Ottawa Fall Colours 5k, Oct. 11: My only race this year!

The past year certainly has been fraught with injury.

Hip pain = no running = no marathons = no triathlons

Sigh ... I'd even taken a good three months completely off running which helped a bit, then started running again lightly in late July hoping to be able to enjoy some part of the racing season before it was over.

Thought I'd race a Half Ironman in Ottawa in August, then thought I'd settle for the Sprint Tri because of my lack of training and the fact that my bum hip was still fragile. Nope, didn't end up racing at all ... As the Gods would have it, I had a film shoot the day before race day AND my friend's baby came early, meaning that staying at his house would have been pandemonium!

Then I thought about running the Ottawa Fall Colours 5k and encouraged my friend RB to do his very first race ever at the same time. I hate 5k's but for a friend, I was willing to tough it out.

We drove up bright and early to Ottawa from Montreal. My kids weren't too happy when I woke them at 5am, well, when I *tried* to wake them up that is. (I wasn't happy getting up at 4:50am either.) I told them they could sleep in the car. And sleep they did. We let them continue sleeping in the car in the parking lot as we went to pick up our race kits and I registered my youngest son for his race.

It was a beautiful day, a little cloudy but sunny nonetheless. But boy was it frigid! BRRRR! The morning temperature was down close to freezing and the sharp wind pierced our many layers of clothing. We were happy to get back into the car and await the start of the race.




This cosy little race was well-organised and very friendly. The 10k racers completed a loop around the field before heading out of the park and then it was our turn to line up. Where was the start line? RB and I just went with it and stood anywhere. I bid farewell to my son GMH whose race start would come up after we finished running our loop in the park.

The thing I hate about 5k races is the fast start, and then unfortunately, it usually only gets faster.

RB was pumped with adrenalin, this being his first race and all, and sped ahead of me, though I think he thought he was running beside me. I, on the other hand, had absolutely no surge of adrenalin coursing through my body but only wished I did, since I think it would have helped me to overcome the sudden tightness in my lungs due to the cold air rushing in quickly. Damn asthma!

I've never been good at fast starts and tend to get faster only after a few kilometers of warming up, then I'm usually good to go for another 15 or more km! Ha ha!

Nope, 5k races are not my favourite ... Don't let the smile on my face fool you. I'm only posting the good pic, the pic where I'm aware of the photographer, not the candid pics caught of me grimacing from not being able to breathe.

I told RB to go ahead, since clearly his legs and lungs were ready to take him much faster than I. Great, more pressure on me to keep up. Course was quite pretty as it wound through the quiet neighbourhood and semi-countryside. Two good little hills which I creeped up slowly ... Are we almost done? Geez, I don't remember marathon runs being this arduous. Then back into the park we went for the last loop, and lo and behold, finally, the Finish Line! Yay!

My results:

Gun time 29:42
Pace 5:57
Category place 5/23
Gender place 44/188
Overall place 127/315

RB's results:

Gun time 29:42
Pace 5:57
Category place 9/13
Gender place 83/127
Overall place 126/315

Hmmm ... There must have been some walkers since we weren't running that quickly.

My younger son decided to run the 3k, though when he was 7, he ran the 5k with me in 37:16 totally untrained. I was able to convince him to run this time since there was a medal at the end :-D Like mother, like son! GMH didn't want to wear run-specific clothes though so he ran it with his clunky sneakers, big jacket and jeans. Oh, and of course, my race gloves since he got cold waiting for the race to start. What can a Mom do?

GMH's results:

Gun time 17:03
Gender placement 28/37
Overall placement 28/63



Of course, we had to celebrate with food afterwards ... yummy Italian in the Byward Market. Ottawa is truly a beautiful little city!

My first real 5k race!

Shortly after the Ottawa marathon, TB asked me if I'd be interested in running a 5k race with him north of Montreal in Laval.

I've got wheels. He doesn't. He's got fast legs. I don't.

Obvious answer: "I'll go out and support you but I won't run it."

Wrong answer: "I'll go out and support you but I won't run it."

TB signed me up online right there and then and told me that I'd be running it with him and chuckled heartedly ... sigh. What had he gotten me into?!?

I've never run a race shorter than a half marathon (well, a 5k once with my kids, but that was to pace them) and to tell you the truth, fast races give me the heebie-jeebies! I can handle the long periods of pain a body experiences from the wear-and-tear of endurance races but there is something about knowing I am supposed to run as fast as I can that puts too much pressure on me. Besides, I hate feeling all huffy-puffy like I want to pass out or puke or both.

So race day came. I had been dreading this and felt nervous.

I had been psyching myself up for this for a while, not through training 'cause you and I know I ain't any good in that department but at least I was mentally prepared to hurt. The mental part of racing is my forté. I ain't got any real running talent. I fake it all the time and today, I knew I wouldn't be able to fake it anymore. The moment of truth had arrived.

We arrived at at the address on the race info pages TB had printed out from the internet at 9:00 am with enough time to spare. WHAT?!?!

Our hearts and stomachs dropped. Where were the other cars? The runners, race tent, timing mats, and all that other great race excitement stuff? The race was scheduled to start at 9:30 am!! Something was very very wrong and we didn't know what to do.

After a good 10 minutes of disbelief and disheartenment, we drove off to check out the 10k start, perhaps we would find everyone there. No one, nada. We went back to the 5k start. Yup, right address. Yup, right start time. No one except us.



Could it have been the wrong date on the internet pages? No ... there would be other runners in the same position as us, driving around aimlessly, hoping to find a race. Accepting our disappointment, we called it a day and headed back home. Several kilometres west, we had seen people setting up pylons and on our way back, we decided to stop and ask one of the volunteers for which event that was ... It was OUR RACE! We quickly drove further west in search for our precious 5k start line and after a few minutes, saw a bunch of souls in running gear huddled by a house, but there were no other signs of a race.

"Excuse me, is this the 5k start?"

Luckily, the race was starting late. Parking, parking, we had to find parking.

I quickly put on my running shoes and TB and I both made potty stops in the nearby field as there were no port-o-lets at this tiny race! Then we started jogging to the start line over a 100 m away. But the little pack of people weren't getting any closer - the race had already started! There had been no gun or audible start signal. We ran quicker and arrived at the start line. I was already out of breath, which was not a good sign. TB looked at me and said, "This will be our race time," then started the chronometer on his watch and we were off!

Not the ideal conditions to start a race ... a semi-sprint to the start line with no warm up nor stretching nor time to mentally prepare for a strong start. TB quickly caught up to the rest of the runners. I tried to pace myself but the tail end of the runners being so far away was daunting. I knew I was running too fast and wouldn't be able to keep that pace for the entire race, but I needed to feel a part of the race, and call it ego, but I especially needed to pass the children and the runners with strollers.

I tried to concentrate on keeping even breathing, but it already hurt and I could feel my asthma wanting to kick in. I also tried to keep a quicker turn-over than what I'm used to when I run long distance, but I knew that with the bad start and no warm-up, I wouldn't be able to open up my stride and find something comfortable. I felt tight and heavy and slow and forced my pace but I succeeded in passing some more runners.

Where were the mile markers? I needed to figure out my pacing to try to salvage the race but hadn't a clue where I was ... The last 2km dragged out and I could feel my legs getting even heavier. My turn-over got slower and I started feeling tingly in my arms and shoulder and a little dizzy. I could feel my blood pressure dropping and this was not a good sign. I am not used to exerting myself like this and had to slow down just a tad to avoid passing out.

TB, having finished the race, ran back and joined me for the last 500 m or so ... He bounding with energy and I felt so slow and weak. He called out words of encouragement ... "We're coming up the the final stretch ... blah, blah, blah ..." and I put up my hand to stop him from speaking. I didn't have enough energy to do anything but focus on pushing forward and breathing and keep from passing out and TB's well-intentioned call-outs were distracting me from the task I had at hand.

FINISHED!!! Finally!

A volunteer handed me my finisher's medal and another one removed my timing chip. I leaned over a barrier and the blood rushed back to my head as I caught my breath. This is why I don't like fast races.

It was only then did I notice that hey, here was where all the "race excitement" was ... look at that tent and the tables and banners and the all those colourful plates full of fruit waiting to be gobbled down.

We ran into one of TB's race buddies, Christine, who recognized me from having read my blog (COOL!). What a lovely person ... we shared race stories and jokes as we awaited the awards ceremony and prize draws. Nope, we didn't win the airplane tickets. Shucks.

Would I do this race again? You bet your bottom dollar. Would I be able to get used to the kind of torture a fast race elicits on my body? No, but the post-race excitement and socializing was so much fun! And the best part was I wasn't hurting or completely spent, like I am after a marathon, meaning I could still go out and have a full day.

TB and I walked the several kilometres back to my car while our shoulders fried in the sun. We stumbled upon the 5 k start line on the bicycle path ... yup, folks, that is gaffer tape.



Then we headed back to Montreal and celebrated our race with some DQ (Dairy Queen).



Policemen in police vehicles stop for doughnuts. Policemen on horses stop for ice cream.

Chip time: 28:41 (we started 1:10 behind everyone)

TB's watch time: 27:31 (about an 8:50/mile pace)

Admittedly not as fast as I would have liked. I would have run much faster if I could have paced myself properly and had had a proper warm-up and start. I think training for this race would have helped me get a better time ... but hey, I did good for a girl who's got no speed and has only run all of 18 or 19 k in the last three weeks :-)

I came in 21st out of 42 runners, meaning I passed 21 people. TB came in 8th. We both would have moved up in ranking by 2 spots had we started with everyone else ... but we didn't. The race was what it was and it was worth it!

What an incredible day! Thanks TB!!

Race Reports

Hey there,

There's some hefty reading here, but I hope your enjoy finding out what motivates me to race and also what goes on in my mind while I am racing. I am in the midst of posting all my race reports so please check back often for additions.

Don't say "I can't". Believe "I will" then just do it. Nothing is impossible.

Cheers!

Bonnie

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Please click on the links ...

2009
Ottawa Fall Colours 5k October 11

2008
Ironman Louisville August 30
Oka Sprint Tri June 8

2007
Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon September 30
Défi de la Saint-Jean 5k June 24
Ottawa Marathon May 27

2006
New York Marathon November 4
Ironman Canada August 27
Memphremagog Half Ironman July 30
Triathlon des Îles (sprint) May 13

2005
Honolulu Marathon
Yamachiche Half-Marathon

2004
Barbados Half-Marathon
Suzuki Rock’n’Roll San Diego Marathon June 6
Ottawa Half-Marathon May 30

2003
Barbados Marathon December 3
Toronto International Marathon October 19
Quebec Half-Marathon August 24
Yamachiche Half-Marathon
Ottawa Marathon May 11
Montreal Half-Marathon April 13

2002
Niagara Marathon October 27
Hartford Marathon October 12
Quebec Marathon August 25

2001
Toronto International Marathon October 14
Quebec Marathon August 26
Yamachiche Half-Marathon July 14


* I race to collect shiny medals and I especially love travelling to race!