Street Training Run

The Canadian Running Series organized a tune-up run for their Toronto Yonge Street 10K, which I'm racing on April 22nd. They invited some past and future Olympians and their running team to run with us!

The run started at a Running Room in Liberty Village, and there was an 8K and a 13K option - I picked the longer loop and planned to run it again backwards to pick up my miles for the week. The Olympians (Reid Coolsaet, marathon & Taylor Milne, 1500m) were supposed to run with the 8K group, but broke off suddenly to stay with us!

Route Link

Even though I'd picked the fastest wave (expected 10K in <50mins), the RR folks leading the group were going to run us at a 6min pace. I found out later that this is the fastest pace the RR clinics run at, and that participants get in trouble if they dip down to 5:30... Well, we ran about 5:45 for the first 3K, but then Reid and Taylor and some other speedy guys in front picked up the pace as we turned off the streets and onto a rail trail. Someone asked how fast we were going, and the response was "about 4:40" - I was like, "I didn't need to know that! <pant, pant> I realized I was the only woman in this lead group of guys, with the rest of the group breaking off. I thought I'd see how far I could go at this pace.

Many of these guys were just jogging and chatting, while a few of us were full-out running and trying not to croak. It was really awesome, and the Olympians were so nice to just hang back with us like that. By the time we hit the top of the loop and started to go down towards High Park, all I could think was, "gotta stay with the Olympians, gotta stay with the Olympians!" I muscled it up a few hills, I tried staying in their midst so I wouldn't fall back. I must have sounded awful because they started getting concerned about my breathing. But I hung on till the end.

We did a 14K loop in 1:10, 1:17 altogether with stops at lights, etc. That's a 5min pace overall, including the slower start (for which I'm quite grateful now.) Some of the guys congratulated me on a great run because they could see that I barely made it. I felt amazing and was so happy they'd put us through this!

It was hard to get back out on the road to do the loop again. Once I started out along the waterfront, I thought there's no way I can do this again, even if it is backwards for variety. My legs were like lead. I told myself that my hard work is over, and that now all that counts is getting the miles in. I muscled back up Colborne Lodge Hill and through the Park, and continued uphill to the Junction. Felt better across the top, and once I got back on the rail trail, I was running a lot more comfortably.

On the streets, it must have really been downhill, because I started flying! I had all this energy all of a sudden. I finished my second loop surprisingly strong based on how I felt at the start. I didn't experience any foot or knee pain at all. Finished it in 1:34 overall, including stops, for a total running time of 2:51.

--Distance: 29K
--Duration: 2:51