Saturday, November 6th.
Alarm goes off at 4:15am.
I was prepared - for once.
I was prepared - for once.
Friday night I had packed all my food for race day including; cookies for the team (freshly baked on Friday evening) and oatmeal for breakfast (cooked and ready to reheat) complete w/cinnamon and blueberries oh my!
My bags were packed and my race clothes were laid out.
My bags were packed and my race clothes were laid out.
4:53am text from Kath "I'm leaving my house - see you in 5"
Katherine and Amanda arrive at my house at 4:57am right on time, we made a quick stop to pick up Jess and then maked a quick stop at the 24hr Tim Hortons.
Note: Tim's attracts a unique crowd at 5am on a Saturday morning
We had three teams entered into the race; "We Run Like Girls," "We Run Like Girls Too" and "We Run Like Girls Three". We drove to the start line to meet up with our leg 1 runners; Ang, Steph and Emily after a short scheming session about the race, we wished them good luck and the runners were off. Game on!
Above: The girls of leg 1
Below: The girls of the early morning legs
Also spotted at the start line-
We headed to the first exchange point at the start of leg 2 - my leg. Distance: 13.51 km (Very undulating to flat). I did a quick warm up and was tagged in at around 7:15am, still pitch black out and much earlier then I normally run.
I'll admit I hadn't reviewed the course map or elevation chart prior to running, I knew that the leg was tough and that it was rolling hills - that was enough info for me. Overall I felt pretty good during my run, I haven't been doing a lot of distance running but I have been trying to focus on shorter more intense runs. Its honestly all I've had time to fit in. This definitely helped me during the race. The hills were not super steep or long but I was consistently running up or down, the intensity training helped me fight through the lactic build up & burn ;) My run was really enjoyable and I even managed to "almost" high five one of the blue man group (also known as the Chachie Brothers relay team). However I missed and in doing so almost fell into a ditch...awesome! But I think recovered nicely and I don't think too many people saw.
This was my first time being involved in a relay team like this and I learned some good lessons:
- Only go to Tim Horton's at 5am on a Saturday if you are in a pack. Safey in numbers.
- Be ready at the exchange area at least 10 minutes before the "expect" change over - I wasn't totally ready for the initial pass off from leg 1
- Neon yellow shirts aren't always a bad thing, I have accepted this color in addition to Pink for running - saved my life from cars during my dark run
- You need to scan the chip on the table at the exchange point
- Pay attention to the road, and only hand out high fives when safe to do so
- Don't forget to find your team mate as you approach the finishing area of your leg...don't run past them
- I love relays!
- Being on an all GIRLS team kicks butt
- Be prepared for the unexpected i.e. The Chachie Brothers relay - ok so maybe I had been warned to watch out for the Blue Unitard wearing sprinters but can anything really prepare you for this:
In the end I netted out with an official time of 1:06:16 including my terrible transition points. That works out to a pace time of 4:55/km and was good enough for 14/105 women for this leg. Woop Woop.
After my leg we headed back to Harrison Hot Springs Resort, warmed up in the Hot Springs and then heading to the finish line to cheer on our remaining team members as our teams finished the race.
"We Run Like Girls" ended up coming in 4th place in the open women's category with a total relay time of 8:15:43. Way to rock it ladies! Here are two shoots of my relay team-
After all three of your teams finished the relay we of course put on our real game faces for a finish line photo shoot like any respectable chick would.
After the photoshoot we headed to the local pub for eats & drinks and then headed to the legendary "barn party" which is just too debaucherous to write about on this blog but I will say it was one heck of a party! (I didn't take any photos.)
Here are some more of my favourite shots from the day
Above our adorable volunteers and below our cheering squad
The girls were all smiles all day!
*Fantastic setting*
It wasn't all ladies, all day - I spotted my friend Ward + Pricey came to crew for us too! lucky boys ;)
Stacey and I below
(I'm slowly (and secretly) poaching Stacey (Pricey GF) muah haha)
Thanks again to my friend Leah for bringing together so many great ladies and for organizing a fantastic weekend! You did a wonderful wonderful job. (This is Leah)
Last fun shots
Good bye Harrison ~ see you in Whistler 2011
