Finally, a great race experience in 2009! It all came together in my first race in Mississauga. Weather was a bit cool in the AM, but I warmed up well and the throw-away clothese were gone before 8k.
I arrived at the finish line just before 6am, to lock up my bike for my post-race ride back to Square One where I left my car. I had slept at mom and dad's so the girls would have care on Sunday morning. Christine and Sue had gone away overnight to celebrate Chris' birthday. I showed up at the start by myself, perfectly content to run on my own. I was so happy to see the RR peeps just before the start.
I ended up crossing the start line with Allyson and Jaimie. We had a nice stroll down Burnhamthorpe Rd together, and I left them at about 5k to test my marathon strategy in the half race.
My strategy was to start the race with 5k at 6:30/km pace. Then, depending on how I was feeling, I was going to try and increase my pace by 10 seconds in each 5k block. That would have brought me in at 2:11.
As it turned out, my first five was at 6:32 pace. So far, so good. Turned down Mississauga Rd and onto the UTM campus feeling ok. I saw a number of folks jumping into the woods for "bio-breaks" and thought that would be a good idea. I didn't relish the idea of waiting for a port-a-pottie along the route, so paused at about 7k.
Continuing down Mississauga Rd, the surface was silky smooth and I began to pick-up speed. I finished the second five kilometers in just over 30 minutes, at a pace of 6:08 and the 10k distance complete in 1:03.
After getting up the small hill at 10k, it all began working for me. I hooked up with an older couple (older than me! hehehe) who had a great pace and were picking their way through the thinning crowd. I followed them for a short while, thinking I would lose them during a walk break. As luck would have it, they took a walk break just in front of me. So I hung onto them until about 16k and they pulled me along quite well. I did the third 5k block in 28 minutes and change, at 5:37 pace. Yowza!
Getting onto the Waterfront Trail, I found that the field was bunching up and I still wanted to fly! I couldn't believe that I was still getting faster at that late stage in the race. I checked the lap time on my Garmin, and I was hovering around 5:17-5:20 during the final couple of k's. I kept a couple of folks in my sights, because I saw they were strong and I wanted to try to keep up. To my suprise I was able to catch and pass them before the final dash to the finish line.
If you see my pics from the race photographer, I can tell you that 5:12 pace at 21k doesn't look very pretty! hehehe I'll take it though. This two hours built up an enormous amount of confidence that I'll take into the marathon in Ottawa in two weeks. I know I can run fast, now I'll have to make sure that I run smart. 4:30 looks reachable. I'll see how I feel mid-run before hoping for anything more than that.
Time 2:05:06
Distance 21.47k (13.4mi)
Pace 5:50/km (9:29/mi)
HR Avg 149, Max 194
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