Bluenose Marathon Weekend - 2016

This past weekend was the Bluenose Marathon in Halifax, it was going to be our 4th time running the 1/2 marathon. The Bluenose is one of our favourite events, the city truly embraces the run and lines the streets to cheer on the runners. The volunteers put on an amazing event, from the expo and kit pickup through race day and a great after party the night of the race.

This year was a special one for sure. For those that didn't know, my wife badly broke her leg last fall requiring surgery, spending around 6 months in various casts, enduring hours of physio and recovery time in the gym. Still unable to run my wife set a goal of walking the 5 km race in under 1h and 15 minutes, a lofty goal considering all she'd been through.

As she approached the line the clock was showing under an hour. Her chip time ended up being

56:57 almost 20 minutes ahead of her goal. 

 

 

Pretty proud of this lady!!

The expo at the Bluenose is always really good, lots of businesses and booths promoting various events around the maritimes. Plus I got to meet and chat with John Stanton, founder of the Running Room. 

John Stanton - Founder of the Running Room

So up next was the 1/2 marathon for me, my 10th overall. The weather turned out to be perfect for running, around 12 degrees, overcast and no wind. Halifax is one of my favourite courses to run, many who haven't run it assume it's very hilly but much of the course is relatively flat. There are a couple of challenging sections (hills) just before and in Point Pleasant Park but most of the first 13 kms are flat or slightly down hill. Not an easy spot to be pushing for a PB but if you did a lot of hill training you can put up a good time.

I didn't really have a set time that I wanted run but was hoping that I'd come in around 1:45:00, I started off at a pretty good pace, likely a little faster than I should have, but felt good so tried to keep it up. I'd slowed down a bit by the time I hit the park, around 14 k, and managed to finish with a time of 1:46:06.    

Another reason why we like the Bluenose so much is that it is one of the only events I'm aware of that has a big party the night of the run for the participants. Lots of food and beverages and a DJ. A great way to loosen up tight leg muscles is to hit the dance floor.  

Some of the PEI crew that ran.

I'll be back again next year to run the streets of Halifax for the 5th time, a great way to spend the May long weekend. 

This is a really great video the production team put together. Whether you are from the east coast or not you should put this run on your radar. It's a weekend full of fun and laughs, plus you get to squeeze in some exercise.

Sign up and Giv'r!!

 

Follow me on twitter @Rod_Gallant

200 Runs and Counting

This past weekend as I was checking out the running app, cardio trainer, on my phone I realized that on Saturday I logged my 200th run since I started tracking nearly 2 years ago. Based on the apps map I've run almost 2000 kms, basically from PEI to a bit past Hamilton, Ontario (or Washington DC for my friends in the US).

I never imagined when I signed up to run a half marathon almost 2 years ago that I'd even make it to race day let alone still be totally hooked on the sport nearly 2 years later, and be training for my 7th half marathon. I love the feeling I have after a good run. Whether there are 20 or 20,000 people in the races I run I'm only worried about beating one person, me. With each race I run I try to better my time at that distance. Luckily last year I was able to do so at every distance I ran.

Recently I was surprised (and honoured) to receive the "Most Improved" award for 2012 at the PEI Roadrunners banquet. We are fortunate to have such an active group on PEI with a membership 400+ strong with organized races almost every weekend from May till September each year.

I'm looking forward to another racing season starting in a couple of weeks and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to convince myself to run a full marathon this year. Time will tell.

Receiving the "Most Improved" award from last years winner
Alex Bain (centre) and award sponsor Kevin Proud (right) from Proud's Shoes

ING Miami Marathon - January 27, 2013

It was 20 degrees at 5 am on a Sunday morning in downtown Miami as we left the comfort of our hotel and ventured out into the darkness joining a growing swarm of people heading to the start line of the ING Miami Marathon. It was eerily quiet despite there being so many people and it felt like a scene out of "The Walking Dead", well except everyone had a bit of pop in their step and a smile on their face.

So what brought us from little 'ol PEI down to Miami? Well my wife (Teresa) and I started running a couple of years ago and we enjoy travelling so we thought why not combine both and take on a half marathon and enjoy a few days in the sun at the same time. After a bit of searching, checking flights and hotels we settled on Miami, figuring it wouldn't be a bad spot to settle into for 5 or 6 days.

We arrived in Miami on Wednesday evening a few days before the race on Sunday planning to do a bit of shopping and hanging out at the beach before the run. We decided to stay downtown at the JW Marriott Marquis since it was only a few blocks from the start/finish line The marathon was running a free shuttle every 20 minutes from the starting area over to Miami Beach all day Friday and Saturday, so being right on the beach wasn't a priority.

The Florida Panthers were playing a home game against the Ottawa Senators Thursday night so we decided to rent a car for the day and drive up the coast about half an hour to Ft. Lauderdale to do a bit of shopping, spend the afternoon at the beach and go to the game that evening. On game day we were able to get 2 tickets 6 rows from the glass for $40 each, try doing that in most NHL cities.

After a couple of beach days it was time to run. Due to the potential of very warm temperatures the run starts at 6:15 am. We decided to run the race together since there were so many people and plus we thought it would be neat to run the course together. The amount of people at the start line was a bit overwhelming, it took us over 15 minutes just to get to the start line from our assigned corral and then we were off. With most races we run it is normally a bit congested at the starting point but the crowd soon thins out but not this race, we were bobbing and weaving around people throughout the whole course. It made it a bit more challenging but a really neat experience at the same time. Teresa had wanted to finish the run in under 2 hrs, we crossed the finish line in 1:57:20.

It was a great course, very flat and easy to run. There was a large water/Gatorade station roughly every couple of kilometres which was great especially coming on the end. The number of people lining the course cheering us on was phenomenal, there were thousands of supporters lining the streets shouting and encouraging the runners. The views were spectacular, we got to see cruise ships coming into port, run along Miami Beach and see some beautiful homes and buildings along the route. All of the sites made the experience that much more enjoyable.

If you are thinking about a mid winter (warm) run I highly suggest considering south Florida. It was very well organized, there were no issues on race day, the course was very well marked and there were over 1000 volunteers helping out on the course and the free shuttle to Miami Beach was a nice added bonus.

Miami Beach

Jason Spezza taking the faceoff

Just outside our hotel at 5 am on race day

Start line 30,000 getting ready to run 13.1 or 26.2 miles

It wasn't raining, the water stations were so huge that this was the typical scene after each one

Still lots of people coming to the finish as we were heading back to the hotel

Lots of international participation in this race, at least 2 Canadians, probably lots more

JW Marriott Marquis - Bedroom 

Living Room

Video of the race route, great flat course.

My Running Journey

Last year I took up running, pretty much on a whim, when my wife and a group of her friends decided that they were going to train for a half marathon. We all started training about 12 weeks before the race day, getting in our own runs during the weeks and running as a group for our longer runs on the weekend.

We arrived in Halifax, nervous as hell, but excited at the same time to compete in the Bluenose Half Marathon. I couldn't believe the amount of people running and more surprising was the amount of spectators. The gun sounded and we were off. It was an amazing feeling, people lined the streets to cheer all the runners on, kids giving out hi-5's along the way. When I crossed the finish line in 1 hr 53 min, just under my 2 hr goal, I was hooked and I knew I'd be back. I ended up running about a dozen races during the year ranging from 5 km to 25 km and averaging 50-55 minutes/10k.

This year I decided that I was going to kick my own ass at running. I wanted to run every single race I completed during 2011 (and more) and try and beat my own time in each race. First step was to add some additional workouts to my running routine. My wife and I joined a local gym and we added some weight training and metabolic class training to our regular running. I ended up dropping 20+ lbs in about 3 months and was feeling good about the upcoming running season.

Source 10K - April 2012 44:25

My first race of the 2012 season was the Source for Sports 10k in Charlottetown. I hadn't run it in 2011 but I wanted to get in as many runs as possible before the Bluenose. My training pace had been pretty good leading up to race day and I was hoping that I'd be able to finish in under 50 minutes, something I hadn't been able to do the previous year. I started out at a pretty good pace and maintained it through the run and finished in 44:30, a new PB.

I was feeling good heading into the 1/2 marathon in Halifax and was hoping to be able to finish in under 1:45, I had a great run and finished in 1:39:49. Throughout the summer I've been able to improve my times in every race compared to last year by about 45 seconds to a minute per kilometre. All of my 10k races have been in the 44-46 min range, I was able to better my time in the 25k Harvest Festival race by about 15 minutes, finishing this years race in 2:08:57, and my 10 mile Farmers Helping Farmers race time by 15 minutes as well, from 1:29 last year to 1:14 this year.

Kent 7k - August 2012 31:00

Going into this years half PEI Marathon I was hoping to be under 1:45 for the 21.1k course. It was a cold morning on race day this past Saturday (October 14). The temperature gauge in the car during most of the drive to Charlottetown was 0 degrees, but it rose to a balmy 4 degrees by race time, luckily the wind was light and the rain held off. Three big hills in the last 6k take up a lot of energy but running down University Ave with large groups cheering you gives that extra push you need at the end. I was able to cross in 1:42:02, 17 minutes off last years time.

Running has become part of my regular routine and I'm glad it did. We are very fortunate on PEI to have a large network of organized races via the PEI Roadrunners throughout the year and having an upcoming race motivated me to continue running on a regular basis. I've met some great people and made a lot of new friends through this group. Everyone encourages and motivates each other and makes running fun.

BMO 1/2 Marathon - October 2012 1:42:02

Me, Teresa & Mike - wearing the foil post race

I've got a great support network motivating me, starting with my amazing wife Teresa. She's been posting personal bests in all her races this summer too. Plus we've got an incredible group of friends, including our trainer Lindsay Santos (she rocks), who've traveled to many races to cheer us on and be waiting for us at the finish.

Henry Ford once said  "Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right." I prefer to believe that I can or will. I don't expect to win any races but I sure like beating my main competitor every chance I get, me. I'm hoping I'll be able to continue to beat him on a regular basis moving forward.