Ouch. This was tough from the start. Yesterday afternoon, my left hamstring, which never gives me trouble, was sore. I massaged for a bit, tried to stretch it out, but was still sore this am.

Went out about 7:30 to the park between my house and the start line for a bit of a warm up. Just some slow running, then walked over to the start line. Did some dynamic stretches while waiting for the gun.

I had created a pace band, with both my 'stretch' goal and my goal times. I pretty much knew from the get go that both were going to be a stretch today. I was sore from the start--my left hamstring was just not happy. I just tried to get to a comfortable pace, which I managed. At 3km I realized that I was not going to be happy if I continued at that pace, so I picked it up a bit. I just kept telling myself, that even if I couldn't hit my goal time, I could at least get a PR. I was talking to myself the whole way, "just find that pain free place in your mind, you can do it".

Biggest uphill was at 10-11.5km. Relatively steep. Saw my friend Maggie from Masters swim cheering, she ran with me for a few hundred meters, that was a lift. By this point my right hip is yelling at me (MUST. DO. EXERCISES.) Top of the hill there was an aid station. Decided to walk it. Mistake. Hard to get going again. Mostly flat here, so was able to put it back in gear. We had to turn right at Fraser Hwy, go up a few hundred meters, then turn around. I hate that. Anyway, last bit of uphill up the greenway. I just pushed. Everything was screaming at me, but I was still aiming for a PR.

Now we are on a flat stretch of about 1km. I took a walk break along here, feeling a bit sorry for myself that I had no one cheering for me. Then I thought "F*&k that. I have a whole pod cheering me on. Find your strong girl". And that became my mantra. Find your strong. I took a couple more walk breaks in the last 5km, but when I was running, it was all in my head.

Turned the corner at 19km, and all of a sudden my left calf briefly seized--with my toes pointed down. Luckily it let go, because I was very close to tripping over my own feet! OMG I would have just lay there laughing. Happened a couple more times, luckily it let go just as quickly.

I took one more walk break just before 20km--I could see that I was going to be very close to a PR, but figured I could do it, so I just pushed as hard as I could for the last km. Ran my fast km of the race, and came in :58 under my best time.

I think I would have been really disappointed if I hadn't PR'd, but I would not have been disappointed in my performance. A lot of my training for this race has been training mental toughness. I give up too easy--I listen to that voice that says it's ok to stop. I wanted to prove to myself that I could be stronger than that voice. At one point I told myself "you've run with discomfort before, that's all this is".

?? I have no idea why I was so sore. I guess because my pelvis had been out, muscles adjust, then when you move things, muscles rebel. I guess I need to have my back checked more regularly.

Walked around a bit to get some food etc, then walked home and stretched.


Soreness! My body just wasn't 100% today.


This was a good first year race. The expo was just ok. Volunteers on race day were great. The 'Cultural Music Miles' were pretty cool--some much better than others! The Korea, Jamaica and India miles were particularly great. China was also good. Other countries represented were Bolivia, South America, Phillipines, Palestine, Germany, the UK and Greece, each playing traditional music. I also really liked this for the fact that it started 5 min from my house, and ran through many of my 'neighborhoods'. Hope to see it back and improved next year!