WELCOME TO MIAMI, BUENVENIDOS A MIAMI!

"Miami uh uh
South beach bringin the heat uh

Haha can yall feel that

Can yall feel that

Jig it out uh"

The race started with this song by Will Smith (Miami) with 10 400 runners jigging to it the atmosphere was pretty wild!! I was going into this race just wishing to have fun and not look at the time... ya right the competitive person I am won and I decided to try for even splits of 10:30 min/mile for the whole half.

As Laurel said in her last post, once you've done a marathon you kinda lose respect for the half or at least think this distance is not important considering you've doubled it and not died! So, I wasn't very nervous heading into the race, as I said many times to my mom: "It's only a half!" and she replied that it was still a big achievement nonetheless. I think she was right and I got a little emotional once I heard the gun start, I was happy to be able to run a half. That is something most of mortals won't do in their life and this was my 6th half-marathon =) I wasn't sure if my ankle would hold up but I didn't have any issues with it. It took me 7 mins to cross the starting line, there was definitely more runners than for Detroit.

Before the race with my parents:

The race was pretty much effortless until mile 9. I hadn't done a race at that pace in ages... like months! But I thought I could hold on to that pace for 13.1 miles?! What the heck was wrong with me? lol

I got new shoes over Christmas and should have updates my socks at the same time, they are solely responsible for my blisters (all on my bigger foot). I had to repeat and repeat to myself when it got hard that it was mental and not physical (even though I barely believed it!). I slowed down a little but tried to pick it up as soon as I noticed a slow down. In the end, I am pretty proud of the way I raced considering the training involved before this race.

I loved the race course, it was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! The first part running up the road near Biscane Bay with the Palm trees and we could hear the parrots in the trees were simply awesome. I thought it was kinda surreal with the helicopter from Homeland Security too. Once we were arrived in South beach the crowd support was fantastic and really pumped me up (might explain that 10:18 min/mile!). I just truly enjoyed this race, the weather, the crowd both on and off course and would definitely do it again. I know we got "lucky" since it was a cooler day and it barely rained for the half but I think I would have still loved it even if it had been warmer or raining (as crazy as last year's sounded with what Laurel told me!). Racing to the finish was frustrating and very motivating at the same time. You can hear the crowd and you think you're close but there are a lot of turns and I was giving a lot of speed and finally ran out for the final stretch!! My parents said it looked like I was having a hard time near the end and it was close to the truth!! But when I heard them shouting my name and waving big: "Go Sonia signs". I waved back and went for it!! =) What a boost seeing your family can do for you.

I was so touched to read her blog when I got back home. I think she put in words way better than I could do how our meeting went. It was definitely like meeting an old friend and we had a lot to say to each other. I was disappointed not to have more time and sit down for a drink. For sure next time =)

The facts:

13.1 miles in 2:21:44

Mile 1: 10:57 min/mile

Mile 2: 10:37 min/mile

Mile 3: 10:36 min/mile

Mile 4: 10:35 min/mile

Mile 5: 10:18 min/mile

Mile 6: 10:40 min/mile

Mile 7: 10:28 min/mile

Mile 8: 10:34 min/mile

Mile 9: 10:55 min/mile (Getting tired and blistered!)

Mile 10: 11:00 min/mile (only mile at 11 min!)11 min

Mile 11: 10:59 min/mile

Mile 12: 10:59 min/mile

Mile 13: 10:18 min/mile (pushing it hard! Crowd support and seeing my parents helped!)

0.24: 10:35 min/mile

The Best way to end the day: AT THE BEACH WITH MY DAD!!!

I'M IN LOVE!!!!

With Miami!!! I love the beach!! The race was great, the course is breathtaking. I loved it. Finished in 2:21:44 and had to give a big effort from Mile 9-13.1. But finished strong. I only had one mile with a pace of 11 min /mile. All the rest was 10:XX min/mile!

I also meet with Laurel! She's so great! I will put more details once I am back in Canada!

Hope you are all doing well

MY FAVORITE PLACE: THE BEACH

So, I'm off to Miami tonight! I cannot wait to be in the warm weather and sitting on the beach!! =) I think I brought all I need (sunblock, sunglasses, sundresses... etc. ;-) hahaha)

Today the weather is highly disgusting (-23 oC with windchill) sooooo I'm loving this little escape from winter! I ran 2.5 miles on Tuesday and kinda hurt my foot... it was like my ankle froze and then when I took the next step, I kinda heard a crack and it hurt. After running for a little bit it got better but not back to normal... After icing it that night and the next day, it felt a little better so I wanted to test it for a short run (3.1 miles) on Thursday. The ankle did not hurt but it didn't feel "normal" or like usual. sigh... I'm just hoping it won't bother me during the half-marathon. Anyhow! I'm leaving soon and I'll catch up with all of you bloggers when I come back!! Except for Laurel who I will meet during my Miami stay!!! =)

Happy Running!

ALIVE AND KICKING!

The stomach bug finally got away, I stopped the intense vitamins mix I was on and tried to lower my stress level. All of this combined was not good for my health!! But I had a good running week:

Tuesday 4 miles @ 11:25 min/mile
Thursday 3 miles @ 11:18 min/mile
Saturday 8 miles @ 11:38 min/mile

I had an interesting run on Thursday.... I am dog-sitting a 80 lbs golden retriver/husky for a friend. I didn't want to miss my run so I decided to try and run with both dogs with Rocky attached on my waist while I hold the other leash. I made my way to our Riverfront path as I decided it wouldn't be the best idea to run in the middle of the streets with 100 lbs of dogs! Fritz is the sweetest dog ever but he's also very nervous...he had diarrhea all over is bum-fur and I realised I had poppy-bags who had defects (meaning it wasn't a bag but a sheet of plastic!!) GRRR I was fuming. I decided that I would take care of "that" after the run and tried to get in a better mood... right then a pigeon shitted on my head! Seriously?! Does life get any better? I think not! At that point, I wanted to forget about the run, thought I had enough of this madness but we were at the beginning of the trail and I wanted to see if I could run with both dogs. The answer is yes, and it was a great run! Rocky was going faster to keep up with his buddy (male are so competitive!) and never pulled me from one side to the other like he usually do. =)
Today's run was insanely cold, we usually never get weather like that here, it was -20 with windchill, WTH is going on!! I kept thinking: "6 days and you're in Miami, 6 days and you're in Miami, ON THE BEACH!"

Happy running everyone!

STUCK IN A SICKNESS VORTEX!!!!

Well Ken couldn't have said it better :" You know what happens when we have plans... Something seems to creep in".

Yep it does. To make a long story short, I started having this stomach-intestinal bug for about a week now. I tried to get rid of it with pills but its not working. So, after I called the Healthline last night. The man-nurse told me to forget about sugar and fat for 2 days. I'm allowed to eat rice, potatoes, soup and chicken. Some easy digestible things like canned fruits and yogourt. Fun times.

So, I'm not so sure about that 12 miler anymore =( This sucks, so tired to be sick!!

I did run 4 miles last night in 45:06, it was pretty windy and I gave in a good effort. I'm thinking Sunday might be a better day for my run if I feel better by then. Who knows???

On the bright side, this is my fur-baby's birthday! He's 4 years old today and it's also the anniversary of his adoption by me, 2 full years of love =)

MIAMI IN 3 WEEKS!

I really can't wait to be on the beach... oh yeah and run the half too! =) We've been having some nice spring weather so I decided to run 3.1 miles yesterday even though I was pretty tired and finished in 34:50. I'm thinking about another 3 or 4 miles on Thursday and 12 miles on Saturday which will be the last long run before Miami. My week-end is already full of job applications I gotta do but there's always time for running! =)

RESOLUTION RUN (NOT REALLY A RACE!)

It was a first for me, to race in my hometown! And what a great day for it =) It started snowing the day before and it hadn't stopped until the race. It was a very informal race with 30-50 people only. I was kind of surprised considering the high turn-out in Toronto and Ottawa.

We started at 11 AM on January 1st and I was still feeling heavy from all the food I ate the previous night (and wine I drank ;-)). My personal chauffeur and photographer (Papa) drove me to the race and my mom was there as a cheerleader (with a bad back!)!

I really like the French sign (Coin des Coureurs in that one!)

I meet up with Arthur, a Runningmaniac friend, just before the race started and we ran together talking the whole way through. It was a nice run, it was snowing and very peaceful. The best part was when a drunken guy encouraged us from a moving bus, obviously still on the party at 11AM! We finished in 35:35, my dad made a video but I realised I didn't copy all of this on a memory stick so its on my Dad's computer!

That's the best way to start the year!