I did it!! 10km in less than an hour!!

So, I've been hoping to complete a 10km race in under an hour. I mean, it's been a goal of mine for quite some time now. I'm not sure what it is about being an under an hour that seemed important to me, but I know that it's a milestone I wanted to, and needed to reach. I tried in August, but it was just not to be. I was disappointed, yet it didn't surprise me. Yesterday, when I did the Melissa's 10km though, I was truly amazed at myself. In part, because Melissa's is a race that has a huge hill in it. When I say huge, I mean huge. It's part way up a mountain for goodness sakes. So, here's my recap...

We arrived with lots of time to spare, parked in the parkade where I nursed Sullivan. We set up the Chariot and headed to the washrooms. Of course the lineup was huge for the flush toilets so we elected to cross over the river and try the porta potties. Well, by the time we get there, the lineups for them were huge, but no choice. Waited about 15 minutes and by the time I was through, it was only about 15 minutes until the race. Then, Sebastian had to pee, so we got someone to let us in the front of the line at the porta potties. Now why didn't I think of that earlier, haha...

Anyhow, got my good luck kisses from my boys and headed to the starting line. It's a fairly big race (with 2959 people running the 10km), so I tried to seed myself in and around the 10 minute mile sign. I found my work friend Cathy and wished her luck. Then, it was time to start. This of course is always a nonevent since you don't actually get to run right away but rather walk to the start line (took over 3 and a half minutes to get there). I started my watch just as I was crossing over the mat that checks your chip at the starting line.

I spent the first kilometre weaving in and out of people. Passed the drummers and headed over the bridge. As I hit the 1km mark, I was just around 6 minutes. Headed down Banff Avenue, turned the corner and began the very long hill. It was long and by the time I got the water station, I was ready for a break. I had a drink of water and then continued on running. By 2 and 3km I was behind my pace (darn hill!!) by almost two minutes. I gained some time back on the way down the hill. I continued to run at a pretty decent pace, still behind my goal of finishing in under an hour. The route changed this year and rather than crossing the bridge again right when we got back to it, we continued to run along the river with that beautiful turquoise colour and the trees and mountains as a backdrop. I was breathtaking to say the least. At the 7km mark, I was at about 43 and a half minutes, still too slow. Then one of my favourite songs came on "Sandstorm" by Darude. Well, that got me moving a little faster and I kept listening to that song for the last two and a half kilometres. At 8km I was at about 49:15 and at 9km, I was at about 54:30. If I was going to get under an hour, I had to keep a fast (for me anyhow) pace for the rest of the race. And a funny thing happened... I did!! I ran my little heart out. I didn't stop, I just kept going, passing people all over the place. I saw my boys about 100 metres before the finish, smiled, waved, but didn't slow down for one second. I looked at my watch and had about 25 seconds to go, so I kept it up and ran as fast as I could across the finish. I stopped my watch just after crossing and was rewarded with my first ever 10km under an hour 59:56 according to my watch (later I would see the official results and my chip time was 59:53). My closest before this was 1:01:45 (in August at Ronald McDonald House Rock the House Run), and the fastest I have ever done Melissa's before is 1:06:32. So really, this was a huge!! Granted the change in the course helped a bit (no hill coming out of Cave and Basin that's over congested and hard to get around people), but still, Tunnel Mountain was still there and not only did it not beat me, it helped me I think. I ended up with a slower first half and a faster second half (quite the opposite for the Ronald McDonald House, where I was under 30 minutes for the first five kilometres and then slowed down).

So, I believe that negative splits are a beautiful thing. I also believe that all the training I put in paid off. I mean, I always train, but this time around, I have been more consistent than almost ever before. I have to thank my husband for that. He was great in encouraging me to go out and run, follow my chart (which is nearly all filled in as I actually did almost all the runs I planned to do!!) and watched the boys anytime I did. Not to mention even came along on a couple of runs. I also have to thank Cindy. She got me all inspired to run a half this fall, and it's been great getting in long runs with her to get ready for that (less than two weeks for that race!!). Tamara has also been an awesome running buddy. We've been going out once a week now for about 6 weeks and I think we get faster and faster every time. And my boys. I do this for you guys. I want you to always be active and have a love for that. I feel like I crossed some kind of invisible barrier on Saturday and now I look forward to planning more races and training for not only runs, but a few more triathlons too. But next up it's time for the Ambulance Chasers, and then the Okanagan Half

The last long run...

So yesterday, we went out for the last of our long runs before the Okanagan Half Marathon. We had to do it a week early because next weekend we are doing the Melissa's 10km in Banff. Things didn't start out too smooth though. We decided to cancel after it was pouring rain at 7:30am. Then, we reconsidered and went out again around 10 and on the way to the start, it started pouring again. And, it was still raining when we started (and windy and cold and sort of all around yucky). Well, lucky for us we never gave in and kept plugging along and after about fifteen minutes, the weather smartened up and we were on our way.

The run was set around the Glenmore Reservoir and it was beautiful with the leaves changing colour, the water, the mountains in the background, and I loved it. There's even a huge hill thrown in that we made it to the top of without stopping!! A bit of a mistake in navigation had us go a little further than originally planned (19kms instead of 18kms), but all in all the run was great. I loved it. I haven't run that far in over a year!! Of course my knees were a little tired after and my heel is a bit sore, but that's what building distance will do for you!! Now, though, we're ready for the race, no more long runs for us!

And, to top it off, we got to have a Starbucks at the end. Let me tell you, that Extra Hot Raspberry Mocha hit the spot!! It amazes me sometimes how much better things taste after some serious work, and that Mocha was a shining example. Mmmmmmm....

Now, it's time to taper, however, the tapering will take the form of racing, since I have two more races coming up before the big race in three weeks...

Intervals, or how to improve your overall speed

As training progresses, it's important to add different elements to your runs. Things like hills and intervals. It's easy to go out and knock off a few kilometres, but if you always go out and run about the same pace, your body will get used to this pace and that will be all that your body will want to do on race day. Now, if that's your whole goal, that's fine, but if you want to have a little extra "oomph" in your engine, then your body needs to know what that "oomph" should feel like.

What exactly is "oomph"? Why, it's that bit of speed that you find to sprint towards the finish. Or the bit of speed you find to pass someone. Or it's the bit of speed you find when you see a bear and know that you need to get out of where you are really really quickly. Or it's the bit of speed you find when you've just soaked your husband with the hose and know he's about to come after you. Basically, it's the speed you don't usually find yourself running on a day to day basis.

So, how does one practice this extra bit of speed? Why, through intervals of course. If it's your first time doing intervals, it's important that you have been running for a few weeks. You want to have a good base so that you know your muscles and joints can handle the speed. Speed is hard work and puts lots of stress on the body, so you want to know your body is in a condition to take it. Best thing to do is warm up a bit, about five or ten minutes of walking, slower running etc. Then, you begin some sort of regimen of repeats. What this means is that you will be running fast for a short amount of time or short amount of distance. Some programs go in seconds and minutes while others are in metres and yards. It's up to you really. At first you might do 5 sets of running one minute, recovering two minutes (so you would run harder than you usually do for one minute and then spend the next two minutes walking or running at a slower pace to recover). Then, you do this again until you've done it five times, then make sure you warm down at the end. If you prefer to do this in distance, you could run at a track, or mark out a run ahead of time, and run 200 meters, then walk 200 meters and do 5 laps. It doesn't really matter what you base your intervals on, just that the running portion makes you work harder than you normally do. By the end of the running portion, you want to be going hard enough that even though you could talk, you probably wouldn't want to. Then, use your recovery time to bring your heartrate back down.

By practicing speed, you will be ready for the moments in the race when you feel like going faster. They won't tire you out completely, because your body has done them before. And, a surprising thing might happen, you just might end up running faster overall!!