Warsaw 30k Point to Point
For my Run Smiley Virtual Run, on Saturday September 24, I ran the Runner’s Life Point to Point 30k from Peterborough to Warsaw. I had run this once before in the spring of this year, but this time I wasn’t training for a marathon. Without put as much mileage into my training I found this distance to be a bit of a challenge. However, the biggest challenge was the surface conditions for a section in the middle of the run. The addition of the pea-gravel for about 5k of the run was no treat either, but my feet will be that much better for it. 30k Time: 3:15.
Turkey Trot
A great barefoot run through the Ganaraska Forest followed by good food, drink and hot-tubbing. 15k Time: 1:38.
Some converts?
Warkworth 8 Miler
I ran this country road/trail race once before 2 years ago and finished in 1:15. I was happy with my time this year considering it was quite windy but at least it was 10°C and the sun was out for most of the race. 13k Time 1:08.
Runway 5k Win
Wow! I actually won a race! It wasn’t a “real” race since it was a charity walk/run event, but still I have never won one of those before either. 5k Time 22:40. Then I went on in my euphoria to race a Halloween costume 5k trail race. A very successful fun-filled day for me.
Halloween 5k
Not a bad time considering this was my second race of the morning. I started off too fast, but soon realized that I had already spent most of my energy. I was able to settle into a doable pace and finish strong though. 5k Time 24:26. There were a lot of good costumes this year. Good times!
Road2Hope Half Marathon
I drove to Hamilton for the race in the morning. I had eaten breakfast at 3am and was on the highway by 4am. So I was feeling quite hungry by the time the race started. I started out fast, maybe too fast. A little before the 3k aid station I got a stitch pain under my lower right rib and had to walk. I drank some water and walked a little after the aid station as well. I tried to relax to keep the pain away and at that point I was starting to descend the hill. So I relaxed my legs, sped up my feet and went flying past many people. By the time I got to the flat part around 10k I was feeling pretty tired. At that point I thought I was shooting for 2 hours. Then Bob came by on a bike and motivated me by telling me I was still on track for 1:45. By 15k Mabel had caught up to me and was pulling away. I decided I would do whatever it took to stay with her. Every so often she would get ahead of me and I would have to push it to catch up. I was wondering if she was as tired as I was because she didn’t look it. In the last kilometer I noticed I was in front of her but I didn’t dare look back. I pushed with all I had left to get to the finish. I was able to do a final sprint in the last hundred meters to pass four or five people in front of me. I was very surprised and happy when I read in the results that I had just run a new half marathon PB with a time of 1:44:41.
Zemgear
I met up with Arlen from ZEMgear Canada after the race in Hamilton. I told him a bit of my running history and about my experience with the Zems last winter. He asked me if I would write on the ZEMgear blog and I said I would. He then gave me a free pair of the new 360 split-toe model, a ZEMgear t-shirt and said I was now an official ZEMgear Runner.
Last year’s model was great for snowy bitterly cold runs, but couldn’t stand up to the rough surfaces.
I will be testing this year’s new and improved 360 model. Now I am just waiting for the cold snowy weather.
Whitby 10k
Two years ago I ran the 10 miler in Whitby with Paul and Vanessa. This year I ran the 10k and the temperature was about 10°C warmer although there was a bit of a wind. I ran this with Deb, Bob and Kevin. They are all quite fast and I wanted to get a 10k PB here, but I really wanted to try to keep up to Bob. I realized that was a mistake at about 3k. Bob and I started out very fast (faster than I usually start a 5k). By the 3k mark Bob was starting to leave me behind and I was left to try to get through the next 7k with a fatigued body. I was able to pick up my sluggish pace for a nice sprint at the end encouraged a lot by Bob yelling “HEY, IT’S THE BAREFOOT RUNNER FROM PETERBOROUGH!” and running the last several meters with me. Thanks Bob. Although I couldn’t keep up to Bob’s 42:36 time, I did get my PB with a 46:14 time and best of all free chili and beer.
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