Canada Day was a very hot day this year, which didn't make for ideal conditions to pace my 12 year-old step-son, Curtis in a 5k race. Curtis has been training regularly and has improved a great deal over the last couple of months. I decided that, rather than run this race on my own, it would be a great opportunity to test out Curtis' training by pacing him. He has run in the 25:00 range before and, because of his training, I thought 23:00 was doable. I still believe that he could run a sub 23:00, just not on a sweltering hot day. The race started at 10:00am and it was already well into the 30's. The course is also quite exposed to the sun as participants run along the waterfront trail.
We started off at a reasonable pace- one that I knew he couldn't sustain for the entire race but I thought if he could hold it for 2-2.5k, he'd be in good shape. After only 3 minutes, he was asking to slow down. A few minutes later, he wanted to slow down again. He was breathing hard and looking uncomfortable. We were already off of pace and the heat was getting to me as well. By the 2.5k turnaround, Curtis needed to walk. Every time he wanted to slow down or walk, I happily obliged. I knew that it was not the right setting to be pushing him- in the oppressive heat of the day, that could be dangerous. Besides, I realized early on that it was not going to be his day. We walked quite a bit of the 2nd half. He started to jog once we got close to the finish line and then sprinted through, leaving me in his dust. He grabbed his medal and proceeded to casually walk to the garbage can and throw-up a number of times. Don't worry, his recovery was quick and he was eating ice cream within 10 minutes.
My next race was the Limberlost Challenge 56k Trail Race. We made a weekend of it and had a great time hanging out at a cottage. I went for a quick shake-out run the night before the race and then we went for a swim in the lake before packing our bags for the early morning ahead of us.
I had run this event twice previously and both times were disastrous. The first time was a hot day with plenty of mud and I struggled all day. After 3 loops (42ish km) I decided to stop. We packed up our tent and ate dinner and prepared to leave. I had a last minute change of heart and went out to walk my final loop, finishing under the cut-off in 9:30. The second time I ran it was the muddy year. It rained for most of the day and had been raining all through the previous night. The course was slippery and challenging. I finished in 8:00. These were, by far, my slowest ever races of this distance. This year, I went in feeling healthy but wanted to treat it as a training run. I planned to run slow and have fun.
I ran the first loop a bit too fast. It felt pretty comfortable but I knew I couldn't keep it up without paying the price later. The trails were in amazing condition and it really was a perfect day- not too hot with a bit of a breeze coming off of the water. I fell in my first loop and I immediately felt a pain in my right calf muscle. It was hurting with every step I took. It wasn't very painful, but I felt it. The pain went away and then came back many times throughout the day. It not only slowed me down but also worried me a bit- there is still a lot of racing to do this year. I slowed down a little in the second loop but still felt good. The third loop was slower with more walking and the fourth loop was slower still- pretty much what one would expect.
THE GOOD: I stayed happy and positive all day. The kilometres flew by- even towards the end. I enjoyed the scenery and it was great seeing friends. Also, I caught a turtle.
THE BAD: I didn't eat enough- I only ate the watermelon at the aid stations. It was delicious but didn't give me the calories I needed. My calf is still sore and my sore heel, which has been bothering me for quite some time now, is worse. I think it is finally time for my first physio appointment of the year.
After running my first loop in 1:25, I figured if I added a conservative 10 minutes per loop, I would still come in at 6:40:00, which I would have been pleased with. My third and fourth loops were a little slower than anticipated and I came in at around 6:54:00. Still, I didn't totally fall-apart so I'm counting it as a win. Not my best performance of the year but I feel like I redeemed myself... sort of.