Runner-Up Canadian Half Marathon Champion!

Conditions were a bit cool and rainy but I still pulled off a PR! 1:15:55 at the Cdn Half Marathon Championships. I was 3rd overall and 2nd Canadian! It was a great race. I really enjoyed running with a pack of speedy ladies.

Team Saucony (R to L): 3rd, 4th, and 5th overall (myself, Marilyn Arsenault, Kristina Rody).

1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall women. Good job, Mary and Emily!

The start!

and here's the race report...

the weekened and race went really well. kids stayed w/ jonathan's folks so we had lots of time to ourselves to rest and relax and enjoy good food. as for the race, the weather was nice until 10 am (race start time, go figure but the weather network was accurate!). got cold, windy and rainy but that was fine with me. i was in singlet and shorts and there was no going back. so, i went w/ the lead pack of girls (the new zealand native, mary went out on her own and won w/ 1:14:44'ish), which was strong. we were doing 3:30/km's for a good while (i had planned for 3:39/km but felt good so kept w/ them)! then around 10 km, two of us (Emily Tallen who got 2nd overall) were leading, and gained a bit more and more. at 15 km i thought, ok...i've either got it or i went out way too hard and will pay. so we slowed a few seconds/km for a few km's and continued to space out a little bit more. then, with about 3 km left i kicked in again to finish strong. i was pretty sure i had a safe lead ahead of marilyn arsenault (behind) and had emily in my sight (ahead). but emily was also consistent in the last 3 km so i ended up finishing about 14 sec behind her. i was quite excited when i saw the clock at 1:15:40'ish!! so i gave a little kick to make sure i was under 1:16!i just missed the drug testing. they selected 1st and 3rd canadian. so glad about this (you all know my scotiabank experience). it was nice to be able to do a cool down right away and drink/eat whatever i wanted. got a nice timex watch. we had a nice drive back, stopping once. have already been for a 14.5 km recovery run and 1.5 km swim this a.m. next race is vancouver half in 2 weeks. should be fun!

Click here for the Canadian Half Marathon Championships Elite Start List (location is Montreal).

Gearing Up for The Next 7.5 Weeks!

Well, it is "go time". Between now and May 30, I have 3 big races: the Montreal 1/2 Marathon Cdn Championship (Apr 18), the Vancouver BMO 1/2 Marathon (May 2) and the Ottawa Marathon Cdn Championship (May 30). Travel plans are made and I am looking forward to it!
So, the next 7.5 weeks are key. Key to: stick with the training plan, listen to my body even more, stretch more, get to bed earlier, and program myself to the goal race paces. For Montreal, I'd like to run around 1:17. I've been doing a lot (as in 1/2 of my mileage) of treadmill running (thanks to Maureen and Jeanetta at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre), which allows me to keep pace evenly. Today I did a good workout of eight 1 km repeats (each at 10.8 mph) with my warm-up, rest between repeats, and cool-down at an easy 9.0 mph. Total was 20 km and I felt great. Tomorrow is a cross-training day on the bike. I will take it easy between now and Apr 18th.
I'll post when I return. Until then, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phil 4:13.