Sporting life 10km

After a week of flow training with 2 hours and a half of yoga a day (plus a lot of practice teaching), I didn't know what to expect for today's 10km. My hips were open and my breath was deep but my S.I. was cranky, and my body was pretty tired. Getting up before 6am for the 7th day in a row was tough and I hadn't really prepped for the race so scrambled to get my water belt, bib, etc together this morning (for those who know me and my organization needs, this was not pretty). The result was leaving with a dead Garmin and no iPod.
I got a ride up and we scored a parking spot 100 meters from the start line. Crazy awesome. I had a coffee (totally not what I would usually do) and got in my corral. The rain started. I wasn't sure how this was going to go but I was excited. I placed myself in the 48 minutes and under corral, specifically so I could cheer on at the end as my friends came through the finish. I fiddled with my phone to get a race band equivalent from the RR app but gave up on that and decided to just wing it.
 I decided to rely on my iPhone stopwatch and feel to track my pace and progress. I started my time as I crossed the start and put my phone away, deciding to only check in at the 5km mark. I knew I was going way faster than I needed to for the first 4km but it was downhill so I gave in. Plus, I've run this part of Yonge many times in the past week so I was familiar with the degree of incline and decline. Around Davenport, I decided to take a 20 second walk break to dissipate the lactic acid and get the pukeys. By 5km, I was at 23:23 (which is a PB in itself but all due to the downhills). I didn't get a negative split but kept the pace as strong as I could for the second half. If I'd seen Jer with the beer at km 7, I might have gotten a faster second half.

For the size of the race, I was surprised that it was fairly well organized. The portapotty situation could have been cleared up and logistics at the finish could have been finessed but the corrals and staggered start times were good. Race kit pick up was a whole other story but that's for another day.

The cheerers were great. Not tons of people along Yonge but a good RR representation at Yonge and Bloor, the Lemons (with a new "that's what she said" run sign) near the Eaton Centre, people I missed along the way (Jer and Sue) and Miguel, alone and with cow bell (made my day).

My A goal was sub 48. My phone clocked me in at 48:03 but I was still really pleased. That was as good as my goal in my books. But when I checked my actual chip timeof 47:59 I was totally pleased to have broken 48 and shaved over 4 minutes off my course time (keeping in mind I only have ever run one 10km, that it was SL, and that it was 5 years ago when I first started running).

After the race, I escaped the exit tunnel to go back on and cheer on my peeps. Matt must have been much too speedy for me because I missed him coming in. Then apparently I cheered Kris on but didn't realize it. But I did see Jackey, Inka, Nada, Amy, Steve, Michelle, Erin, Chris, Chuck, Kathryn, and many more, which was super fun! It was also super duper inspiring to see Michelle come through and to run the finish line with her. I am tearing up just thinking of the major accomplishments and goals that were achieved today. So happy for everyone.

Next up. Gulp. Ottawa marathon. Heart beating faster already. I feel I need to get another LSD run in before so I might do so tomorrow night. I'm also looking forward to sleeping in till 6:30 one of these days.