Half - DONE!

I completed my first half-marathon as a mother and my second ever. It was great. I completed the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront (half)Marathon in 2:12:43. That's about 15.6 extra seconds per km over my PR. I'm proud of myself. I aimed to finish before 2h30, and further aimed to finish before 2h15 and I did that. I wasn't sure how I was going to do considering just last weekend I got a bad throat infection and so I couldn't train properly. The weather was nice and cool and it was sunny and clear. What a beautiful day for a marathon!

I felt pretty good throughout. I kept hydrated all week prior to the race and ate well for the most part. I also got to carb-load the night before and didn't overdo it. And even better, I "unloaded" at home before the race (a MUST!). By the end of it, I had only consumed 2 gels and 2 and a half of my bottles of Gatorade. I've NEVER done that before.

The course is pretty much flat. One good thing about this is that the markers are easy to see, so once you pass one, you can see the next one. I LOVE this course.

But perhaps the best part of this race, for me, was getting to "re-finish". When I did the full two years ago, I had a really poor finish. I have bad memories of the last 1K, struggling to finish, practically walking, dehydrated, salty and sweaty. This time, I was able to retrace my steps from two years prior, at a pretty consistent pace that I had been keeping throughout. I would have liked to sprint to the finish line, but my feet were cramping, causing my legs to stiffen. Instead, I compensated with longer strides. I finished well and I still had enough energy to smile when it was all over. And, my hips were nice and intact.

I think I'm back!

I'm thinking about doing a full again next year. Hmmmm...

Can you see me? I'm waving!

We'll see...

I have a half-marathon in 5 days.

I'm in the middle of recovering from a throat infection.

We'll see how this goes.

Wanna run with me?

I forgot to post about this a long time ago, but, I've started a running group. So far, there are around 10 people and we're meeting every 2 weeks, running in different areas of the GTA. We're training and running together for a 5K race (not sure which one yet) in 2011. If you're interested, even if it's just to join us sometimes or to start running (we're not doing 5K right away), contact me! We'd love to have you!

10K and better

So I had a 10K race this past weekend and I have to say, it was MUCH better than the one the week before, not just because it was shorter, but because I just felt better overall. I finished in just over an hour, which, I think is pretty good considering I haven't been able to crack my PR in...5 years, maybe? So, my pace was pretty much on par with my pre-pregnancy pace. :) I think maybe I needed to feel the down from the 15K to feel good about this one. Plus, it was a morning run, in the cool sun, in one of my favourite areas of the city. It was a Toronto Women's Run too, so there was plenty of girl power to bring me to the finish. In fact, I haven't sprinted to a finish like that since...elementary school, maybe? I felt like a young girl again running the anchor leg of a relay (speaking of relays, I think I wanna do a marathon relay. Any takers?!). It felt good. So I think it's safe to say I'm not doing any more night races in the dark, in the rain, at the Spit. Sorry Midsummer Night's Run. It'll be a while before I try you again.