b_squared's 4th spring race - OTMH 5k - pg.2

[gnu]

Awesome!

[drghfx]

Well done!

[b_squared]

My 4th half marathon in the books - the Mississauga half on May 15. I put most of the race details in my journal so just a short report here.

As mentioned elsewhere, the weather was not ideal but it turned out to be not as bad as it was predicted. Cool, wet, a stiff breeze from the E / NE, but the major rain held off. The weather was a bigger factor pre- and post-race trying to stay warm in the first place and get warm at the end.

I had chance to chat briefly with BJH near the baggage truck and do a bit of running around the Walmart parking lot to stay loose before the gun went off (which was more like a cannon and scared the whole lot of us). I had the pleasure to share the first km with mid_packer Dave, which was a nice way to start the race. The first 6 km along Burnamthorpe were pretty uneventful runnning wise - a nice wide road through the typical Missy surburbia - so the pace and running was good. Saw a runningmania t-shirt at about 5k and introduced myself to Double Bellybuster and had a quick chat. The turn onto Mississauaga Rd started the long ~11k slight downhill. This is a really nice section - in stretches it reminds me of Rosedale Valley Rd. on the Toronto Marathon route. I felt really good through here pacing with a group of others and clicking through the kms. Walked through the aid station at the top of the hill at 10.5 km, which was my only on course water, and then bridged back up to the group for the rest of the way down towards the lakeshore. It must have been at about 15k where I noticed some discomfort in my outside right knee and right hip, so I knew that ITB was on the edge; I decided at that point to try to hold the pace to the end rather than push any harder. My lungs were fine but the legs weren't quite up to it.

As much as I liked the first 16k of the course, I have to be honest and say I didn't like the last 5km. Once the lakeshore is reached the course turns east follows a winding and twisting route which is a combination of paved trail, side streets, parking lots, and a bouncy bridge for good measure. It just didn't suit me and made it difficult to hold a pace with all the sharp turning. It would be great of the route could follow Lakeshore Rd, through the attractive Port Credit area.

So in the end, 1:37:08 chip time; second fastest of my four half marathons. Overall I am pleased with race and each of my 5km splits were pretty much bang on 23:00, so that was great.

In the finish area I took advantage of the tented stretching area with foam rollers to get the ITB loosened up and there is no lasting damage a day later. Saw BJH one more time and congratulated her/Msdesigner but it was otherwise to cold to hang out for long.

[gnu]

Well done!

I agree that the first part of the course is way nicer than the last bit.

[Jwolf]

Very nice! Congrats on a super performance.

[Hammie]

Congrats!

[Lightning]

Wow, very speedy. You know, now that you mention it, I could do away with that last part too. It feels very twisty, and it goes on FOREVER!!!!!

[QuickChick]

Great race! I know what you mean about the last 5K- I didn't like the winding turns either. I think it sounds like your season is starting off really well!

[Mid_Packer]

Good job Bryan, wish I could have stayed with you longer but you are too fast for me.
I thought we were on 1:40 pace to start so you must have picked it up a bit on the down hill with the wind on Burmahorpe.

Glad to hear ITB recovering. I won't be at Sulphur so who know where we'll meet again...

Dave

[Killerz]

Nice work!

[BJH]

Well done! Nice to see you, too!

[Robbie-T]

Good run man, too bad we didn't meet up. If you hate the last 5k of the half you better not run the second half of the full actually it isn't that bad but it does have some less attractive parts

whats next? Bread and Honey?

[b_squared]

Good run man, too bad we didn't meet up. If you hate the last 5k of the half you better not run the second half of the full actually it isn't that bad but it does have some less attractive parts

whats next? Bread and Honey?

I had a quick look for you at the front of the corral but didn't spot you.

Yep, Bread & Honey is up next for me. Are you going to defend your title??

[Robbie-T]

Good run man, too bad we didn't meet up. If you hate the last 5k of the half you better not run the second half of the full actually it isn't that bad but it does have some less attractive parts

whats next? Bread and Honey?

I had a quick look for you at the front of the corral but didn't spot you.

Yep, Bread & Honey is up next for me. Are you going to defend your title??

I'm thinking about it, I'll see how recovery goes the next couple weeks, I haven't done much speed work lately so I don't know if I'm totally ready for it.

[b_squared]

Bread & Honey 5k Race -June 5

Toed the line in Streetsville for the third time this morning at the Bread and Honey race. This is one of my favourite races; attracts some real top notch runners but is very much a low key, almost-family event. Organization has been good every time. Knowing the race and the course is a nice feeling going in to it. The weather this year was outstanding, blue skies, sunny, a little breeze - compared to last years strong winds and rain, this was awesome. Decided to run in a Mizuno Musha 2 for the first time. Very nice shoe for this race; so light but my feet felt great.

Arrived on site with plenty of time to get good parking, had a nice 3km easy warmup along the race route (said a quick 'Hi' to Pat Menzies and QuickChick) and had some good pre-race stretching. All systems go. When I went into the corral I was about 3rd-4th row from the front but by the time all the really fast folks piled into the front, I was more like 8th or 9th row, but that turned out OK. When we were off, someone literally shouted 'Go' into the microphone, since the gun or horn didn't work

Within a few seconds of starting I saw Pat just ahead of me, who went old school in a cotton T-shirt, so I tucked in a few meters behind him figuring he'd be going just under 4:00/k. My plan was for 3:55 splits and I hit the first km marker pretty close at 3:57. Legs were feeling good and the turnover was just right and we kept rolling along, 3:54, 3:54 so the first 3km done in 11:45, exactly where I'd hoped to be. The 4th km of this course is the most challenging as you go under a train-track overpass and the hill coming up the other side is longer than the downhill and, though not it is not a big hill, it is a challenge: 4th km done in 3:58. Still on sub-20 pace. I gathered myself at the crest of the hill and focused on finishing, picked up what pace I could and tried to get my legs going a bit faster on the slightly rolling final 1km. With 25m to go and the finish in sight I couldn't go faster, so I was happy and crossed the line: 5th km split 3:43, for a chip time of 19:31! Altogether a great run for me, start to finish.

This ended up being a 2 sec PB, which I set in the same race last year (I like this course, rain or shine!) and second in my AG but I couldn't stay long enough to pick up the plaque. All in all, a nice way to start a Sunday.
Thanks for reading!

[Jwolf]

Awesome! Great race.

[QuickChick]

It was nice to see you! Sorry I was so incoherent at the end- haha. A bit of Gatorade, and I was a new woman 10 mins later!
GREAT job on the race today. After the year you've had, I'm so glad to see you setting pb's again.

[Sandra]

Way to go on the pB!

[HCcD]

Awesome race and PB ... congratulations !!!

[Doonst]

He's back! Well done.

[casual-runner]

Great run

[b_squared]

June 19 - OTMH 5k

This is a local event which is a very fun, family friendly, race in support of the hospital. Since it occurs on Father's Day there is a pretty decent post-race party with a bunch of kids activities
Last year, I, along with the ~30 others, all short-coursed by about 400m so this year I wanted to make sure I ran the whole thing
It was a beautiful day, I had a nice warm up and felt good. Although it is a chip-timed event, there is no starting mat. So, even though it's small race, for your time to be accurate you need to be close to the start; the start 'line' is a pylon at the end of someone's driveway!

I had a good run; my effort level was high, but controlled, from the start. The official time was 20:21. Splits from my garmin (which add to 20:05; not sure why the difference) were:
3:48
4:07
4:09
4:10
3:51

Ended up 17th overall, and 3rd in my AG; bumped up to second with the Master's roll down.

The middle three kms were tough and I tried dropping into another gear but it just wasn't there today. There are probably a half-dozen reasons why I was slower than at Bread and Honey but I think the biggest factor is the course itself. It's a loop course, with a steep descent in the first 1km and the remaining 4km are a rolling climb back to the start; it's a tough course to go your fastest especially with the finishing 400m on an incline.
All-in-all another good day at the races.
Next up might be the Peachbud race June 28 in Grimsby, or Ray's Boathouse race in Hamilton July 9.

[richie-rich]

it was a nearly perfect day to race on sunday morning. great time on that course. like you say - it's not so much the steep uphill on the 2nd km it's the sneaky inclines for the rest of the course. and congrats for running the full 5km this year. well done!