Training this past few weeks has been going extremely well which has been a great help in building confidence ready for the London Marathon in just under 6 weeks time. I've been doing plenty of faster paced runs and generally hitting my target time, and now that the longer runs of 30km + have started to kick in, I'm hoping that everything clicks when I toe that start line on Blackheath Common on April 26th.
Although I've been doing the cross country races all through the winter months, trying to find a road race at this time of year in Calgary or the surrounding areas is pretty hard, and when you do find one, you can rarely race "flat out" simply because it's really cold and you're weighted down by tons of layers, or you have to trudge through 3 ft of snow or if there's no snow, you'd be better off in ice skates rather than a pair of runners. It certainly makes things entertaining but it can also be extremely frustrating as you don't really get the opportunity to really test yourself in preparation for a major race like London.
Alot of my speed work in recent weeks has been done on the treadmill simply because it has been too icy outdoors but thankfully last week, it genuninely looked like spring had arrived. Birds started to arrive at the nearby wetlands reserve here in Mahogany, the sun was shining, the trees in our back garden were thinking about budding, and the temperatures were in double digits - very rare for Calgary in March and certainly something we haven't encountered since being here. The warm temperatures had melted all the snow, and although we had some pretty gusty, windy days,conditions have been almost perfect for running outdoors.
With there being no snow or ice, I was feeling really excited about doing the St Patrick's Day 10km race on Sunday, and although I knew my PB of 37.06 was beyond my reach these days, I was feeling optimistic and relatively confident of finally dipping under 40 minutes again for a 10k, particuarly with training having gone so well, Unfortunately come Sunday morning, the weather had turned much cooler again with quite a brisk, strong wind, and whilst I hate to use the weather as an excuse for not achieving a time I wanted, I knew that the conditions would likely hinder me and slow me down somewhat.
The St Patricks Day 10k is now in its 28th year and it's no surprise it has kept going for so long as the party atmosphere is truly amazing with plenty of leprachauns and just a sea of green as folks head out on the course. It's organised by Calgary Road Runners and both times I have done the race, it has been extremely well supported.There is a draw to win your weight in beer, and post race food is so tasty and includes irish strew, hot cross buns, fruit, tea, coffee and even beer!
Having done the race last year, I knew that the course wasn't flat, but then neither is it hilly although there are several inclines that can break your stride.
Shortly after the start this year though, we headed right instead of left, and it was only then that I realised the course had been changed and was now an out and back route down to Glenmore Reservoir. The new course was still by no means a fast course, but it did feel that the first 5km was flat with a good 400m downhill section, although the return leg included an incline between 7-9km that seemed to drag on and on - not steep, but enough for you to notice. Up until that stage, I was pretty much on target with my pace and I was surprised to see some of the more speedier ladies in my sights that I know for certain have finished way ahead of me in previous races. This did give me some condidence and I tried to stay with them to help drag me along. Unfortunately my pace did slow on the "hill" and whilst the wind hadn't really had that much impact on my running up to that stage, it seemed to make itself known at this point and I lost almost a minute between kilometers 7 and 9 which I knew would mean that the sub 40 was now not possible.
I kept pushing hard though and with 1km to go and the finish line now within sight, I picked up the pace as best I could to see if I could dip under 41 minutes instead. Maybe the pace was a little too much as the lactic acid built up in the legs over the last few hundred metres and I started to tighten up a little, eventually crossing the line in 41.19 - 6th lady and 1st in my age category. There would have been a time when I would have been gutted not to have hit my goal, but I knew that I had done everything I could and was actually pretty happy with things.
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| finishing St Patrick's Day 10km |
Although I had done a race, I still had a 36km run scheduled in for the day, so having grabbed some of the delicious Irish Stew and a drink, I headed back outside ready for the 26km run back towards home. I ran on my own at a nice easy pace, heading back towards Glenmore Reservoir before hitting the pathway that would take me through South Glenmore Park and Weaselhead Flats. From there I took the pathway towards Fish Creek Park, eventually finishing at the Ranche in Fish Creek, some 2 hours and 27km later. I'd had the most wonderful run back - yes it was cold and windy, but it was so peaceful with very few people around. I hit a few trails on the way back to mix things up and to make things interesting, and saw a couple of deer on the pathway and heard the woodpeckers up in the trees above.
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| Heading Home through Fish Creek and a wee bit of trail running |
It had been a fantastic day of running and although I was flagging towards the end due to being so hungry and desperately needing a drink, with another 5 weeks of good quality training, I'm still feeling confident about London.
In the absence of a nearby A&W, I decided to celebrate with a Big Mac and a chocolate milkshake and you know what? When you're as hungry as I was, it's surprising how tasty some things can actually be :-)
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