I hadn’t actually signed up for this race – I had a half marathon the week before this and I figured I didn’t really need to do both. However, my cousin Sarah had mentioned several months prior that she had signed up for the Sporting Life 10K but had decided not to run it and I could have her bib if I wanted it. I didn’t really think I’d take her up on it. But then I ran that half marathon and shocked myself with just how fast I suddenly was. I was on such a high after that race that I figured I may as well run a 10K the following weekend! I mean, I was already trained for a much longer distance, this would basically be one of my shorter distance training runs anyway.

Sarah gave me all of the details so I could pick up her packet and run with her race bib. Obviously no one checks these things when you’re racing, so it’s not fundamentally a big deal, but I did feel a bit bizarre wearing someone else’s name on the front of my shirt!

Anyway, the day of the race I woke up feeling like hot freaking garbage. I’d had my girlfriends over the night before and while they were under orders to leave by 11 pm or so, I still managed (as always) to eat and drink a bit too much. What REALLY did me in was that brie though I think. I don’t normally eat luxurious cheeses, and Sam had brought over a mini wheel of it for all of us to enjoy. And enjoy it I did! ….until 4 am the next morning when all of a sudden I couldn’t stay out of the bathroom. I know talking about the bathroom is no one’s favourite topic, but it does need to be pointed out that if you are going to be running long distances, you want to ensure that EVERYTHING is out of your system.  It’s not so much of a problem for a 5K, but it can become extremely uncomfortable for a 10K and *especially* for a half marathon. So between 4 am and 8 am I was up every hour hitting up the bathroom (not barfing… the other end of things). I felt so not hot and I was not looking forward to this race at all.

Because of the speed Sarah had chosen to complete this race (which was about my speed too), I was in a corral that started at 8 am. Around 7 am I made the executive decision that I’d just plunk myself in a slower corral because I couldn’t stomach making it to the starting line for 8 in the morning given my current condition. I opted to go with the 75 minute + group as they started somewhere around 8:50 am. This gave me enough time for my body to somewhat recover. I took an Uber up to the start zone and I was thankfully feeling a bit better, although clearly not loving my current condition. I’m thankful that the Sporting Life 10K is such a big race and has start times ranging from 7:30 am all the way up until 9 am. Had this been any other race I would not have been able to do this, but they split up their corrals so much because it’s an ENORMOUS race – about 22,000 people run this thing!

By the time I got to the start zone I was feeling okay-ish. I kept telling myself I hadn’t trained specifically for this one and that how long I took to complete the race didn’t matter – that it was just a longer run for the day and I was just out here getting some exercise.

As I’ve run this race thrice before, I won’t bore you with the details (check out my 2014, 2015 and 2017 race recaps if you’re really interested), but I can proudly say that I busted my previous personal best by just under 3 minutes. Unreal. I was floored. I had felt like a bag of trash the whole morning, and hadn’t felt so hot during the race at all, but I still managed to deliver a personal best time. I laugh now because I realize had I felt better, gotten better sleep and not eaten junk the night before, I might have done a HELL of a lot better, but I do have to say that I am so frigging impressed at my own body. I have devoted more time and energy to weightlifting and running in the last year or so and it has really paid off. I shaved 6 minutes off my half marathon time the previous week, and I lopped off about 3 minutes from my 10K this week. That is IMMENSE progress!

One thing I must point out is that this race is entirely downhill and it means that everyone’s speeds are automatically faster. Had I performed this distance on a flat course, I would not have been this fast. So please be aware that if people are bragging about their race times during the Toronto Sporting Life 10K, it’s because they had a distinct advantage with there being so much downhill. I always call this course a cheater course, so I make sure to only compare this race TO this race in previous years I’ve done. So while this is now my personal best 10K race, I recognize that I may not ever be this fast on a flat course.

Race Results

• Finish Time: 53:51
• Pace: 5:23 per kilometer
• Overall placement: 4684/17814
• Age group placement (Female 30-39 years): 265/1514
• Gender placement (F): 1604/10108