Run For Water Abbotsford

Hey,

So it has been quite a while and for that I apologize... I wish I had a better excuse then just being drained, but seriously, this whole working full time, commuting, plus taking a Undergraduate Course and trying to train like a bad*** is exhausting!

Moving on, my training is going pretty well. I fearfully agreed to run with a coworker during lunch last week, and it was exactly what I needed. I get terrified of running with others, as I get concerned that I will hold them back, or get dropped back, but it ended up being really good and a great boost going into my first 10 km run this weekend.

I had signed up for the Run For Water Abbotsford awhile ago, thinking that it would be fun to do a 10 km in between the half and full marathon, with the full marathon being the main focus of my training. Having never ran a 10 km before, but knowing roughly where I would be at, I set my sights on coming in sub 50. I knew it would be a challenge, but I thought that the way the course was outlined, and the fact that it was local may work to my advantage.

The Expo wasn't anything to write home about, quite small which is reflective of the race and a bit confusing in its layout, but my friends and I went, got our bibs and were back in the car within 8 minutes.

The morning of, we woke to the sound of light rain fall, which I was informed would pass but greatly doubted... (I had good cause to doubt this and was unfortunately right)

Fitting, we are running the run for water in the rain

My house is located a block and a half from the start, so other friends of mine parked at my house and we walked down to the start an hour or so early... in hindsight, it was way too wet and cold and we should have only started heading down there 30 minutes before the start. But hey, live and learn. 

The rain started to really come down in heavy, monsoon like style but luckily there was no wind. Ahhh the Pacific Northwest, even in May you can mistake the weather for October... I settled myself in the middle of the coral for 45-60 mins. The start is up a bit of a hill, but seeing as this route is right by my house, I run this little hill all the time. Totally crushed it and started passing people on the inside, attempting to run smart tangents. I knew that wanting to run a sub 50 would be hard but figured if I could stick around 8 - 8:15 min miles for the first 4 I would be able to somewhat hold on until the end to make it happen. 

Getting boxed in by people meant that my exertion for the first mile was more then the time reflected but I did manage to get an 8:20 or so pace, and then I dropped it like it was hot and went sub 8 for the next 2 miles. Mile 4 I managed to hang on to the 8 mile pace and then things got a little bit difficult. I passed people on a downhill stretch but then got passed on the slight uphill portion. The crumby thing about these short distances is that if your calves get tight, all you can do is suck it up and hope you can hold on. Mile 5 was closer to (if not actually) a 9 min mile, but I was passed by one of the guys I knew and he managed to spur on a bit more out of me then I thought I had. 

On the last home stretch, about a half mile or so, I managed to catch up to a guy who had passed me and just held on for dear life. In the end I came in strong and.... 

 That sweater was supposed to come off, but was too heavy to get off...

and the hat was front words... Until it got too heavy and I couldn't see!

While the clock may have said 51:37, the bib time was... 

Melissa Epp

49:25

4:57

Female 20-29

13/198

35/746

Heck yes, that would be a sub 50! I was so happy, and it hurt in such a different way then the half, or my memory of the full marathon does. After I hugged my family who showed up in the pouring rain (my grandparents even skipped out on church to watch me!), I gave them my gnarly sweater and ran out to join my friend Kelly, and help run her in to a huge PR.

After that, we waited for my friend to finish her first ever 5 km, which according to her was cruel and unusual punishment... (she is convinced the 3 km marker was actually at the 4km mark and they didn't measure the course out properly). 

Either way, despite the rain, it was a great day and it was awesome to run a race right close to home. After warming up and eating some delicious food I started to get myself refocused for the full marathon that is 3 1/2 weeks away... 

I hope that if any of you did races this weekend you had an amazing time, perhaps ran in better weather then I did and that your training this week is going well! I am bitterly not allowing the rain to keep me from training, but I am seriously starting to get concerned about what I will look like once I finally dry out... swimming in the rain, running in the rain, I'm getting tired of the rain :(

Happy Tuesday! and Congrats to those who raced this weekend and good luck in your training this week!