Race recap: Tannenbaum 10km

That’s it folks! 2012 race season is complete. Despite terrible weather conditions (again!) I managed a personal best of sorts. I finished with a time of 52:52 which is my fastest time for a flat 10km route.

I don’t know why we’ve had such bad luck this year, but the weather has been memorably terrible at my last four events. Seriously, we haven’t had a dry day for a run since the Sporting Life 10km in May. It rained during the Oasis Zoo Run in September. It poured before the Scotiabank Half Marathon. It was rainy and cold throughout the entire O Course, and today, it poured for most of the race. It was yet another situation where we’re getting ready for the race and I think to myself, “remind me why we’re doing this again?”

It was mental pep talk time: It’s pouring? Whatever. I love running. I’m hardcore. This is happening. I won’t melt. A little rain won’t hurt me, and besides, it isn’t even all that cold out. I put on an outfit of all black: black running tights and a black long sleeve dry-fit shirt. Graham asked if I was dressed like a ninja. Yes. That was the look I was going for: a running ninja.

I didn’t want to look TOO intense, so I decided to put my Nike storm proof jacket to the test. It rocked and kept me dry the whole race, but my Nike+ app failed big time. It stopped tracking my distance just after 1km and in the end, only reported 6.1km of my 10km race. Boo. Very un-motivating.

Luckily, I ran into the lovely Kennedy Baker about 1km into the race. There she was: curly pony tail bouncing along and reindeer antlers atop her head. Turns out Kennedy is a tremendously good pacer. I know from running with Kennedy in the past that we have a similar pace. I also noticed she was wearing a GPS sportwatch and assumed she was tracking her pace, so I kept right behind her, only speeding up at the end to cross the finish line.

Speaking of that finish line, it was very deceiving. The last bit of the race is a nice long, straight stretch and you can see the finish line from over 1km away. Once I see the finish line, that’s usually my cue to step up the pace and empty the tank. This time, I emptied the tank way too early, but I managed to maintain a decent – albeit painful – pace till the finish line.

The post-run party was soggy so we didn’t stay long, but they did have Grace Coconut Water which was much appreciated. It’s my fave post-run recovery drink. I know chunky coconut water isn’t everyone’s thing, but I love it.

This was a small race and it had a really friendly feel. I enjoyed the diversity of runners involved. There was everything from your super fast elite athletes to small children! Running in front of me for most of the race was a little boy, maybe about 9 or 10, and his Dad. I was amazed at his endurance and that he was able to maintain such a consistent pace for the whole 10km. I believe he finished just ahead of me. Good work for that little guy. Very impressive.

After the run, I came home and warmed up by putting up the Christmas decorations. Once the Christmas decor goes up, that means it’s official: race season is over and now it’s holiday time. Now it’s time for a few weeks of casual running till I ramp it up again in January to prepare for the 30km Around the Bay run. I’ll try to keep my cookie consumption at a reasonable volume over the next couple weeks.

Anyone else run the Tannenbaum 10km? How was your race?