Double 5km - Bazan Bay 2015 and St. Patrick's Day 5km

 Bazan Bay 5km- March 8th

March brought on the month of 5kms. First up was the Bazan Bay 5km down in Sidney, BC. This is on the outskirts of Victoria. I worked Saturday night and found myself tossing and turning until approximately 1:30am. This normally wouldn't have been a big deal; however, this also fell on daylight savings, so 2am quickly became 3am. The alarm went off at 7:30 so I think I ended up with approximately 5 hours sleep. 

The drive down was pretty uneventful and I arrived shortly after 9:30, which allowed plenty of time to pick up my race bib and relax before warming up. The weather was more like a gorgeous spring day. We have been pretty lucky here on the West Coast this winter, fairly dry and mild. I don't recall any real snowfall here in town and less rain than usual as well. While the weather has been great for running, the mountains lacked snow. This resulted in the local ski hill barely having a season and could mean we will have lack of water issues this summer. 

Anyway, back to the race. I ran my warm up, spotting my coach and his fiance down the road for a quick pre-race chat. The legs didn't feel that great in warm up, but I was hopeful they would show up for the race. 

Warm Up

Our 2015 Asics Canada race kit came earlier that week so I decided to debut; however, the buns and crop top left me feeling super awkward on the start line. Pretty sure I got a few weird looks and yes I felt pretty darn naked but I figured if I wanted to try the uniform for the first time, it was best to do it in a 5km rather than a half marathon. 

Feeling naked

On the start line and the race went out quick. The Bazan Bay start is pretty brutal. It's packed and everyone is fighting for position. A few hundred meters into the race, a guy in front of me stumbled and began what seemed to me like slow motion falling. As he was falling, another guy not far in front began to somewhat trip over him. Pretty sure I said "oh sh!t" and put my hand on someones back to try and not trip over these two. I might have put my hand on one that fell, but it's hard to remember! It happened so fast, but seemed so slow at the time! I think they both went down or at least partially down, but I know for a fact that one did get back up. 

Thanks to Greg, I am gaining muscles. Look close ;)

 

This caused me to interrupt my stride for a bit and I found the lead ladies had already gapped me. I believe Hilary, Alison and Lemlem were ahead plus a few others. My adrenaline made me pick up the pace a bit to try and catch them, but soon I realized my legs were not having the pace. I kept pushing and didn't look at my watch. The kids in front told me the first km, which I believe was 3:15. From then on the race became hang on for dear life. My legs and my lungs were not having it that day. 

I was 4th female after 2km and then passed Lemlem shortly after. We hit the turn around and I kept trying to pick up the pace. Kyle Weagant was nearby and said "let's go" (or something like that) at one point I believe just after 3km. I tried to go. I really felt like I was picking up the pace on the way back, but the watch disagrees with me. I do remember thinking "wtf where did this wind come from" as there was a bit of a headwind on the way back. It wasn't the worst headwind, but enough to feel it. 

In the end, I finished up 3rd female behind Hilary and Alison in 16:47. Initially I was extremely disappointed with my time. I ran 16:35 here for the win last year and going into the race this year I felt like I was in PB shape and really felt like sub 16:30 was in the cards; however, my body decided differently on race day. 

Photo credit: Ross Palfery

I know I am my own worst critic and am super hard on myself, so after a few reminders from my coach that my training had been different this year, I accepted the result and moved on. He was right. Last year I went into Bazan having run Pioneer 8km, an indoor 5km and NACAC XC (6km). This year I went into Bazan having run Pioneer 8km and First Half Half Marathon, with the half only being 3 weeks prior. Training had not been directed towards the shorter speedier stuff.

After Bazan I took off on a post race workout and ran out some frustrations. Results can be found here. 

St. Patrick's Day 5km- March 14th

6 days after Bazan I headed over to Vancouver to race the St.Patrick's 5km. Steve and Karen are the race directors for this and they do such an excellent job assembling top fields and treating everyone like gold. This year, they were able to help me with some travel to the race. I found myself flying over to Vancouver on Friday morning via Harbour Air. I left my house at 9:30am and by 10:30am I was in Vancouver. How much better could that get?

I went early so I could get in a visit with my adorable nieces. My original plans were to stay with Catherine Watkins; however, she and her family fell ill and she was no longer racing. My sister had her in-laws staying so I ended up booking a last minute hotel room downtown. I had the noisiest neighbours as well and became "that" person who went out in the hall in pj's and said "shut the blank up." The one girl was nice enough and turned down their stereo right away; however, the constant door slamming and yelling carried on. Unfortunately I forgot my earplugs as well (lesson learned). 

The next morning I woke up to pouring rain and wind. Good thing the race is on the seawall.......  hah. I walked over to the start, had some time to relax and visit then warmed up with Dayna Pidhoresky and Josh Seifarth. It was wet and it was windy. This race was going to be fun. The weather gods played nice in the end and gave us a break, the rain stopped just before the start and the wind even died down slightly as well. Unfortunate that we were already pretty wet, but what can you do. 

Yaletown photography

This race starts off and runs downhill and me being one of the worst downhill runners ever found myself around at least 8-10th female. I slowly began picking people off, finding myself 4th behind Asics teammate Rachel Cliff, Dayna and Erica Digby through the mile in 5:15. 

Photo credit: Denise Relke

I kept plodding away through the rolling course. The legs were burning, but the body and lungs felt better than Bazan. At around 3.5km I passed Erica to take over 3rd. 

 

I apparently glare at race photographers. The photo credit above and below is to Rick Horne

 

The final km is brutal as it is nearly all uphill. I egged on a t-shirt wearing kid (aka Josh) as I passed him on the hill; however, the darn t-shirt boy passed me in the final few hundred meters. I finished 3rd female again in a slower 16:56. Last year I ran this course in 16:53 and felt like death. This year, while I was 3 seconds slower, I felt better than Bazan and I felt better from what I remember of last year.  

Top 3, Dayna, myself and Rachel (Yaletown Photography)

I went into the race wanting 3rd or better as those 3 positions offer cash prizing from BMO. 4th and 5th are a Starbucks coffee machine. I was 4th last year and already had a coffee machine (which is barely used as I don't drink coffee) so the last thing I wanted was 4th or 5th. Turns out, Erica was happy with the coffee machine and I got $100 to put towards my hotel! Woo hoo, up $13 whole dollars by the end! Only I spent $18 on the most yummy yoghurt covered raisins at Whole Foods so it was $13 well spent! 

Women's Top 10

Photo credit: Denise Relke

After the race I went for a post race tempo workout and a cool down, then walked back to the seaplane terminal to relax before flying home. Results can be found here. HUGE thanks to Steve and Karen for putting on a spectacular race as always!

You can also watch my Athletics Illustrated interview. I have not yet watched it as I dislike watching/listening to myself. 

Reminder: 

My sponsor Sundog Eyewear is passing along a special offer to help me raise training funds. Until April 30th, they are allowing me to pass on a 25% discount code to all of my friends and they will in return donate 15% of every sale to my training fund. This discount code applies to ALL styles of shades. Just use the CODE: ERINB25 on www.sundogeyewear.com.

Sundog Eyewear Discount

 

Hello to all my lovely blog readers! I have been in talks with Sundog Eyewear, who have been sponsoring me with the beautiful sunglasses that you see me wearing whenever possible, and I have some good news for you. 

Just as we are entering sunglass season (aka spring and summer), they have agreed to passing along a special offer to help me raise training funds. Until April 30th, they are allowing me to pass on a 25% discount code to all of my friends and they will in return donate 15% of every sale to my training fund. This discount code applies to ALL styles of shades. Just use the CODE: ERINB25 on www.sundogeyewear.com. 

Honestly, these are the best sunglasses I have had. Not only do they have fashionable styles and colours, but as I mentioned before in my initial Sundog post, they feature the TrueBlue lens system. As a reminder,

"The human body naturally produces melanin and ocular lens pigment; together these substances are nature’s way of defending the eye from invisible and visible light. The TrueBlue™ lens is the only non-prescription sunglass lens in the world to incorporate both melanin and ocular lens pigment, to provide ultimate eye protection and vision performance."

So who wants to buy some sunglasses?! 
  

My personal Favourite: Bolt

 

Double: 2015 Pioneer 8km and 2015 Vancouver First Half

Already 3 months into March and I have completed 2 races, yet blogging seems to have taken a back seat! I had 4 things added to my plate over the last 7 days, a questionnaire to fill out, a blog request from one of my sponsors, an athlete info piece for another sponsor and a blog for here. Two of those are finished, this is the start of the 3rd which will leave 1 to go! I can't let the procrastinator in me take over! I can do this! 

The easiest way to recap the races is to put both into this one blog. Just get it done right? 

Pioneer 8km 2015

Back on January 11th I took part in my first official race back since my injury last May. The race was the Prairie Inn Harriers Pioneer 8km, which like last year, played host to the 2015 BC 8km Championship. 

Last year, somehow I won the event in 27:13 which was a surprise to me as I was hoping to run sub 28:00. This year, I was very nervous. Not because it was the BC Championship, but because it was my first race back and I had NO idea what to expect. I remember standing on the line with my heart just pounding. 

In the end, the race started and all those nerves went away. Everyone shot off down the road (downhill) at flying speeds including race winner Natasha Wodak. That was a bit of a shock to the system. Eventually I found my stride and found myself next to Frontrunner Westshore's Nick Walker. I have known Nick for years, totally had a crush on him when we were in high school too, but I was honestly surprised he was right there. 

 

Photo credit Catrin Jones

Well I guess Nick must have had a race plan to start out slow and then hammer the second half because I ran with him until just about 4km and then he took off and left me in his dust. I remember coach Matt yelling out for me to stay with Nick, but there was no chance of that. Once Nick took off he left me in no mans land for the last half of the race. That made it hard compared to last year when I was right with Natasha for most of the race. Running in no mans land is much harder, but I did my best to push on. Today Natasha was flying, though it appeared I could reel her in a tad on the hills and then she would pull away again. That girl was fit. 

In the end I had enough for a decent sprint, even though the series ended their official 100m sprint awards (I think I was 3rd behind a masters runner and one of the Nanaimo Track athletes Amy). I felt strong right until the end, other than my right glute acting up in the last 2km of the race and I was surprised to see the clock at 27:16. That was only 3 seconds shy of my time last year and it also made me wonder what I could have done if I had competition nearby. The closest man either side of me I believe was approx 16 seconds. Natasha blasted out a 26:37 and 3rd female Marilyn was just over a minute behind in 28:19. Results can be found here.

 

 Pacific Road Runners Vancouver First Half Half Marathon 2015

The second race I stepped into was the Vancouver First Half Half Marathon (also the 2015 BC Half Marathon Championships). This race nearly didn't happen for me as after the 8km I had 3 solid weeks of less than ideal training. It was a rough 3 weeks and I nearly pulled the plug. In the end I decided to race and see what happened. This race was on February 15th. 

Due to the less than ideal training going into the race, my confidence was a bit low, so I opted to take the race out at a comfortable pace. The conditions were perfect, other than some fog and a light breeze for the first portions of the race, it was gorgeous. Dayna Pidhoresky flew off the line and I knew that was going to happen so I let her go. 

About 4km into the race there was a bit of a breeze and this guy started running right on my heels to avoid it. Oh great I thought, just wonderful; however, he was a nice guy and after a bit he pulled even, asked me my goal time (which I said 1:15/1:16) and he stated that was his goal too. He then asked if I wanted to switch off miles, so I said sure. He pulled in front and attempted to take the lead. 

 Photo credit Dave Burroughs

Unfortunately though, I found myself chopping my stride and also found the pace had slowed. I pulled out even again and said, the pace was too slow. He picked it up and pulled in front again, but the same thing happened. I chopped my stride, it felt awkward and the pace slowed. I eventually just pulled out and around and went on my way. I don't know who this guy was, but I am very thankful for his attempt to work together. I guess I am just a stubborn runner who couldn't hack it. 

I did end up running with another guy from Lion's Gate I believe. As per the results it says his name is Benoit Gignac. We ran pretty much the entire seawall together hitting 10km in 35:59 (him) and 36:00 (me). I had no idea the time difference, but I could see Dayna WAY ahead at this point. I told myself to keep pushing along and hoped that maybe she would come back to me. 

The second part of the race the seawall gets really twisty and the fog rolled in. Benoit and I ran together, then I pulled ahead, then he pulled ahead, then we ran together again. We hit the lagoon and I think I had a lead, but then had a bit of a weakness and he pulled ahead when this other guy Ryan Carl caught us. I saw we were also gaining on a Comox Valley Runner who turned out to be Vince Brotherston. 

When the race finally came back down on the seawall and visibility cleared up, I suddenly realized that Dayna wasn't that far ahead. 150m or so maybe? With the fog, twisty corners and lagoon I couldn't see myself gaining on her. By the time I finally realized it, there was only a mile left in the race. We had passed Vince and Ryan and Benoit were both ahead of me. I kept trying to push and I could see the gap closing. 

Up the final hill with cheers from the amazing Natasha Wodak and Catherine Watkins, then the downhill toward the finish where I heard and saw my Sister, brother in law and 2 nieces as I ran by. I finished in 1:16:27 (1:16:26 chip) which was 17 seconds back of Dayna for my second BC Champ Silver of the year. (Ryan and Benoit kicked my butt in the last km finishing in 1:16:18 and 1:16:21)

Photo credit Rita Ivanauskas

 

I was happy with the race. I had no reason not to be. The weeks leading into the race broke me mentally at times. I truly had no idea what to expect. Sure I would have loved to have been 1:15:xx and I believe I probably could have been if I had actually made myself hurt more, but it is easy to say that after the race. If that race was like 500m more I might have had gold! How come half marathons aren't 21.6km? ;) Results can be found here.

My sister Heather, Karys, myself and Jeremy Deere

Top 5 women (5,4,3,1,2)

Top 3 BC Champs

(myself, Dayna, Shauna)

Solo shot after AG awards

Recovery since the race has gone extremely well and I have run some of my fastest workouts yet. I am looking forward to the Bazan Bay 5km this coming Sunday! 

PS. 1 project to go! 

Joining Team.....

Whoops, time has gotten away from me and I have neglected to blog since the new year! Lots has happened including 2 races so far; however, those blogs will have to wait as I have more important news to announce! 

I said that 2015 was going to be a big year and with that said, I am pleased to announce that I have been selected to be a part of the 2015 Team CEP Canada! I love compression socks and not only will you find me wearing them for races and some workouts, but almost always for recovery and 100% of the time I am at work! Looking forward to rocking 2015 with CEP behind me! 

 Stay tuned for those long awaited race reports coming soon!

Introducing......

2015 is going to be a big year. I can feel it. Why not start the year with announcing West Coast Endurance! 

 
West Coast Endurance is the brain child of my own coach Matt Clout and myself. We are both extremely passionate about the sport in which we both grew up in and we want to use that passion to help you! Check out the site and feel free to contact us with any questions!

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A Look Back

What to say about 2014? Well, to be honest I have mixed feelings about the year. It was full of ups and downs. It started off with a bang, then a crash and burn in the middle before finishing off with me picking myself up off the floor. How exactly did it all play out you ask? Here, let me break it down for you. 

January 2014

BC 8km Champ

- Booya! A great start to the season including running a huge personal best in the 8km (27:13) at the Harrier's Pioneer 8km in Victoria. This race played host to the BC 8km Championships where I won my first BC title since I was probably 14 years old. It came as a surprise and I rolled with it. 

Indoors

- January also played a roll in my very first indoor track race where I went down to Seattle with Sabrina and Mark Wilkie for a 5000m. Boy was that an eye opener. After a less than ideal race where I felt like I was going to pass out, I swore off indoor meets (still undecided if I will return). 

February 2014

Nanaimo Athletic Awards

- Finalist for Nanimo's Individual Female Athlete of the year. Won the award for 2012 but was not lucky enough to take home the win in 2013. Congrats to badminton player Melissa Liew for her win!

 NACAC

- Team Canada trip to Tobago for NACAC XC. My first National Team and it was an eye opening experience. While my race didn't exactly play out how I had hoped, I had a great time, met some incredible people, gained some experience and definitely left me motivated for the future. 

March 2014

Asics

 - I teamed up with Asics Canada officially in March! A great company with kick ass shoes and apparel not to mention stellar teammates (Lanni Marchant, Natasha Wodak, Rachel Cliff, Jessica O'Connell). *I have some work to do in order to keep up with those women! Thank you to Michael, Anne and Yves for believing in me and for everything that you have done for me thus far!  

5km's

- Another PB and another race win, this time at the Bazan Bay 5km where I ran 16:35. I followed this up 6 days later with a 16:52 at the (hillier) St.Patricks Day 5km placing 4th in a talented field. Two back to back races, resulted in a nagging hamstring which kept me out of the Modo 8km 8 days later. 

Auntie Erin

- I also became an Auntie in March to 2 beautiful little girls (Karys and Ashlyn). Coming from little to no baby experience, I won't lie, it was scary to be around them at first; however, I like to think I have slowly overcome this issue! They are growing up into beautiful children!  

April 2014

Flagstaff

- Technically at the end March I headed off to Flagstaff Arizona for my 3rd stint at altitude, this time staying with Jonny and Amy. I tend to call Flagstaff my 2nd home. I love that place. 7000ft and athletes everywhere! 

Toronto

- Mid Flagstaff I headed to Toronto for the Yonge St 10km. A spiffy (yes I said spiffy) downhill 10km PB in 33:28 and 3rd female behind blazing Rachel Hannah and Krista DuChene. 
 

Montreal

- Back to Flag where I hit some killer workouts before ending my trip and heading to Montreal for the Canadian Half Marathon Championships. After 2 less than successful years in Montreal I finally got lucky pulling off a huge PB in 1:15:01 finishing 2nd (after Krista unfortunately became injured). I still remember yelling out "Sorry Krista" as I ran passed. 

Fired

- April is also when the year started to take a "bad" turn. April 1st is when I found out via Facebook (while in Flagstaff) that my entire work (minus a few people) received their pink slips to be officially terminated on September 25th. April 1st = April Fool's but this was no April Fool's joke it was a cruel twist of life.

May 2014

Ottawa 10km

- May brought on some pain in my lower left leg as I pushed through with some wonderful laser therapy courtesy Abe Avender at Island Optimal Health and Performance. Even though Abe was out of town, he arranged the treatment for me. I was able to get to the Ottawa 10km with the issue improving; however, the race was not to be. It was a good effort but I felt as though I had no power in my legs. In fact, I ran slower than I did the year before (35:38 vs 35:21) and nowhere near what I was capable of. Immediately after the race I noticed pain in my pelvis but put it off due to feeling as though my SI joint was out of whack. 

Partnership with Sundog Eyewear! 

 

- That was exciting. A twist of fate on the plane ride home sat me next to Oliver Mende from Sundog Eyewear who was able to hook me up with some pretty sweet sunglasses. Sunglasses are pretty the next important thing after shoes and clothes when it comes to running. I need my sunglasses all the time, except when it is raining or dark. Thanks Oliver and Gary for your support!

First hospital Visit

- A few days after Ottawa led to me in tears in Abe's office after literally breaking mid way through a run and hobbling 4km home. This resulted in my first hospital visit in ages and also resulted in the most pain I had experienced in a long time.

Near Partnership that Fell Through

- Nearly had a new partnership this month, but it appeared to fall through once I became injured. Some more bad luck on my side! 

Interview

- Had an interview for my own job. This actually happened the day before I became officially injured. 

June 2014

Confusion

- June was full of not knowing what my injury was. It was full of trials and failures. Incorrect diagnosis via physio's. Cross training failures. You name it. Not much happened in June but frustration not knowing what was going on.

Asics Photoshoot

 - A fun time in June was the Asics Photoshoot with David McColm and the Asics Canada team. I didn't know it at the time but I was running on my stress fracture to get those photos. Oops. 

Still in La La Land

- No word yet on the job front. Still technically unemployed after September 25th. 

July 2014

MRI

- Finally my MRI on July 9th to confirm my injury was a stress fracture to my inferior pubic ramus (left). Nice to have answers but the diagnosis left me sad. 

Dr. Goodall

- Got in to see the local sports doctor who initially made me cry telling me I needed another 6-8 weeks no running only to change his mind a week later allowing pool running and elliptical.

Surgery

- The day I got my approval to start my run/walk was the day I ended up spending the entire day in Emergency for a hernia I popped at work the night before. D'oh. This bad luck keeps going. 

Still no word

- Still no idea whether I would get my job back in September. Talk about stressful. 

Auntie Update

- They are still growing

August

Running Again

- I was allowed to walk/run. While I was grateful to start again, the 10 weeks I had off with no exercise was very evident. Wasn't allowed to work or lift anything for like 3 weeks post August 1st surgery, but I was permitted to run/walk. Comebacks are HARD!

Shuswap Lake

- A nice get away to Shuswap for my first time. Beautiful lake and hilly hilly roads to run on (at least in the area I was without access to a car)

Got my job Back

- I think it was August sometime when I finally heard I would be rehired into my same position but with less. 

September

Fired and Rehired (Officially)

- September 25th I lost 6 years of my work life. Back to square 1. Grateful for a job, but heartbroken about the loss. 

Still building

- Comeback is still hard but getting easier. Walk breaks disappeared and workouts began. 5 weeks back into my comeback I ran a local race as a tempo and was surprised that it wasn't absolutely terrible.

Nanaimo T&F Club

- Started back coaching with the track club again after a less than ideal spring where I was unavailable due to racing/training and eventually injury. 

October

Birthday

- Turned 33. Can I stop now? 

Running

- Still running, still building, slowly getting easier.

November

Gave Up on XC

- Was striving to run the National XC race at the end of November, but wasn't where I wanted to be training wise in order to give it a real go. It was a hard day to sit back and watch, but definitely the best choice for me. 

Auntie Update

 

December

BC Road Runner Finalist

- Nominated for BC Road Runner of the year against Asics Teammate Rachel Cliff and new BC/Canadian Natasha LaBeaud. These girls are smoking fast so I kinda predicted I would not be the ultimate winner. Huge congrats to Rachel for taking the award. Definitely a honor to be nominated along side these two. 

Strength Begins

- Begun working with Greg Howe out of Island Optimal Health and Performance. Excited to have him take my running to the next level along with my own coach Matt Clout. 

Hitting my stride

- I am back! Workouts are kicking butt and I am getting to where I want to be. 

2015

- BIG things are coming in 2015, running wise and in just life in general. Happy New Year everyone! Stay tuned!