundred meters, and then the second part of the climb begins as we turn onto a wide road that leads us near the top.  As in previous years, it was tough.  However, I felt better than I had before, and was even able to switch between power hiking and jogging throughout the climb.  Near the top, we get off the main trail and head into the woods for the final push.  A guy who was running ahead of me, missed the turnoff.  I tried to yell at him 'Left!  You missed!' was all I was able to muster between deep breaths.  He heard me, but it didn't register until someone behind me yelled 'You've gone too far, turn back!' in a loud commanding voice.  This last part had us scrambling over large rocks, until we hit the summit and had our photo taken.

Photo credit: Adam Lawrence

Then came the descent.  It's somewhat technical to begin with, as it's steep and there's lots of loose rock.  I felt confidant in some parts and let my feet roll with it, and then tensed up in other parts.  Once we got off the loose stuff, I let my legs completely go.  Once you've ascended the hill, the rest of the race much easier.  There are a few climbs on the return route, but overall it's much more downhill on the way back.  It's a nice treat, as you're able to push it, and still feel relatively well.

Throughout this entire time, I kept Joelle in sight, but wasn't able to get much closer to her.  It was somewhat frustrating, as I had thought that perhaps on the downhill I could catch up to her. Once we got back off the Stewart Mountain loop, it was back along many of the trails we'd taken on the way out.  More puddles and rivers to run through, but luckily we didn't have to do the monster puddle again.  As we neared the finish, there were moments when I'd come close to catching Joelle, but then she'd put some distance on me again, and it was definitely starting to feel like there would be no catching her this time.

As we were running some of the final bends around Upper Thetis, I was passed by another strong female runner, who I've trained with.  Although this one I had been expecting.  Kirsten Arensen passed me with a vengeance.  I had been expecting her to come up from behind me, as she generally takes a more conservative start and then finishes strong.  While I'd beat her at many races earlier in the year, she had posted some faster times than me on some of the later races, and I knew that she was fit.  I knew there was no catching her as she pushed hard, while passing me.  This by and of itself would have been okay, but being the third female in a row of three was somewhat demoralizing.

Then, we made our way back onto the final stretch, and while I knew I was only about 5 minutes from the finish, it would be a tough last bit, as we had 3 steep hills to climb: Little Gunner, Big Gunner and Big Bugger.  This is where Joelle and Kirsten got some extra time on me, as my hill strength wasn't quite there.  I did run each of them, but really struggled.  After ascending the last one, there was a fantastic downhill and I pushed it hard to the finish.  As I crossed the finish line, the clock read 1:22:45.  I was around 5 minutes faster than last year, 18 seconds behind Joelle and around 40 seconds behind Kirsten.  Overall I had a great race, posted a faster time than the previous year by a pretty good margin, but I finished feeling unhappy with the race because of my placing (I ended up 7th female, out of fourth place by under a minute).  I was happy for Joelle - she took close to 10 minutes off her time from last year and really had a fantastic race.  However, it was still mentally challenging to have 3 women so close to me, but all beat me.  Although, I cannot be unhappy with my performance, as I felt pretty good during the race, felt better on the climbs than in previous years and posted a faster time than previously - and this is what I  need to keep in mind.

Shane had a fantastic race all-round and won the race overall.  There was some speculation that Bruce Deacon, a previous Olympian, who is still a fantastic masters runner, and who'd shown up for the race last minute, might come out on top.  However, this type of race isn't really his forte, and while he was still the top master, he ended up 3 minutes back from Shane. Shane still had to work for his win though, holding off Trevor Ruck - but congrats to him for his time of 1:04:56. Sarah Baker came in as the top women in 1:14:40 - a really strong showing.  Full results are here.

Thanks to Bob Reid, race director and for the Prairie Inn Harriers for putting on such a fantastic race -it was exceptionally marked, with enough course marshals, and definitely enough wet -- I finished the race completely soaked to the bone with the combination of puddles and rain.  But all in all it was a fun day!

Gunner Shaw 10 km

November 27, 2010

This is part of a series of races put on by the Prairie Inn Harriers on the Thetis Lake trails every fall.  This race is a classic fall race in Victoria that is popular and known for its puddles and muddy terrain.  This year it was a slightly different story though, as we got an early cold snap in Victoria that dusted the ground with snow that lasted for a week.  While the snow had melted in other parts of the city, the trails in Thetis Lake were still completely snow covered, and it would be a slippery run.  Luckily, I had created some 'screw shoes' last year out of an old pair of trail runners, and after seeing the conditions of the trails, I knew they would be perfect for this race. 

It was a beautiful day for a race, the sun was shining and the rays felt quite warm on this autumn day. In the forest, it felt a bit cooler, but the temperature was still great for racing.  I made it to the start line, just in time for the final words by the race director, Bob Reid, and then the countdown.  The race started off fast, as I knew it would.  I didn't want to kill myself right off the bat, so I just tried to maintain a steady effort.  The start of a race is always chaotic, as there's tons of people running all around, and it's amazing we don't all trip over each other. 

I was feeling pretty good and felt like I was maintaining a decent speed.  There were a number of women running around me, who I didn't recognize, but my competitiveness came out and I was determined to try and beat them.  Within the first few kilometres, Antonia Grady, passed me - and my goal then became to latch on to her and stay with her for as long as possible.  Antonia is a fantastic runner, and is somewhat faster than me, so I knew it would be challenging to stick with her, but it would also be a good motivator.  She was pushing it, and was slowly passing other racers as we weaved along the course.  I was following along, passing the same racers, as we went along. 

This year, due to the snow and cold weather, we bypassed the main puddle, as there was still ice on it, and it would have been treacherous to run through it, and likely would have caused some bloody knees.  Just after bypassing the puddle, Antonia and I caught up to the few other women who had been ahead of us.  We tagged along behind them for some time, as I was thinking to myself, 'Ok, Antonia, let's pass them...'.    Soon enough, Antonia made the first pass, and I followed close behind.  I was still feeling pretty good at this point, and was happy that I was able to keep up with Antonia. 

We had now passed the half-way mark, and were on our way back.  The route back went along a few different trails, and we took Sue Reid trail, which is a good single-track section on the way back.  This is one of my favorite parts of this race.  I love this section of the course, as we get onto some more technical terrain that snakes around, and is fun to blast through.  Just as we got near the exit of this trail onto the main trail that passes around Upper Thetis Lake, I couldn't match Antonia's speed anymore.  She was continuing to push hard, and I no longer had it in me to keep up.  I kept her in my sights as we made our way forward, but knew that she would be gone soon enough.  I had to scale it back a bit, but didn't want to slow down completely, as I knew those other women were just behind, and I didn't want them to pass me. 

Soon I was on the last section of the course -- although it's a bit of a cruel end, as it requires us to scale three steep hills, just as the legs are super tired.  I struggled my way up each one in turn, and then came a really fun downhill finish.  I was able to just let my legs spin, and push around the final few bends, before I was spat out into Thetis Lake.  For the very last part of the course, everyone is forced to run through the shallow part of the lake -- it's a fun way to finish the race, and some even decide to dive in and go for a little swim.  I wasn't quite that ambitious - so I kept my top dry.  My finishing time was: 43:57, and I was the fifth female overall.  Thanks to Antonia for giving me the push to work as hard as I did! 

The screw shoes were definitely a good idea - as they really helped with the traction.  After the race I heard about many others who had found the conditions slippery - but I didn't find it too bad.  It also really helped with my confidence, as I didn't feel the need to be tentative out there, either on the up or downhills. 

Shane had a good race as well - coming in 2nd overall, just behind Shawn Nelson, who is running extremely well, and is definitely the force to beat locally on the trails.  Melanie McQuaid was the female winner, coming in at 39:08.  The results are here.

Congrats to all of the racers, and thanks to Prairie Inn Harriers and Bob Reid for putting on another fantastic event!

Bear Mountain 10 km

November 20, 2010

This is billed as Canada's toughest 10km race.  It is known for its rolling hills and it's 3 major climbs: Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.  The course mainly goes along the golf cart paths around the Bear Mountain golf course.  I ran it two years ago -- and leading up to the race this year, I was questioning why I had signed up for it again.  It was definitely a challenging course, where there would not be any PBs set, and one that would definitely get your heart pumping.

However, this year, it would be an entirely different story.  Victoria is definitely not known for having cold or snowy winters, but this year, as a result of an Arctic weather system that made its way down to the coast of British Columbia, snow had covered our fair city on race day morning.  While it was only a light dusting in the city centre, up at the top of Bear Mountain it was full-on winter, and the race organizers were plowing the course to try and have it ready for the race.

Unfortunately, the snow was too much for our fearless race organizers and the course was shortened to 6-6.5 km.  Despite the inclement weather, more than 400 runners still showed up for the race.  This made planning what to wear somewhat of a challenge - to not overheat, but to have enough clothing to remain warm.  The shoes were another dilemma.  Shane and I had both brought our screw shoes, as one of the many options for footwear.  But, after the pre-run, we both decided to don our road shoes, as the paths didn't seem too treacherous.

Huddling at the race start, we waited for the count-down.  Then we were off on the slippery road.  Right off the bat, I was not totally into the race.  I didn't have my usual competitiveness, and watched as a number of women passed me on the first stretch. My body felt lethargic and I didn't have the desire to push it.  This race draws out a relatively competitive crowd, as there is prize money awarded for the first 5 men and women overall.  I figured I wasn't in the running, as I'd noticed a few very fast women at the race.

We wound our way along the road onto the beginning of the path, which quickly wound downhill along a steep and somewhat slippery part of the path.  I definitely checked my speed here, as I didn't want to injure myself on this early descent.  Soon thereafter we were at the start of the Papa Bear climb.  As a result of shortening the course, the Mama and Baby climbs were removed, but the longest and toughest climb (Papa) remained.  The Papa Bear climb is about 1 mile long, and gets steeper as you near the top.  It was during this climb that I got my stride.

I started feeling better as we made our way through the climb, and soon I started passing people.  My overall desire to do well kicked in, as I passed a few of the women who were ahead of me.  I started to feel strong and stayed strong throughout the rest of the race.

At the top of the climb, we were hit with a wall of wind.  It felt like it ground me to a complete standstill and I was amazed that I was still moving forward.  Luckily, other than that section, the wind wasn't too strong during the race.  I gained confidence as the race went on, and started moving a bit faster on the descents.  I strode out and kept trying to catch the next person in front of me.  On the last climb of the course I caught the last women who was in my sights.  I didn't want to lose my lead over her, so I was focused on pushing it through the rest of the race.  It's always a bit unnerving as you pass someone in a race because you don't know where they end up.  They may catch on to your speed and stay right behind you. Thankfully I was able to put about 20 seconds on her.

As I neared the finish two different people yelled out to me 'Good job, you're 4th woman' and 'Way to go, 3rd woman'.   I thought there was a possibility that I was maybe 5th, but third -- no way.  I finished in 29:01, hopeful that I was in the top 5.

Although I'd worn long tights and a long-sleeve shirt, the cold still got to me, and I felt as though my limbs were restricted.  I definitely did not have the ease of movement that I usually have, and this likely impacted my performance somewhat. 

After a long cool-down run, Shane and I entered the awards ceremony, where I learned that I was in fact just out of the prize money, having come in 6th woman overall.  However, I was pleased with  my performance and by the fact that I was able to convert a race in which I started off feeling so-so, into a decent finish.  Shane did quite well, and eked out 4th place overall, just beating out Jason Loutitt on the final stretch.  David Jackson took the overall win (albeit in a slightly faster time, as he inadvertently cut a couple hundred meters off the course), and Care Wakely was the first female in 24:45.  Full results here.

I may do this course again in the future, just to see how I hold up over all 3 hills, and the complete 10km distance.  Thanks to Frontrunners Westshore for putting it on -- although I do still miss the beautiful forest that the Bear Mountain resort took over in favour of development.

Hallow's Eve - Half-marathon

October 24, 2010

This race is part of the Run the North Shore series in the Vancouver area (trail races).  Every once in a while, I try to seek out races in other cities, to add some variety to the standard fare of races we get on the Island.  While we have a number of excellent races to choose from, it's nice to check out some different venues and trails.  Shane and I also picked this race, as a way to visit friends on the mainland.

The original forecast for the weekend looked ugly - rain and potentially high winds. It looked like it could be a sopping wet day out there.  Luckily race morning we woke up to an overcast sky, but no rain - at least yet.  I went into this race with more calm than many other races.  I felt like there was less pressure, partly because it was a different city and because I didn't know my competition, so I didn't know who I was 'supposed to' be ahead of or behind.  Also, having completed the marathon only two weeks prior, I knew there was the potential that my legs were not quite recovered.

The week prior to the race, my hamstring had still been bugging me -- and I was concerned that it would impair my race.  I could have opted to do the 10 km, but deep down I really wanted to do the half-marathon.  After a wonderful trail run at Thetis Lake the week prior to the race, my stubborness held fast, and I registered for the half-marathon.

As this was a 'Halloween' race, there were a number of people dressed up.  My favorites would have to be the group of men and women dressed up as playboy bunnies, men with wigs and everyone with huge breasts plastered on.  I wondered how comfortable their get-up would be to race in- and if the fake breasts would actually stay on the entire race.

Back to the race -- We lined up at the start line, and soon enough I knew it would be a competitive race.  Tamsin Anstey, a very fast and accomplished trail runner, and Jen Segger, another strong trail runner were both lined up at the start, in addition to Katrina Driver, who held the course record for females. The race director gave us the 10 second countdown and we were off.  Shane and I had previewed the course map so we knew to expect 1 main large climb near the beginning of the race, another secondary steep climb, a long downhill and a final shorter climb near the end. I'd also read that there is a long stair section. Other than that, I didn't know what to expect.


The first kilometre or so was on the road, and then we soon made our way onto the trail.  My main objective in this race was not to get beaten by any woman who was dressed up.  I really didn't know how fast most of these women were, and there very likely could have been a fast woman who'd decided to don an outfit, but it gave me something to strive for.  It ended up that within the first few kilometres I had managed to pass all women who had donned outfits.

At about the 2 km mark, there was a steep descent, that while not very long (about 100 meters), I knew that this was the last climb that we'd need to ascend at the end of the race.  I evaluated it as I went down, knowing that if I'd be able to run it at the end of the race, it would be a fantastic day.  At the top of the climb, the race organizers had littered fake body parts and RIP signs - it was a nice mood lightener.

The trail that we were running on was littered with boardwalks, and it changed between muddy sections and potentially slippery wooden boardwalks.  The boardwalks made the race more treacherous, as I would slow my speed somewhat on them to avoid a nasty fall.  Soon enough, after only a few kilometres we hit the nasty set of stairs.  The stairs were very narrow and were quite long.  I started running them, but soon I slowed to a hike - definitely the longest flight of stairs I've ever experienced in a race. But, unbeknowest to me there was another set of stairs to come just a little ways off.  Around this time, I saw a woman just ahead of me, who I was gaining on.  I put on some speed to try and pass her, and just as I got past I noticed that it actually wasn't a woman, but a man wearing a wig -- it was one of the Playboy Bunnies! It was slightly disappointing, as I thought I'd caught up to another woman, but put a smile on my face at the same time.

Before hitting the main climb, we had a short section of relatively flat trail.  Over the last couple kilometres or so, I'd been running with a group of women.  This was a very odd experience for me, because I'm not used to running with so many women so close together.  At one point, I think there were 4 or 5 of us running in a row.  I passed a number of them on the flattish section, but as the climb began, I was passed back.  Climbs are definitely not my strength, and given that I hadn't done many hills in the past few months, my abilities were even less.  Nonetheless I tromped on, as I watched a number of the women climb on ahead of me.

We hit the highest point just before the 8km mark, then we were into some fun downhill.  My comfort with downhill technical varies - although it often improves in races.  This particular day I was feeling relatively comfortable - unfortunately, it was a narrow trail and I got stuck behind a couple of slower people that I was unable to pass right away.  However, once I got past, I felt like I was able to pick up some good speed on the way down. At this point, I was running right next to Allison Ezzat, from Vancouver.  She knew the trails well and gave me a few tips about what was to come. 

Once we got to the bottom of this hill, there was about a 2 km section of slight uphill on a wider non-technical trail.  This part of the trail was next to a gushing river, and I was able to catch a quick glimpse of the view - but that's all I saw, as I was so engrossed in concentrating on the race and catching my competition, who were just ahead of me.  I was slowly catching up to a few women who were running together on this section, and almost caught up to them, just as we hit the second major climb.

But - I was reduced to a hike as the climb started.  I didn't have it in me to run it -- and let the other women get away.  At this point, Allison passed me, and I was determined to not let her get too far away.  I was able to stay pretty close to her as we made our way up the climb.  It wasn't long, but it was a steep bugger, and I knew that I had to keep pushing it, as there was another woman close behind me.  I felt that as long as I could beat her up the climb, then I could beat her overall, as I was better at the technical downhill.

I got to the top and then there was another fun downhill section - where Allison and I stayed close together.  At this point, I couldn't remember the race course exactly and thought that we were closer to the finish than we were.  As the descent levelled out and we headed onto flatish trail, I started to push my pace, as I figured we were almost at the finish.  However, in reality we still had about 5 kms to go.  As I started to think that the race was over, I really started to hope that the race would soon end.  The last kilometres were back on the trail with lots of boardwalks and muddy sections, and during this section, I couldn't wait for it to end.

For this race, I'd decided to carry a 500 ml handbottle - which added extra weight to my arms.  It was a bit of an annoyance during the race, and after about 15 kilometres, I got tired of carrying around the extra weight and dumped out most of the water.  I thougth I only  had a few kilometres to go, so wouldn't need to water anyway.  However, I had more distance to cover than I thought, and soon thereafter I started feeling dehydrated and wished I'd left more water in my bottle...

After one final major descent, including the mega set of stairs we'd ascended earlier in the race, we hit the final climb of the race.  Allison had pulled away from me a bit by this point and made up even more time on this climb.  I didn't have the climb in me - and felt like the race had taken it out of me.  As predicted I ended up hiking this climb - there was definitely no running for me at that point.  I was soo happy to make it to the top, as I knew that was it.  Now, just a few kilometres of flat and downhill and the race would be done.  Only a few more boardwalks and muddy sections to go!

During these last kilometres I got a horrible pain in my left shoulder.  The pain caused me to slow, as I tried to make it go away.  I tried relaxing my shoulders, massaging it with my right hand - but the pain persisted.  Contrary to what I would have thought, it actually felt better when I hunched my shoulders up.  Luckily, by the time I was spit out onto the last stretch of road, the pain had gone away, and I was able to finish the last bit strong.  Although, I actually did have a moment of confusion near the finish.  I passed a course marshal, who directed me onto a very short trail, and then I popped out on the other side - but I saw two roads in front of me, and I didn't know which one to take.  In actuality both roads led to the same spot, and they were only separated for maybe 100 meters.  But I stopped and yelled: "Where do I go -- I don't know where I am going!"  I didn't get any response, so I headed on, and then realized my confusion was naught.  Oh well - it only cost me a few seconds.

By this time I could smell the finish line -- I put on my speed and blasted down the last hill and was happy to have a downhill finish.  I crossed the line at 2:06:49 (chip time).  Allison had ended up putting a full minute on me in just a few kilometres.  After seeing the results, I felt like I should have pushed more, but was nonetheless happy with my result.  Especially since it was simply a race I threw in last minute, without any specific training for.  I ended up being 8th woman overall (6th in my age category).  Tamsin Anstey took the female win in 1:48:36, 6th overall, beating Katrina Driver by 2.5 minutes.  Blazing fast times. 

Shane had a fantastic race and ended up winning the race - first overall!  He had been battling it out during the entire race with Simon Driver, who holds the course record, but Shane outclimbed him in the last 2 kilometres and ended up beating him by 1 minute.  Shane finished in 1:36:04 -- which is close to my best road half-marathon time! What a crazy fast time!  I was happy to hear he'd won and had such a fantastic race. Race results here.

The rain also mainly held off for us.  The rain started to pick up mid-way through the race, but it didn't bother me too much, as we were under the trees, so it was not a full onslaught.  However, not too long after I finished, it started to completely dump rain -- and many of the competitors got quite wet.  One of the last finishers who I saw come in was completely drenched and was covered in mud from head to toe.  Despite it all, he still had a smile on his face, and had apparently enjoyed the race - rain, mud and all.

I quite enjoyed this race, and was glad that Shane and I decided to head over to try it out.  It was a very well organized event (except for running out of fruit post-race -- but they did go purchase more to please the crowds).  The trails were a joy to run on  -- although I could have done with a few less boardwalks -just to minimize the slip factor.  But overall - huge kudos to the race organizers for a fantastic and fun event!