Friday night (night before the race) the 3 of us girls (Lanni Marchant, Natasha Fraser and myself) went out to a late dinner with the Saucony Canada crew after they finished at the expo. Both Lanni and I are of course with Saucony, but we graciously allowed Natasha to join us even though she has recently switched from Adidas to Asics. Did they get the bill yet Tasha? ;) It was a nice evening and very nice to finally meet Matt in person as we have had an e-mail relationship over the past 3 years but have never managed to meet!
Saturday afternoon Press Conference w/Tasha, Lanni and Krista
After dinner, we didn’t get up to much except for a usual
crappy night sleep. Saturday morning Lanni and I woke early and went for our short
shake out run at 8am then hit breakfast. Tasha was up by then and joined us. I
realized over the weekend that I need to work on my nutrition. Apparently I eat
like a pig, eating whatever I wanted, whereas others definitely had a more
strategic plan as to what they put into their bodies and how much. I don’t mean
I need to cut back on food, but more so the kinds of foods that I eat.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around the hotel.
That included catching a quick visit with my coach Matt (and Sarah) and then
having a short nap before a late lunch with Tasha. After lunch it was more
lying around and waiting.
Tasha killing time
What better way to kill time than watch track?
Just after 5pm we walked down to the race start, which was
just over a 10 minute walk. A quick bathroom stop, which turned out to be no so
quick as some international athletes don’t apparently follow North American
rules of “line ups.” We found this quite amusing.
Just prior to 6:26pm we were on the line and then quickly we
were off. The lead pack took off quickly with 12 ahead of me including a young
13 year old girl. She stayed with the pack for the first km, whereas myself and
Rachel Hannah ran together for the first 2km.
The start
We hit one corner where I
actually asked Rachel which way we were supposed to go. I wasn’t sure if we had
to take the corner wide because of some cones. Rachel yelled “which way” I
believe and we were told the shorter way, but by then I had already started to
go the wider way, so I lost a few seconds there. It wasn’t clear and I didn’t
want to take a short cut and have myself DQ’d over it.
Rachel and I (whoa horrible posture)
After 2km Rachel appeared to fall off, which left me all
alone. Up ahead I saw the 13 year old and her stride was slowing as I had
expected it would. I caught her just before 3km and gave her a quick “good job.”
There was a hill before the 5km marker and I felt myself slow and kept waiting
for Rachel to pass me, but she didn’t.
Near 5.5km (I think) I saw a camera van pull in front of me.
At first I thought “what the heck” and then I realized “uh oh” and within
seconds the lead men ran by me. I had wanted to make it at least to half way,
so I guess I accomplished that. I was secretly hoping to get a little bit
further though.
The last half of the race had a bit of a headwind. At times
I would tilt my head down to dig in and kept reminding myself to keep pushing.
Quite a few more men passed me including top Canadian Kelly Weibe but I can’t
recall each location.
With 2km left, I picked up the pace and kept pushing as much
as possible. Finally the final km and again I tried to pick it up. After having
been warned about the pedestrian overpass about 50m before the finish line, I
totally forgot and nearly fell for it as I attempted to sprint towards the
line. I did realize before getting there that it wasn’t the finish and though “oh
god, I don’t know if I can hold this pace any longer.” Within the last 100m a
few more men went sprinting by me.
Various race photos
As I approached the clock it was just ticking over 31:00,
which would have been awesome! But I knew I had to add 4 minutes to that, so I
realized it was low 35:00. I officially crossed in 35:21. I would have loved to
have been sub 35 but on the day, solo and wind aside, I would say I am pleased
with the run. The closest women were about 50 seconds in front or 50 seconds
behind me, making it pretty solo but I am happy with how I pushed myself. Sure
the men passed me, but I can’t exactly latch onto them when they are sub 30
minute runners!
My 35:21 is still my 2nd fastest 10km and it
placed me 12th female (4th Canadian) and 50th
overall. I figured I was in a race for 4th/5th Canadian
as Lanni Marchant, Krista DuChene and Natasha Fraser pretty much had the top 3
locked up. Rachel and I have pretty similar race times this year, with hers
slightly faster than mine, so I was hoping to have a battle with her.
Unfortunately it was an off day for Rachel, but she still finished well to be
13th female and 5th Canadian.
Post race shot (courtesy Catrin)
If you are curious, the 13
year old finished just sub 40 minutes and likely would have been faster if she
had not gone out with the leaders for a km. Mary Davies from New Zealand had a spectacular race
to take 3rd overall! I look forward to watching Mary, Lanni and
Krista at World’s this summer!
That night Tasha, Lanni and I went out for a bit along with
a few of their friends and I realized that I am a lightweight when it comes to
alcohol. I could take in one drink when others would take in two! I am okay
with that though.
Sunset Post race (from dirty hotel window)
The next morning Lanni and I were up early as Lanni and Mary
had to get in a run before their flights; whereas, I wanted to get down and
watch the marathon. Local BC runners Rob Watson and Catrin Jones had great
races, finishing 1st Canadian male and 2nd Canadian female.
Lanni, Mary and I
The afternoon was spent killing time, even attending the
after party with the race committee before our (Tasha and I) 6:10pm flight home.
Thanks to Manny and his entire crew for the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. The
event was extremely well run and I had a great time!
Results are found here
Various Ottawa Photos
Terry!
Bye Bye Ottawa
On the way home, we raced another plane
Hello mountains, nearly home!
