This race didn’t go as I hoped, but it went as I expected. 54:05. I’ve run faster 10ks, but I’ve run slower 10ks. And the race, while lovely, wasn’t designed for someone who cared about time.

It started at 11:15am on a hot day.

The trails were open to other pedestrians and cyclists. This is a problem when the race begins at 11:15am on a hot day.

We ran 1.5k on grass and another 1.5k on the boardwalk.

I started out running the pace I was supposed to be running. The plan was to start right around 5:00 per km pace and pick it up halfway through

5:02
5:08
5:09

Solid start. Then the heat and effort caught up to me. I was zonked by the 3rd kilometre and got a stitch in my side.

5:53 (water station walk break)
5:16
6:03 (water station walk break)
5:55 (hated the world walk break)

Then I picked it up. I decided that a PR wasn’t happening today, but if I could finish strong, with a pace around 5:30, it would be a good day. It was beautiful out. Toronto Island is the best.

5:25
5:25
4:48 (My Garmin says the course was 100 metres short. This split proves it.)

This race was a good reminder about a bunch of things: you can have a good day without a PR, not all races need to be about PRing, I need to work hard if I want to run well (the week before this race was a battle). And if races don’t go as planned it’s not the end of the world.

I’m ready to up my training game, though. My A race needs to be an A+ experience. I paid enough for it, haha.