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<\/a>The boys outside the Mill. \u00a0The boys had great runs today too. \u00a0Luke completed the 1 Miler and Evan did the 3 Miler. \u00a0And Charlie, our chocolate lab, got to hang out for the day.<\/p><\/div>\n
Manotick is a former mill village to the south of Ottawa. \u00a0Unfortunately, in my opinion, it is slowly being swallowed up by\u00a0the city’s suburbs. \u00a0In the centre of the the village, however, you still get a sense of village charm and the race has a\u00a0wonderful\u00a0small town appeal. \u00a0This year, under a new name, the race once again offered a mix of rural routes in the first part of the run and older suburban streets for the last couple of miles. \u00a0For those not wanting to do the long run of 10 miles, there was also a 5 miler, 3 miler and a family 1 miler. \u00a0For those who are mile-challenged like myself, that translates into choices of 16k, 8k, 4.8k or 1.6k races.<\/p>\n
In no particular order, here are some\u00a0things I like about this race:<\/p>\n
Organization:<\/strong> There was no shortage of volunteers and there was\u00a0no chance of going off course at this race, despite several turns. \u00a0Marshals are standing in all of the right places and are quick to cheer everyone on. \u00a0The races were on time and each one started with an energetic warm up. \u00a0This would be an ideal “first timer” race for any runner as they would be bound to have a good experience without the stress of a large city race.<\/p>\n Post-race Food:<\/strong> \u00a0I love seeing variety at the finish line, and this race had it. \u00a0Apples, oranges, bananas, granola bars and several different types of chips. \u00a0There was still plenty left after the last race, so no one was left out. \u00a0Big Rig Brewery was also there selling burgers, hot dogs and beer.<\/p>\n The Course:<\/strong> \u00a0I like the challenge of this course – not too difficult but not pancake flat and simple to run either. \u00a0Throw in a strong headwind like today and you finish this run feeling like you had a good workout. \u00a0And who doesn’t love<\/em> a race that throws one last hill at you before the finish line? \u00a0OK, I don’t love the hill\u00a0but I definitely didn’t curse it the way I did last year.<\/p>\n Probably the only thing I can think of to improve this race would be to offer tech shirts rather than cotton t-shirts. \u00a0Perhaps that will be something that comes in the future as the race becomes larger. \u00a0Personally though I can’t really complain about not getting a tech shirt since I signed up at the early bird rate of 50% off. \u00a0So for $35 I feel like I more than got my money’s worth from the day.<\/p>\n I do have to add one funny aside, take a look at what was in the race kit (look closely at the left hand upper corner):<\/p>\n Hmmm, Ottawa Heart Institute and Deep Fried Mars Bars… is it just me who thinks this is a strange combination???<\/p><\/div>\n So that is the race in a nutshell, but what about my run? \u00a0Well, I am still smiling, so it was a great day. \u00a0As mentioned in my last post I wasn’t sure how to go into this run given the fact that this is a long slow run day for my marathon training. \u00a0Technically I should have been out there today running 29 km. \u00a0Part of me wanted to try going for speed in this race but the sensible side thought I should go slow and add mileage. \u00a0Even when I started running I wasn’t convinced my legs were going to go for the speed option, despite race adrenaline. \u00a0But then I saw a pace bunny up ahead and decided to catch up just to check out his pace. \u00a0The pink ears told me he would be doing a 5:40 min\/km, a good pace to aim for. \u00a0After a minute or two of running behind him though, I realized that I wanted to go faster, so decided to pass him for a while and then when he passed me I would try to keep up. \u00a0I also decided at that moment not to play it safe and worry about what I had left in the end. \u00a0I realized that this was the perfect race to just run and see what happened. \u00a0If I crashed and burned at the end then so be it and a lesson would be learned.<\/p>\n In the end though, I am happy to report that there was no crashing and burning. \u00a0There was a bit of a slowing down during the 5 km stretch of headwinds with some hills thrown in the mix. \u00a0But I was able to pick up the pace again in the last 2 miles and as for that pace bunny, didn’t even see him again. \u00a0(And speaking of pace bunnies – congrats to Rebecca at RunningFoodBaby<\/a> for completing her first race as a pace bunny!) My final time: 1:29:29 with an average pace of 5:32. \u00a0Original goal time: somewhere between 1:30 and 1:36. \u00a0Best of all, I still had gas in the tank. \u00a0And all this means that I have a sub 2 hour half marathon in me and to be very honest until today I wasn’t certain I did. \u00a0In fact, if I could maintain today’s pace for 5 more km, I could finish a half marathon in 1:56! \u00a0What a confidence booster!!!<\/p>\n So, do I regret selling my ORW half marathon bib in order to run the marathon? \u00a0Not really. \u00a0Yes, there is a good chance I could have had a half marathon PB if I didn’t switch bibs. \u00a0But part of the reason I am running well right now is because I am training for the marathon. \u00a0Unlike last fall when I felt like I lost all speed while trying to struggle my way through marathon training, this time I definitely feel like I am improving in all areas of my running. \u00a0I am still not expecting amazing things at the marathon…ultimately it is really not my distance and I truly just appreciate crossing the finishing line after 42.2 km of running. \u00a0But regardless of how the marathon turns out for me, I know that this has been the best few months of my relatively short running “career” and that is something I will hold on to for a long time to come.<\/p>\n And as a final note, remember today should have been a long run? \u00a0This afternoon I headed out again and ran another 8.5 km. \u00a0When adding it to the race distance I am still 4.5k short of what the marathon training schedule says, but given the higher speed I figured it was good enough!<\/p>\n<\/a>