Island Girl Relay Race 2015

After a week of rest since my last run, the island girl relay race had finally come up.  My friend Susan and I had signed up earlier in the year for this.  Like the previous year, the run would start with Susan running the first leg, and me running the second.

Unfortunately, as they say, the best laid plans, oft goes awry!

The night before the race, susan called and told me she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be able to do the race.  lol but she said I could totally do her leg too if I wanted to, and I completely balked at the idea.  The year before I had "winged" a full marathon, and it was one of the toughest things to go through.  lol I wasn't planning on just waking up and doing a half marathon.  

I told her to rest up, and that I too was considering of not going too.  Ironically about 5 minutes before she had called, I had just fallen while going up on an escalator.  The result was bruising on my shins, and some scraping of the skin too.  Eck.  Not a good way to prepare for a race the next day.

At any rate, I did still want to see if I could do it, since there was no pain (at least noticeable), when I put weight on my right leg.  I figured that if anything, I would just go to the island and if my leg did hurt, I would just walk around and skip the race.  

I set my alarm, one for 6am and one for 6:30am as backup.  If anything, one of them should wake me up since I had planned to catch either the 6:00am or the 7:30am ferry.  

Race Day

I missed my 6am alarm.  And my 6:30am alarm.  It was 6:50am when I got up, and so like a mad woman, I raced to put on my gear and thankfully the night before I had set that all up.  

Freshening up and all geared up (plus a jacket!), I was out the door and waiting for the street car by 7:05am.    This was really cutting things close.  The ferry would definitely leave promptly at 7:30am.. would I even make it?

I got to the ferry docks at 7:34am.  Lol totally missed the boat.

Fortunately, it seemed I wasn't the only there for the race.  There were in fact race crew people there, with their wagon of stuff as well.  There was an 8:00am ferry to Centre Island.  Phew.

While waiting, I laced up my timing chip and also discovered that there were no safety pins in my race kit envelop.  No worries, I knew that the baggage check-in area always had safety pins available.  

The ferry ride was quite uneventful, though I saw a super cut dog on it with his owner.   I so wanted to pet him (or her).

Arriving on the island I had about 20 minutes to spare since my race didn't start till 8:40am.  I checked in my baggage and got my safety pins to attach my bib to my running shirt.  Sadly this year, Island girl package didn't include a free tshirt, but instead sandals.  Liked the sandals, super cute, but the shirt would have been more of a practical use for me in the long run. 

Once I had checked in the bag I realized then that I hadn't eaten for the morning.  Sigh.  How could I have forgotten such an obvious thing?  Worse was also I had forgotten to bring my bottle of water! 

Great. 

lol.  I would just have to make do, I knew there were a few water stations along the way.  Just had to last until I got to them.  Hunger.. well, I would deal with that later.   It was too late to eat, the race was starting in a few minutes!

I took this time to speak with the race crew on what I should do since I was doing the relay solo.  I was told by them that I would just do the first leg and then just head to finish line afterwards.

That sounded just fine by me lol as long as there was no expectation of me running both legs haha.  Though honestly the chance of that happening was quite impossible.

Race Start

8:40am finally came and off I went.  I seemed to enjoy the morning run a bit more, something about the time of doing the runs make quite the difference.  The race route interestingly also went through the boardwalk section, just like the previous week, except I was going the opposite way.

As I was running along the route, I saw the km signs for the half marathoners and I couldn't help but think about what I was up for in October.  The 10.5 k was already quite a feat for me, lol I had dropped in cardio after not consistantly running.  

Once my allergies subsides more, I would start more outside training.  It would be good to get some fresh air as well.

I crossed the relay transfer point, did a virtual tag to my missing partner and then made my way to the finish line.

I left the island not too long after that, got a hair cut :P and then went boating - ironically, right back on the harbourfront again!

Island girl relay, until next year as well!

Longboat Run 2015

The Longboat Run was a race that I decidedly joined because there was a discount for it after doing a run earlier in August.  It was also probably not my wisest choice either, lol considering that I had a wedding to attend the night before - that lasted till 2am in the morning!  Thankfully the wedding took place at a boutique hotel and a room was booked for our stay.  I recall asking my friend susan if she wanted to do the run with me, and she had skyped me "LOL", and declined saying that we would be up too late into the night before.  

At any rate, she was right.

I didn't get to bed till 4:15am in the morning, and was up by 8:30am.  The race thankfully was later in the afternoon at 11am, so I had some time to relax when I got there.  

I was out the door of the hotel room by 9:15am and managed to grab some breakfast at... McDonalds. lol Oh the choices we make.  The night before I didn't have my pasta (delicious steak instead!), so I thought to substitute it with eating bread and .. potatoes. lol  At any rate, I thought eating hashbrowns would be helpful... I have to admit, it was a pretty bad idea. Although normally I love McDonald's hashbrowns, it felt more heavy and greasy then I expected.  No time to regret though, once I ate it, I just had to live with it lol - flash back to french fries eaten hours before a race a few years ago.

I got to the island with probably about 40 minutes to spare, so I put on my Bib and checked in my heavy luggage (overnight clothes and dresses for the reception).  In some ways, I had hoped to get there pretty much with less time to spare since it was so chilly.  

Race Start

The 5ks were the first to run at 11:00am sharp.  10 minute later, we finally started the run.  In one hand I held a bottled water and in the other I held on to my phone.  I know, really not the most stylish, I should get some sort of armband for the phone, but I hadn't had time to go shopping for one that would fit my new android phone.  I had one previously for my iPhone, though even for that one, I rarely used it.  I would just tuck into my running water belt since it was small enough to fit it.  I wouldn't dream of trying that my android phone lol, likely burst the seams of my water belt.  

The run started off well, I kept up with a good group of people, but I was really tired.  I guess sleeping for 4 hours doesn't really make good for race day.  The cool air, which I had complained much about earlier, though actually aided me.  It was really refreshing.  It reminded me of my training in the winter time (when I had a goofy race to do in January).  Although those training days made my face freeze up ("I can't feel my face when I'm with you"...), this was more of a consistent cool breeze.  

The course for the race was rather nice.  I didn't have a chance to look at it, so I didn't expect a section to be grassy nor a section where we would run on the boardwalk.  It was really pleasant.  Well, the grass part anyway.  The boardwalk was not quite as fun as I imagined it since it had rained the day before, making the wood a little slippery.  There were two runners in front of me, one had slipped twice.  Ouch.  I felt very bad for her, but good on her she kept on going.  

Near the end of the boardwalk, there were a few walkers, including myself, since it was pretty slippery.  I had nearly slipped, and started walk-jog, slowing down the pace.

It was kind of funny; near the end of the boardwalk path, there was an Asian volunteer standing who saw us, and he started to mock run to encourage us. LMAO.  Sort of a "You can do it!! Your almost there!" with no words required.  It was quite funny actually, totally put a smile on my face.  

I jogged just a little faster, and then once I hit the drier pavement, I kicked it up a notch.  And then I got distracted by a cat.  I think I got a strange look from one or two volunteers. lol. Oh well.  It was a really cute cat.  Worth the stop.

Back to running, I kept my pace on and off for the duration to the finish line.  I had a twinge of regret that I should have done more training (like any at all), but my allergies had been bothering me so much lately, I felt completely drained by the end of the day at work.  

Finally, the finish line came to view and with a final sprint, I crossed it.  Yay, another race completed.  lol  Until the next one... next weekend.  

The best part to the Longboat run, was that there was food involved at the end of the race.  lol  There was a BBQ involved, and you had a choice of hamburger or hotdog, with also a small bag of chips and a drink (apple juice or peach). 

I will be back again, longboat run, next year :D