Vancouver Sun Run

Last Sunday I completed the 10K Vancouver Sun Run.  It was an awesome time and I learnt so much. I have to first start with a great thank you to Sifu Csillag.  She was the best partner to have on this journey.

I had packed my running items, taped up my knees (did a couple of practise taping to make sure I was doing them right), had a small breakfast and headed off to the starting line. We even had our own cheering/support team. The boys got up early to pick up my registration package at 0700 so I didn't need to add 2K before I even started the race. It was us and over 40,000 of our closest friends.

The first thing happened before we even passed the starting line.  I had bought a running belt to hold water and my phone.  I thought I was prepared but I had never used it before.  It felt good while we were walking to the line and waiting for start but as we started running, the belt made my pants slide down.  This was going to be a very long and potentially embarrassing run.  Sifu Csillag took my belt and away we went. 
Lesson 1:  Don't try ANYTHING new on run day.

It was at the 3K mark when Sifu Csillag said to me "You need to breathe!".  I was not focusing on my breathing and so it was fast and shallow.  Not good when you have just barely started.  She tried to help me focus on pacing my breaths with my strides but it was very evident that I didn't know how to breathe.  I thought that just because my endurance was getting better that it will make breathing easier, wrong.
Lesson 2:  You have to learn how to BREATHE!

Around the 5K mark I found my groove.  The 5 to 7K mark went by quite well.  Everything was going pretty good until the part where I thought that because they gave you a full cup of water, it meant you needed to drink it.  All of a sudden at 7K I hit the bridge and started gagging, now I was trying to figure out how to throw up through the barricades without it showing up all over the internet.  We walked until the sensation passed and then headed back off.
Lesson 3:  Listen to your body!


The last 3K was slow but steady.   I ran 10K but Sifu Csillag must have ran over 15 as I kept finding things for her to take pictures of (funny how the more tired I was, the more cool things there were to take pictures of).  We finished the race in 1hour 27 min.  We did it!
Lesson 4: You CAN do this!


We ended the day walking to Stanley Park and taking a boat ride around the harbour.  We did 22K that day but I think all that walking must have been the main reason I was not sore after the run.

I am still pumped about completing this personal goal.  I have never run before but now I want to finish my training program, I want to do another run in the fall, and I know I will do it even better.  I think these are the true measures of success.