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Clinging on. For dear life.
That was the theme for this short but intensive race. Quite honestly, it would have made more sense had I participated in the Canadian 5K Road Race Championship which was held half an hour before this particular B&O Yorkville Run. However... I had no prior 5K running experience. This is ironic but true. Over the five years of running, never had I once officially raced in any 5K runs. Ever. I mean over the course of my marathon training, 5K is absolutely achievable but just simply overlooked. That all changed when I made my debut on the crisp early September Sunday morning. My mentally going into this race was pretty much "all hands on deck" and taking the suggestion from my brother to simply "run for your life" ? Preparation wise, I took this opportunity as a serious track workout style kind of run, except - well, as fast as I've ever been on a risk-it-all ordeal. Days leading up to this race day, I still did my due diligence to taper, carb up, and get my mind in-tune for this race. START LINE: Prior to start, I warmed up at the outdoor 300 metre track where all the vendors are positioned in the inner field. That was when the Canadian 5K Road Race commenced, giving the remainder of the participants a good 20 to 30 minutes of preparation time. I gradually made my way to the start line, which was nearby the Four Seasons. Knowing that I might get myself into a total log jam of people, I deliberately tucked myself at the edge of the front of the line. My plan for the route? Just gun it and bolt down. And that was exactly what I did when the horns were sounded off. I was bursting out of the floodgates for the first three kilometres heading southbound on Bay Street. Going downhill at 3:05/km pace for the 1st k, 3:11/km and 3:13/km right after, I think I'm going to wreck this! TURNAROUND POINT: Made a right turn to Dundas St West and then turned right to Parliament St heading northbound. But there's a catch - uphill ???? The remainder mileage was short but unforgiving. I knew I was giving my heart a hard time, especially with the 190s range HR. It was really obvious too as I was pretty much closing my eyes and grimacing my way through to the finish line. I started off at the first member of the pack too. Now I finally experienced what it's like to be the forerunner of a race and gradually having the lead slip away. Definitely going to remember this example and remind myself of "this is what complacency feels like if you don't do enough ground work for anything in life". Harsh but got to swallow the bitter truth pill sometimes. FINISH LINE & SWAGS: End up finishing with an official chip time of 18:26 minutes. I actually surprised myself quite a bit, thinking that I would really get a marginal sub 20 minutes time. The possibilities of improving my time can only get better from here on if I stay committed to doing speed work, whether on the tracks or designated tempo / race pace time within a scheduled outdoor run. With a premium admission fee (which actually goes towards local charitable causes), the swags and medals were just as fancy. The B&O H5 wireless headphones excited me the most especially since I got a thing for premium audio experiences and Bang & Olufsen is definitely one of them - so much so that I rather sacrifice my other headphones for profuse sweat abuse and leave these ones as an in-home inner space serenity. The medal is just as notable. Mainly because it's engraved with the word "CHAMPION". Well not really for me, but rather it stands out as a power bank for your electronics which I have never seen before.
I think for next year, I will forego with the Championship 5K now that I have attained their qualifying time of 19:00 minutes or faster.
Looks like I'm also featured on the Bloor-Yorkville BIA newsletter recap too! Fun times - M.W.
The Shakespeare run finally returned in 2018 after years long hiatus from what used to be called "A Midsummer Night's Run". This time around, this run is hosted by the Toronto Beaches Runners Club and renamed this run as "Shakespeare Runs The Night". This race offers a choice of 15K or 30K. I opted for the 30K as a dress rehearsal run for my main fall races.
The route of this run is essentially a loop around from the Ashbridge's Bay Park to the Tommy Thompson Park for the 15K whereas the 30K is two loops of that. I recall that it was quite a hot, humid night only to be made even more humid as it rained for majority of the day until the rain subsided midway through my run. This was also my very first evening running race as most running races commence in the morning hours between 7:30 am to 10:00 am range. It was especially neat as I sported on my USB rechargeable LED headlamps, the Nathan Halo Fire (review of the headlamps here). Organizational logistics was exceptional, with plentiful of sponsors as well as volunteers to coordinate with the route guidance and photographers for the action shots. The start time for the race was set for 6:00 pm for the 30K with a hard cut-off time of 9:45 pm completion time. As I recall, it was already pitch dark by 8:30 pm that day as I was cleansing myself from the sweat and muck accumulated from the run. RACE DAY NOTES Majority of the daytime rainstorm dwindled down just as the race started. It did however rain again briefly as I was entering the Tommy Thompson Park in the first loop. Soon after it stoped, I got humid... quick! There was a brief glimpse of a double rainbow across Lake Ontario as it got rather steamy, with water vapours rising up from the lake and the ground. Also in the Tommy Thompson Park segment, be mindful of narrow passage way when crossing the bridge. A key signature to this race was also the mass amount of participants dressing up as their favourite Shakespeare characters! Although I did not partake with the butterfly wings setup or the tutu dresses, I still thoroughly enjoyed observing other people's sheer creativity in making this a fun and engaging experience! I will definitely consider signing up for this type of race again as a fall race prep again! Thank you to the organizers for such a well run event! - M.W.
This race happened exactly 4-5 weeks after my last race which was the Sporting Life 10K back in May. It was a nice kickoff for the summer season as the temperature was mild in the early morning hours before really becoming a scorcher later on mid-day.
I managed to mix up between some leisure road runs and some trail runs leading up to this race. I once again had the goal of hitting sub 40 minutes, especially since I managed to pull off a 37 minute ish run from the Sporting Life (with the sharp downhill advantage). Looking back at my training log, I took 3 days off leading to the race so I most definitely went into this race with some seriously fresh legs. START LINE: This race is heavily reminiscent of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon route which happens in October. The start line was westward from the Nathan Phillips Square but instead of heading northbound, the route heads southward and turning into Bremner Blvd (where Rogers Centre or Skydome is) before gradually transitioning off to Lakeshore Blvd. Special note to be cautious of the limited amount of space available to maneuver especially when going though the Front Street and into the overpass. Your speed may be affected by the mass amount of runners trying to squeeze through one another and could get chaotic real quick. TURNAROUND POINT: You continue to cruise down the Lakeshore Blvd and turn around near the Budapest Park and head over the opposite direction of the Lakeshore to head down to the finish line. Depending on the running pace and time of the day, the heat really began to pick up and boy was I ever glad to run by those mist spray stations! This 2018 edition was considered to be forgivable especially since after hearing of the major heat that people had to endure the year prior. As much as I absolutely loved the black Lululemon Metal Vent Tee shirt, the black colour quite literally captured all of the heat and may not necessarily be a good fit. But I'm a monochrome person so I didn't really mind, plus I wore my sponsored singlet so it was all good! FINISH LINE & AMENITIES I recall a row of vendors such as photo booths, Saje holistic sprays, pretzels, and baggage pickup following right after picking up the finisher's medal. And then once you make that left turn into the bandshell theatre area, there's even more vendors and a stage where they hosts yoga sessions throughout the hour. It was simply lively there and people genuinely excited to finish. All this before 1pm into the day. And that's a warm fuzzy feeling with the runner's high gravitating you for the remainder of the day! Would definitely look forward to run this race again!
It's been a while since I revisited my own personal portfolio and keeping tabs on my training schedule this past summer and into fall race season... sorry! If you are ever wondering what I am up to, I am fairly active on Strava logging in my runs or other cardio related cross-training.
WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO
Ever since my last post, I participated in quite a few races which I will eventually elaborate more in detail on separate individual posts and will be hyperlinked in the following lists:
I also joined my local Lululemon chapter for their group runs Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings on a weekly basis from April to October. You can find them numerous ways on social media and Strava here:
In terms of weekly running mileage, I managed to hold myself accountable for up to weekly 65km per week give or take. What worked for me this year was having the mindset that it is okay to be unstructured despite work commitments and hanging out with my social circle from time to time. For example, I will make an honest attempt to at least squeeze in a long run of more than 21km and juggling between some tempo runs and easy runs. This is important to me especially knowing that some days you have it in you to do the extra, while some days when you're planning for a hard workout and you're just mentally shut down for the day after long hours at work. Summer's been hot and humid most of the time. I vividly remember doing long runs with a hydration waist belt or in some cases having to divert the planned route to parkettes where there are those kiddy splash pads to temporarily cool down - only to be dying in the heat again with my singlets and shorts all dried up from the heat. RACE HIGHLIGHTS The best part of all races (after putting an honest attempt to train) is the runner's high the remainder of the day after crossing the finish line. Although I am proud of the six races and the PBs acquired since June, there are select races that really stood out more so than others. The first one is the Bang & Olufsen Yorkville Run 5K and the second one is the Chicago Marathon. Did you know? Up until this past September's race, I have never officially ran a 5K race before. Of course, I fell into typical stereotypes of that it is "simply" just a 5K. What actually transpired was the realization that I actually need more track workouts and manage my short spurts of speed and pace changes. I see myself that if I can make it work, then hopefully that converts to incremental seconds to minutes shed off for future marathon times. Chicago was my first ever travel-race. I recall being ecstatic being selected through lottery around this time last year. I also had just as much jitters thinking of the travel planning and coordinating the finer details since this was a solo excursion and I rarely travel out of province / country anyways. But now that I ran the race and have time to reflect upon it, I guess it all worked out just fine! I was pretty fortunate to come across our weekly run leader in Chicago so I didn't feel all too foreign. The course was as flat as it can be as described by fellow runners and bloggers on the internet. Race day conditions was as stormy and windy as it can be - true to the Windy City claim. More on that later, but the grand prize overall is my first ever BQ attainment. As much of a reserved person that I am, my raw emotions were on full display upon moment of reckoning that Boston is truly within reach. That's it for now, but my running journey doesn't end here as I resume regular running back in the uptown! See you on my run - Mike |
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