Sporting Life 10km

I have to admit that the Sporting Life 10 km is becoming one of my favourite races. I did it for the first time in May 2009 and it was my first race in a long time and it was at the start of a new chapter for me and I had been so inspired at the start and during that run, the sounds and sights of running down Younge St in TO...I had loved every second of it and I had run a 40:30...so I was pretty happy with that race, SV has been doing this race for years and it is one of his favourites as well.. When we had decided to go to the AZ training camp we were a little disappointed to see that the Sporting Life race was on that same weekend that we would be getting back in and we didn't think that we would be able to race it this year...we talked about it and decided that we should still do it, we booked our flights so that we would get to TO Saturday night and be able to pick up our kits on Sunday morning do the race and then pick up my girlies...we knew it wouldn't be the ideal way to race after a training camp and flying and time change but we decided it didn't matter it was more about just going and having fun and being there together.

The week of training camp was insane and I have never been so tired, honestly I am very pleased with the quality of workouts that we did down there but I was dreading how much the 10 km was going to hurt on Sunday morning.

I had an ice bath after our last ride of the camp and although I hate getting into those things they sure do help. My body felt a little better on the Saturday and luckily all our travel went smoothly on the way home and we arrived at the hotel just before 8pm...SV was thinking that we wouldn't be able to sleep that night because of the time change but Barrie exhausted us and we slept like babies. Waking up was a tough one but we got ourselves organized and to the race start very early...so early that using the port-a-potties was easy..no line ups...twice...we even had time to sit in Starbucks and drink coffee...anyone who knows SV will realize how impressive this is!! (just teasing babe). It was a pretty smooth morning and we enjoyed watching all the other athletes starting to get anxious, with 14000 runners/walkers this year we had several people to amuse us.

We headed out to do a warm up run and that was eye opening, everything hurt. Felt like I had cement blocks for legs...we had talked about it and figured we would just run as hard as we could and whatever the time said that was what was going to be...this was just going to be the icing on the top of a great training week and then it would be time for Eggs Benedict!

My time from last year put me in the first coral with SV, just behind the elites. It was a fast start and the first km went by a little too quickly...I wasn't wearing a watch so I wasn't sure about how fast we ran it...but itwas a 3:33 SV told me later....I settled into my pace for the next 3-4 km...the 10 km is something foreign to me, go hard and go harder until it is over...in those 3-4 km I was trying to remember that I needed some for the end but this race just has a way of sweeping you along...so many people running and bands playing and people cheering...it is awesome! SV was slightly ahead of me during that time and I knew we were running hard but it was nice to not know just how hard we were running...By the 5km mark I was still feeling good and I wanted to try to push hard until the end, my legs felt alright, I just kept thinking "GO" ...I started to pull ahead of SV and I knew that his legs were hurting...but I also knew that he would continue to push hard...I saw a few girls ahead of me and my competitiveness got a hold of me...focus on one and reel her in...then on to the next girl...I admit I am not competitive before or after but during it is handy, lol. (SV told me later that we went through the 5km mark on pace for a 38:30...which is a PB for me at 5km distance) Around the 7km mark I was hurting...legs and lungs...I wanted it to be over. I knew I could ease up and it wouldn't hurt as bad, but I thought about everything that had happened since I did this race last year, how much I have grown and learned and I wanted to stay strong, that the suffering was worth it...I wanted to close this past year on a strong note, I told myself I deserved to be strong and not to give up it was almost over...and that it would be worth it.

I somehow missed the 8km marker so it was the longest km in my mind..I was going through so many different thoughts and couldn't figure out why I wasn't making any progress but then I saw the 9km banner and the bridge that means the end is just around the corner..there were 2 girls ahead of me and I pushed harder to catch them...I ended up passing them both, (one re-passed me just before the finish though)...but I gave it my all...when I saw the race clock I was surprised but excited...could I really have just ran that fast... I finished and the body was so happy to be done...the hamstrings and calf muscles were screaming but I barely noticed...never had I imagined that I would come off that week of training camp with a best time let alone one that was almost 2 minutes faster...I was thrilled but also felt a little ill...SV came in and his legs were toast, his calves and hamstrings were burning...but we had done it...we ran strong and got to the finish!

As we made our way out of the finish area I was hurting...we had planned to jog back to the hotel but neither of us were going to make it, we were soaking wet and cold, legs were cramping and my tummy was upset from running so hard, we took a taxi instead, lol.

We checked the results online...I had ran a 38:36.20...I placed 177 out of 11918 runners(making the first page on Sportstats results,lol), 19th woman overall out of 6691, 6th in my age category out of 1224. (also I almost even split the race, only adding 6 seconds on the second 5km) I am very happy with how I did...I didn't think I would break 40 minutes in the 10km and now I know that I can push hard with a body that is beat up, it was gives me some confidence heading into the race season...SV was proud of me despite being "chicked" lol, his time (39:40) was where he had hoped to be after the week of training....but man were we sore the rest of that day and I am still hurting today!