Hey hey, Around the Bay, All the way, It's 30K: a race report (Read 540 times)

Temp. -2C, Partly Cloudy. Feels like -9C to -3C. Wind E 26-33km/h. Humidity: About 50%. Started my day like any other long run. Got up, got dressed and headed downstairs to get a bite to eat (Gatorade, coffee, oatmeal w/ blueberries, almonds, raisins, bananas, cinnamon, brown sugar and honey). Left to pick up Kelly about 7:10. Got to her place just before 7:30. Drive to Hamilton was uneventful. Neither of us seemed particularly nervous. Both a bit concerned about the wind. Parked on a side street and made our way to meet everyone at the Sheraton. Chilled there for a bit. Headed to the start line around 9:15 for the 9:30 start. Managed to duck in right near the front and behind the lead pack. Gun goes right on time, and we're off. I lose Kelly immediately and won't see her until the end. The only person I see that I know in the early going is Bernie. Go out faster than I wanted to but feeling good. Pretty consistent through the first 5K. Avoid the first water station. This is the longest and quite frankly most boring part of the run. An awful part of Hamilton. The turn on Woodward takes us out of the headwind. Pass the first of three relay exchanges. Think about using the facilities but the line is too long. Go through 10K pretty fast (48:XX). Oh well. All systems go. Take my first gel around the 11K mark. Cruise along Beach Boulevard and remark to another runner how nice is to be out of the wind. She replies 'Fucking A'. This makes me laugh a bit. See Cindy at the 15K mark (relay exchange). 16k turns out to be my fastest as we go over the lift bridge and down a slight incline under the Skyway. I see the sign for Northshore. Familar territory. I make the turn after 17K. Feeling pretty fucking good. Drop my hat and vest with Tom, Holly and Sylvia. Get a bit of a lift from seeing some familiar faces. More cheering spectators along this section. Great crowd support. Working hard through the hills. Training has paid off. I lose no significant time through here and pass tons of runners/walkers. A bit aggravated by the walkers two/three abreast. Puffing a bit on the way up to Plains Road. Turn onto Spring Garden and pass the Royal Botanical Gardens. Again, great crowd support. An organized cheering section at the 25K mark. Awesome. Reminded me of the Tour de France as the riders go up the Alps and Pyrenees. Only wide enough to run through with fans (?) patting you on the pack and yelling encouragement. Pass the fellow playing 'We Will Rock You' by Queen and get a high five, right before the Valley Hill. Last major obstacle on this course. Card a 5:00 km at 26K, so managed the hill just fine. Now I am on auto-pilot to the finish and acknowlege to myself for the first time that I am going to break 2:30. Holy shit! Never in my wildest dreams. High Five the Grim Reaper (seriously, a guy dressed as the Grim Reaper complete with scythe!). Get a look at Copps. Good crowd. A few hundred meters to go, down the ramp, turn right and into the arena, down the shoot and hear John Stanton call out my name. DONE! Wow. What a race. Almost a full 26 min. better than last year. Gun time: 2:28:02.8, Chip time: 2:27:51.5 Splits: 48:45 (10k), 1:13:31 (15k), 1:37:49 (20k) Congratulations to all the other Bay runners. I think there are a few of you around here - Daddyo, Aija and maybe others. MTA: poor spelling.

Great report. Sounds like you were in tune and well trained. You must be feeling great, to have ran in such a good time with no major straining or pain. I'm suitably impressed. It's awesome to think how far you've come in this past year Dave, very inspiring. You must be familiar with one of my favourite quotes...the will to run the marathon (or similar) is not as important as the will to train. Your log forthis past winter proves that! F#ckin' A Tuf!!!! MTA: People,where are the kudos here? Tuf PR'ed the 30K distance by nearly 30 minutes!!!

tuf_aint_enough!!! Just found your report now. You rocked it!!! Awesome job. The weather was probably about as good as it was going to get judging from what it's been of late. Way to go. Heh, I can't even read about that hill without getting a sympathetic HR and a Grim Reaper visual. I remember one year a dead fox reclined at the top of the hill in all its road kill glory. EWGH. I missed it this year, waited too long to sign up. My bad : ) Next Year, fer sure.