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| It's still all about the bling baby! |
What an awesome day! Today was the Around the Bay Road Race. Hubby and I were team Runapalooza. We each did a 15K leg of the 30K race. Hubby started in downtown Hamilton just outside of Copps Coliseum and ran to the relay exchange just before the lift bridge on Eastport Drive in Burlington. We had to exchange the chip timer from his shoe to mine, then off I ran. I had to wait quite a while for hubby. Over two hours. But the upside was that I got to see the elite runners go by. That's what I love about running in these kinds of races. I will never compete in the Olympics, but I get to run in the same races with world class runners. That is really cool!
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| Waiting for hubby just before the lift bridge. |
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| Watching the ELITES run by. The runner on the left won. He completed the 30K in 1:35:44. |
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| Hubby running towards me at the exchange. |
Hubby's time to get to me was 1:59:02. I called that real good 'cos I predicted a two hour time for him to run the 15K. Not too shabby for someone who hasn't been running a year yet and ran his longest distance to date today. We finished with a 3:37:30 chip time which means I ran my 15K in 1:38:28. I'm happy with this time. I had to run about 7 hills, the last one was approximately 800 meters in length. Hubby had it easier than me. His course was nice and flat, but boring.
The energy on the course was electric. The spectators that came out to cheer us on were full of energy, and it made me feel so alive just to be running. I caught up with a couple of runners that I knew. My gal Monica was running the full 30K and I caught up with her just before the 20K mark. She was getting tired by that time, and her knees were starting to bother her. She was a kilometer short of running a half marathon. And even with her arthritic knees, she kicked ass! My other gal Tanya came out to see me just before the 25K marker. Loved seeing a familiar face along the course. I ran all the hills, but walked a few times through water stations and to chat with Monica and other people I knew along the way. I wasn't really running for time. It was more of a fun run where I could stop and snap photos if I wanted to.
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| Some of the awesome cheerleaders along the course. A church group waving palms at us:) |
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| Don't fear the reaper. He was situated in front of the cemetery on York Blvd. |
I cannot wait to get fitted for orthotics. My toes cramped super early today. Only 9K in and my feet were going numb. I did start out pretty fast and ran quite hard until I caught up with Monica almost 5K into my run. The faster I run and the more that my feet hit the ground, the crampier my toes get. All I know is that I have to get this fixed ASAP so that I can run my next half marathon in June pain free.
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| Right after I crossed the finish line. |
The one thing I have to say I was disappointed with was the food. Hubby didn't even get anything when he finished running. No water or recovery food. I did get stuff because I ran into Copps Coliseum, but for such a big race with a hefty entry fee, I was expecting more than a mini Clif bar, a rice Krispie Square, a mini pita, apple juice and banana. The Chilly Half Marathon gave us MUCH better recovery food...and we could take as much as we wanted. Being on Phase 1 of the Dr. Poon Metabolic Diet didn't give me many options with the recovery food. But I did eat the mini Clif bar, which reeked havoc with my stomach very soon after eating it. I decided to follow more of Phase 2 today anyway because I needed more fuel before my run this morning. I had to resort to what settled best in my stomach before a long run. Natural peanut butter and strawberries!
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| Monica and I showing off our bling at the Anchor Bar. |
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| Recovery food! Wasn't enough so when I got home, I ate left over pork tenderloin and sauteed cabbage. |
Afterwards, hubby, Monica and I went to the Anchor Bar in Jackson Square for lunch. My recovery meal was a salad with chicken and hard boiled egg. That would have been my 5th hard boiled egg today. I'm not gonna lie, I'm all egged out. I asked hubby how he liked the race and I knew what his reaction would be. He wants to run a half marathon. Being in a big race like The Bay is a different energy than being in a 5K. Still a great accomplishment, running a 5K, but I knew that he would get real pumped running in such a big historic road race. He's looking to running his first half in the fall now. I have created a monster:)
