Emilie's Run 2012

Emilie's Run 2012 Start Video

2012

2011

Holy deja vu Batman! Looking at my race photos and having that deja vu moment I had to ask myself why I keep running the same races year after year? It does seem kind of boring after all. Is it because,

a) it's a good way to compare fitness from one year to the next

b) it's a good way to master the particular nuances of that race

c) it's a good way to learn that even if the event is the same, no two races are and you learn something different every time.

d) it's a good way to compare race photos and plan for next year's outfit

e) it's a good way to get a new pic for your avatar

d) all of the above

To expand a bit on a few of the above points, although running the same race year after year is a good way to compare to the previous year's performance it is not a 100% full proof way of comparing ones fitness. For example this year I am a bit delayed in my speed training and having raced less my head is just getting into "racing mode" now so although I ran the race a little slower this time around I still have the potential to run a faster 5km in a few weeks time.

Having the chance to get familiar with the same race year after year means there is less to digest on race day. Travelling was easier as I knew where I was going, when I got there I also knew where the bathrooms, the registration, the best place to warm-up and where the start and finish lines were. None of that was a concern although having that knowledge also made it all a bit less, "eventful" and the excitement of being part of Canada's largest women's only 5km which was a big deal to me last year was kinda lost in the familiarity of it all. Running the race itself was like getting a, "do over" and I definitely had last year's mistakes in mind and hoped to not repeat them as the sound of the horn sent me on my way.

Though I was a bit disappointed in the overall time I was happy with the way I kept believing even when I was losing hope and I know that having gotten through that tough patch in the race will help me tons come next Saturday when I defend my course record at the Sydenham 5km. Not that my time of 21:45ish has any chance of holding up this year due in part to the fact that I mentioned the race to Joanne Armstrong in the grocery store yesterday. She told me she has been racing 800's lately while training with her phenomenally fast daughter Nicole(who is busy training for the Junior Nationals) and is scared of 5kms again so thinks she will jump in the race to get one under her belt again. Now if I could only, "do over" that conversation;-)

2012-06-23 | Sports4 Emilie's Run 5k Mass start

My workout from yesterday

My workout from yesterday, 15 cd not showing(now you know how i got through highschool). Then I went and put sunscreen on and kinda smeared it all but was still legible enough during the workout.  It was hard but the "longish" recoveries helped me to hit all of the designated paces. It was my last real workout before my race on the 23rd other then a low end tempo run tomorrow. Legs are sore today...must rest!

I am approx. a week out from my second showing at Emilie's 5km Run in Ottawa. This year's build up for that race has turned out to been vastly different from last year's. Racing wise last year at this point I had run a snowshoe race, a 5km, an 8km(ran a pr by a few seconds), another 5km(and realized my ankle was cranky) then raced at Emilie's on a sore foot and ankle. I had also had a few other injuries including both my hips causing me some grief at various times and my ongoing foot calf ankle issue had me seeing a new physiotherapist, Stacee for treatment.

This year I ran the snowshoe race, the 5km(1min slower then last year), a 10km trail race(very fun race through the woods), the 8km I pr'd on last year I ran as a hard tempo using heart rate guidelines and was not running for time(2min slower). I was quite ill for a few weeks in March which put back my training by the same and a sore quad was an on again off again issue. This week I am finally feeling like I might have some "CONTROLLED" speed back after having spent many long slow hours on the hilly trails and roads of the Gould Lake Conservation area building base all winter. So after last night's progressive interval session I am ready to try Emilie's Run again. I am setting more realistic goals based on my training so will probably be starting out thinking I will try to run 22:30ish AGAIN...but will try to progressively run faster like I have been doing during my workouts and best case scenario will be a sub 22. No Sub-20s on the horizon this year anyhow but I really do think that miracles can happen. A better word for miracle in this case would be, "breakthrough" because I have had breakthroughs before so I know they do happen.

The thing is, one can never really know what it is your body is waiting for for it to take that leap of faith that allows a breakthrough to happen. Right now it is important for me to keep things real, keep fighting for every gain and/or fight back from every setback and being prepared for the idea that a breakthrough may never happen while at the same time BELIEVING IT COULD! There are no guarantees so I am enjoying the process and being satisfied with all that I can accomplish which is perhaps in the end even more important then running that ever elusive, "X TIME".