Around the Bay 5K - Check!

I had a great race.

I didn't PR.

But it was such a great day!

Let me back up a bit - back at the end of October, my friend Emma signed up for the 30K Around the Bay Race, having run nothing longer than a 10K so far. A fleet of us also signed up for various distances - 5K, relay team, 30K - to be there to cheer her on. Reserved a few hotel rooms and made a weekend out of it. Had a fun Saturday travelling, out for lunch, hitting the expo, out for dinner, grocery store run for bananas and so on.

Race morning was overcast and cool with a slight breeze - perfect conditions for a run!

Heading to the starting line - me, Emma, Lynda

We saw Lynda off with the 8:30am power walkers, then the 30K and relay runners headed to their start and I went out with the 5K a few minutes later.

I'd heard that the 30K course is lovely - it does go "around the bay" after all - but I didn't expect the 5K course to be scenic, too! We ran a short leg through downtown Hamilton, long leg through a tree-lined residential street  (with lots of spectators cheering us on), a long leg along the waterfront trail, past a bagpipe band, then a short leg back through downtown, into Copps Coliseum, down the red carpet and across the finish line at centre ice.

Medals, water, snacks, then to the stands to wait for the elite athletes to finish their 30K. Sweet.

I got  to watch Reid Coolsaet - who will be running in the 2012 Olympics - cross the 30K finish line in 1:33, to fireworks and wild cheering. He runs a 2:09 marathon and did this one as a fun run. He looked as fresh at the finish as he did at the start. Amazing.

Also amazing? My run!

See that smile?

I've been slow running 8s & 3s and 10s & 1s in C25K training, but maxing out at covering 3.4KMs in the 25-30 minutes that they call for.

This time, I ran slow and steady 8s & 1s for the first 4KM, took a 2 min walk break, then ran the last 600 metres to the finish line. Same slow and steady pace. This is the most running I've ever done in a 5K - ever. And it was one of those good, evenly paced runs that reminded me that running doesn't necessary...suck.

Yes, I do turn really red when I exercise.
Race medics always stop me to make sure that I can carry on a conversation.  

This was such a good run for me that I simply didn't care when I saw my time (40:35; my PR is 39:06). This was one of those runs that made me feel like I might finally be building up some endurance. Speed can some later.

Anyway - Elissa and I met up after she finished the first leg of the relay and we headed back outside to cheer people on to the finish. So inspiring to see people at the end of a run like this.

Like the Armed Forces guys and gals who did the 30K in full field uniform with full packs.

And the lady who was celebrating her 80th birthday by doing this run - for the 60th consecutive year.

Absolutely amazing.

Lynda, 5 minutes after finishing her 30K.
Right after this, she hopped in her car and hit the highway to get to a meeting. Crazy!

And of course our own girls - every single one of them finishing their races with a smile. 

Me (5K), Elissa, Sarah, Rachel (relay team), Emma (30K), Laura (30K)

Emma - congrats on hitting your dream of going long.

Less than 24 hours after crossing the finish line, she was already talking about what's next. Love it!

Here's this week's recap:

Saturday - travel day
Sunday - ATB 5K
Monday - Curves circuit + an abs boot camp - lots of crunches, planks and pushups - and stretching.
Tuesday - rest day; 1K dog power walk.
Wednesday - skipped the gym in favour of going to see The Hunger Games
Thursday - skipped the gym in favour of going to see the Mythbusters: Behind the Myths Tour. Knock this one off my son`s list!

An evening with Adam & Jamie - stunts, stories and lots of audience participation. SO FUN.

Friday - Curves circuit + boot camp lite (250 crunches, 50 pushups, 1 min plank)

Next up? The CN Tower climb in April. A 5K in May. And try-a-tri training starts next week...