Night Run 10k Vancouver {Recap!}

So happy to be home!!!

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It was a tad nippy in Canada, totally not what I was used to, lol, and I actually looked forward to my Arizona temps! Anyway, I arrived to Canada Thursday evening and we immediately went to dinner. It was absolutely amazing–steak and salmon for the win!

The race was on Friday night, and earlier in the day we toured the city–I musta walked like 5 miles! We had amazing lunch at this place called Joe Fortes (to die, seriously!) and we were back at the hotel around 3 for an afternoon siesta.

When I awoke, I got dressed and ready and we walked the about a mile walk to the race site. I was hoping I’d get my usual pre-race jitters (i.e. need to use the restroom) but I didn’t have to go. This was a little disconcerting considering I had two big meals still in the stomach.

Anyway, what was nice about the race was that it was at beautiful Stanley Park

Surrounded by water the entire way :)

Surrounded by water the entire way 🙂

and there was a building at the race start where runners could hang out in–this was GREAT for me because I was freezing. They were playing music, there was a photo op place, FREE McCafe, and even a no-line bathroom! (Except I still didn’t have to go 😦 )

Freeeeee!!!

Freeeeee!!!

It wasn’t long before it was time for the 10Kers to line up. The 5k runners had just left and there was about a 10-15 minute wait before our turn.

There were no corrals but “fast” runners were told to head to the front (this is where my husband left me, lol!)

The countdown started and we were off! The beginning portion was a downhill and really, I should have kept this in mind for later–I didn’t.

I was gunning for an 8:45 average pace and when the first mile beeped 8:45 I was THRILLED. I had this guy in front of me who was running a good pace so I stuck with him.

The view were uh-mazing. This was Stanley Park after all. The sun was setting and the colors on the water were so beautiful. We had the city lights behind us and the green trees next to us; it was awesome.

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On one side, water….

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on the other, city….so beautiful! (pictures are pre-race, lol!)

The second mile beeped 8:35 and I was happy that I was still feeling pretty good. I kept it going with my “pacer” to mile 3 and that beeped at 8:45!

And then my pacer slowed down 😦 I wanted to yell at him, “Keep it going!! I need you!!” lol, but of course I didn’t and I told myself to put my big girl panties on and do it myself.

Yeah, that didn’t work out so well.

Almost immediately after crossing the 5k mark, I begin to falter.

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And maybe that guy knew the uphill was coming or something, but I didn’t. I felt like I was still going my pace but mile 4 beeped away at 9:04 and I was buuuuummed.

I tried to get it together and at least keep it under 9 minutes which I barely managed to when mile 5 beeped 8:58.

Mile 6, 8:53.

I was so happy to only have .2 left. SO happy.

And then the goddamn hill. Yes, the one that when I started, took me on a nice swift decline.

I had been trying so hard to get sub 9 miles that I felt I had nothing left to give on that effing uphill–I practically crawled up it and the last .28 took me 2 minutes and 50 seconds (a 10 minute pace). Seriously, Helly.

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I crossed the finish line in 55:49 missing my sub 54 goal by a minute and 50. Ugh.

On a positive note, I was pleased my overall pace was under 9 at an 8:53 pace, so YAY to that!! 😀

On an even more positive note, my husband finished 10th overall!!!

The post-race was super cool–they fed us a burrito, fries, and a beer–and they had a DJ playing music. We were inside a building, nice and warm too so it was definitely comfortable and fun.

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The DJ announced he’d be awarding top overall male and females so we hung out to see the speedsters. The top 3 men and top 3 women were awarded their medals and then the DJ went back to his music right afterward.

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Aaaaand this is when things went awry. About 30 minutes later, my husband and I decided to head back to the hotel. It was late, about 10 o’clock, and we didn’t want to be out in the streets at dark. As soon as we got to the hotel, we checked our results again but this time online. My husband said he’d gotten 1st in his age group!!! Woohoo!!!

Seriously, not about 5 minutes later, I posted our Instagram pic with the hashtag #NightRunVancouver and #RunVan and when I searched both tags, I saw a guy showing off his Age Group medal! Whaaat??? How in the world did we miss that??? We had been inside the ENTIRE time and not once did they announce Age Group awards! I messaged the guy and he told me that he had seen a table with medals and that was how he had gotten his. Whaaaat???? No announcement? No sign? Nada???

We decided we’d head to the running store the next day where packet pick-up for the race was. My husband ran the mile to the store Saturday morning only to be told by the employees there that they had no idea what he was talking about.

My husband returned bummed but over it–it was just a medal.

But I was upset! I don’t know why, maybe the Type A organizer in me, but c’mon! So I e-mailed the race director who responded the next day, Sunday, the day we were leaving, that he’d drop off the medal at the running store my husband had been to the day before, lol!

That e-mail was sent right before we got on the plane to come home, so of course there was no going back to the store.

Bummer, no medal (and again, my husband did not care, lol!) but it peeved me a little that there had been NO announcement whatsoever post-race and I made sure to let the race director know that that was an area which needed improvement–because besides that, it had been a great race. And during my Instagram search, I had found another girl who experienced the same thing.

Not how we wanted to end the race but we decided to solely focus on the positive (or really, my husband kept telling me to focus on the positive, lol!!). The race had amazing views the entire way, it was a single loop which for 10k’s I’ve run is rare, and it had great pre and post race festivities. If I was to eliminate the medal fiasco, this would definitely be a race I’d recommend. Thanks for making it this far and sorry for my long-winded vent, lol!

I’ll be re-capping the rest of my amazing trip later this week–I hope everyone had a great weekend!! ❤ , helly

–Have you ran a race and missed the medal?

–Ever ran a race with super cool pre and post race parties??

 

 

 

 

Mid-Week Musings: Meeting Online Friends

Happy Hump Day!!!

I’m nearing the day I have to renew my “website subscription” and it’s always a reminder of how long I’ve had this page (2 years!). It always makes me think about how I’ve met so many awesome people through my blog and it’s a big reason I keep writing–even though sometimes I feel like I’m not exciting enough to have a blog, lol!

Anyway, there’s so many people who I’ve “met” online and have followed their journeys and have been inspired. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some people in person and cross some bloggers off my list, but it seems as I check people off, I “meet” more cool people online.

At Phoenix Marathon, I got to meet Pavement Runner, Maxfitgirl, RunEMZ, The Athletarian (how hilarious is it to call people by their blog names?!!).

This past summer, I got to meet Hailey@StridingStrong and last October, I got to meet Sue@ThisMamaRunsForCupcakes at Marine Corps Marathon.

It was at MCM that I got to meet my BRF, Salt who I had actually “met” on an online mommy’s group before we became running bloggers 🙂

My BRF and sole sister--Salt <3

My BRF and sole sister–Salt ❤ (fave meet-up!)

As race season approaches (for me, it starts this weekend!), I am going to be crossing off quite a few people on my Bloggers I’d Like to Meet In Real Life list (don’t we all have a list like that?)

This weekend, I’ll be racing in Vancouver (what?!) and I’ll meet Suzy@SuzyHasTheRuns. She’s a new find for me and it was instant love–she’s so rad (and fast!)–and I’m so pumped to meet her. There might be some uncomfortable closeness as I hope some of her speed rubs off on me.

In Chicago, oh boy….There are SO many bloggers who are running, I just hope that we can make the meet up work. I’m hoping that Sarah@RunningOnHealthy, Scott@PirateBobcat, Kristina@BlogAboutRunning, Amber@PbandPrs, and Suzy@SuzLyfe rearrange their schedules for some Helly time.

Mike from RunNerdsRock will be there, Jenny from RunJennyRun will be there–I’m sure I’m missing a whole bunch of people and I know that trying to meet everyone will be close to impossible, dammit!, but with the help of social media, I’m hoping we can make it happen.

After Chicago, the fun continues as Mar from Mar On The Run will be coming to meeeee!!! She and I will be running Rock n Roll Arizona 😀 and when she tweeted me confirmation, I totally squee’d. Mar knew she owed me since we didn’t make a meet-up happen when I went to her at MCM 😉 (Love ya, Mar!)

And Suzy@SuzyHasTheRuns will also be coming to me at RnR! Double meet-up!

Race season on its own is exciting. Having the chance to meet awesome people on top of it …

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–Have you met bloggers in person?

–Do you have a “list” of bloggers you’d want to meet?

–How often do you refer to your online friends to friends in real life? (Um me, all the time, lol!)

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I’ll be crossing the border tomorrow and will be MIA from my blog–but, if you miss me, follow me on Insta for some Canadian pics 🙂

❤ , helly

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 15 Recap

Taper taper bo baper, fee fi fo faper…..taaaaaaper!!!!!

I love that little jingle. 😀

It was a great week of training and now I’m in the home stretch–eeeep!!!!

I had the day off on Monday and I took advantage of it by going for a 5 miler. I’ve been limited to 4 miles during the week because of time/work/kid constraints (and husband work travels) and I would’ve liked to have done 6, but I was very happy for 5.

Almost a negative split run :)

Almost a negative split run 🙂

I took the day off from running on Tuesday as my husband was leaving out of town for work and I wanted to hang out ❤

Wednesday I was solo parenting so I had to squeeze in a run after work and before kid pick-up. It was so hot, yet it wasn’t even in the triple digits. I struggled but got it done.

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Thursday I was feeling all sorts of blah but then my brother texted me his run. I wrote about how much he’s been inspiring me here and after reading his text/stats, I put my running shoes and went for it. It was a much better run than I’d had in a while 🙂

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Throughout this training, I’ve been rotating my Brooks Ravennas and Asics Kayanos, using my Asics for my long runs. As I approached my second 20 miler, I knew I needed to break in the shoes I’d be using for race day. I planned on racing in my Brooks.

BUT, when I went to Nordstrom Rack (where I’d bought my shoes on sale for $70!), they didn’t have any more. Crushed, I went to one of my local running stores prepared to try on and buy the newer model. Except they felt weird!!

My beloved Ravennas but the new model fit weird in the toe box :(

My beloved Ravennas but the new model fit weird in the toe box 😦

I just couldn’t commit to the new model with them feeling the way they did, so I reluctantly bought the newest model of Kayanos and decided since that style has been a part of my rotation, I’d race in them.

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They’re def easy on the eyes 🙂

I ran in them on my Wednesday and Thursday runs, but they just didn’t feel right either. I always felt they were heavier than my Ravennas but the newer model felt even boxier. It also could’ve been that I already was sad about my shoe issues, lol!

So on Friday, I returned them. I asked what was most comparable to the Ravennas and I was told the Saucony Guides. I was VERY apprehensive about trying a brand new brand/shoe so far into training, but when I slipped them on, they felt good. And even though they weren’t purple pretty, I decided to give them a shot.

And on Saturday I ran 20 miles in them. 🙂

It was another 3 a.m. start time and the first 10 miles went smoothly. Shoes felt good, I felt good.

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With the exception of miles 1 and 8, I stayed within my 10-10:30 LSD range and I did not stop at all, fueling at mile 5 on the run.

I met up with my back 10 crew and I did have to stop my watch a good 15 minutes or so while I waited.

And it took me a few miles to get back on track …

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but once I was warmed up again, the run just felt good. I even negative split the last 7 miles!!!!

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I was so happy at the end, and my friends commented on how strong I looked–it didn’t seem like I’d just run 20 miles, lol! I really did feel good too; it was such confidence building run 😀

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My and a buddy wearing our charity singlets–we’re ready for Chicago!! 🙂 #TeamFox #TeamRMHC

Overall, exactly what I would’ve hoped for going into taper time. So happy!!! 33.25 total miles

I hope everyone has a great week!! ❤ , helly

–Have you switched shoes mid-training?

–Are you brand loyal? Or do you go with what feels right?

–When’s the last time you had a stellar long run?