The Running Diva

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Ahhh…Hatley Castle…what a brute of a race! Hatley is a course that makes all other raod race courses feel fast and easy. You are either the type of runner who hates running this race or you love it. I hate the sick feeling I have at the start-line, knowing I’m about to feel  a special sort of pain most of the way, but once I get going, I kind of enjoy it. It’s a beautiful route that has a bit of everything. You run alongside the ocean for a bit, then through wooded areas on paved roads, then you head into some great  dirt trails all the while going up and down some wicked hills. Everyone who runs this course complains how freekin’ hard it is but say it with smiles on their faces! 

I got off to a decent start even though my legs were stiff in the first few kms. I was sort of expecting this so I just went with it and gave them time to warm up. Once I got up and over the first big hill my legs felt looser so I opened up my stride and dug in. Gord caught up to me at about 4km and kept me company all the way to the finish. I ran pretty hard today. The tougher track sessions these past few weeks have really helped me believe I can push myself harder when I actually want to slow down. I know I need to work on this especially in the middle sections of races. I think I did push hard when it counted today so I was very happy.

So The Maestro dropped almost 90 seconds from last year’s time and did it after conducting an opera the night before…truly incredible!

The Maestro making  a stealth move towards the finish-line!

Shan looked great coming into the finish…she’s been doing some secret training, I think! Jeremy ran a strong race too. Kev is continuing his PB streak and Nanc collected a third place medal!

Here’s a great shot of Helena coming into the finish!

…and one of Gwen!

Shan was coming in too fast so I couldn’t catch a shot of her!