Sunday, March 30, 2008

March 30 - April 6 Weekly mileage: 34
3/30 Sun- 30k around the bay 2:18:09
3/31 Mon -rest day
4/1 Tue - rest day
4/2 Wed -recovery run 5 miles
4/3 Thur -strength train
4/4 Fri -
4/5 Sat -10 miles
Sunday - Today was the 30k around the Bay! Before I go any further, I have to thank my dear friend Paula for letting me drag her all the way to Hamilton at 6:00 a.m. this morning to watch the baby while I ran. A true friend indeed!
















For the race, this was to be my longest run since before getting pregnant last January, so I had no idea how to pace this distance, especially since I heard multiple warnings about the hilly stretch toward the end. I had a chat with Dan from the Runners Den in Hamilton at the race expo and he was kind enough to give me the great advice of making sure I felt good at the halfway point. The first 10k is flat and fast so it is very tempting to go out fast, but he warned me that this is usually the downfall of first-timers. He said he's run many times where people passed him in the first 10k and he ended up passing by them as they were walking in the hilly stretch. This was a great tip and I tried to remember it after the gun went off. Here are my splits: 7:14, 7:17, 7:16, 7:16, 7:20, 7:15, 7:17, 7:17, 7:16, 7:17, 7:18, 7:18, 7:28, 7:46, 7:28, 7:23, 7:38, 7:21, 5:38 the last .72. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded depending on your finish time. I just missed gold by 2-3 minutes, bummer! If only I hadn't walked those water stations to drink and stopped to adjust my socks....Next year! This is the oldest road race in North America (as they race shirts said on the back "Older than Boston!"). I give it two thumbs up. Very well organized event, beautiful rolling hills course (until that beast at 24-25k). I will definitely be back next year!

1 comment:

GB said...

Cindy you ran such a strong and consistent race. Well done!!! Your pre-preg fitness is coming back so quickly and you'll just end up being stronger and faster than before.

I haven't had a chance to email Val yet, but I will. Thanks for that! Two weeks to Boston. Got my red and white runningskirts.com skirt all ready, and my white Adidas singlet with red trim and my navy blue Boston Red Sox baseball cap. Now let's hope the weather cooperates.

Wish you were going! I'm still not 100% sure that I WON'T run NY this year... there's a slight chance I might. It'd be great to run w/ you!