Monday, October 17, 2016

Cape to Cabot Recap

As I sat down to write this entry, I found myself with so much to say that I actually had a hard time starting. Before I get into a recap of my own race from yesterday, I want to start by acknowledging others.

By my count, there were 34 PRC runners who completed the race yesterday. Congrats to each and every one of you, especially those who completed the race for the first time. The C2C is a difficult challenge, and not one to be taken likely. Knowing that you were able to set this goal, train, and complete it is something to be extremely proud of.

And while this is a PRC blog with an obvious focus on our runners, I want to send those same congrats out to any other C2C runners who may stumble across this blog. You are all awesome!

To the cheerleaders who were on the course yesterday, in spite of the wind and cold, thank you so much. As I mentioned in my pre-race blog, I was running the race along with 3 other family members, and we had one crew at the end of Maddox Cove Road and another at the bottom of Shea Heights, and they all congregated at the top of Signal Hill to cheer us across the finish. Having such strong family support means so much.

And in case it wasn't already 100% clear, the presence of a clan of PRCers who weren't running the race but came out to support those of us who were confirmed what an amazing club this is, and I'm very happy to be a part of it.

Final thanks go out to the volunteers who helped make everything run smoothly yesterday. The C2C is always a well organized race, and it wouldn't be possible for us to enjoy it without the hard work of all the volunteers. I look forward to this race every year, so thank you all for making it possible.

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My C2C day got off to a fortuitous start, as I woke on my own at about 5:35 AM, only to check my phone and realize I had accidentally set my alarm for 5:45 PM. Oops! With that bullet dodged, I grabbed a quick banana and some gatorade, double-checked to ensure I had all my gear, and walked down the road to head to the start line with my father. When I got there, I found out he had only just woken up; turned out his alarm had also been set for PM! Luckily, we were still able to leave at our scheduled time of 6:25 AM, and we got to the parking lot, met my two uncles, and hopped on the bus for Cape Spear.

The drive out to Cape Spear was a little delayed, as we got on the bus that stopped at the Marriott. Once we got everyone on-board, we had an uneventful trip to the start line. After our arrival, I hopped right off the bus and headed to the rocks in the middle of the parking lot, in hopes that I would meet some of the guys there for a warm-up. Thankfully, Marc showed up not long after, and we headed out for a quick 2 km. The warm-up was good, although it was a stark reminder of how brisk and cold the wind can be at the bottom of the first hill. I actually had to lean into it a little bit on the way back to keep my balance!

With our warm-up complete, we still had about 15-20 minutes until start time. I made a quick stop to empty my bladder, dropped my equipment on the bus back to Signal Hill, met up with the PRC crew for a group selfie, and then headed to the start line. I managed to get near the front with Marc/Keith/Kiley/Andrew G, and after the annual singing of the Ode and the firing of the rifle, we were off.

And boy were we off! The goal I had set for myself coming into the race was to break 1:50:00, which would be 6:30 better than my PB. I wanted to allow a good buffer heading into Signal Hill, so I planned for 1:37:00 for the first 18.4 km, or a pace of 5:16/km. When we hit the 1 km mark at the start of the first climb, my watch beeped and I looked down to see a time of 4:14. Definitely faster than I had planned, but at least I had 62 seconds banked for later. :)

Since Andrew G already had a sub 1:50:00 under his belt, and since he had already helped drag me to two PBs this year, my plan was to follow him for as long as I could. In particular, Andrew is stronger than I am on the climbs, so I figured if I could keep close to him going up the hills that would bode well for me. This worked great on the first climb, and I reached the 2 km mark feeling good, and still 28 seconds ahead of pace.

I fooled up my plan on the first downhill, because while Andrew is wise enough to slow down, I tend to just let my legs go! I passed him about half way down the hill, and as we started the 2nd climb, I patiently waited for him to pass me so I could start following him again. I'm sure he and I will have a good chat about how close he got next time we are on the roads, but just know that however close you were Andrew, you were mentally pushing me up that hill! And it worked, as I reached the 5 km water table having clocked off a 5:00 and 5:24, and I now had 98 seconds in the bank. Similar to the Turkey Tea last week, I was now starting to wonder if I should re-calibrate my goal. I decided not to at this point, because in my 3 previous C2C's I have taken multiple walking breaks on the climb from Maddox Cove Road to Shea Heights, so I was wary of how much time I would give back there.

I reached the 7 km mark and the end of Maddox Cove Road, and got my annual energy boost in the form of my little cheerleaders. My daughter and my two nieces were waiting there, with handmade signs they had created to cheer us on. So after a quick detour for some hugs, kisses, and high fives, I moved on to my nemesis. I didn't really have a plan for if/when I would walk on this hill this year; my goal was just to push it as hard as I could, knowing that the race gets easier for a while after that. As I was just getting into the climb, I got passed by a couple of runners, and in the end this ended up helping immensely.

One of the runners who passed me was Melinda Saunders from ANE. Now, I will state up front that I don't personally know Melinda, and I only learned her name last week. The reason for that is we ran close together for the majority of the Turkey Tea, until she passed me at the very end, and she is easy to pick out due to the Newfoundland flag buff she was wearing. When she passed me going up the hill yesterday, I thought to myself, "We ran at pretty much the same pace last weekend. She seems to be going strong right now. I'm going to try to stay with her." So Melinda, if you happen to be reading this, thank you! After 3 previous C2C's, I can finally say I made the trek from Cape Spear to Shea Heights without walking. In fact, my times for the 3 kilometers up that hill were 5:31, 5:43, and 5:29, which was very surprising. That put me at the halfway point with 101 seconds in the bank, and at that point I decided to switch my goal from 1:50:00 to 1:45:00. I didn't have the energy to re-calibrate my pace for the next 8.5 km, but I figured if I just kept pushing I'd pick up the necessary time.

The next 4 km, through Shea Heights and down to Southside Road felt really comfortable, especially in comparison to the hills that came before. I ran all 4 at a sub 5:00 pace, finishing up with a 4:02 km down the hill. By then, I was almost 5 minutes ahead of my goal pace, and as nothing was hurting too much I felt pretty confident I could push for the 1:45:00. I saw Kiley crossing the bridge just as I was hitting the bottom of the hill, and then I saw Marc and Steve on the way out Southside Road. Seeing the guys from my running group going strong gave me a push, and then when I made the turn and quickly saw Keith, Andrew, and Ed on my way out I realized I had to keep pushing or they were all going to catch me!

As I started running on Water Street, Mark Didham pulled up on his bike for a brief chat, which was a nice diversion. Shortly after that, I caught up with Steve, and after a few words of encouragement back and forth he told me to go ahead and he'd chase me. I hope I was able to provide some motivation Steve! I continued along Harbour Drive, where some slight discomfort started in my hips, but I was able to get to the 18 km mark with an additional 100 seconds banked from the bottom of the hill coming out of Shea Heights. I passed the start of the Munn Mile at 1:30:39, meaning that even if I took the whole 13 minutes I allotted for Signal Hill I would still make it in under 1:45:00.

After the obligatory run up Temperance Street, where I was able to pass a few runners, I buckled in for the final climb. I made it almost to the Battery before my first walk of the race, and I decided I'd walk for 30 seconds, and then run until I felt I needed another break. As I've already made clear, I find it better to use other runners as motivation, so I tried my best not to let the people I passed on Temperance Street catch up. Anything to keep me going at this point! In total, I think I walked 4 or 5 times on Signal Hill, and I even did a little dance and a spin while passing the band across from the Interpretation Centre. :)

I got to the final turn right around 1:40:00, and then took my triumphant run to the finish line. I passed Pam and Scott Collins along the way and got a couple of high fives, and then I ran down to meet my daughter and nieces right by the finish. I stopped briefly to see them, and then got yelled at because I was costing myself time! Hahaha

In the end, I crossed the finish line at 1:41:14, beating my goal by 8:46, and my previous PB by 15:15. To say I was happy with that result would be an understatement, and to be able to share it with family and friends made it even better. I was met first by Kiley and Marc, who both absolutely crushed it. Then I got to greet Steve, Andrew, Keith, and Ed in quick succession, all of whom ran fantastic races. Most of us have run a number of group runs together this year, so it was great to see everyone have so much success. I was also able to stick around to see Neal finish just under his goal time, but unfortunately I had to leave with the kids before Todd and his daughter finished. I got to see Shelley as I was walking down Signal Hill, and the picture of her and Andrew at the finish line was amazing to see. I wish I could have been there!

Well, I guess that's about it. It was a great day, and while I singled out a lot of the group that I run with in the last paragraph, I reiterate my earlier congratulations to all runners, especially the PRCers, who ran the race yesterday. I'm sure there are lots of aches and pains today, but those will diminish with time. The feeling of achievement you have will last forever.


Cheers and Thanks for reading,

Ryan

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