It’s Bluenose Marathon weekend!

It’s an extra long weekend for me (feeling lucky about that). It’s Victoria Day on Monday and I am taking today and Tuesday off. It’s going to be like a mini vacation before work gets a little crazy busy.

There is so much to look forward to this weekend; the girls running their 2k, my brother and I running 10k on Sunday and even better…I get to babysit my niece Ava! It’s really a win-win weekend.

Expo & Youth Run 2k

I’m planning to take in the Expo this morning with my husband, a quick trip to the city and back before I head back in with the girls. I didn’t really bother with it last year as I had to sit that race out 😦 Who knows, maybe I’ll sign up for another race or buy something I need like GU’s!

The girls are getting excited about their run; from what “running” clothing they want to wear, to running with their friends. This will be Lilly’s third year and Hilary’s first…fingers crossed it goes well.

10k Thoughts

Alright…the 10k. As I mentioned last week, this race hasn’t been my focus and I’m okay with that. To be honest, I’ll probably finish around 1:02…at least that’s what I’ve been running lately. Who knows, maybe I’ll pull off 60 minutes or 58-59 but I can’t see being able to push it too much as the course looks like this:

2016 Elevation chart

The middle hill is in Point Pleasant Park and I’ve run there numerous times. Actually, I worked out of that park for two summers doing day camps. The hill at 5k is nasty but it’s short lived and into a downhill. Around 6k, another hill and then a gradual climb just before the finish line.

Right before the finish it’s all uphill and you can see the finish but it’s so far away. You are trying to sprint up that hill only to realize how L-O-N-G it actually is! Everyone is cheering you on and you are trying so hard to finish strong but THAT hill is just rough at the end of a race.

So again, I’m not aiming or a PB (55:59) but feel I will come under my worst time (1:13). To be completely honest, I’m really proud of those times. My 55:59 in 2014, I worked really hard for and then ran another 6k later that day for my long run. The 1:13 in 2010 was four months after Lilly was born and I was using it to get back into shape. For me, it wasn’t a great time/pace etc., however it was more about getting running again while being a new Mom.

There you have it. I’m ready to run on Sunday. Excited for my girls and to start off the race with my brother AND see him cross the finish line. I’m also excited to see lots of running friends and RunAtCan peeps.

If you want to see how it goes, check me out on Instagram.

Who’s running Bluenose?

Do you take in the Expo’s at races or skip them?

What are you up to this weekend?

Good luck to all those running Bluenose!