Spring Trio Race Report

Traci and I got out of the house (3 times actually, as we forgot our race bibs first, then our sunglasses) by 8:45 and were on the road down to Eau Claire for the HI Hostels Spring trio. It is a 5k, 10k and 15k distances. Traci ran the 5k and I did the 15k. The 15k was a good distance for me as I was supposed to do a 14k training run anyway. Traci’s 5k was right on track for her training for the 10k at the end of May as well.

We parked underground, and I went to pay the 2 bucks for parking, but the machine didn’t like my money. Thankfully there was a nice lady there who traded me her change for mine and sure enough it worked. Stephanie and Roger were just getting parked as well, so we all went upstairs together to get ready for the race. This is a very small race so chip pickup is nice and easy, and the start area was very relaxed and well, spacious.

DW Traci, Tracy O, Stephanie and Roger relaxing before the race, and the obligatory big head shot of myself…

Out of 225 runners here, there was 1 barefoot runner. Well almost barefoot. I introduced myself to Brian and asked him lots of questions. Brian has been running in his Vibram 5 fingers for a short time now because he had a lot of trouble with injuries  no matter what shoes he wore. He ran a 5k race (his first in the VFF’s) recently in 25 minutes and he ran this 10k today in 51 minutes… great work! It only fuels my fire to run more barefoot runs… I think I have to wait until after the Half in May though… :(

The race got started a few minutes late for some technical difficulties, but with a pleasant little countdown we were off. we ran for a few hundred meters until we got to the big bridge over the river, and I ran ahead and to get a few action shots of my peeps. The camera malfunctioned when Tracy O and Janet went by, sorry ladies, but I did manage to get a nice photo of my DW as she powered up the bridge. I was cropping down the picture when I noticed the lady in the background stuck her tongue out at me! LOL too funny, I love it! I looked the lady up in the results and her name is Laura Smith. Traci said she was passed by and then she passed this lady numerous times during the race, but in the end the home team won by a minute or so. Traci finished her race in a 2010 PB of 32 minutes, which is 3 minutes faster than her race in  March! Wonderful!

I paced Tracy O for the first 2.5k as she was attempting a PB in the 5k and I thought I could help her get there with some encouragement and ass kicking for at least her first half of her run. She did amazing and clocked a 29:28 and broke 30 for the first time! This after having a ‘gig’ last night until 1:30am! I wonder if you could have gone under 27 with a good nights sleep? Hmmm?

My goal was to finish with a pace of sub 6:00 per/km. I did that and better, running a 5:46 pace, for a 1:26:16 and an all new PB at the 15k Distance. I am happy with the result as I feel like I’m on track for a sub 2hr half at the end of May (and happy as it was the warmest run since last August, and we all did really well). I need to run a 5:41 pace there, and I feel with the 6 weeks left in training AND the 3k time trials Happy Dan and I have started doing on Fridays, that I should be able to meet my ambitious goal. The Friday runs make it 4 days a week training and that is the first time I have ever ran more than 3 days a week in training. I am 15lbs heavier than I was last year at this time, but for a lot of reasons I am in better shape than I was (does that make sense). I am not injured, I have completely revamped my running style in favour of efficiency, and I have learned how to enjoy every step of my runs, no matter how bad it hurts! Last year at this time I was a complete mess, injured, and hating running.

Oh, other ‘Cool Kid’ race notes, Stephanie beat her goal for today with a 1:06 in the 10k, and her DH Roger won his age group and was 5th overall in the 10k with a 40:29 amazingly fast run! Great job! Janet finished her 10k in 1:09, with a wicked chest cold, way to suck it up and run!

Cool happenchance of the day, I got to meet local running celebrity ‘Pink Chick’. Dawn on the Run is a fixture on the local running scene, RDing a winter XC series and commiteeing all sorts of other races and events around Calgary. She was here training for her first Tri upcoming in a couple weeks and was walking out of the Y when I spotted her. It’s funny to meet other bloggers that you read, because you always feel like you know more about them than you should. Nice to meet you Dawn, now that I am banned from the Running Room, we may see a lot of you, at your race events!

Another great day at the races! Did I ever tell you I love running races!?!