Depending on where you live, this past week may have brought some snow! Not everyone is an all season runner, but for myself it’s no longer up for debate. My goals keep getting bigger and therefore my running season continues to expand.
My training in 2015 started pretty much in January, leading up to some early spring races, one of which was Around the Bay. It only continued to grow from there! Before I knew it I was booked with races in May, June, August, September, October and into the first weekend of November. Not all marathons, but regardless I seemed to be racing most weekends. I have one race left to go on New Years Eve.
The race I think I was most looking forward to this Fall was the Ottawa MEC Race. I wasn’t originally going to run it because it was 2 weeks after running the Toronto Marathon. After having a conversation with Chris Chapman, the race director, I decided I wanted to see how I’d do in what is quickly becoming known as one of Canada’s toughest races. Besides how many races offer poutine at the end! I had seriously considered running the marathon, however, after running Toronto I had a minor lower leg issue surfacing and did not want to risk an injury.
The morning of the race was beautiful. I woke up excited and nervous. I had gone up to Gatineau Park a few times for training but really did not know what to expect of the hills for race day. I happened to run into a friend of mine before the race started. She was already running with a friend of hers but invited me to join them if I wanted. So I did, at least I figured starting out it would be nice to be accompanied by others.
The race start line is approximately a km from the finish line. So it required a light jog or walk down the approximately 1km hill (the race is set up to require a km climb at the finish, brutal)!
By the time we made it to the start line we had about 30sec. to get organized and then we were off! I believe the first 4 km’s or so were relatively flat with minimal climbs. Then the hills began!
The views throughout the race were spectacular, but this one was worth stopping for.
At the top of the longest stretch of an incline someone yelled out in victory and I think those of us within earshot celebrated with them! The best part was the 4-6km decline towards the end of the race, followed up of course by the last km climb to the finish line.
Allyson, Kristina and myself managed to keep each other in our sights for most of the race. During some of the more difficult climbs Allyson came up with a 10sec. run/10 sec. walk chant to get it done! We used this near the finish line as well. You can do anything for 10sec., right?!
This was the first time I met Kristina. What an experience to share. We ended up with a very respectable time considering we were only wanting to complete it! I loved the company and would seriously consider doing the marathon in the future.
The week after this race I ran the Cookie Run. I decided early on in 2015 that I was going to participate in more local runs. This was the 2nd last race of the year for me. The weather was perfect, the course was fantastic with a 5K loop, that we did twice.
What I love about the running community is the friendships you can make. Your life can be completely different from one another and yet running can bring you together.
That’s how I met Agnes. We are huge supporters of I2P and through mutual online friends we connected. There was an event where Ray Zahab (founder of Impossible2Possible and adventure runner) and Christopher McDougall (author of Born to Run and Natural Born Heroes) were speaking in order to raise support and awareness for I2P. Agnes was coming up to Ottawa for the event so she figured she might as well run the Cookie Run in the morning. 🙂
We made arrangements for coffee the day before to meet in person for the first time and then decided to run together the next morning. It was a blast!! We ran very well and talked throughout most of the race. So fun!
I’m currently enjoying my down time from formal training. I am continuing to get out for runs and doing back to back longer runs in the trails on the weekends, no pace in mind just a length of time on my feet.
2016 goals are now set and I’m working on the details. I cannot wait to announce my BIG race goals! This year will be more about training and much less racing!
How about you? Do you have your 2016 goals set yet?
