Training for my First Marathon: Week 11 Around the Bay 30k Road Race

So, this is the week that my long run would take place in Hamilton Ontario.... with a race bib on... with ohhhh 12,000 or so other people - and one BIG ASS hill.

Around the Bay 30K Road Race. 

I did my best to take as many notes as possible for this blog post.  We caravan-ed in 2 vehicles up to Hamilton the day before.  2 carloads of my favourite people on the planet including my mom, my 2 best friends, and my awesome next door neighbour!  All the way up I don't think we talked running at all... we may have been a bit too nervous for that topic.  

At the expo, we bought a few things and picked up our packets.  When we saw the arena with the assembled finish line I couldn't help but get choked up.  It was the first time it really hit me that it was a "race" weekend.  I have been so concerned with my health and my mileage and my horrendous training pace that I didn't even take the time to consider that I had a RACE IN THE MORNING!!

At dinner, the 7 of us sat at a great restaurant and watched the wind rip through flags and rain moving almost completely sideways.... we were all hopeful that FOR ONCE the weatherman would be right and the weather would clear up in the morning. He was.  And if I ever met him I would thank him personally for that lol.

The race started right on time - 9:30.  We had overcast and 40F weather to start.  It was PERFECT.  My goal was to run each of the first two 10k's in an hour, and the third 10k in 1h20m (allowing for the tough hills I had heard about quite a bit).  I wanted to run the first 25k, then power-walk the "big hill" and continue running as soon as I reached the top and finish strong.

My goal was to finish in 3h20m - as LONG AS i was having fun :)


I was not going to allow myself to suffer through a long hilly course all alone.  I made a few decisions within the first kilometer of the race:
- I am going to read every single spectator sign and do my damnedest to remember the best ones.
- I am going to hi-five every little kid with their hand out along the route... if they can stand out there for hours the least I can do is make them feel appreciated. 

Looking for great signs and committing them to memory and looking for little hands to slap sure did keep my mind occupied and kept a smile on my face.


Here are some of the great signs I read - I hope I never forget these words:

"THERE ARE RUNNERS THAT CAN'T HANDLE THE ENDURANCE OF A LONG RACE LIKE THIS.  THE POLITE TERM IS SPRINTERS."

"EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF YOU LEARN IN 30K"

"MY NEW HERO IS: ME"

I started the race with my mom.  She's in the grey coat next to me in this pic.

I waved at every spectator that I recognized, and made SURE to smile for every camera that I saw.  I think my body language at 29.3K shows how I truly felt during the whole race:

I felt so amazing to cross the finish line and see that even the GUN TIME had beaten my goal!! I figured I started a couple minutes after the gun so MAN was I happy to stop my GPS after the finish line and see approx 3:15ish... 

OFFICIAL TIME: 03:14:48!!!!!!!!

What an amazing experience! Don't look now - I might just be ready for Nashville!!!!


Oh and in case you're wondering.... 

This lovely lady whoooooomped my butt by 18 minutes - SHE'S AMAZING!!

Official countdown begins: 29 days 21 hours till the start of Rock n' Roll Nashville!!!