So - Sunday was the Scotiabank Marathon weekend. And Ashley (my sister) was all signed up and trained and ready to do her first Half Marathon. I had decided I would run it with it - figured it would be a good training run for me and hopefully I'd be able to help her achieve her goal. We got downtown nice and early - and while it was a bit chilly at the start the sun came out and it had the makings of a perfect day. The new race route was very different from years past when I have run the race. It started at Bay and Dundas and went North to Bloor, across to Bathurst and then downhill on Bathurst to the Lakeshore from there out and back up towards the finish line. This was my first 'pace bunny' experience. I've never run a race for someone else before and I have to say I loved it. It was so much fun to be the one helping to keep Ashley and her gang from the running room positive and on track to thier goals. After a slightly slow first kilometre we held a very even and respectable pace. I made sure to keep the girls on thier 10:1 plan and tried to remind them to take gels/nutrition and stay positive. They did AMAZING. Ashley and I dropped 2 of the girls around the 16k mark, she did so well. She struggled a bit starting around 18k but that is pretty normal and she toughed it out and managed to come in at 2:12:55. Since her goal was 2:15 she was pretty happy to come in under her goal time and finish her first half marathon. I was really happy not just for her but because I ran with her the whole way and not once did I feel tired or sore or wanting to stop. I think it bodes really well for my future goals that I can run a half marathon in a decent pace and not feel even remotely sore afterwards. Today (Tuesday) I swam this morning, and then ended up running with Shanta afterwards. It was pretty chilly out this morning but once we warmed up I felt really good. Shanta is also doing Ironman Mt Tremblant in June, and I think it is going to be really really nice to have a training partner who is focused on the same race. We are going to be training together quite a bit I think which is nice because she is a better runner then I am and will push me.
Hamilton Half Marathon is now less then 2 weeks away and I'm hoping to get out and run under 2 hours. Will have to see how I feel on race day but given how Scotia went I think it's a realistic goal. While I was running scotia I was thinking that I am comfortable at that pace and I'm hoping with training by June a 2 hour run at Tremblant 70.3 is realistic. I'm so excited that where I am right now is in a fairly fit place, I'm running long comfortably and I think leading into my Ironman year this is a REALLY good sign.
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