Hamilton Road 2 Hope Marathon Race Report

Another year, another marathon, because life is too short not to go for more. The rest is between my shrink and I. Just that I haven't seen a shrink in many years, so I had to convince my coach that I needed to run this distance even after finishing a 70.3 triathlon instead. He didn't think it was a good idea because I am now officially training for the Ironman and I cannot afford any boo-boo's, but hopefully after this race he's accepted the fact that I may be an alien and that I'll survive outside of Area 51. Not only I had one of the best days in my life, but I also came out of it unscathed, without a single chaffing mark or blister. I even have all my toenails. Who am I?

Training wise, coach had to be creative and increase my mileage conservatively, while putting me in the best position mentally to run the distance. This is what my last month before the race looked like. I missed about 5% of workouts that he had scheduled (not on this page), but I tried to follow his plan the best I could and remain in tune with my body and not hesitate to take a day off when I didn't feel recovered.

Volume wise, it was nothing extraordinary, and certainly not your regular marathon training program with 20+ mile long runs and 40+ miles a week totals. Heck, I didn't even run more than 3 times a week, but I put all my energy in the LSDs, with some tempo thrown in the middle for extra fun (not!). I ran at least a half-marathon distance 5 weekends in a row, with very little taper in the end. And it worked.

Many of my friends were going to race as well, either in the full marathon (Carol, Mandy) or the half (Sam, Nicole, Patty, Emma, Amy). It was going to be a party! I knew that with such a company, I'd have enough inspiration surrounding me for weeks. Carol decided to spend the day before the race in Hamilton and I booked a hotel room as well, just minutes away from the finish line. This ended being the best decision ever. She and her mom came to pick me and my older son up around noon on Saturday. Roughly one hour later we arrived at the expo, but we only spent about 1h there as it was wet and cold and we needed to stay off our feet.

First tent: pick up bag, bib and chip.

Second tent: pick up tshirt and spend your money

I ended buying a Sugoi winter jacket because I had been looking for one for a long long time and I was glad to see it so heavily discounted. Then we stopped for a quick lunch and a cup of tea before heading for the hotel to unpack, rest and rewind.

Teenage sitcoms are the best for falling asleep

No name on the bib? Come'on!

The hours went by fast, then it was time for dinner. We went out to East Side Mario's where I had a generous plate of "make your own pasta" (fettucine and shrimp for me) and shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake with my son. It was satisfying to say the least.

Back to the hotel again, I prepared my stuff for the race: gels, puffer for my asthma, water and pickle juice bottles, fuel belt, bib, socks, gloves, buff, insulated tights, wool tshirt and Sugoi outer layer. The only big unknown, which plagued my brain for over a month, were the shoes. I had brought two pairs with me: a new pair of trustworthy Adidas Glide 2 (one of the three pairs that I had bought 2 years ago) and my new love affair, the K Swiss K-Onas in which I had trained most of the year and which quickly became the most comfortable pair of shoes that I owned. The Adidas were known to give me some blisters on the inside of my feet, but not a handicap for the marathon, while the K Swiss always left my feet impeccable, but I had never tried them on distances longer than 24km. Also, the K Swiss were much lighter than the Adidas, with a smaller heel drop as well. Were they going to kill my joints and calves over 42.2km? That was a risk I had yet to make my mind on.

We switched off the lights at 10:45pm and made sure that alarm clock was set on the iPhone (which was going to magically change time by itself at 2pm). I slept pretty well until 4:30am, then I tossed and turned until 6am, feeling more rested than anxious, thanks to the extra hour. Got up 2 minutes before the alarm and got ready for the 6:45am departure with Carol and her mom. Made myself a sandwich with butter and a few turkey slices and ate a banana. Put another banana in my throw away sweater's pocket and off I went. Just 30 seconds before getting out the door I put on my K Swiss shoes and decided not to over-think my last minute choice.

We were dropped at the starting line in some sort of recreation center with a full sized gymnasium and a few baseball fields around. We made our way inside the building and started looking for familiar faces. Eventually I found the #burlingtonskirtbrigade and Nicole who was sticking out like the one sane person out of the bunch. No offense, ladies, but skirts in -7C? Cuckoo, all of you! I love you anyway, but don't mind me if I call you the #burlingtonskirtasylum from now on.

From left to right: Amy, Emma, me, Sam, Patty and Nicole.

I'm pretty sure I don't know anyone else in here

We exchanged hugs and took a few pics, then we all went on a mission to find port-a-potties with no lineups. But guess what, no such luck. Carol and I ended sharing some bushes, which pretty much sealed our best friends for life status. (Psst, her bum is whiter than mine!)

As the starting time was fast approaching, I followed with some dynamic stretches and did a few accelerations and ABCs (not in the bushes!!), then joined the crowd for the national anthem. I placed myself just ahead of the 4:15 pacer, hoping for a final time between a 4:10 and 4:30. The magic pace for a 4:10 was 5:55min/km and I was hoping to stay on track for at least 30km, then adjust my expectations depending on how my body would feel. However, even a 1 min PR would have satisfied me if things were to turn sour.

A quick countdown and at 8am sharp the race started. There were some rollers right off the bat and I wasn't quite sure what my pace was since at km 1, the 4:15 pacer passed us. It seemed to me that I was going a bit fast, but I could not understand why the pacer was going even faster. I noticed that the first km was actually at 1.1km on my watch and realized that I was not going to rely much on my overall pace if the GPS was all over the map. So I eventually decided to hit the lap button whenever I'd run past a km marker and do a mental calculation to make sure I wasn't going slower than 6min/km. At least I knew that I could rely on my 6 multiplication table. Isn't school wonderful? Stick with it, kids, you never know when your GPS is going to fail you.

The view along Ridge road for the first 8km was absolutely spectacular. The sky was so clear, you could see Toronto and the whole GTA. I could not get enough of these sights and kept telling myself how this course was as beautiful as the County Half, minus the rain. I was in heaven.

The heart rate was a bit too high for my taste though. In high zone 4 (170+ bpm), I needed to bring it down a little. Hitting the lap button regularly helped, and I finally settled in a pace that seemed to gravitate around 5:55 as planned. Mandy caught up with us and for a moment I imagined us three crossing the finish line together in 4:10, just like we dreamed.

Carol in Mandy are in tune

Shortly after km 8, my phone shut down by itself. Right away I thought it died of cold, so I didn't even bother to resuscitate it. Alas it meant the end of the pictures for me. Pace was nice and steady, heart rate was coming down a little. I was running relaxed and enjoying every moment.

I ate my first gel between km 5-6 and drank a bit of water. I decided not to stop or take drinks at the aid stations unless really necessary. We made another turn after 10km, this time running along some corn fields. Still quiet and peaceful, I was keeping an eye on my pace, another on my heart rate. All systems a-ok! Around km 12 I took out my first homemade cereal bar and I ate it all (I made them smaller than usual though). Carol made a run to the bushes for a pee break and I slowed down a little, hoping that she'd catch up. 5 minutes later, there she was! Mandy had taken off and she looked pretty strong, so I wasn't even sure that I'd see her again that day.

Three kilometers later I hit my lap button as usual and noticed that the pace had dropped into the 6:05min/km. I told Carol that if we wanted to stay on 5:55 pace, we needed to speed up a little. We had done the first 10km in under 1h, I wanted to stay on track for the next 10, and the next. I pulled away just slightly, but I could still see Carol over my shoulder. I thought I'd need to pee sometime later as well, so I imagined that we'd lap each other a few times until the end. By km 18, I was hungry again. I ate another gel and downed it with some water. I think I took my first sip of energy drink at that water station because I heard someone saying Gatorade. Gatorade my ass, it was Honey Maxx. Some kids knew what they were talking about, others were totally off track. Anyway, I decided to stay away from the mystery drinks and stick with my own liquids.

I also ate an orange slice and that felt sooooo good, I wanted to run back and grab a handful! But then the Red Hill Valley Parkway (aka the death-to-your-knees downhill) came, I was way too happy to care. The whole time I wanted to stretch my arms out and yell "I'm the queen of the world"!! I made sure I ran in the middle of the road to make it my OWN.  I was also on my own from then on.

Thankfully a photographer was there to capture the moment. I believe I can fly... In the middle of this euphoria, I drank half of my pickle juice. My legs were a bit achy and the last thing I wanted to see was a cramp to take me down. I was having a great time on that highway, but I knew that all good times had to come to an end and eventually a ramp took me out of this rollercoaster and onto the city streets again.

But not for long, because to my surprise, the next part of the course was on a trail with a very nasty downhill and some weird bricks that made me go ouch ouch ouch, followed by a hill steeper than the stairmaster and the same weird bricks. To make sure I was not going to leave an ankle in the dirt, I walked those few steps up. I don't think anyone ran there, unless they had Achilles of steel. In retrospective, these were the only steps I walked during this marathon. I still cannot believe it. We were approaching the 30km marker and just after passing this funky bridge, I looked at my watch and got really excited to see that I was still on track and that I had just beaten my 30km PR by over 5 minutes with a time of 2:59.

As I approached the lake shore path, I started hearing the waves and got thankful again for being able to run without music and enjoy the nature's sounds instead. It was really amazing, not a single negative thought had crossed my mind until then. I ran on. I could see marathoners coming back already, which meant that they were only 2-3km away from the finish. Add another 10 for me. I noticed this funny guy in a Mario costume up on a bench and I started laughing. I had no idea that I was looking at Marlene who was there to cheer on her hubby! 

Soon enough, the path split and we were taken away from the beautiful sight of the lake and onto a residential area. Oh well, it was time to eat again. But first, the pickle juice. I finished my bottle, then let my stomach settle a little. A km later, the 4:15 pacer passed me and I knew that I was now running my regular long run pace of 6:15min/km and that I had to say bye bye to dream goal of 4:10. No biggie, I was feeling strong, no aches anywhere and the waves were just around the corner. I ate my last gel at km 35 and went back to drinking water.

Not long afterwards I returned on the "happy" path with the soothing waves. I was in la-la land and the idea of jumping in the lake for an ice bath after crossing the finish lane was a powerful mind numbing drug. I kept on running, but I never had to go to the dark corners of my brain. I saw the 40km sign and I remembered an Instagram picture that said that I was close. You bet!! I found enough energy to speed up and run the last 2km strong, bursting into a loud cheer across the finish line.

I DID IT!! I beat my PR by 18 minutes and finished in 4:17:19. This whole day was just perfect, what a treat!! Now I can rest and embrace the off season. Was it worth it? Absolutely! I had another chance to measure myself against the marathon distance and I am extremely happy that I raced smart and not unnecessarily aggressive, got my nutrition in at the right times and even adjusted my footing to fight stitches the few times they tried getting the best of me. Finally, after 2 bad marathons, I could fully enjoy the experience again. I don't promise that the next will be as pleasant as this one, but one thing for sure, I will try to keep my smile until I cross the finish line.

Geekery below:

Many many thanks to my coach David Jenkin who always comes up with the smartest training plans, that fit me perfectly and keep me injury free. One more PR to make you proud!!

Also, a million thanks to my husband Zin, my most dedicated cheerleader, who put up with me throughout the year and especially in the last weeks of this training cycle - we both know it wasn't easy! To my son Yanis who came with me to the race and cheered me on, and gave me his jacket when I was freezing cold. Love you, my son!

To Carol's mom who drove us around and invited us for dinner. You made our weekend so much easier!! Thank you for your generosity!

Last but not least, my friends online and in real life who share this passion with me and who provided me with a constant dose of inspiration to take me through the best and worst times this year. To many more PRs, BQs, high fives and running skirts - or not. You know who you are - Thank you!!!

The County Half Marathon Race Report

A few months ago, one of our friends from the tri club mentioned that he was going to race the County Half Marathon for the 10th time in a row, in the heart of the scenic Prince Edward County, 3h east of Toronto. I figured that there must have been a good reason for him to go back year after year, and he told us that we should find out by ourselves, by running it as well. That sounded just like the challenge I would take to keep my legs moving. A month after our A race, and why not after all? I knew that I wasn't going to break any records, I just wanted to make the fun last longer.

And so after Muskoka 70.3 I took the time to rest and let the legs get into a new groove. I still ran a few times a week, but the volume did not exceed 38km and 7.5h of training in total per week, including a bike ride here and there, one swim and a strength training workout. Most runs with the exception of a hard 15k (race pace less 20sec/km) a week before the race, were all "easy pace", although I managed to stay under 6min/km each time, and more or less in Z2, by some mystery of physiology. However, halfway during the month, I started having these weird pains in my knees. Shooting pain from all angles, but they would not last more than 2-3 minutes at a time. After I finished running, my knees would get really hot and pulse for almost an hour. A few days before the race I finally went to see my massage therapist who told me that my knees were ok, but my hips, IT bands and hamstrings were all extremely tight, and that they were pulling on the knee tendons from all sides. I just had to stretch more often and keep applying ice. So what did I do? I freaked out, of course.

I cancelled all remaining workouts for the week and put my feet up in the hope of giving them as much rest as I could. The one thing that I could not fathom, was to DNF on a race "for fun". On Friday, when the time came to drive to the cottage that we rented for the weekend, I was totally unprepared. I had not even packed. I rushed home from work and managed to get our bags ready in a record time (by my standards anyway) and one hour later we were on our way, direction Wellington, PEC.

Once arrived at destination, we settled in, then I left the boys watch TV and I headed over to another one of the cottages on the property, where Nicole and 25 of her girlfriends were #retreat-ing in style, a yearly tradition from what I've heard. I had a drink and tried to keep my mind occupied until time came to call it a night. Riri 1- Irrational Fear 0. Thank you, pear cider.

The next morning we went on a little adventure in Sandbanks Provincial Park, the site of long sandy beaches and a very still and peaceful Lake Ontario, both desert at this time of the year. We all walked on the beach and enjoyed these moments of pure bliss, which filled our minds with much happier memories than 10 years ago when we last visited the place (my then 18 months old son broke his elbow 30 minutes after arriving at the campground).

The beach looks like a best kept secret

Not much changed in 10 years

I think I like it here

The Beach Boys

In the afternoon we went to Crystal Palace in Picton to pick up our race kit, a very fancy name for this stylish barn.

The Crystal Palace, Picton

A lovely barn that is

The expo didn't have much to rave about, but the race atmosphere was almost palpable, even a full day ahead. This marathon is definitely an event that Picton folk are proud of, and you could tell by the number of volunteers of all ages buzzing around. This year, it was also the 10th anniversary of the race and there were all kinds of displays to remind visitors how memorable this event has been so far.

The race kit included a reusable bag, a long sleeve tshirt, a pair of socks and some cereal bars. The chip was in the bib. Yay for new technology!

Look at that big ass medal!!

The T-shirt parade

A plaque for the regulars ;-)

After the race pick up we went back to the cottage, but not before we "sampled" some of the city's best baked goods, because it was all part of the carb loading ritual, I guess. Then we relaxed some more, until it was time to prepare dinner. We ended the night with s'mores by the fire and another drink with the gals. I love the cottage life! All races should include some down time like this.

I went to bed at 10:30pm, worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep well. But to my surprise, it was quite the uneventful night. Woke up at 6am, had a shower, ate a banana, then Nicole came to pick us up at 7am so we can drive back to Picton where the buses were going to take us to the start of the half marathon. Did I mention that it was pouring outside? I knew it was going to be a rainy day, so I decided to wear my grey Muskoka finisher tshirt and my running skirt, with the tri short underneath. We can change our colors, but we're still triathletes at heart. ;-) And to finish the metaphor of my outfit, I opted for my compression rainbow socks, because you know, after the rain, the rainbow... get it? ;-) A bit of voodoo magic, hoping for the sun to come out eventually.

In Picton we stopped at Tim Hortons for breakfast. Our race start was going to be at 10am, which was a bit tricky food wise. I had a bagel with cream cheese and an orange juice. I was on the fence about buying something sweet but I wasn't really feeling like eating more junk. So when Nicole offered an apple, I happily accepted it.

It was cold and damp outside, but by this time the rain had stopped. I was however glad that I had chosen to wear a throw away sweater since it was very chilly and my Raynaud's was acting up already. Nicole came to the rescue once more and gave me a pair of gloves!! Isn't she an angel, this girl?! Once I put them on, I felt a million times better. Can't you tell? Here we are playing with the spirits and exorcising the race demons with one silly pose at a time.

It just felt like the right thing to do

In case you didn't know, the race start was at a cemetery. The music was rather fabulous I should say, it may have gotten everyone dancing in their graves. There were two big tents where most of the participants were waiting for the time to pass by. Some of us went to cheer on the marathon runners, but the first guys were too fast and we didn't get a chance to see them. I decided to do a few warm up runs up and down the street because I could feel my legs getting numb. Went to the port-a-potty once, but the second time I went to pee in the corn field because I couldn't get myself to line up and stand still for so long.

I did something naughty

Zin found our friend James and they were busy talking race strategy and finish times. I was eager to start running already! Knees were not bothering me, and not to tempt the devil, I totally ignored any negative thoughts. I was not wearing my GPS watch and the plan was to race by feel, nice and relaxed. Training run, nothing more. With a medal at the end. And fun, lots of it. At the last moment I remembered that I had my iPhone with me, so I put on Runkeeper to keep me company. Nicole is a much faster runner, so she was only going to run 3k with me before putting on the turbo. How excited were we? This much!

All teeth!!

A quick countdown, and we were off! I almost started too fast, but Nicole, a real pacer, yo, had the pace in check and was letting me know when we needed to slow down. I need to run with her more! The 3km went by fast, then she took off like the energizer Bunny, just as the rain started coming down on us fast and furious. I only managed to snap a few pics before I decided to tuck the phone away to avoid water damage. The Rainkeeper lady kept on talking, announcing the pace at each km with her monotonous voice. And just like her monotonous voice, my splits were astoundingly (is that a word?) constant. 5:38, 5:38, 5:37, 5:38, 5:37, 5:39 etc. These are the only numbers I heard the entire time, almost like a broken record.

Turning a corner

And on your right, Lake Ontario.

This feels just magical

The splits were like music to my ear. I was feeling happy like a squirrel, sporting a grin bigger than my face. And then I gave myself the mission to keep this pace. This would get me under 2h, exactly what I had dreamed of for a training run, only if the heart was going to get on board. I was running relaxed, legs like a metronome. As soon as Nicole left, I noticed a guy was following not too far behind me, and told myself, maybe he likes hearing the Runkeeper lady, let's not disappoint him. Can I pull another 5:38? What about this one with the slight downhill? 5:37, but of course.

I ate my first pack of Clif blocks between km 5-8, and another one between km 15-18. I only drank when I was thirsty, mostly after the gummies. The rain turned into a violent downpour and the wind showed up too. I could care less. I noticed my skirt was "foaming" while rubbing against the tri short. My mind went wandering whether it still had soap in it. I could see the raindrops hanging onto the edge of my cap's visor for minutes at a time, eventually falling down... When I was drinking water, half of it ended down my tshirt since I would not bother slowing down. Why care? I was dripping wet from every inch of fabric I was wearing. It was exhilarating. I was yelling thanks to the volunteers who were braving the elements with us, and to the people who came out to cheer on us, a never ending display of umbrellas and drenched parkas. Some people were cheering from their porches so they don't get wet. Buses full of relay runners were passing us and we exchanged more cheers. It was indeed all the fun I could have asked for. Why didn't I do the full marathon so it could last longer?

With 3km to go, the guy running behind me passed me and I told myself that I had made a good pace bunny that day. For him and for myself as well. Unknowingly, we pushed each other and I was so glad to see that he hang on and was going to finish strong.

Last stretch

Soon afterwards I was on the home stretch, back in downtown Picton. My heart was now beating a bit harder because of the few hills that I had just powered through, but I was decided not to slow down and get my under 2h. I sprinted the last 200m and crossed the finish line at the same time as the 2h pace bunny in 1:59:21 official chip time.

My day was complete. I was given a gianormous commemorative medal, special 10th anniversary, which I had engraved on the spot with my time for $4. Back inside the Crystal Palace, I found Zin, Nicole and James, all proud and happy finishers. Zin officially completed his first half marathon in, wait for it... 1:36:58. Say whaaaat?! That's it, I am calling him the Zinster from now on.

We changed into dry clothes, then we all ate our post race food, including beer from a local brewery. Since we had to go back to the cottage for the check out, we didn't spend too much time with the other runners, but I would have liked to be there when James got his plaque for having run all 10 editions of the event. I bet he must be a local celebrity by now. And so we got back to the cottage, cleaned up and packed, then by 3pm started our drive back to Toronto. Thankfully we had no traffic and 3h later we were pulling into our driveway.

In the end, I can only say great things about this race. It's a small event, given the number of participants, but a big deal for the locals. The organization, swag, food, volunteers, water stations were all just perfect. Plus, this is an official Boston qualifier race for those who do the full, in a beautiful setting and 95% flat. You cannot ask for more from a race. Definitely on my shortlist for future marathons and favorite races to do over and over again.

It was a lot of fun to run this race with hubbs and great friends around! Thank you and congrats to all!

2013 Around the Bay 30K Race Report

It is here!! It is here!! Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for... the first race of the year for Riri & Zin! Tadaaaaa.... (spoiler alert)

Not so fast, my friends!
First, a bit of recap. This was the third time that I was making the trip to Hamilton for the "Oldest Race in North America", in its 119th anniversary this year, and still "older than Boston". By the way, this ain't gonna change any time soon, so deal with it. The two previous times I run it I was part of a two-person relay and covered the full distance, but never at once. This year, I trained hard and went there hungry for a PR. Since I had never run in a 30K race before, my only  reference times were my 30k splits at the marathons completed last year, so the time to beat was 3h13 from Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

After struggling with different paces in my head, I met with my new coach earlier in the week and we discussed strategy. He told me that he wasn't comfortable with me racing it all out because it's not my A race and I could get injured and jeopardize my training for Ironman Muskoka 70.3, but after agreeing on the fact that a 3h10 time would make me happy and that most likely it would not kill me, we decided that I was going to run it as following (all by feel, no peeking at the watch!) :

• First 5k easy
• Next 10k fast (race pace)
• Last 15k easy

I figured that my 10k race pace was going to be somewhere around 5:30min/km, but the easy pace, anywhere in the 6-7min/km range. I went to sleep with the peace of mind that I was going to follow a plan and not do whatever was going to cross my adrenaline-fueled brain. That's a first!

So, on Saturday we went to the Expo to pick up our race kits, and oh, the miracle, we didn't buy anything! We got there early enough to win a flashy orange tech cap from Running Room, but other than that, there was nothing there that we really needed. I took a picture of the empty Copps Coliseum though because it was free.

Went back home and spent the rest of the day driving around, to downtown Toronto to pick up some prints and to Value Village where I bought throw away clothes for the following morning. In the evening we carb loaded with our traditional homemade lasagna. I may or may not have had some ice cream too.

The next day, alarm clock went off at 6am. After a quick shower and a breakfast, we managed to leave the house at 7am. We felt confident that we'd get to Hamilton early enough to find parking, unlike last year when we circled the downtown area for an hour before finding a spot. And just as expected, we quickly found free street parking, just half a mile from Copps Coliseum.

We went to Tim's for coffee and a pee break, then to the Coliseum where we had planned to meet with Nicole, Sam and the rest of the online gang. I did recognize a few faces, but was a bit too shy to talk to everyone. Shook a few hands and forgot most of the names (sorry, small brain), but felt right at home among them happy people in bright shirts and running tights.

By the way, I know that people say that it's bad juju to wear the race t-shirt, but I've never done otherwise, so I was glowing in the hot pink one that hey gave to the women racers this year. For bottoms I was wearing my long Sugoi tights, and those too were a no brainer given the near-zero temperatures advertised by my weather app. I also chose to go with my buff instead of a hat, and no gloves.

With 15 minutes to the start time, we made our move towards the grey corral, for those without qualifying times. That's when we saw Lou and Paul from the Barefoot and Minimalist Runners Facebook Group and I admired both the fashion statement and Lou's perfectly shaved legs.

We looked around us, a sea of people ahead, a sea of people behind. 

And us two goofs in the middle, with sun in our eyes and a mean attitude...fail!

I don't think we even heard the countdown because all of a sudden we started moving and eventually I saw the starting mat. I ditched my sweater and dug my phone out to start Runkeeper, then off we went. Here, try to spot us, we crossed the starting line about 7 minutes in.

Zin said he was going to "warm up" with me for about 2km, then go on his own, but he only lasted for about 2 minutes beside me, then... he was gone! I am really glad he did because I wasn't going all that fast and he really wanted to go after a 2h30 PR.

I decided to run my own race, not even mingle with the massive groups of people following the pacers. I had a plan to follow after all. Soon enough Nicole and her friends passed me and we both vowed to never listen to the weather reports again as she was peeling off her jacket and I was wishing I didn't wear a wool layer under my top. The first 5k went by really fast and then came my time to speed up and complete my tempo workout of the day. Just before reaching the train "situation" I passed Nicole again and zoomed my way ahead dodging people one by one. I knew they were all going to pass me back again, so I didn't have any hard feelings ahead of time, I was on a mission and that was the most important, not to die before the 15k mat.

The bridge could not come soon enough, because a fast 10k split is still a lot of energy to leave on the pavement. I took in Clif shot blocks at 4k and 10k, mixed in with some water and Endura by Metagenics (as a sports drink, I couldn't recommend it enough, there is only good stuff in it).

There it is, the 15k relay exchange point which also meant that I was done...with the fast feet, because the race was only starting.

We are over the hump, I heard some people say, but the humps were actually yet to come! Notorious for its hilly second half, including the infamous Valley Inn road, Around the Bay is not the race where you can bank time. You'd better conserve your energy, otherwise the hills are going to eat you alive. Thankfully I knew I had trained for them and they were not going to last forever. My goal was now to get over each and every ones of them with a smile, and onto the last downhill stretch to the Finish line. Slow and steady...

Nicole and the gang passed me again, they were just ahead of the 2:55 pacer, and they looked like they were going for it!! This little energizer bunny knew to have fun out there! I took notice and it definitely motivated me to keep up the pace and enjoy myself. There seemed to be one hill per km, so I tried to take advantage as much as I could of the downhills and get back to my relaxed state in between. Still no Zin in sight, so I started thinking that he may have already finished, which was probably true, and that was also giving me wings. So proud of my hubbs for going strong!

Eventually I approached Heartbreak Hill, and I started hearing Queen's "We will rock you" blasting off someone's boom box. I can't remember if it was an official ATB tent or a kind Hamiltonian's setup, but it  MADE MY DAY (thank you!!!). It was right at the top of the hill before Valley Inn road, yep, just before it goes down hard to only go back up again. I started singing and yelling at people, "this is it, guys", let's do this!" We will, we will, ROCK YOU!! I felt like a boulder rolling down the hill, then powering up and passing those who decided to walk it, telling them, it's only 400m, folks! Keep going!! (for my American friends, that's a quarter of a mile). I was a talking boulder, alriiight (cuckoo!).

Anyway, made it up and then... breathe... almost done! Last 3k. Longest 3k ever... I really wanted it to be over, I had enough fun for the day. I was hoping to see the grim reaper so I can laugh in his face and then sprint to the finish line. I finally saw him and took out my camera, then snapped the picture below. I realized there was an official ATB photog right there if you wanted a more professional "near death" experience, but I decided to skip.

Unfortunately I was also dealing with a side stitch, so there was no way I could have smiled for the camera. I walked for about 30 seconds, hoping it would go away, but then the pain started traveling around my entire lower abdomen and I said, to hell with it!! This too shall pass... I saw a Toronto Triathlon Festival t-shirt passing me and it brought back my smile. Later I realized these two were Alex Flint and Marvelous Martha. I passed them again and onto the final km, I was waiting for the photo op before launching myself down the ramp into Copps Coliseum. I wanted to give the guy a mean double devil horns sign, but in the end my hands decided to do something completely alien. Triple horns. Oh well, I'm such a noob. Can't control legs and fingers at the same time.

Passed a few more people and sprinted my way across the finish mat with a huge sigh of relief. I was done, and DONE!! Legs seized up, I could barely walk, I wanted food and my medal and as coach suggested, to "get out of there before I catch a bug". Walked my way up to meet Zin, had a bite and waited for my legs to cooperate again, then I drove us back home where I had an ice bath, then cuddled with my heating blankie and caught up with the rest of the universe via my favorite social networks.

My first 30k is in the books!! 3h05 chip time, a 8min PR over my fastest 30k marathon split. I am really, really happy with the result, and even happier that I managed to execute this race exactly as planned. Zin also beat his fastest of the fastest times and finished the race in 2h31, earning himself the name of SuperZin. I am impressed! If he continues like this he may end up in Boston before we finish an Ironman (the pressure's on!).

Last but not least, here's the techie view for those who like numbers and pretty graphs.

Alright, next!