Monster Dash 5k

Tonight we were in Toronto for the Monster Dash.  It was our first time running the race and we are so glad we decided to do it!  It was an awesome race!

Yesterday we finished James' costume.  He is going as a Cyberman for Halloween and wanted to run the race in the costume.  It turned out pretty good.

I went as a butterfly fairy.

He was so excited to run this race.  His costume turned out better than I thought it would.  He did find out that Cybermen don't really sit.

Before the race we had to check out the finish line and get the last minute goofiness out.

We got to run the race in the dark so we brought our headlamps.  They really helped since part of the race was through the woods.  I thought he would have walked more since his costume was really cumbersome, but he was a trooper and ran almost the entire time!  He did walk to drink some water at the halfway point, but other than that he ran the whole time!  He was so excited when he finished the race.

After the race it was time to party!  Mike and I got to enjoy a really good vanilla porter from Mill Street Brewery.  It was a nice winter beer.  James enjoyed pizza, fruit, and juice.

Then it was time to dance.  And what dance does a Cyberman do?  The Robot of course!

 

 

 

 

He had a great time dancing!  And to top the night off, he won Best Costume for 17 and under!  He got a nice little prize pack that had 2 books, some ear buds, and 2 tickets to the Hockey Hall of Fame. 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great night and we hope to be able to do this race again next year!



Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon-Half Marathon

Well, I did it!!!!!!!!  I ran my first half marathon in 2:44.30!  30 seconds under my goal time.  I had a good time with this race!

I was really nervous before the race.  James, Mike, mom and dad were great at trying to calm me down.  Here is James and before the race.

The size of the race was amazing!  The energy was amazing!  It was just a great race!

I started out too fast.  I felt really good and just let my legs run, but it was too fast.  I was 1:10 at the 10k mark.  Just off my best 10k time.  Not so hot for a half marathon.  I followed my plan and at the 10k mark I walked so I could eat my stingers and drink some Gatorade.  I still felt pretty good until about the 16k mark.  Then I could feel my muscles start to get tired.  I walked again to get the rest of my stingers and some more Gatorade.  At the 19k mark, my muscles were dead.  I had to walk a few minutes to get my legs under me for the rest of the race.

When I crossed the finish line I felt so good at having finished the race!  My legs were dead the rest of the day, but I did it!  I enjoyed running this distance.  It's just a good distance and a doable distance training wise. 

Here I am after the race.

I liked this distance so much, that I entered another half marathon on June 1st.  It will be the Niagara Falls Women's Half Marathon.  I'm excited and ready to do the training.

As of right now, my next goal race is the Robbie Burns 8k in January.  I'm going to be training for that starting next week.  This week I'm using to recover and do short runs to get my legs back.  Today I went for a short 2 mile run with River.  My legs are still pretty tired, but the run felt good.  It is getting cold out though.  I had to pull out my running tights and long sleeve shirts.  Brrrrr....I don't know that I'm ready for the cold weather yet.  Tomorrow I'm going to the gym to do the bike and Friday I'm taking another short run.  Sunday we have a 5k race that we are doing.  It's the Monster Dash in Toronto.  James and I are dressing up.  It should be a fun Halloween themed race.

I just have to get my legs rested and then I can get back on a training schedule and back in the gym for weights.  This race really got me motivated to keep running and to try the longer distances.

Race Blog Catch Up: 6 Days Left!!!!!!!

I have been so busy with things at home that I haven't been logging my miles or keeping up with my blog.  As Sunday gets closer, I'm starting to get nervous.  I have 2 more short runs before the big day!  I'm excited, but I know I will start getting snippy the closer it gets.

Last weekend we ran the CIBC Run For the Cure.  I got to run with River.  This was her very first race and she ran like a champ!  She loved running the race.  She didn't even want to stop at the half way point for water.  She looked at me and kept running.  James loved all the pre-race stuff and loved our t-shirts.  He likes doing this race.  Once River and I finished she kept watching for James.  When she didn't see him she made me run back to find him.  It was so cute.  They both got to run across the finish line together.

Here are a few pictures from the race.

Today I ran the KW Oktoberfest 5K Fun Run.  This is my 4th year running this race.  It leads off the Thanksgiving parade and follows the route.  It's hilly, but a lot of fun.  I ran in my chicken hat this year. 

James liked that it was easy to find me.  I ran a pretty good time and felt strong the whole way.  At some point my hat got turned around though.

Because of my chicken hat, I won the Spirit Award!  I got a bag of all sorts of Oktoberfest swag.  Here I am displaying it all.

It was a fun day.  I have to think of how to top my chicken hat next year.

Only 6 more days until I run my first half marathon.  AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Day 85: Recovery Run Day

After running 2 races this weekend I let myself sleep in until I had to get up to get ready to start the day.  Sleeping in for my is 5:30-6:00.  I decided to run after I took James to school.  I'm glad it did it then.  There wasn't a lot of traffic.  There really wasn't a lot of people out.  It was still cool and River got to run with me.

We did about 2.5 miles at a nice easy pace.  We took a couple of paths through the woods and behind one of the schools.  She likes those paths a lot.  She was having a good time until another dog barked at her.  It wasn't a friendly bark either.  She gets so upset when dogs don't like her.  Poor girl was so sad the rest of the run.

The rest of my day has been working at the computer so I'm glad I got my run in when I did.  I may do the same thing tomorrow.  I don't know if I will be able to take River or not.  It depends on the weather.

Starting tomorrow I'm going to take at least one picture on my training runs until I run my half marathon.  I want to see the change in leaves and nature over the next month.  It should be fun.

Today I signed us all up for a Halloween run.  James was very interested in it so we will all be running the 5k together.  It looks like a lot of fun and it will be a nice easy race for me after my half.  I won't run fast and I'll just have fun with it.  It will also be a great way to get back into my training after taking a few days off.

I'm getting really excited!!!  Only 27days left!!!!!!!

Days 83 and 84: My Annual Fall Race Weekend

This weekend was my annual fall race weekend.  I ran the Oasis Toronto Zoo 10k and the Island Girl 5k.  I love this weekend and it's always a good time.

Saturday Mike and I got up early and drove to the Toronto Zoo for one of my favorite races of the year. It was not a nice day at all.  It was pouring rain and it really never stopped raining.  However, during the 10k it wasn't coming down hard, but I know the 5k race got soaked.

I love  running through the zoo with all the animals just waking up and right there watching us run.  The wolves were so cool sitting up on top of their hill watching all the runners go by.  I know they were looking for the weak one so I picked up my pace.

The route is always a hilly one, but I had a few goals in mind.  I wanted to run the entire 10k without walking at all.  I wanted to hold my half marathon pace as well.  I didn't walk at all!  I was so happy about that.  I was a little fast for my half marathon pace, but the half marathon isn't as hilly so it may be right on pace.  I was right on my best 10k time.  Not bad for the rain and the hills. 

Here I am before the race.

We were going to stay at the zoo, but the weather was so crummy that we just went home.  Mike waited for me in car and I texted him when I crossed the finish line.  He met me at the exit with an umbrella.

It was a great day and a great race!

This morning we had to get up early again and head back to Toronto for the Island Girl 5k.  This race is on Centre Island and is a nice flat course with the exception of the bridge at the start and end of the race.  I felt great on this run!  I ran a best 5k time and bested my time from last year's race by 5 minutes.  I felt strong and relaxed the whole race.  It was cooler today, but there was no rain.  It really was a beautiful day to race.

Here are a few pictures from the race.

As of today there is only 28 days until my half marathon.  In 4 weeks I'll have completed my first every half marathon race.  I'm really starting to feel like I can do this.

Days 76-78: Kind of a mixed bag weekend

I think I finally have a handle on this new school schedule.  At least I hope I do.  The past 2 weeks my training has been crap. 

This weekend was pretty good though.  Saturday, James ran his first obstacle race.  He ran the Badass Dash.  He had a great time!  It was a nice race for kids.  Mike and I couldn't run the adult race for several reasons.  For me it was too close to the half marathon.  For Mike, the only times open were early in the morning and I had swim practice.  He couldn't leave James alone while he ran.  Maybe next year.

Anyway, James had a good time and loved the obstacle race!  He said his favorite obstacle was the Water Web.  He got soaked, but he loved it!  He also love that he had to climb over a bus.  Here are a few pictures from the race.

Sunday, I got up and did the Terry Fox Run with the swim team.  My groups had to run a 5k and the older kids had to do 10k.  I did 20k because I had to get my long run in sometime.  It was a beautiful day to run and it was a loop course.  I did 8 loops.  I thought I would get bored with that, but I really didn't.  It was a pretty course and it kind of made it feel faster.  I may try to do that with my next long run here.

The run itself felt really good.  I did break down and get new shoes and that has made a huge difference.  I had no pain at all in my Achilles or hamstring.  I ran an hour and a half before I did my 5 minute walk to get my honey stingers and Gatorade.  Then I did a 2 minute walk at the 2:15 mark.  This run really made me feel like I can do this half marathon.  I should be under my goal time, but we'll see.

This morning I got up and did a 2 mile recovery run with River.  It is so nice to run in cool weather.  I love running in the fall and in the spring because the weather is so awesome! 

Tomorrow I'm supposed to do a tempo run that is in total 7 miles with warm-up/cool down and the tempo part.  I think I'll take River with me as there will be times for breaks and her to get water.  I'm feeling really good about this race.  Only 34 more days!

Days 69-71: Kind of a mix bag

This weekend had some ups and down with my running.  Last week I was hit and miss with my training because we were getting used to the new schedule with school starting.  I think I have it under control now so hopefully that's all settled.

Saturday I ran two races.  In the morning, Mike and I drove to Niagara Falls for the Run or Dye race.  This is a color run and we had fun doing it.  I know Mike was really tired, but he was a good sport about it.  We had lots of dye packs that we were throwing in the starting chute.  On the course, every kilometer they threw a different color on you.  We had a good time and I'm looking for one to do with James next spring or summer.

Here are a few pictures from the run.

After the race we drove home in pouring rain.  Luckily is started after we were on our way home.  I ate some lunch and took a nap because I still had another race to run that night. 

Saturday night we drove to Toronto for the Night Race.  I really enjoyed this race.  It was a nice flat course and they had great pre- and post-race activities.  It was fun to run in the dark too.

Here are a few pictures from that race.

Yesterday, I had a long run scheduled.  I started out and got about 5k into it and I had some pain in my hamstring.  I went a little further and had to turn back.  I just couldn't do it.  I ended up doing just under 10k.  The pain was because I didn't use my foam roller Saturday after my races.  It was my own fault.

This morning a ran a 5k with River.  It felt really good.  I had some tightness, but not pain.  I'm going to use the foam roller a few times today and hopefully tomorrow I'll be good as new.

I'm having a good start to a busy week, but I'm ready to go!