Whistler 50 Relay

You may remember my blog post from last year Haney to Harrison 100km Relay w/28 Chicks ...we clearly had a blast and its time to do it all over again.

Only the race has a new venue. EPIC Whistler. 

Whistler BC - photo credit monograms travel website

And we are letting a few dudes join us...

This photo actually comes up when you Google "dudes" - I'll take no photo credits on this one

So bring on the inaugural Whistler 50 Relay and Ultra

- We now interrupt this blog post for some music break time. I love this song and it seemed to fit right here cause we'll be on the run this weekend trying to smash last years finish result -

Time to get back at it. Blogging by the numbers:

3 teams

• We run like girls
• We run like gentleman
• We run like ladies & lads

24 runners

3 volunteers (shout out to my lovely friends Nicole, Christie and Marella for helping out)

Legs are 8km or 12km

Its been 11 months since I last ran a race

Its bee 11 months since I posted this bucket list blog post: Miwok 100km Ultramarathon 

Its been 10 months since someone drove their car head on into my car on Capilano Road

Over 120 visits to Moveo Sport and Rehab for Physio and Acupuncture to deal with consistent nagging nerve pain down my leg stemming from lower back injuries - thanks for the fantastic therapy and support ladies! You are worth the commute to North Van.

Countless hugs and never ending support from friends and family

And so I am a ready to take a small step towards returning to my love of trail running. I'll be running one of the short 8km legs. And hopefully I'll be able to enjoy it. I know I'm lucky to even be able to attempt this so I'll be running with a smile on my face, carrying high hopes for more racing days just like this one - hopefully on trails ;)

I'll leave you with the tunes that will fill my ears while I run and while I cheer on my team mates. Hope you enjoy my playlist. Below the playlist I've included a couple killer music videos from the playlist ~ 

SUGOI Spring Factory Sale

Haney to Harrison 100km Relay + 28 Chicks = Fab Times

Haney to Harrison Race Day.

Saturday, November 6th. 

Alarm goes off at 4:15am.

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.

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: 

1. Only go to Tim Horton's at 5am on a Saturday if you are in a pack.  Safey in numbers.
2. 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
3. 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
4. You need to scan the chip on the table at the exchange point
5. Pay attention to the road, and only hand out high fives when safe to do so
6. Don't forget to find your team mate as you approach the finishing area of your leg...don't run past them
7. I love relays!
8. Being on an all GIRLS team kicks butt
9. 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:

Apparently this team decides which leg they each run on the eve of the race via. a drunken poker game - might be an interesting poker game to get in on next year...or not.

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

Pre Haney to Harrison Relay

Last night I picked up my race package for the Haney to Harrison 100km road relay. While picking up my race package I learned that this will be my 1st and last time I get to run this race. It turns out next year they are moving the race to Whistler. After taking a moment to morn the end of this legendary race I began to get excited...I love Whistler, so this is actually fantastic news. I'm already scheming for next year.

Back to this years race. The race will be held on Saturday, November 6th, 2010. I'm part of a large group of girls heading to the relay from Vancouver. We will be making up 3 all girls relay teams with 8 girls on each team. The total relay is 100km and the relay leg distances range from 7.87km to 15.1km.

This will mark the 3rd year for the original team; ‘We Run Like Girls’ (this is the team I'm joining). Our crew will be joined by ‘We Run Like Girls Too’ and ‘We Run Like Girls Three’. I adore the team aspect that the relay is bringing to my running and the girlie bonding that this race is bringing out. Here is photo of the original 8 girls from - We Run Like Girls

Our group is made up of a variety of runners in term of our experience levels – for many girls, this is their very first race! For others, like our organizer extraordinaire Leah, this is simply another notch on her half marathon belt.

Leah came with me on my trip to San Francisco last month and also ran the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. It was her 10th half and she ran her little heart out to a PB half marathon time. In August she even ran the Great North Run (half marathon distance) in Newcastle, England! GO Stacker GO!! In addition to all this running and work she managed to pull together 23 girls and organized EVERY detail for us; hotels, dinners, rides, relay teams, relay legs, matching shirts...every detail.

We are all in our late twenties to mid thirties, climbing the corporate ladder mon-fri 9-5 and ready to smash this race and the take over the after party dance floor. Don't worry you won't be able to miss us on race day, as we will be sporting neon yellow Brooks long sleeve technical T's.

I'm running leg 2 which is described as follows:
Distance: 13.51 km (Very undulating to flat)
Garibaldi Senior Secondary to Stave Lake Dam. East on Dewdney Trunk Road. Flat to start, the road climbs steeply then becomes very undulating. Continue past Ruskin turnoff staying on Dewdney Trunk Road until Exchange 2 at Stave Lake Dam.

After my leg I'll change into warm dry clothes and follow my team as we complete the final legs. After the race is complete the party begins. We'll head back to the Harrison Hot Spring hotel to shower, get cleaned up, go "hot spring-ing", head for a big dinner and then hit up the rockin' after party with the 300 other relay teams. It is hosted in the Agassiz Agricultural hall which I'm told will be an "interesting treat" for us city chicks ;) The girls at the party last year.

Last pic from last year’s race, keep in mind this year will be 3 times as much trouble.

See you out there!

Nike Women's Half Marathon Playlist

Straight from my iPod to your computer. The tunes that helped me push through. Enjoy;)

Nike Women's Half Marathon

Two weekends ago I headed to San Francisco to hang out with 20,000 other women who all love to run. October 17th, 2010 marked the 7th annual Nike Women's Marathon. The race is one of the largest marathons in the US & is consistently ranked among the best to run. Couple that with the fact that you race through the streets of San Francisco to raise funds and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and how could you not want to make this your first road run half marathon?

The event was flawlessly executed with amazing attention to every detail. There was an electric (contagious) energy around the event that kept me up the night before sleepless with incredible excitement.

We were up early on race day 5:30am I ate a quick bowl of oatmeal and suited up for the race. My race day outfit consisted of; Black lululemon shorts, bright pink lululemon sports bra, black lululemon racer back T and the finishing touch a pretty pink lululemon headband.  (I'm not sure if I've ever shared but...I think I could win the award for most lululemon headbands owned by a non-employee. I just counted...I own 30.) I digress...this has no point to the race -sorry.

We headed to the starting area where we were confronted by a massive crowd of excited racers.

After a quick photoshoot (see my lion-ness hair below - Rawr) we were ready to check our bags and warm up.

I switched up my "race strategy" (if that's what you can call it) - last minute (i.e. 10 seconds into the race). It was a self seeding race and it turned out a lot of people seeded themselves in a faster pace group then they should have. Having run the Vancouver Sun Run early this year I thought back to great advice my friend Brad told me before that race. "Poach the sidewalk KT" and "rip for the first km's to get a head of all the slow humans". So I poached the sidewalk and gaver. At the 5km marker I noticed my time and realised if I wanted to finish this race I would need to dial back the intensity:) 

With that thought I settled into a pace I could maintain for the remainder of the race and began to enjoy the run. The route features spectacular views of the city, union square, the ocean and Golden Gate Park. The race was lined with cheering spectators and encouraging signage - my top three signs:

1. Run like you stole it!

2. I got up damn early, you better run fast!

3. Skinny jeans ahead

There was even a chocolate mile where they were handing out Ghirardelli chocolates. And if all this wasn't enough incentive to keep running upon crossing the finish line you were greeted by firefighters dressed in tuxedos handing out Tiffany's necklace to all participants who finish the race. The finish area was also home to massages, manicures, yoga classes, the Nike Expotique, tons of food, music and Ghirardelli chocolate.  What more could a girl ask for?

My buddy Pricey ran the race barefoot last year and filmed it click here to watch the video it shows some great parts of the race and of course his bare feet...yes he's crazy

The loot was wicked!
Official finisher necklace designed by Tiffany & Co.
100% recycled Nike Dri-Fit PINK finisher T-shirt
Bright pink race day bag
Tons of F/B samples

total time 1:45:04
32/2403 in my age group
188/20000+ overall

My my fab friends pictured above netted out as follows:
NB (in orange far left) -> finished her first half marathon in 2:17:00
KB (second from the right) -> finished her first half marathon in 2:07:00
LS (in blue on the right) -> finished her 10th half marathon with a PB 1:50:00

A fantastic way to spend a rainy saturday morning in San Francisco! Apres the race we headed by to the hotel to warm up and then for brunch and pedi's. I will admit the following;

1. I am so looking forward to my next race the Haney to Harrison Relay in 10 days
2. I'm debating running another road half marathon in November
3. I can't wait to return to this half next year
4. But I still LOVE & ADORE trail running so much more 

Lisztomania.

Last week was a busy one for me it was the first heavy training week I've had in a while. Here is the full recap.

monday
5 AM - stair climber 30 minutes speed intervals zone 3 intensity, targeted leg strength training and long stretch
PM - 40 minutes on the treadmill alternating incline and speed in zone 3 followed up with 4 sets of:
20 sit-ups, 30 jumping jacks, 20 burpees (with push ups) and 15 push ups (totally exhausted after this workout)

tuesday
PM - Grouse Grind after work - first time up in 2010

wednesday
5 AM - 46 minutes on treadmill zone 3 training; 2 mins at low end 1 min at high end and 1 min walk recovery in between
PM - 60 minute spin class with Tim and then 30 minute ab class

thursday
6 AM - stair climber 27 minutes interval training followed by a 17 minute circuit training session and long stretch

friday

6:30 AM - 60 minute spin class with Bob

PM - Grouse Grind followed by long stretch at gym

Post workout I went to the Phoenix concert (presented by Bell) which was absolutely brilliant, the sound filled the Orpheum. The crowd was on their feet the entire time. And they allowed the crowd on stage for the encore -

saturday
AM - 10 km bike ride and 50 minute run on treadmill in zone 1
After my workout I went for my MRI (where I fell asleep) and then I headed out to visit my very pregnant friend Ashlee.  She gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl this morning named Colbee!  Can't wait to meet her this coming weekend.  After that I went with Nicole squared (the napster and smeigel) and my Muss to a soccer fundraiser for dinner and then home to bed.

sunday
AM - 10 km bike ride and 1 hour 33 minutes in zone 1 on the treadmill for a total milage of 10 miles (longest run since my 50 km!! times of pain but for the most part felt good)
Afternoon/PM - Tourist in my city with my dad we walked around Vancouver for 3 hours taking photos of all the Olympic sites that are set up so far.

Today I'm feeling not bad but taking a well deserved rest day.  Hope to post some pics from my father daughter day shortly.