Shamrock'n Half Marathon

Yesterday, was my first long-ish race in a while - The Shamrock'n Half Marathon which was two loops around Burnaby Lake. It's also my 9th Half Marathon race in under 2 years.

The runners met behind Burnaby Lake Clubhouse in the field leading to the trail:

I did this race last year but it was only the 7 miler (one loop). I remember it being completely miserable outside and I was frozen to the bone afterwards. When the weather stinks, you don't get much for spectators or "cheering squads", either... and I don't blame them. LOL. I also don't remember anyone dressing up either. This year, I think every other person was dressed up in festive St. Patrick's Day attire.

In 2010, I did the Rubber Ducky Half in October (time - 2:21 chip time) which is also the same race but in the reverse direction. I definitely improved my time since then and made a PB (2:14 - chip time). This year, the weather was cool but not wet/raining. Unlike the day before, when I was picking up my race package. It started to downpour as I was leaving the store and then the sun came out. Made for a nice rainbow, though!

The trail around Burnaby Lake had only a few muddy areas but I didn't find it slippery. The trail is pretty flat and spacious. The volunteers were enthusiastic and full of cheers and smiles. As I went to the race alone (and there's no bag check in these smaller races), I had to carry everything with me. Of course, I started to over-heat, which required me to stop half way through and take my jacket off. At least it gave me the opportunity to show off my new shirt that I bought the day before at package pick-up:

My motto! LOL!

During the race, I felt good through most of it except for feeling too hot. I had my arm-sleeves on and I didn't want to take them off as I had nowhere to put them. My iPod also died around the 10k mark. I don't mind running without music, but it was just another item that I had to take off and store. I must have looked like the most disorganized runner ever. LOL. I spent a lot of time scrambling around. Even down to finding a place to put my used Clif Shot wrappers. I didn't want to just throw them in my pocket, because I knew I'd forget about them and shove my hand in there and... ewww. Then I'd be running with sticky hands. So I crammed them in my already stuffed race belt. At the end of the race we got a cute new finisher's medal. I was even called over to pick out a door prize. I chose a new visor - summer is approaching soon, and you can never have too many of those!

Overall, it was a good experience. It was a small race (around 2oo people-ish). Afterwards, we got treated to a pancake breakfast in the clubhouse. When I got home, I was able to celebrate guilt-free with some St. Paddy's Day cheer, too!

Cheers!

Next week, I will be running in Harry's Spring Run-Off 8k around the Vancouver Seawall. Loved this race last year - hope the weather is just as beautiful!

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading!

Golden Ears 10K

After the race. You can faintly see the Golden Ears Bridge in the background.

Well, I learned a valuable lesson - don't book back-to-back races. Not because I don't think I could have done it, but because "life" sometimes happens and it makes for a very busy weekend of trying to balance schedules with my family. I was supposed to do the Dirty Duo 25 km on Saturday and it just didn't pan out. Fortunately, I was still able to get to the Golden Ears 10k in Pitt Meadows the following morning. Yes, even with the time-change, I was able to drag my tired, lazy butt out of bed to get there at the butt-crack of dawn on a Sunday morning. What was even more surprising, was the fact my BF did the race with me. This is the guy that was practically coughing up blood the week before when I took him on a 5k run. So I was happy that not only did he finished the race, but he only came in just over 6 minutes after me and he didn't die. Not bad! He might be able to do the April Fool's Run in 3 weeks after-all. ;-)

The Golden Ears 10K was a nice little race. It was close to home, so geographically that made me happy not having a long drive before hand. The 10K went from Osprey Village, over the Golden Ears Bridge, then back again. The Half Marathon also went through some of the trails. I was actually going to sign up for the Half, but I thought it would be too much doing it the day after the 25k as I originally planned. Oh well. Live and learn. We even got a finisher's medal at the end of it which was pretty cool.

Golden Ears 10K Finisher's Medal

The weather turned out great. What I mean by "great" is that it never rained. Woohoo! It was cool and cloudy. My time was not a personal best - which I suspected. As the the race was basically a steady climb, I knew I'd be a bit slower. I came in just over 1:01, which I'm completely OK with. I'm terrible at hills. Probably because I have very little muscle. I should start doing weights or lunges or squats or whatever people do to strengthen their legs, but I turn somewhat sloth-like after I come in from a run. It takes everything in me just to do some crunches and push-ups. Hey, if I just ran for 50 min.+ why would I want to work out my legs more?! Haha. I know, I know - I'm making excuses. Working on some hill and strength training is definitely high on my priority list now.

As it's spring break, I'll be a little less inclined to work out and more inclined to find some fun activities with my kidlet. In lieu of needing to leave the house for an hour at a time but still keeping up my cardio, I've gone back to the 3rd grade and have taken up skipping. Yes, with a rope. In the 3rd grade, I never had boobs, so it's a bit more uncomfortable now. As a solution, I have to wear my super-squish-me-flat-as-a-pancake-sports-bra. It works, so it's all good. ...Well, on that note, I'll leave you with that image. LOL.

Thanks for reading! :-)

Runner Rage?!

Grouse Mountain Snowshoeing

Lately, I've been trying to get my mileage back up but because I ripped off 17 layers of skin from my feet when I did some snowshoeing a few weeks ago, it's been pretty painful. I made the mistake of wearing runners with rental snowshoes. I normally wear proper snow boots, but I wanted to "run" this time. Well, let's just say, I had some issues walking by the end of those 90 minutes. I could have been wearing the best wicking socks and slathered my feet in Body Glide and it would have still been a disaster because the snowshoes were just simply to heavy for the runners. The constant rain hasn't helped either. Wet feet and blisters, don't really work well together. It's frustrating but I've been making do the best I can. I've been using cetrimide and Polysporin along with blister bandages and wraps. I've also had to take time off of running and go to the gym for some cross-training instead. (Boo!) Oh well - you do what ya-gotta do! :-) Anyways...

Use Your Road Sense - Caution: Ranting Ahead

When I do go for my runs, I try to stay on the trails as much as I can. However, in order to get to/from the trails, I have to do some running on the sidewalks (road). I would say about 50% of drivers are pretty good about stopping/waiting and being otherwise courteous to me. Some even smile, wave or go as far as yelling something encouraging. I always use crosswalks, stop-lights and never just dart-out on to the roads in front of drivers. I wait my turn then walk across if it's a busy intersection. If it's dark out, I wear a headlamp and reflective clothing. The last thing I want is to be is a road pancake and never be able to run again. Unfortunately, many drivers think that just because they are in a giant piece of moving machinery, they think it's OK to intimidate me. If I'm crossing at a crosswalk while the flashing "man" is telling me it's OK to walk, you'd think it's safe. Well, it's not...

Yesterday, I had some jerk practically run me over, then flip me the bird when I stopped to shake my head. Super obnoxious! What people don't get is that I've been waiting for the light to change, too! Not to mention, PEDESTRIANS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. I've even had people lay on the horn in the past. So, I stand in the front of their car and tell them to look at the flashing 'pedestrian-man-walking' sign. Not sure if those type of people should be driving, anyway. They'll be in an accident by the end of the day with that type of attitude. These sort of fiasco's put a bad taste in my mouth and leave me angry instead of happy at the end of my run. I keep picturing myself jumping onto the hood of the car and kicking out their windshield. Runner rage?! I think so! LOL. So the moral of the story is: If you're a driver, slow down and use your road sense! If you hit a pedestrian at a crosswalk it will be 100% YOUR fault! Just sayin...

Well, that is all... Thanks for reading. :-)