Kirk and myself packed our bags Saturday morning with multiple running outfit options (never know what weather will be like come race day!), tons of Gu, water and oatmeal, and our running shoes. We left at around 10 in the morning to begin our 4-5 hour drive to New Brunswick. It was a beautiful 20+ degrees for the drive, and we sure do love road trips!
Goodbye for now Nova Scotia!
We arrived around dinner time and went straight to the Convention Centre for race kit pick up! This is always exciting, especially when theres an expo. After collecting our race shirts, course map, and talking to some people about up coming races (and being convinced to do the Marathon by the Sea Port City challenge, in Saint John, NB), we headed to our hotel to check in, and get our race kit ready for the next day!
I will make a post about my race day essentials soon!
We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Fredericton, since I got a good deal/used RBC points! Upon arrival the nice gentleman at the front desk asked if I would like to join the membership club, I said sure, and he upgraded our room for FREE to a suite! The room was absolutely gorgeous and HUGE with a sofa in the front as well as mini kitchen, and a huge king sized bed and flat screen in the back. This was such a great start to our weekend.
Once we were all settled, we headed to downtown Freddy to search out the race start line and find some supper. We stopped at a restaurant modelled after the prohibition called Vault 29. We both started off with a Shock Top beer (this may be the best new pre-race tradition EVER!)
For food, we both ordered the black bean burger with sweet potato fries. Im honestly drooling right now just thinking about it.. they were literally the most amazing fries I've ever eaten.. EVER. Seriously.
After that, we took our full bellies out for a walk around the town. I don't think I could have eaten one more bite, but it was exactly what we needed the night before a big race.
Once we returned to the hotel, we both settled into bed early since tomorrow was a big day and we would be getting up early to get prepared for the race.
We woke up at 5:45, got dressed, ate our oatmeal and headed for the start line. We got there early and dropped off our bag, taking off our extra layers before hand. It was around 11 degrees, with cloudy skies (no rain though!) and absolutely no wind.
Perfect race conditions as we knew it would warm up more before we were done racing.
Kirk was aiming for around a 1:30 half, and my goal was to beat my previous time of 2:33. We went our separate ways as he headed toward the front and I stuck at the back of the crowd near the 6:45 pace section.
After a little wait, the gun went off and the huge crowd of runners made their way through the start line. I tried to keep my pace slow and as close as possible to my race pace (which is SO hard to do when everyones cheering and the adrenaline is pumping!), and ended up going out a little fast at a 6:00 pace (which I maintained happily until slowing down to a 6:45 pace at around km 7).
We completed the first 4km through town, until turning onto a trail and (to me) the most scenic part of this run, the walking bridge.
This bridge was gorgeous. I used this picture from google ;)
The course was absolutely beautiful, and made me wish I lived in Fredericton. There is a great amount of walking/biking trails all throughout the city and I was so impressed by them and their accessibility.
After the bridge, we continued on the trail which was a combination of paved and hard packed, and running beside a river. It was also relatively flat which was perfect for setting new PRs. I was feeling great at 10km in and decided it was time to take my first GU. I saw a water station coming up at almost 11k and ate my chocolate Gu before grabbing a cup of water and chugging that so I could keep going without stopping. I was feeling so good I didn't want to ruin my stride by stopping to walk.
At last, I had reached the turn around point. Seeing that orange cone was a great feeling, I looked down at my watch and was excited to see I was over half way done! I couldn't believe how amazing I felt (must have been that pre-race beer, Ha!).
At around this point, I had been maintaining a similar pace to another woman for almost 3 km and decided to stick with her. We chatted for quite a bit and I found out it was her 65th birthday!!
Happy Birthday Elizabeth!
Her smile and cheerful outlook helped me finish the race strong. She was very inspiring, and I told her its a life goal for me to be as active and fit as she is when I'm older. She helped me maintain my pace for almost half of the race, and I was so glad to have met her along the way!
Around 17.5km I finally started to feel tired. Honestly was expecting this feeling at around 12k in so I was glad it hit me later on. Training is paying off. I had one Gu left, so as I was coming up to a water station I ate it fast and slowed for another quick drink. My pace this kilometre slowed significantly to around 7:00 a km.
It was around 18km that I finally saw that beautiful bridge again, and I knew I only had a short 2 km left to push.
After the bridge there was a straight stretch, one corner and then another quick stretch to the finish.
Rounding the corner and hearing all of the crowd cheering was an exciting feeling and the energy helped carry me to the finish line. I went all out for the last 500 meters and thats probably the closest I've come to blacking out/puking on a run haha.
I finally crossed the finish line and saw Kirk waiting for me. After catching my breath he told me I beat my time! By an entire 13 minutes! Like I said.. training is paying off! I finished with a time of 2:20 and couldn't be happier. Before I started the race I had high hopes of beating my previous time, but in the back of my mind had a fear that I wouldn't be able to do it.
But, as Kirk always says, "push those thoughts out of your head! Its all mental and you know what you're capable of, and its big things."
That man sure motivates me to keep going and push my limits.
Having someone there to support you and make you stronger is an incredible feeling. I'm so grateful for not only Kirk but also the amazing people and friends I've made through racing. Its honestly such a supportive community of people. I also came to realize during this race, while people were passing me (which at points can be mentally difficult), that even though its a "race", I'm only truly racing against myself. I feel like thats the same for the majority of other runners as well. We're all chasing that new PR or that personal goal or that fast time for ourselves. I think this is one of the reasons why were all so supportive of each other, because for some, even simply finishing is an accomplishment.
My new favourite medal!
For now, I'm switching my focus toward running more hills and further distances in preparation for The Cabot Trail Relay the end of this month. Our team is small and therefore I will be running two legs for a total distance of 32.42km.. If any of you have been to the Cabot Trail.. you know just how many mountains there are! Training will be tough for the next 3 weeks but I'm very excited to run this as its one of my bucket list races!
Today was a great rest day, but back at it tomorrow for an 8km run. Hope everyone's training is going well too!
Happy Trails,
The Rural Runner
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