June Catch Up Post - Johnny Miles, GoTruro Twilight Mile, long bike rides.

It's been a long month since the Cabot Trail Relay :)

Ive done a lot of running since then. 16 runs, actually :) the first actual long run of my new training plan was last Sunday morning and it was 9 miles of doing it wrong. I dressed in a shirt that was too heavy. It was black and hot. And the temp was like 15 at 630 which is really hot. It was "only" 9 miles so I decided I didn't need to carry water and I was really, really wrong. I only had 90 minutes to do the 9 miles which means I had to push it. I was meeting some new people to run with, and wasn't sure how that run was going to go. They are faster than I am and it wasn't a slow run but instead averaged 6:08 mins / km.  One of the others shared her water with me, thank goodness. I was really happy to see the park and the end of that hot run. I need to rethink this long run thing :) Im obviously not mentally ready for the long hot runs yet.

Ive played 3 ball hockey games.

I did a 400 m swim time trial. I finished it in 9:12 which I think is faster than the first time but not super better.

Ive ridden the bike 2 times. oops. Both of them were the longest rides yet. the latest one was almost 49 km and they were pretty hilly ones.

I did the Johnny Miles with all three of my girls :)

The day was bright and sunny, not terribly hot, very nice running weather. We drove over just before the race started, and parked at my aunts house, then walked down to the race start after using her bathroom :) We all had to go again but didn't do the port-a-potty thing and ran with the need :) Holly was miserable! lol We met friends there at the start.

I ran with Annika for her first ever race :) And she was awesome.  Holly ran with her friend Mason, and Taylor ran somewhere behind us.  I did see her at the turnarounds, she looked comfortable. Annika set our pace, and she did not walk for about 2 km :) she had a few breaks after that, didn't love the hills, but kept her walks very short :)  

Little runner :) I told Annika about finding someone in front of you to reel in, and she started picking out people to pass. She liked that.

Just as we were headed for the home stretch, she was getting tired and I told her to pass the lady in front of us, with a black and white shirt on. Annika surprised me with a sprint I had trouble keeping up with, and she passed the woman, sprinted around the corner, and right straight through the finish line! 

 

I was really proud of her! 

She was really proud of herself as well! Finish time was 32:46. Mine was 32:47 ;)

Holly and Mason finished ahead of us :)

We picked up our lunch and spent the rest of the day visiting family.

Johnny Miles success again this year :)

Since Johnny Miles went so well I dragged the 2 younger kids out Friday night for the first Gotruro Twilight Mile at the local track.  Just a warm up and a mile run on the track :) classic race! 

The littles went first. Youngest kids, then mid kids, then the oldest kids there including my girls :)

Holly claims she didn't race it; Annika might have.

After the kids broke 10 minutes each, Holly with 8:25, the three ladies took to the line, and raced our mile.  I did a steady 2 minute lap, not wanting to push especially hard because I have been feeling like crap lately.  I did my mile in 8:09.  I might have been able to go faster but at this point, not much :( still having some struggles feeling good.

Which catches up to today. When I did a tonne of house work and some tasks around here before heading to a hockey game. A really good one :)

This has just been a super busy month! The kids are finished school today, their soccer has kept us hopping 6 days a week. Training for a triathlon and marathon will be taking up the rest. Having a social life would be fun, good thing I am currently unemployed :)

Cabot Trail Relay 2013

Fast becoming one of my favorite weekends of the year, I looked forward to the CTRR and the weekend did not disappoint.
I think this year I knew more of my teammates than usual :) and they seemed enthusiastic about spending the weekend running and/or supporting the race(rs).   So it was bound to be a great weekend.  I lucked out to get on the team since they had someone drop out and I took that leg.  I believe most of these people know each other through work and/or family and/or the gym, although Im not sure how a couple of them fit in.  But I got a leg.  And IT WAS A MOUNTAIN.  If I intend to run all 17 legs of the relay, then I have to run the 4 mountains at some point.  this year I had Leg 10. 

We spent more time there this year I think than any of the 4 previous years.  I had ball hockey the night before so we did not go up Friday but we got up Saturday and prepared and were on our way pretty early. It was pouring rain here. That didn't bode well for night time runs! 
But the closer we got to Cape Breton the better the weather was, and by the time we got to the causeway, it was sunny at times!

not all the time sunny lol just at times.

we caught up with the race by the end of the 5th Leg, and joined in with the cheering and visiting then.  Our team had shirts made that were amazing :) The leg descriptions right on the shirt!  I want to use something permanent to mark off the 4 legs I have completed :) Its nice to be able to point and say THIS one. :) and THIS one :)

 
 
 

 

Some of the view as we drove; This year I decided not to drive my leg before I ran it.  I usually do, to get an idea what Im getting into; but when running a mountain maybe it's better to not know. 

We were really well looked after this year ;) Our group had super supporters and a great lot of food and places to sleep lol out where we were, midway on the trail, there was a supper set up with awesome sandwiches and snacks.  I ate almost 2 hours before my run, and had a banana for later.

Then I attempted some rest, as it was evening and I was going to be up late.
I had had an upset stomach for 3 days before going to Cape Breton so was a little worried about what I ate and where the bathrooms were.  But what can ya do?

When it was finally time for my leg, I put on my reflective vest (ugh I hate these things but WOW did I glow or what?)

 
 

 
 
 


























The sun was setting so it was time to be warming up (short run, a little dynamic stretching)





the first 3.2 km were just nice rolling hills and it was nice and fast.  I reached the foot of the mountain in less that 17 minutes. It was quiet and I could hear the waves on the cliffs at a number of spots.


Then the mountain started. It switchbacks up the mountain and then gets less steep but climbs for the rest of the run, to a fairly steep spot near the end.  I bet its nice during the day ;) we run in the dark. It was not pitch dark as the moon was full and the clouds parted often for some light despite rainy forecasts.
The climb lasted a long time. I walked at 3 places, thanks to some cramping in my calf which is something I have never had happen before; of course I never climbed a steep mountain either ;)  I was way ahead of the person behind me and could see the person in front but it was pretty "alone". IN fact I was sure there was something in the bushes beside me, most of the way HAHA. 
The run was ok. I felt like I was going faster than I was; must have been the slow times on the steep part because on flatter and less steep hills I am sure I was doing ok pace wise. I knew I would not likely make the 6 minutes/km deadline but I thought I would be closer.
And I had some TERRIBLE belly pains near the end of the leg.  I think that didn't help. Cramping calf, stomach pain. All new :(

I was very grateful to the support vehicle which made many stops to cheer and encourage (night legs they are not allowed to give drinks or snacks); it made me feel less alone and less likely to get caught walking LOL.

I finished the 14.6 ish km in 1:42 which is awful and quite past the deadline.  But 1 mountain is done, only 3 left to tackle! And they say this is one of the worst (although the one that has 20 km to complete sounds pretty bad to me). 

We went back to the car and I felt ok, but after changing clothes I felt really nauseous and climbed in the back of the car to lie down while we drove to the cottage.  I barely made it there and ran to the bathroom to throw up.  Who knows if it was the run or the previous upset stomach but after I showered and ate some toast I felt better.  Wasn't sore from the run, and I actually didn't even feel any lasting effects from the cramping calf.
We got about 3 hours of sleep before getting up and packing, travelling to catch up with the race, finding the start line with the pancakes, barely getting my pancake before taking our last runner to her start spot (weirdly different from before). and then we headed to the finish line.
We met up with the team and waited for our runner to finish the race. 

 We created a tunnel for our runner to run through; she is there, you can see her feet!
And team Got The Runs was finished. Once times were all sorted out we placed 42nd out of 70 teams. 

It was a sad moment at the end when a team who lost a runner last year on the last leg all ran in together to honour their runner.

 Then we were off to lunch and the last celebration before everyone headed home. 
This was an awesome weekend, as usual. Looking forward to next year!  :)