Today's picture: And they're off.. Another Eastern visit comes to a finish.
Anyhow.. Another year, and another 22k is done. Sort of, I guess, since the route was cut a bit short, and wasn't quite the same distance as last year.. But close enough that it counts.
This year was a bit of a special run, as the 3 "kids" came out for the run. Chris and Mel came out with their kids, Heather came out with Kyle, and we all went running.
Well, Heather, Chris and I did. Holly, Mel, the kids, and Kyle went off and played in the park and tried to have a good morning.
Anyhow.. By the numbers:
My gun time was 2:23:07, down from 2:41:35 (0:18:25 faster), chip time was 2:21:37, down from 2:39:53 (0:18:16 faster). My overall pace went from 7:17 to 6:31, or 0:46 faster. I finished 898/1133, 403/456 overall men, 125/142 in my division.
I had a really great run - Heather and I ran for a good chunk of it, along with Joanne, a new friend from the Running Room (who's run with Hayley, but not with I). We got through most of the run together, up until about 5k to go, and Heather dropped back. Right on the last stretch, Joanne and I kinda gassed out, and had to really dig deep to finish the ~500m.
As far as training, this has been "in mind" since November last year, when I started instructing the Hypo Half clinic. This kept me active through the winter. The summer training consisted of instructing the Intact half marathon group, combined with a bunch of cycling this summer, I think got me to where I wanted to be. I didn't lose as much weight as I had planned - though I certainly didn't gain any over the winter, it took me a long time to get any off. Most of it dropped off in the late summer, so I wound up doing most of my training at ~230lbs, instead of the closer to 210 I would have liked to be.
We stayed in Banff again, just like last year, and other than a considerable issue with what we were charged by the hotel, it worked out well. We bought a bus pass (which, if nothing else, just helped with getting on the bus with kids), but in the end, didn't use it as much as we had planned. We didn't stay Thursday to Sunday, as I mentioned last year, just based on the cost alone.
Since we had a kitchenette, and we were there with the rest of the family, meal planning was a bit easier, and wound up eating out for one dinner. Otherwise, we ate in the room (for the most part!).
I didn't get to run with any of my Running Room peeps, but did run with Heather for a good chunk of the run. We also had an AWESOME pace bunny for the group I was in, who was encouraging, motivating and made a huge difference for the run.
For next year .. I have no idea. I would love to shoot for a 2 hour finish, but I think I need to become more serious about gaining strength, and really do some speed training - and not just "go out and run". There's also a really good chance that Holly and I will do the 10k together.
Until then...
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