Happy Fitness Friday! Since this is my third time doing this run, I’ll keep my recap fairly brief. The Scotiabank Rat Race for United Way is a charity 5k fun run (raise a minimum of $100 and you can race) that everyone can participate in. Since Scotiabank is the main sponsor and they’re also my employer, I usually put together a team of people to race in the event. This year I recycled the team name “The Grumpy Cats” and had a fair number of people joining me!

I’m keeping this post short mostly because I’m fairly disappointed in myself. Here’s a little context for that disappointment:

• Last year my fastest and personal best time was 26:10 for a 5K.
• On the other end, my slowest time was 26:32.
• I had done training runs up to this race that were not difficult (easy to breathe, felt relaxed, etc.) that clocked in at 27 minutes EASILY.
• Even my 5K race in March of this year was under 27 minutes.

So how did I finish this race? With a really disappointing 27:38. I was so, SO sad. I *know* it’s only about 60-90 seconds slower than last year, but that’s a LOT of time in a 5k. (For example, if I’d shaved 60 seconds off my personal best, I’d be ECSTATIC!) So I’m doing what I can to reformat how I’m exercising and training in the hopes that I can get back to where I was. The Pride 5K race is coming up next weekend and I’m really, really worried I’ll be clocking in over 28 minutes. Ugh.

I feel like I’ve been whinging about slow race times for a while now which isn’t a good thing. There’s only so much whining you can do before you have to change how you approach things. So that’s where I’m at right now – thank you for listening. 🙂

Race Results

• Finish Time: 27:38
• Pace: 5:32 per kilometer
• Overall placement: 519/1441
• Age group placement (Female 30-39 years): Not available
• Gender placement (F): 126/714

I was in Iceland for just over a week last month, and in true Chelle-style, I decided to find a race while we were there!

The only one happening while we were there was the Reykjavik Spring and Autumn Marathon. Thankfully, almost every marathon event has a half marathon tacked on to it as well. Good thing for me since there was no way I wanted to run a full! I was pretty excited to run this one because I had pictures of gorgeous vistas while running and I knew I would love the temperature since it would be somewhere in the range of 0-10C.

Sadly, I was so exhausted the morning of the race that I was very close to saying “forget it, I’m not doing it”. Our rented apartment in downtown Reykjavik was on a decently busy street (Laugavegur) and I hadn’t managed to fall asleep until after 4 am. The race was at 10, so I was up at 8 am to have breakfast and sort myself out. I felt absolutely wrecked. I was near tears I was feeling so awful. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that if I finished this, I could scratch off yet another country on my running list AND the fact that I had told sooo many people that I was doing this that I would’ve felt like such a chump to go back to Canada and told people I had bummed out of it. Never EVER underestimate the power of telling people your plans. Doesn’t matter if it’s fitness related, or something else – telling people you’re going to do something gives you a lot of mental power. I am absolutely convinced that is one of the only reasons I even got my butt out of bed that morning to run this damn half marathon.

We took the local bus out to the race start zone (David came with me), and I was nauseous the whole way there. I was even worried that I’d get 10k into the race and then just be like “nope, I’m done”. So suffice to say… I had no idea how this was going to go.

So how did it go? Well, not great. The weather was misty and rainy and there was a lot more uphill than I was expecting. It was so foggy/misty that there honestly wasn’t a ton to look at either. It was an awkward temperature that I didn’t really have the right clothes for it (that purple Lululemon thing you see was far too heavy and not rain repellent – and yet, had I not worn it, I would’ve frozen my butt off). I was slow and tired, but I just kept telling myself “just finish it. Just run at a pace where you don’t want to die, and just finish it”. One of my mantras in my head no matter what I’m doing is “just keep pushing” and it really helped me after the 18th and 19th kilometers.

I clocked in with a chip time that was easily my worst half marathon timing to date: 2 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds. Given my slow pace and exhaustion, I actually thought I’d be closer to 2.5 hours, so I’m happy I managed this in under 2:20! In hindsight, I’m really, REALLY happy I did this race, but my god… that morning was really rough.

We came back to the airbnb we’d rented, I took a decent photos of myself with my medal and then I promptly got back into bed and slept for another four hours. What a bizarre experience… get four hours of sleep, get up, run a half marathon, then go home and go right back to bed. Like a bad dream or something!

I have to say though… a huge thank you to the organizers of this race. It was a very small group for both the half and full (under 300 people total), but it was well organized and the water stations were well-manned and easy to access. When I asked one of the organizers about how to get the local bus back to central Reykjavik, he actually found someone who drove us instead. I usually prefer far larger groups for races since there’s more of an “epic” feeling to them, but the size of this race allotted us the comfort of a safe drive home in a warm vehicle with good company. I really can’t thank them enough!

And there’s the course above as tracked by my Garmin. It was a loopback course, so we covered the same ground twice. Thanks so much to Pétur Helgason and Torfi Leifsson for some of the photos in this post.

So there we have it! Five countries (Canada, USA, Austria, Czech Republic and now Iceland) on my completed race list, and hopefully many more to come.

Race Summary

• Finish Time: 2:19:49
• Pace: 6:37 per kilometer
• Overall placement: 199/221
• Gender placement (F): 71/85
• Category placement:  Not available

Because I like running so much on vacation, I decided to sign up for the Fleet Feet New Year’s Day Dash in Middleton, Wisconsin while we were visiting my inlaws over the Christmas break. Why I thought a 5 mile (8.4k to those of us outside the US) run on New Year’s Day would be a good idea… I haven’t a clue! Chock it all up to desiring more and more running experiences!

The race was mid-morning so thankfully  we didn’t have to worry about being there too early (normally I’d say hungover… but I was actually so tired I went to bed at 11pm the night before!), but MY GOD was it cold. The wind was whipping about us and even though it was only -6C, the windchill was certainly giving it some. I wasn’t really sure what to wear as I’d never done a race below 2 degrees Celsius, so I ended up whacking on a thin long sleeve racing shirt (not thermal) and a Lululemon jacket along with my Lululemon Wunderunders. Our race kits (which were AMAZING btw – best race kit I’ve had yet) came with some awesome hats so I popped that on as well.

The race was labelled as “extremely flat” and… it kind of is? I mean, there’s one beast slow incline that goes on forever roughly halfway through the race that I wasn’t impressed with, but overall it was decently flat. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to pace myself, or even what time to go for. Being a 5 mile race, it’s not exactly a common distance. I mean… 5 miles is 8.4 kilometers… almost a 10k, but not quite. And definitely not a distance I can put out a 5k race pace for. With that in mind, I basically went into this knowing that whatever speed I finished this race at, it would be a personal best!

I ended up running the whole at what felt like an exceptionally comfortable pace. I was never tired or out of breath – something that surprised me immensely given how much I’d eaten over the course of the last week (thank you holidays). I clocked in a finish time of 45:50, which gives me an average pace of 5:27 per kilometer according to the race web site. However… I really don’t think it was a full 5 mile run. Both my Garmin and my Nike+ tracking app clocked me with a distance of 8.03k which is almost 400 meters shy of the full distance. Had I had to run that additional 400 meters, I would’ve been a few minutes slower, which would’ve made a lot more sense. Given my current fitness level (not amazing), my weight (heavier than normal) and the distance calculated by both my Garmin and Nike+… I have to say my finish time truly doesn’t make sense, so I’m quite confident the race was indeed a bit short for the declared distance.

HOWEVER, despite all this, I was aiming for under 50 minutes, and even if I tacked on a few more minutes to my actual finish time, I still would’ve been under that marker, so for that I’m quite happy!

My husband and inlaws were waiting near the endzone (David got some of the shots above) and were trying to hand me Canadian flags they had brought out to cheer me on (so I could cross the finish line with them!). I was semi-oblivious to their intentions so I just started laughing because it was a cute and unexpected gesture!

Sidenote: Mid-race I tore my hat and gloves off, unzipped my jacket and rolled up my sleeves. I was soooo stinking hot!

I got an AWESOME medal at the end (seriously – it’s huge!) and I heard they had beer and wings at the ready, but we didn’t stick around for it. By that point everyone was getting pretty cold and we just wanted to head on home! Overall though – a well organized race with under a thousand people. The race kit was BOMB (pint glass, gorgeous hat and a hell of a medal AND the professional photos were free!) and I really enjoyed myself!

Race Summary

• Finish Time: 45:50
• Pace: 5:27 per kilometer
• Overall placement: 257/615
• Gender placement (F): 108/364
• Category placement (F30-39): 43/119

This was my second year doing the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (half marathon) event and I had mixed feelings. I did quite well last year (had a personal best time for a half), but as I keep bitching about, I haven’t been in the greatest shape of my life this year.

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My dad came down to Toronto from Ottawa to run this one with me, so we suited up before dawn on the morning of the race. It was slightly above freezing but thankfully there was no wind.

I started off the race not knowing what pace to even aim for. In training I had been languishing around 6:30/k and not overly enjoying myself. But if I stuck to that I’d come in horribly slower than I’d ever done during a half marathon. I came to the conclusion that I could do 6:00 minutes per kilometer without much effort and it would put me on target for having a faster half marathon than I’d had in the past (although not by much). I wasn’t breathing hard and it was relatively comfortable so I decided to stick with it.

Unfortunately, by the third kilometer, I realized I really, REALLY had to go to the bathroom despite having emptied out my bladder fifteen minutes before we started the race. At this point I’d come up to Bloor Street, and the first porta-potty in sight had a lineup already. I kept on running and waited until I saw a row of five of them with a few available. I ended up racing some guy for the porta-potty and beat him to it. Overly concerned with losing time, I kept an eye on my Garmin’s timer. Thankfully, I was in and out of that porta-potty in just under a minute.

With my lost minute in mind, I started doing some mental math. If I could pick up my pace a little bit and stay somewhere between 5:50-6:00 per kilometer, I’d actually be able to make-up my lost minute and stay on track. And that’s what I did! As the kilometers added up, I started to slowly gain back the seconds I had lost in the bathroom. (Which is to say, I was gaining them back as if I was sticking to my 6:00/k pace.)

My pace was going so extraordinarily well for the first 10k that I kept wondering when my body would be like “fuck you, I’m done – slow the hell down”. But it never happened. While I hit the 10k mark at a rather slow pace for myself (just over an hour), I knew that if I just kept going at my pace, I’d be able to get a new personal best time.

My toes went numb around the 14k mark (thanks shoes), but I didn’t develop any knee pain like I did in the previous year. Frankly, I spent a lot of this race incredibly pleased with myself. I felt excited and proud that I hadn’t pushed a ridiculous pace at the start of the race like I normally do (like 5:00/k for three kilometers then I bottom out), and that I was able to work out what I needed to do to set me back on track after my bathroom break had stolen time from me.

I even felt amazing at the end of the race! I saw my husband in the VIP Scotiabank area at the end zone and I was in such good spirits that I was actually able to throw him a smile and a wave without looking like death (which is how I normally look after a 5K).

And you know what? I did it. Despite not feeling like I was in awesome shape and despite going to the bathroom during the race… I still got a new personal best time. I crossed the finish line in 2:07:09, 16 seconds faster than last year. And it may only be minutely faster, but I’m feeling pretty proud of that time since I started out thinking I’d do quite poorly. ESPECIALLY since I did freaking terribly during the Ottawa Half Marathon back in May.

I finished up my race, exited the runners’ finish chute, grabbed my medal and joined my mom and husband in the Scotiabank VIP area to watch my dad finish. He came in down the finish line and totally ignored us despite being only a foot away from us while we were shouting at him. Too funny – when you’re in the zone, you’re in it!

I was very thankful to be a Scotiabank employee for this event. Since I raised enough funds, I was able to get myself and my family into the Scotiabank VIP spectator area which was not only catered, but spacious and not even remotely crowded. I had hot coffee waiting for me at the finish line! On a day when it’s only two degrees outside… that’s amazing!

I had a lot of amazing donors during my fundraising efforts and managed to raise a total of $675 for United Way Toronto! While I have thanked everyone personally for their donations, some of my donors were actually bloggers and I’d love to give them a shoutout for throwing cash my way. (If I missed one of you, please tell me – so many people marked themselves “anonymous” on my donation page!)

• Julie of Swatch and Review
• Chantal of Chantal’s Corner
• Alison of Ali Does It
• Sarah of Workaday Beauty
• Zoe of Writing Whimsy

Course Details

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (half marathon course) is labeled as a flat and fast course. Here’s my take on it: The first 1.5 kilometers are uphill to Bloor (not steep, but still noticeable), then flat across Bloor and downhill down Bathurst. Along Lakeshore to the loop back point (which is around 13k) it’s either flat or slightly downhill. Once you loop back, it gets a bit uncomfortable. There’s an uphill climb that’s a bit longer than I’d like, but not terrible. The worst part is the uphill ramp in the last two kilometers, followed by the very last kilometer being uphill. It’s not super steep, but you’ll feel it for sure. Thankfully, the cheering section is really strong in this area and the finish line is one of the best I’ve experienced in all my races in terms of energy.

Race Summary

• Finish Time: 2:07:09
• Pace: 6:01 per kilometer
• Overall placement: 5527/10255
• Gender placement (F): 2363/5568
• Category placement (F30-34): 393/904