Hair of the Dog 2007

Happy New Year!

Okay, maybe I am a bit crazy, but when I woke up on the first day of 2007, I decided to head out for a New Year's Day race.

The Hair of the Dog is a 9km at the Beaches in Toronto. The distance is uncertified and there is no chip timing, nothing fancy...so I guess it is more of a fun run, especially if you participate in the polar bear dip at the end (I didn't :P). After consuming a fair bit of bubbly last night, I was surprised that I even woke up at a decent hour and got myself down to the race. It was too nice of a day not to run...a high of 10deg in Toronto on Jan 1??

There was a good contingent of Running Mania members at this race, so it was fun meeting up with them. Since my runs have felt good lately (well, except for yesterday when I barely squeaked out 5km), I decided to just go for it and run as hard as I could. I started out a bit too fast...5:33 for the first km, which I knew I could not maintain. I slowed down a bit and even had to walk for a few seconds after about 2.5 km. I felt awful and thought that I was done for the day. Somehow, I started running again and didn't actually lose much time. I actually got stronger and faster as the race progressed. The last 2 km or so of the out-and-back course was along the boardwalk where there were a LOT of people out for a New Year's Day walk. Since the race was so small (maybe < 100 runners?), I am sure that few of the people out there knew there was a race going on at all...which meant I had to do a lot of dodging. I focused on passing 2 women in front of me...got one, then the other right at the end. I ran the last km in 5:09, for a total time of 51:23 (by my watch). Definitely a fast pace for me, actually slightly faster than my best 10km pace. I was very pleased with my run today :D And I guess it will be my speed workout for the week...;)

I wore my new Mizuno Wildwood VI tights...I think they make me run fast ;)

Okay, no more races until March...really...