Toronto Running Chiro

Today I set out to do two things I do not like doing: racing in the cold and staying on pace.  The goal of the race for me was to stay on pace and have a smart/strong race.  I felt after STWM that I needed to prove to myself that I could run a smart race.  And with the memory of the pain from STWM still fresh in my memory I figured now was the best time to attempt to do that.  It is always a tough decision whether to do a late race in the season as you risk injury and a disappointing race.  It is also important to recognize yourself being greedy with your fitness so always be sure to take a step back and see if you are in good condition for one more race. After feeling like I had recovered well from STWM I signed up for Road2Hope and started taper week #2.

I started the race out well I let some people go that I would typically be tempted to stay with but they were going faster then my pace.  I ran the first 5km pretty well.  But they are not kidding about the downhill on this course!  I ran a few fast kilometers as to not let the female in front of me get too much of a gap and to keep my legs moving on the downhill.  Needless to say these kilometers were faster then pace and brought me in at the 10km mark ahead of pace.

The race was neat because it goes on a trail which I appreciated because my other option for my last race was a cross country race.  So I was happy to be on trails for a bit.  Anyways at this point I passed the female in front of me up a hill and was pretty much alone for the remainder of the race.

Between 15-17km I died a bit.  But contrary to STWM I got a second wind around 18km and was able to bring my pace back down to closer to my goal pace.  My finishing time was 37secs slower then my big PB at STWM but for a cold and windy day two weeks after a three minute PB I will take it!

My finishing time was 1:20.25 and I was the first overall female.  I do not think I have won a race overall since high school so that was exciting!

Huge CONGRATS to everyone else that completed the Road2Hope half and full marathon today!  And also CONGRATS to everyone who completed the NY marathon!  You are all awesome and deserve some celebration!!

Thank you to all the organizers, volunteers and spectators at Road2Hope it was a great event and I will definitely recommend it to others!!

Now I am taking a break — one week off and then start to build back to training for the BOSTON MARATHON!!!

It is so important to make sure that there are breaks in your training schedule and by breaks I mean NO RUNNING!  Your legs need time to recover from such a great season of racing and time to adapt to this new level of fitness you have achieved.  Do not worry about losing fitness you will start the new season at a higher level then previously but you need to take the time off in order to see that benefit!

So enjoy some downtime and take it easy!

Stay posted for my road to Boston starting in a couple weeks!