Posts Tagged ‘Crowded’
Distance: 21.14k
Time: 2:17:16 RunKeeper, 2:19:21 official time
The most important lesson I learned on this run is to get to the start line in plenty of time, and use the bathroom as soon as you get there. I sat in my car until about 15 minutes before the start so I wouldn’t get cold, and by the time I got into the bathroom line, there was only 10 minutes till the race. There were only two stalls and a longish line-up, so by the time I got into a stall, someone came in and said the race had started! I finished as soon as I could, and quickly got my RunKeeper started. I could see the crowd ahead of me, leaving me right in the back of the pack, where I stayed for most of the race.
There were some advantages to staying in the back of the pack for the race. Firstly, I did not have to compete with one person for space on the road, which was the single most frustrating thing about the TC10K. Unlike that race, I didn’t have to do any lateral running in order to get by any walkers, which was awesome. Secondly, I passed way more people than passed me; at my first race, I was passed a lot, which brought down my confidence a bit. This time, I played “leap frog” with the runners at the back of the pack: they would pass me, and then I would pass them later during their walk break, and I even passed a couple of people on the hills. Finally, I did not really have a chance to be nervous about the race, since I was scrambling to get started, rather than waiting around at the start line.
The only real disadvantage was that I foolishly tried to catch up and ran the first kilometer in less than 6 minutes, which is too fast for me. I had my RunKeeper set up to give me my time every kilometer, so I tried to pace myself more in the first half, but I went too fast. I finished the first 10k just a bit slower than my TC10K, so I knew that the elusive negative split was not going to happen. I think if I was able to start with everyone else,rather than from the bathroom, I might have started a bit slower and had more left for the second half. But I don’t know if it would have made my time any better. As it was, when I reached that 10k mark, I knew that I would have no problem making my original goal of 2:30, so I revised my goal to 2:15. I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but it gave me a bit more of a challenge. I didn’t do it this time, but it’s now my goal for the next half.
The first 5k of the race went by very quickly, probably because I knew I had a lot to do. Most of it was through the residential areas of Oak Bay, which was nice, but I spent most of the time waiting to get to Beach Drive, which I knew was the longest stretch of the race. The first real uphill was at the Victoria Golf Course, around the 7k mark. It’s not steep, but it’s long. The highlight of this stretch was that my iPhone played “Beverly Hills” by Weezer, which I found fitting considering this golf course is arguably the snootiest golf course in town, given its proximity to Uplands.
The rest of the Beach Avenue stretch was uneventful. It wasn’t too hilly, and I knew from my other long runs that it would be the longest part of the run. I basically just kept going, waiting until I got to the turnaround, so I could be going the other way. I did see the first runner going the other way, at the Oak Bay Marina. Fittingly, he was wearing bib #1.
My usual strategy on long runs is to stop at each 5k mark for a short walk break and take a drink, and to have a Gu at the 10k mark. I basically stuck to this on this run, too, but I completely spaced that I hit the 10k mark, and waited until the 11k mark for my Gu break. Just as well that I got past the halfway point, because by the time I stopped, I knew I was more than halfway done! I spent the rest of the Beach Avenue route back just ticking off the kms and trying to figure out if I could actually do this thing in 2:15. I started getting tired at the 15k mark, and it was the first time I struggled to get my pace back after walking for a bit. There was a bit of an uphill just before the Victoria Golf Course on the way back, and it was a bit of a struggle because I was more tired, but I think I powered through it okay.
By the time I hit the 18k mark, I was getting really tired and was counting down not only the km left, but also the songs left. It was at this point that I was pretty sure I wouldn’t finish the race in under 2:15, since I had about 20 minutes to do the last 3 k and that’s my usual time on my 5k runs. It usually takes me about 2 songs per km, so I started telling myself, only 6 more songs left. I actually had to break from my routine and take another walk/drink break at the 18k mark, although I tried to keep it short. The rest of the race was a blur, until I saw the last km, and it was all uphill.
I definitely didn’t notice the hill on the way down, probably because I was trying to catch the pack, but it might have been why I finished the first km in less than 6 minutes. This hill on the way up was brutal. I was tired, my feet hurt, and this hill was steeper than the Golf Course. A bunch of volunteers kept saying “you’re almost there”, but all I could think was that if I can’t see the finish line, I’m not close enough. I was really tired, but I didn’t want to slow down too much right at the end of the race. I tried to think of the sweet medal I would get once I was done. I hoped for killer music on my playlist to keep me going, but swear to God, the last song playing as I finished that hill and finally saw the finish line was the “Stripper Song” from “The Full Monty” soundtrack. (Yeah, I’m deleting that song from the playlist.) Finally, I crested that cursed hill and got to the finish. I was just ahead of this one runner that I had been playing “leap frog” with the whole last half of the race, and for some inexplicable reason, I wanted to really beat her. So, for the last 3 seconds of the race, I sprinted through the finish. I think it only shaved a couple of seconds off my time, but it was so satisfying. I really felt like I finished strong and “laid it all” on the course. I got my medal (my first!) and successfully completed my first half marathon!
The finish line, after the race.
The kids waiting for the “Krazy Kilometer” run to start.
Right after the race. I earned this baby!
At my car. Tired but happy.
Now that I’ve had a day to think about the race, I’m happy with how it went, aside from the whole bathroom thing. According to my RunKeeper, the only 1k splits that were over 7 minutes were the ones when I had a walk break. I had a couple of minor stitches, but they didn’t last long. The one at the 18k mark was worse, but I just slowed down a bit and it went away. My feet were sore at the end, and my knees hurt when I got home, but they weren’t even that bad. And I beat my original goal time by more than 10 minutes!
As a final word, I would like to congratulate everyone who finished the race yesterday, whether they PR’d or not. Thanks to all the volunteers who made the race happen, and to all the spectators who cheered us on. Special thanks to the boy in Uplands who was giving away free Gatorade from his front lawn; I didn’t need any, but it made me smile.
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Posted in Running Marathon | 
Tags: Crowded, hills, iPhone, long run, Oak Bay Kool Half Marathon, racing, RunKeeper, runners, Running | 
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Distance: um, 10k
Time: 1:01:04 (official time)
Although I don’t normally get my stuff ready the night before, I was taking the bus and didn’t want to waste time I could be sleeping. So, before I went to bed, I set out my running outfit with by bib number all pinned on and my timing chip on my shoe, made a new play list of all Madonna songs (inspired by that episode of “Glee), and had my ID, money and bus fare all ready to go.
My bib number
I woke up at 6 am (ridiculous for a Sunday morning I’m not working), had coffee and a bowl of cereal, get dressed, and had to re-pin my bib number because it wasn’t flat against my shirt. And, although I’m not usually this vain, I put on some makeup. I had totally broken out in acne, and didn’t want that to be the first thing to show up in pictures. I needed to leave by 7 to catch the bus, but I left a bit early so I wouldn’t miss it. There were 4 of us by the time the bus arrived: me, two other runners, and a little old lady who was smoking while waiting for the bus. Yum.
I arrived downtown by about 7:30but still had to walk from the bus stop to the start line. On the way, I drank an entire bottle of Gatorade, so I wouldn’t have to stop at the water stops during the run. While I walked I noticed that while many runners were wearing their race shirt, lululemon was also very well represented. When I get to the start line I saw that it was divided by time.
I wish! Next year…
I went to the 60+ minutes area, and saw people completely ignoring the signs saying that walkers and people with jogging strollers need to start from another area, and that you’re supposed to wear your bib on the front of your shirt. I contemplated for several minutes how to get rid of the old sweatshirt I was wearing before the run started because nobody else seemed to have done the same thing.
Me, in the aforementioned sweatshirt, pre-race.
I ended up casually “dropping” it at the base of a nearby tree. Just before the race started, I saw old friend that I didn’t know was running the race, and we agreed to try to stay together.
I think the race started right at 8:00, but I was too far back to see. The only reason I knew it had started was because people started moving. Slowly I made my way to the start line with the crowd, and it was really packed. Once I crossed the start line, I started running, with my Madonna play list on low volume, and my RunKeeper on. I tried to stay with my friend, and didn’t realize I got ahead of her at first. Then I noticed she wasn’t there and I looked behind me. I couldn’t see her at all, so I decided to go ahead. I ended up going slower than I wanted to (7:09) for the first km because it was so crowded and it was hard to pass people because the road was not that wide through Beacon Hill Park.
From the 2-6k mark, I tried to pick up the pace and was surprised at how many people I passed, but I was also frustrated because I had to dodge so many slower people than me that managed to start ahead of me. I know that I ended up running more than 10k because I had to zigzag around the slow people. It took a little while for me to realize that the slower ones tended to go to the left, and then I tried to stay on the right. But every so often there was a whole group of runners that were going too slow (to me). I was surprised to see this competitive side of myself, not just to beat my last 10k time, but to beat the other runners. I even found myself uncharitably wishing the slower runners would just get out of my way. I almost tripped a couple of times trying to pass people, but somehow I managed to keep my feet.
The drummers around the 2k/6k mark were awesome and very inspiring. From the 2-3k mark, I got to do a great slow downhill, but knew I would have to run back up it soon. This area was more crowded because runners were going both ways, so the road was divided. It was even worse at the turnaround at the 4k mark, and became a gross bottleneck that made me want to scream. The run back uphill from the 5-6k mark wasn’t bad at all; I don’t think I slowed down all that much, but I saw lots of other runners bite the dust. I also saw something that I will never forget. Right around the 5.5k mark, a walker (she was wearing an orange bib) was with a child (I’m assuming it was her son), and she was going the opposite way to me (i.e. she was only at the 2.5k mark). She actually turned around and joined the people going the same way as me! It took everything I had not to yell “cheater!” at her. The only real thing that stopped me was the thought that maybe she knew she couldn’t finish and cut it short. Thinking about it now, if that was the case, wouldn’t she have just left the course? I feel like I should have said something. What is she teaching her kid? That it’s okay to cheat if nobody’s looking? Well, I was looking, and you suck, lady.
After that hill, I got to run downhill for awhile, and once I got past Douglas Street, I didn’t have to share the road with runners (or at this point, walkers) going the other way. So I finally had enough room to move, and started to really pick things up. At around the 6k mark, I found out my time was about 38minutes and I realized I probably wouldn’t get in under an hour but I decided to try anyway. Also somewhere between the 6 and 7k mark, my RunKeeper lost the GPS signal for a bit and I started hearing my splits about halfway between the markers for the rest of the route. Somewhere between the 7 and 8k mark, I heard my time was around 44 minutes. I remember vaguely wondering if I could finish 2.5 k in 15 minutes, but knowing that my fastest time for 2k was about 13 minutes and I didn’t think I do half a kilometer in 2 minutes. Then, about halfway down this hill just before the breakwater, a group of senior ladies were cheering outside their independent living building. They were the best cheerleaders out there, waving their hands and yelling encouragement to the runners. It made me smile and pushed me forward.
Right around the 8 k mark, I was feeling strong and and still hoping against my time that I might be able to pull out a miracle, but I had forgotten all about the hill once the road turns past the breakwater. I managed to make it up okay but I worried that it might have slowed me down too much. I saw lots of runners having to walk and felt glad that I had done this part of the route a couple of times and this hill wasn’t that bad. I heard my 8k split about halfway through (about 50 minutes) and wondered if I could really finish the race in 10 minutes.
The last leg, I was trying to pick up the pace and finish strong, but was thwarted a bit by not-so-favorite Madonna songs playing rather than something more motivational. Not too far ahead of me, I saw two runners dressed up as gingerbread people and I vowed to not let them cross the finish line before me. I succeeded at passing them, just before turning onto Government street and seeing the finish line. I picked up the pace a bit again, but I waited until just before the Wax Museum to “give ‘er” and run as fast as I possibly could to the end. As I flew (to me) by, I saw a few people sitting on the curb with the “catchers”. As I approached the finish, I briefly looked for my Mom in the crowd but there were so many people so I focused everything on getting to that finish line. I started to feel a bit emotional about being almost done and knowing that even if I missed that one hour mark, that I definitely beat my last time. I looked up at the clock and saw the time at 1:09, but I knew my actual running time was faster.
After I crossed the finish line, I checked my RunKeeper. 1:01:18. Just over an hour, but only slightly disappointed because I beat my last 10k race time by about 5 minutes. Not only that, but I remember really struggling with the distance on that run and feeling much more tired. I felt good after this race, tired but not exhausted. Instead of going to the food area, which was just a sea of people, I met my mom on the other side of the barrier and we decided to walk up to Starbucks for a coffee. I briefly wondered if I was missing part of the whole “race experience” by not lining up with my fellow runners for bagels, bananas and chocolate milk, but just didn’t want to wait in a crazy line up. We actually had good timing because everyone was still down at the harbour, so the Starbucks wasn’t busy yet. Had a dark cherry mocha, which was better than any old bagel.
My kind of post-race fuel-up. Plus a free sample!
Post-race at Starbucks.
I can now say that even with the crowds, this was the best race I’ve done yet. I felt great the whole time; in fact, it’s funny to think how long my other 10k seemed, when this one didn’t seem to take long at all. And, although it was frustrating to navigate through such a large crowd, it was cool to be part of such a large race. I did learn a couple of valuable lessons to take to my next race, especially my next shorter race:
- I was totally right on the money to not stop at the water stations. They were crowded and by giving them a wide margin I avoided having to run on a bunch of empty paper cups. Plus, I wasn’t wearing any water.
- I know I’ll be faster next year, but I need to make sure I’m fast enough to get a different coloured bib. It must be a little less crowded closer to the start line.
- Don’t underestimate the hills. I didn’t feel like I slowed down much on them, but my RunKeeper says otherwise. That being said, the slow, steady incline at the 5k mark that everyone seemed to dread only slowed me down by about a minute. Not too shabby.
- Although you don’t want to start too fast, don’t start too slow, either. I really think that my chance at beating one hour was ruined the most by my slow first km. I’ve read so much about getting a negative split and not starting too fast, but I really don’t think I needed to worry about saving energy. I had more than enough to burn and could have really started off faster.
Every race has been a good learning experience for me, and I think each one gets me more prepared. I only have one more race before the marathon in June, and it’s the Kool Half Marathon Relay, which is more about having fun than winning. Speaking of having fun, another valuable lesson is to always have a good victory beer after the race.
Here’s mine! And here’s to all the runners who did it, the organizers who planned it, and to the volunteers who made it happen. See y’all next year!
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Posted in Running Marathon |
Tags: Crowded, grumpy, hills, iPhone, lululemon, racing, RunKeeper, runners, Running, Times Colonist 10k |
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Distance: 4.87k
Time: 32:49
So today’s run was nothing special. Just a drizzly run to get in an extra run before the TC 10k on Sunday. I started off pretty slow, with the first kilometer done in 7:30, but then I picked up the pace to finish about 30 seconds slower than my fastest time. In fact, I felt like this might be one of those not-so-great runs because I heard my first split through RunKeeper and was discouraged. I thought that if I was really slow, it might not put me in a good frame of mind for the race. But I managed to get a good time in the end, which was encouraging.
I’m trying to decide whether to bring headphones to the race or not. I always run with music, so I’m worried that I will not like running without them, and the run will seem longer. However, there is going to be a lot of people there, so staying alert would be a good idea. Plus, it would be cool to hear from the crowds, especially at the finish line. So maybe I will bring them, but keep the volume low, and turn the music off at the end.
My next post will be a race report for the TC 10k. I’ll try to get it out on Sunday evening, but it depends on how tired I am. Because I’m “only” running 10k, I’m gonna try to go fast (for me) and make 1 hr my goal finishing time. It’s ambitious, since I haven’t even gone under 30 minutes for a 5 k, but who knows? Good luck to all the other racers, and I’ll see y’all on the other side!
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Posted in Running Marathon |
Tags: Crowded, earphones, racing, rain, RunKeeper, runners, Running, Times Colonist 10k |
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Distance: 5.08k Wednesday, 12.68k Friday, 5.0k on Sunday
Time: 34:32 Wednesday, 1:29:57 on Friday, 31:59 on Sunday
I have gotten so far behind on my posts that I have had a hard time getting motivated to write, because I keep thinking it will take so long. This is why I hate procrastinating, and really don’t do it very much. I much prefer to do things at once as they come, because it seems to take less time. So, I promise to post more often, so that I don’t have to catch up. This last week has been pretty full, with a job change in the works, my longest run ever, and my new 5K PR, but I’ll start at the beginning as much as I can.
First, last Wednesday’s run. It was so much better than the one on Tuesday. It was warm and sunny, and a pleasure to be outside, although I tried a different run tracking program this time, iMapMyRun. In summary, I hated it. On the plus side, it seemed more accurate than RunKeeper, although I had to turn its own lock function on instead of just sleeping my iPhone for this accuracy. And this is where the program annoyed me to no end. I received a text message while running, which I had to shut off to keep the program running (not its fault; Apple won’t let third-party applications run in the background during a phone call, or when a text message is received until it is turned off). The program’s internal button lock feature was so good, I couldn’t unlock the damn thing and must have spent about 30 seconds pushing random buttons on my iPhone until the program screen came back on. Then, the program was still running anyway! At the end of my run, I had to spend another few seconds randomly pushing buttons to unlock the program to stop it. FYI, RunKeeper doesn’t have its own lock feature, and you just sleep the iPhone the normal way. Way easier to use, even if the accuracy is a bit off. It’s worth my sanity.
Another cool thing about Wednesday’s run was that it was the first time in over a month that my knee didn’t hurt. I read an article from Runner’s World about injury prevention, and one of the tips was to shorten your stride. I tried it and it actually worked! I also found out on Wednesday that I got a job I applied for in late February, on the postpartum ward, which is where I’ve wanted to work for years. Now I just had to wait for my bosses to give me a (hopefully) good recommendation, and find out my start date.
Then we come to Friday’s run, the longest run I’ve done yet. And it felt long. My knee started to hurt again, even though I tried to keep my stride shorter. I really wanted to get in the distance, so I told myself that it didn’t matter how long it took. That took some of the pressure off, and helped keep me motivated to finish the distance. I knew that I could walk part of it if I needed to. I just kept saying to myself, okay, let’s do this much and then I can stop and walk if I have to. Then, when I got there, I did it again. I ended up doing just over 12.5K and I only walked up one of the hills, which I’d already run up twice before. My right knee was screaming at the end of that run, although I was surprised I did it so quickly. It reminded me again that at least part of the challenge of this distance running is mental. I need to remind myself that getting the distance done is important, not speed. I can walk if I need to, and I can stop to rest if I need to (and I did take a minute to drink some Gatorade after about 7k, before finishing the rest). I just need to get the distance in. That being said, this run felt longer and more difficult than any previous run, and I’m due to go even further next week!
Finally, we get to yesterday’s run, a 5k fun run. I started getting a sore throat on Friday night, and by Saturday, I had a sore throat and stuffy nose. But, I decided to try the run anyway, since I remember reading somewhere that it’s okay to run with a cold as long as all the symptoms are from the neck up, which they were. Also, I paid $13 to run, and it seemed a shame to waste the money. Well, all of last week had been warm and sunny, but yesterday was cloudy and cool. I wore crops, but I probably should’ve worn pants. I also wore my rain jacket that’s normally too hot, but wasn’t this time! Because the start was so close to my house, I decided to run there. My knee started to hurt almost immediately, and I got tired really quickly. Not the best confidence boosters! I decided to just get the run done, and not to worry about time, given the double strikes against me of sore knee and sickness.
My first set of running “swag”:
This is where the run was located:
Me, in all my pre-running sickness:
Getting ready for the run:
I took this picture, and it’s hard to see, because the woman in the wheelchair is smoking a cigarette, and you could smell it from a mile away:
This was probably the biggest run I’ve done yet, in terms of the number of fellow runners. It was a total jam at the start, and I spent a lot of time trying to get past the power walkers and slow runners. The course itself was fun, going through a couple of local parks, so I ran on wood chips for a bit, which were nicer on my knees than pavement. And I totally surprised myself by finishing just under 32 minutes, which was a personal best for me! I thought my time was 31:54, but the official time was 31:59, two whole seconds faster than my last 5k time of 32:01. I even won a water bottle and five free passes to the local recreation center!
And now we come to today, and I think I’m all caught up. I had to buy new running shoes today because I woke up last night with the worst foot pain on my right foot I’ve ever had, and I wonder if my shoes were to blame. It was almost like a foot cramp, but standing on it made it worse, and I couldn’t bear any weight on that foot without pain that made me want to cry out. It was a bit better this morning, and actually walking around downtown today made it almost go away. I don’t know if my shoes are just getting old and less supportive (they have about 400k on them) but just in case, I got new ones. If I don’t work tomorrow, I’ll take them for a test run, and see how they do.
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Posted in Running Marathon |
Tags: Crowded, knee injury, long run, racing, rain, RunKeeper, runners, Running |
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Distance: 5.17k
Time: 35:11
Today was my first run after taking 3 days off, which is the longest time I’ve gone without running for a while. It felt like it had been much longer, especially at the start of the run. I took the extra time partly to help my right knee recover, and partly I had to work two days. My knee still bothered me with this run, but I had to get out there. I just can’t understand why my knee was fine, and then all of a sudden it hurts and not even rest seems to do much. I do know that driving makes it worse, and while I doubt running on it helps, it doesn’t seem to make it any worse. Anyway, I thought it would be packed on the walkway today, being a beautiful sunny Saturday, but I took it as a good sign when I actually got a parking space. There were a lot of dog walkers and people out in packs, but not as bad as I feared.
I had a couple of interesting thoughts today on my run. I thought of my sister, who is recovering from surgery so she can’t run. I also thought of the guys who host the podcast I listen to, the Two Gomers. One of them was hit by a car while running, which is every runner’s worst nightmare and one of the main reasons I run along the Walkway, as there is no car traffic along it. According to reports from Facebook and Twitter, he’s fine, but he won’t be able to run for a while, and may not be able to do the marathon they signed up for, in 6 weeks. So I think I dedicate this run to those runners who couldn’t run today. May you be back on your feet and out on the roads soon.
