What Now?

About ten weeks ago, I completed the BMO Vancouver Marathon. This was probably the most awesome running experience I've had to date. I've done a number of 10k's to halfs up until this point and wanted to finally 'go the distance' with a full. This is something I highly recommend everyone do at some point in their lives - with the proper training of course. I definitely could have trained a lot longer and harder, but regardless, I was ready and very excited. When I approached the finish line and heard my name being called, I totally forgot about my blistering/now missing toe nails and instead focused on all the 'cheerleaders'. The volunteers were wonderful, the weather was beautiful and overall, it was just one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had. My time by no means was not great, but I was training to complete - not to qualify for Boston. It was 4:50:44 with 2:12:11 being the 1/2 way mark. Which means I slowed right down in the second half. I blame the Burrard Bridge. :-)

Then I got hit with the 'wicked-est' case of bronchitis... Normally, I would let nature run it's course, relax and take some time off but I had a half-marathon to do 4 weeks later. The Run for Water out in Abbotsford. Let's just say, that even though it was not the worst time I've ever done, it was a miserable run. I was coughing, hacking, wheezing. I should have just stayed home, but unless you've met me, you don't know I'm extremely stubborn and pretty ridiculous to reason with sometimes. "Oh, I'll be fine!" is what I'll say until I'm scraped off the side of the road and thrown into a stretcher. I just remember surviving that race and not enjoying it like I should have. It was a beautiful day and the course was very flat. This year, they introduced the marathon distance and it's a BQ, too.

Two weeks ago I did the Vancouver Scotia Half and while my time wasn't significantly better than the Abbotsford (1 minute), I felt so much better. I was a little more prepared and the best part was that I was NOT sick. The problem was, that I decided to do the Grouse Grind (for the first time ever) the day before. Something I don't really recommend on the afternoon before a half marathon. Oops. Then I slept in and didn't have time to eat breakfast - so I just grabbed a banana and had a GU. Plus, I don't care for Gatorade, so I was just drinking water. Needless to say, when I hit the Burrard bridge I ran out of "steam". As a result, I got stuck with a final time of 2:18:53. On the bright side, I did raise over $200 for an organization called Arts Umbrella. All together, $5816 was raised in pledges which will apparently, go towards instruction costs for a 30-week arts program for 30 preschoolers in low income areas who wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to receive these life-changing arts experiences. Very Cool! Last year, I raised $300 and was very happy to help out again this year.

Over the past weekend, I decided to do a short, quick race. My foot had been bothering me so I didn't dare do anything longer. There was a 5 & 10k Inlet run being held in Port Moody for Golden Spike Days. I decided to do the 5k as I've never done a race that short before - and still get a medal for it! lol. My time was 28:36, which was okay for me. I felt good, but probably wore too many clothes. I overheat pretty quickly. Blah. Other than that, it was a pretty good, short, small attended race. They also had some great snacks and plenty of water, which was always a bonus. You'd be surprised about the number of races that run out of these necessities!

Now, I'm contemplating on what to do next. There's a lot of races that are either out of town or not happening until September. Over the summer months, the race calendar slows down a bit due to the heat and holidays, I guess. Will keep you posted on what I come up with. Cheers!