Acura 10 Miler Race Report

I believe the last post says all that needs to be said about this race.  Too exciting.  However, I should probably have some record of what else happened.

We ran this very flat downtown T.O. race last year and it was the worst run ever.  Way too many bad things converged and I took over 2 hours to finish.  I had never run that slow, even in training runs, so I was miserable. 

This year, it was not as hot or sunny (though it was a bit muggy) and I wasn't an emotional cesspool. I was looking out for several celebrities like Jessica from Mommy Running Through, and commenter Dawn, who was running the 5k.  I didn't see them, unfortunately, but did snag a pick with cute-as-a-button Cynthia from Cynthia's Adventures.

We should not have been in the same corral
-- she is way faster than me.

Not often your race award is
a picture of yourself.



Oh, and did I mention I saw Reid Coolsaet?  And that he won again with a time of 48:24? And that he came within 9 seconds of beating the course record?  And that he set that course record last year, before our relationship started?

I managed a PR of 1:46:02 and I do believe I can do better next year.  I had a great sprint at the end, telling me I should have pushed harder for the previous 9.9 miles.

Phil also had a PR of 1:20:47 (19th in his age group of a gazillion) -- crazy fast if you ask me. 

Next up is the Midsummer's Night Run tomorrow.  I had signed up for the 30k ages ago, but was just too busy at work to train for it, so dropped down to a much more manageable 15k.  My PR for that distance is 1:37:01 at the Bread & Honey and I'm hoping to come in a couple of minutes faster since there are no hills.  Phil is doing the 30k, a new race distance for him, in preparation for his first marathon in October.  Go Phil! And good luck to Jessica, Cynthia, Laura and Samantha tomorrow too!

Edit:  I'm so behind in blog reading -- add Robin and Marlene to the list! Who else don't I know about?  Reid Coolsaet?  This could be quite the blogger-meet-op!  I'll be wearing pink and sending Phil off at the 30k.  Good luck!

Shamelessly Up Close and Personal

Erica's Wish 10k Race Report

This was another repeat race in Erindale Park in Mississauga.  Mostly flat on fine gravel except for one behemoth hill at the 4k mark.  This year, I was ready for it, meaning I planned my Gatorade break to walk up the thing.  Just being realistic. 

I really like this race.  It's quite small -- just 134 in the 10k, more in the 5k, and there's a 1k to start that kids and some of the survivors of osteosarcoma, including Erica herself, finish to great applause.  Very touching.

An ultra cool DJ led the warm-up exercises.

Others chose to prepare in different ways.

Soaked!

It was pouring rain for most of the race, but it was really quite refreshing.  Last year, it was super hot, so anything was better.  Huge lakes formed along the trail, but mostly runners just plowed through.

And though it wasn't a 10K PR for either of us, both Phil and I significantly improved over last year -- me by 6m28s for 1:04:29 and Phil by over 4 minutes at 48:xx.  I still believe I will break 1:00 for a 10k this year.

In other fabulous news, I'm hoping for another up-close-and-personal with my boyfriend, Reid Coolsaet next weekend at the Acura 10 miler.  He recently announced he would defend his 2010 title, and his friend/competitor Eric Gillis will be running too, so it should be a great race.