Monday, March 05, 2007

CHILLY IN BURLINGTON!!

The Chilly Half-Marathon was a great race! It was a very nice flat course and despite the really cold weather (-15 oC with windchill) I had a very good time! On the morning of the race, I found myself very relaxed and not nervous at all. =) That was a good change from my previous races, I think I just felt confident about myself, the distance and the performance I could pull off. It was nice to see my friend Amanda at the startig line (thanks for coming!). I swore to myself before the race that I wouldn't start too fast.... but I did anyway... I don't know why but there is some sort of energy that takes over me and I can't rationalise my speed... oh well at least I didn't crash and burn! I was feeling like a speed racer though (9-9:10 min/mile for the first 4 miles). But then I couldn't maintain that pace (of course that's my 5K speed!!).

I started to lower my speed to 9:45 min/mile for the next few miles but then again I found myself, out of breath... The good thing is that my legs were feeling great. No knee problems, no shin splints =) Then we got to Lakeshore Rd for the last 5 miles and the wind was in our face the whole time up to the end! It was hard but everytime I wanted to slow down I kept saying to myself: "If you don't give your 100% you'll be disappointed" or "Pain is temporary, pride is forever".... I felt very strong mentally =) When I saw the 20K marker I speed up a lot but it look like the never ending 1.1K (apparently the markers were slightly off...). My official time is 2:10:59 (chip time)!!! I am soooooo HAPPY with my time!! It's right on my target time with an average pace of 9:59 min/mile. I am so glad that I train smart and hard as it paid off at the race! I PRed by about 13 minutes, I am so proud!! =)

The thing that I learned with this race, is that I am not a big fan of crowded courses, there was over 3000 people running and it was way too much for me. I like to have my own space and not have to fight for it... I'm guessing Around the Bay will be even more crazier than this but I'm a strong believer in "Gotta try something once to know you don't like it!".

Well thanks everyone for all the good wishes on the race! I had a blast and it felt good to be racing again! I'm even more excited for the marathon in May!

9 comments:

Michelle said...

Wow, what a great time!!! Nicely done!

I'm glad it went so well for you. It always inspires me even more to do the HM in October when I read other's HM stories.

Arcane said...

Nice job on the PR! It looks like your training is going well.

FreddyBeachPete said...

Congrats on your race result!! Great when the training pays off in reaching your goal.

You may be interested to check out a Canadian running discussion board - lots of the "regulars" were at the Chilly Half. Find it at:

www.runningmania.com

Cheers,

Peter

Born To Endure said...

Oh my...aren't we getting fast!! Been to Burlington, and it can be very cold and windy being so close to the water there...well congrats girl!!!

yumke said...

congrats on the time! you are speedy..

Anonymous said...

Félicitations

Ta détermination ,ton courage et ton enthousaiasme me réjouissent . Je suis trè fier de toi lâche pas

Ton papa qui t'aime fort fort

Sonia said...

Thanks everyone for the kind words! =)

Merci papa! T'es le meilleur :o)

Laurel said...

I found your blog off of Michelle's and have been reading ot the past few days.
Great job on the race. I think your running style is very similar to mine. Plus I have a lot of family in Windsor :)
Congratulations again. I look forward to reading about your adventures.

Taunya said...

Congrats! It's a great time and in that cold, you should be very proud.