Ottawa Race Weekend

Holy...what a weekend. I am exhausted.

We headed up to Ottawa Friday morning and arrived around 5. Nothing eventful really...except for trying to actually get into out hotel when the bus lanes are in full force in downtown Ottawa. We pulled a 'Mario Andretti' to be able to make it in after doing a few circles around the block. Dinner Friday was at Johnny Farinas on Elgin. Good fun, good carbs and pretty quick service. Fine by me..

This was followed by gelato at Pure Gelato. This made the husband happy:

The Husband raced on Saturday night in the 10km....during what was probably the hottest time of the day. He rocked out a 47 min 10km but of course was not happy with this. Boys....

Before:

After:

Sunday morning came and I knew for me the weather was going to be a bit of a concern. We had yet to do a long run in any real sort of warm weather so here we were with a gorgeous sunny day and at least 17 degrees all day. I just made the best of it.

As usual, I wasted 5 min at the first porta potty stop. Seriously......10,000 runners and there are 2 bathrooms?! If you want me to go ahead and use nature as my bathroom like everyone else was doing I will....and next year I will.

The first 12 km were great. I felt really good but the heat was getting to me and others apparently. I think in total between 6am and during the race, I took in at least 5 liters of water and still felt under hydrated. I saw a lot of people without water out there...and also saw a lot of people in the medic tent after, getting treatment on the course and even saw a few people on stretchers. Yikes....

Overall, I really enjoyed the race. The course is pretty scenic...Gatineau was ....interesting.... The funniest part was going through the last water station before the bridge back into Ontario and going past the entertainment stop with the guys playing the drums. At fist I thought it was cool and then my next thought was: "this kind of sounds like a death march". Nice.

The spectators were amazing - tons of people out to cheer you on and the water/aid stations were great. There were no where near enough portapotties on course and there really is no shade at all. It would almost be better to have the half start at 8am instead of 9am as the last few years have been really hot but I have no idea if this is feasible.

So thumbs up to Ottawa. Taking off my stops for the bathroom and a little good samaritan efforts when I flagged down a medic to go check on someone on the side of the curb, it was a PB but I will just put it down to more racing experience.

Last Run before Ottawa

Ugh, what a gross run this morning. I haven't: "rolled out of bed, get dressed, get water and head out the door at 4:45am" in a long time. This morning was a seriously slow 6km run. At least it loosened my legs and back up a bit and overall I did enjoy being out. It was warm this morning - 17 degrees- which is what according to the Weather Network will be the temps there or about on race day.

While this morning wasn't great, it did give an opportunity to test out what I am wearing on race day. Yeah, I know I'm a geek but I like to try to be prepared ok?

Shorts:

Yeah, they are kind of soccer-ish but they have built in compression shorts THAT DON'T RIDE UP so me likey.

Shirt:

Wicked HeatGear shirt. If it is too hot, I have a light coloured back up Tshirt to bring...which will show off my sweat so well.

(I'm not trying to be an advertisement for Under Armour....I like their HeatGear stuff as I sweat so freakin' much. If Under Armour wants to send me stuff......feel free!)

The husband is already in Ottawa on business. He arrived at the hotel we are staying at late but had called to tell them he would be later. We booked 2 queen beds at the back of the hotel way back in February. They put him in a room with a king bed at the front of the hotel. Yelling is about to ensure.

Current plan is for me and my travelling companions to leave tomorrow around 10:30 and hopefully be in Ottawa around 4pm. Friday is just going to be chilling out and catching up with the rest of our group. The husband is racing the 10km Sat night at 6:30 so that will be fun to watch him. He is looking to really push it in the race so at least he will sleep well that night.

Good luck to everyone running this weekend. Again, I am not going to focus so much on time but to really enjoy the race and stick to a consistent pace. Bring it on Ottawa!

Not handling the taper well...

I feel like a slug. I know some people love the taper time before a race but there is still this thought in the back of mind that says that I won't be ready for next weekend unless I keep the mileage up etc. I feel like I am being so lazy in trying to ensure I don't get injured before the race. I am pretty klutzy so there is a real possibility of this happening trust me...
Sunday was an easy 6km which went fine...but I seriously wanted to do more and it was disapointing to be done. I golfed all weekend - Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Being the geek that I am, I mapped out how far it is (approx) when I walk it - it is about 7km. I know this is slow walking but there are a ton of hills and I carry my clubs so it counts for something right?
This week is an easy 45 min tonight and another easy 45-60 tomorrow night. I am running Friday morning per my usual schedule but will take it easy I promise. Really clean eating will be adhered to starting today as this past weekend was the pits. I am fighting something and my eating was between non-existent and crap-tacular.
Funny how when I am not exercising the way I want or am used to, nutrition seems to go out the window.
Ottawa is 5 days away....oh boy...

Husband (and Shoe) Love

Yesterday was our anniversary. The husband is very hard to buy for. I had some ideas but there ended up one way or another being thwarted:
-tickets to see the Habs play and stay in Montreal for the weekend - Habs lost ...
-Powertapp cadence machine for this bike - he bought it himself
-tickets to see City and Colour in Toronto - he is out of town on those dates.
So I ended up getting tickets to Cirque de Soleil when they are in Toronto this fall. He was happy = me happy.
He on the other did spectacularly as usual. He made an actual printed book on our life together off of our Mac which is amazing. He also scanned a ton of old pics onto our computer so we have them more readily available.
Then....I received my complete guilty pleasure - SHOES!


Gucci flats:










Manolo Blahnik Mary Janes:

I Love, Love, Love these shoes. Yeah, I am shallow when it comes to shoes. Deal with it....

I also got another pair of Manolo kitten heel black and brown pumps that I can't find a pic for but will post. Yep, I am lucky.

We also had an amazing dinner at our favorite restaurant. The chef went overboard on the tasting menu so after foie gras, a fish course, and gnocci by the time my beef tenderloin came out, I just could not eat it. They were kind enough to package it up for me to enjoy tonight.

The husband is now off to San Diego for a conference so I am on my own for the week. My mission is to find some shorts - and perhaps a running skirt - for summer running. Wednesday night's experiment with my Nike DryFit shorts was NOT good. While I like these shorts, they were not comfortable on me for my 7km run, let alone 21.1.

Suggestions for shorts are welcome.