Toronto 1/2 Marathon

Yesterday at a cold, but sunny Toronto venue, I ran the Toronto 1/2 marathon to end my 2009. The race went really well. I got there early enough to actually warm up and put myself around people that would be running the same pace that I would be, so that I did not have to dance around people that are significantly slower than me. I was aiming for 1:45 and put myself right next to the pace bunny.

When the race started, it was COLD! But, after about 3 km, I forgot about the cold as I got to ran in the sun. My pace was strong, my hydration was good, and the tunes were pumping. I was ready to finish this race strong...much different than my collapse at the end of the Waterfront 1/2 marathon.

Again, I held pace. 5:00 on the dot for the first 16 km. I didn't stop to walk, even though my legs were hurting at this point. I knew if I stopped that I would repeat the breakdown from the Waterfront. I lost :10 in the 17th km, another :30 in the 18th km, and then finished at about 6:00 splits for the last 3km. I wish I could have finished stronger, but I am very pleased that I was able to run the entire route continously, and that I did not have the mental collapse I did earlier. The music really helped, although at the end it was more 'where is the damn finish line!' rather than focussing on the music to set my tempo.

All in all, I finished with a time of 1:49:27, an 8 minute improvement from the Waterfront 1/2, and a happy ending to my first season of racing. Funny, I hadn't even ran the last event and I have already registered for my first event next year: the Mississauga 1/2 marathon! AND, I just got an e-mail from Subaru Muskoka 70.3 for early bird registration of that race! I'm feeling as though I could do it, but the swimming really scares me. I'll have to do some serious work this winter to get that swimming up to par if I'm going to be successful there.

Thanks for reading this season. There probably won't be many entries this winter, but I'll try to keep you up to date with my off season training, products I've bought/thinking of buying, and the races I'm registering in next year!

Toronto 1/2 Marathon

So I was having so much fun last summer doing triathlons and accomplishing feats I would have never dreamed possible, so I decided to sign up for the two Toronto 1/2 marathons (waterfront and Toronto). Tomorrow is the bitter sweet end to my first racing season, as I set out to run the Toronto 1/2 Marathon. I should do well, I feel I am more prepared mentally. Unfortunately the weather has been so horrible, and I'm a bit of a wimp, so I haven't been running all that much. I am hoping that my summer of racing and training will allow me to accomplish more personal bests. My Waterfront time was 1:57:15, and even though it is a difficult course, I am really hoping to crack the 1:50 marker, and get close to 1:45, as I feel I can average 5:00 splits. I did that for about 15km at Waterfront 1/2, so hopefully I can do it for the Toronto race.