Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

We want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly!
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purdy65
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Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby purdy65 » Sun May 25, 2014 7:06 pm

I was so excited to get the opportunity to join the ORW pace team again! The marathon distance this time. This gave me a whole new challenge! Something different that I could dig my teeth into. Plus it was an excuse to head back to the vaunted Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend to run the Scotiabank marathon...OK, there aren't enough title sponsors ;)

The weekend started with an uneventful drive ...Well, until we got downtown, and then we managed to get turned around as usual. Its not that complicated. We just have a mental block. :)

We brought the puppy with us, so we checked in and took him to the nearest grassy spot - Parliament Hill! He was a good boy and did his business :)

Then we took him back to the room and headed over to the Expo to pick up my race kit and bunny kit. I had a great chat with John Stanton. We also took a spin around the displays. Why are there never any big deals at these things?

Saturday was the friendship run which was great fun! Andy got some photos of me, and there are a couple on John Stanton's fb page. Andy also,took some amazing photos of Bailey! Some posted on fb :). Andy needs to move on to his second career as an animal photographer!

Later in the day we headed over to watch the 10 k. It took a bit, but we finally found a spot to watch. Wow. Fast. So fast they passed before you could blink (at least the elites)! It was a,gorgeous night for it.

We left so that I could call it a night.

I slept OK until about 2, but nerves had me tossing and turning for the rest of the night. I got up for food at 4 and went to get us coffee. I had oatmeal and banana , got my gear ready and headed out. Bailey and James walked me to the start, which was 2 minutes from the hotel. I also met up briefly with some Running Room friends!

Next stop was the porta potty. One of my water bottle fell in the toilet. Great. Guess I'll be relying more on the aid stations than planned. :( I was also getting a bit if a headache. All nerves. I was hoping I could overcome them.

Conditions were awesome, but it was going to warm up soon :(

In the corals, I had a huge group with questions. They were all nervous too. It was great fun! I was feeling so much pressure to be perfect though. Yikes! Let's get this show on the road! And just like that we were off!

The first few kilometers were crowded, of course, but people seemed well seeded.

During these early miles it was easy to get chatting with the group, and I found myself losing focus on my job a couple of times! It was nice having the company though. As the miles went on though, people got quieter. Pretty soon the only question I was getting was "when is the next walk break?"

As far as pace goes, I was rock steady, but a little fast. I was constantly missing mile markers so I was going by feel and my garmin, but it was off a bit. At the 10k mat I was 1 minute fast, and the same at the half.

The second half started to heat up, so I began taking in more fluids and gels. I kept a,steady pace though, and was still more than a minute fast at 30k.

I was not slowing down at all and reached 41k with way too much time banked. Psst. I took an extra 30 second walk break , and told everyone to go!

When I saw the finish, I just made a nice peppy jog for it. I saw 4:29 on my garmin so I was happy! Mostly I was happy to finish, and relieved it went well! So it was basically a 2:14/2:15 split.

Chip time 4:29:06

Despite some problems with the water stations and the finish area I love ORW! The excitement around town is awesome, and support for the event is unbelievable. There were huge crowds in places.

After the race we had a nice visit with Andy and canalrunner. That was nice!

I'll be back, I don't know about next year yet, because I hope to run Boston, but some year.

On a final note, pacing is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in running. I could go on forever about why, but just to be in a position to be able to do it is awesome.

Those of you who can, really should give it a try!

Thanks for your support all!
Last edited by purdy65 on Mon May 26, 2014 4:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Jwolf
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Jwolf » Sun May 25, 2014 7:17 pm

Great report Lisa! Nice pacing.
How many people started with you and how many finished?
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby HCcD » Sun May 25, 2014 7:20 pm

Congratulations, on another succesful bunny gig Lisa ... :)

It was great seeing you and your DH again .. and, my little fur-buddy Bailey ...:)
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Habs4ever » Sun May 25, 2014 7:36 pm

Congratulations Lisa! I knew you would do a fantastic job. :D
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby chunkymonkeymelonhed » Sun May 25, 2014 9:28 pm

Congratulations pace bunny!! You did an amazing job- thank you for helping many people achieve their goal :D
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby RobW » Sun May 25, 2014 11:08 pm

Great pacing! Well done.

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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby 5km » Sun May 25, 2014 11:12 pm

Habs4ever wrote:Congratulations Lisa! I knew you would do a fantastic job. :D

Ditto! Congrats!

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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Miss*Smiles » Mon May 26, 2014 4:42 am

Fantastic! Congratulations!
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby canalrunner » Mon May 26, 2014 5:43 am

I will add my thanks. Lisa did a great job at 430. Long winter and a warmish day especially at the end of the marathon made for a tough day for a lot of marathoners and some pacers. A couple of DNFs for pacers which is very unusual at ORW. It was great to chat with Lisa and Andy after. One of the great additions this year was a concert series and a beer garden at City Hall close to the finish line. Motivated me for a strong finish.
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby trixiee » Mon May 26, 2014 6:04 am

Good on you Lisa! :dance:
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby scrumhalfgirl » Mon May 26, 2014 6:20 am

congrats bunny!
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Robinandamelia » Mon May 26, 2014 7:54 am

You did incredible Lisa, congratulations!

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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby MikeM » Mon May 26, 2014 8:27 am

Well done! Congrats on a hitting your pacing goal on a humid day!

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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby HCcD » Mon May 26, 2014 8:31 am

Lisa with her Fan Club at the Bunny Hop .... :)

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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby purdy65 » Mon May 26, 2014 9:30 am

Awwwwwww :)
It's not the size of the dog in the fight...it's the size of the fight in the dog! 11K Marker post - 2010 ATB.

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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby purdy65 » Mon May 26, 2014 2:38 pm

OK. I finally dug up my splits. A little bouncier than I thought, but still good!

1-5k. 31:33
5-10k. 31:22
10-15k 31:48
15-21.1 k. 39:22
21.1-25k 24:33
25-30k 32:36
30-35k 31:46

35-40k 32:15

40-42.2. 14.22

A lot of the pace times depended on the placement of walk breaks, but there was a bit of slow down.

Fun to analyze. I love that they had so many split times!
It's not the size of the dog in the fight...it's the size of the fight in the dog! 11K Marker post - 2010 ATB.

Introducing 2017

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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Jo-Jo » Mon May 26, 2014 2:42 pm

Great pacing job Lisa!
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby grimskot » Mon May 26, 2014 5:00 pm

Nicely done. Congratulations on a fine job :)
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Ken B » Mon May 26, 2014 5:09 pm

Okay - I don't know which part is better - the report, the pacing job, or the photo!! I know -- they are all great!! Congratulations, Lisa!

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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Kelodie » Tue May 27, 2014 2:20 pm

Good job, bunny! :D

Pacing does sound very rewarding. Thank you for sharing your experience!
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Mark.AU » Tue May 27, 2014 11:55 pm

Great job Lisa - I bet there's a fair few folks thanking you this week for making their race experience an even more positive one.
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Re: Lisa's ORW Bunny Report

Postby Avis » Wed May 28, 2014 9:09 pm

Sounds like you were a terrific bunny, and you enjoyed it, too. Your "pace-peeps" were very lucky, indeed. Well done!
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