Sun Run 2010

2009 post here
2008 post here
2007 post (with details on what the Sun Run is) here.

After running the Sun Run in 45:43 last year, I wasn't too optimistic about beating that time this year, and with good reason as it turns out, since I think I finished in around 46:35 or so, similar to my time from two years ago.

Running the half marathon last summer, and moving to the hilly land of Port Moody a month ago helped with my stamina, as I didn't feel fully out of breath at any point in the race, and I think I could have maintained a similar pace for a few more kilometers (both of these points were definitely not true the past two years), but what I lacked was speed training on the flats, and I wasn't able to maintain a fast enough pace on the long flat stretches (km 4 and km 7 in particular) - due to leg fatigue and stomach and shoulder cramps - to match last year's time.

It was a beautiful sunny day for spectators of the run, albeit definitely too warm for my tastes for running (every underpass was a sweet 3 seconds of shade...) - not that it was super warm (maybe 12C) but my Irish genes and Vancouver training lead me to prefer overcast skies and a temperature around 5 degrees for running!

In last year's sun run post, I suggested I might try a different distance at some point, which I did, running the Scotia half marathon last June. This year, I'm thinking about possibly training for a triathlon at some point, although this would require buying a bike and learning how to ride it at a decent speed, not to mention learning how to swim properly (I was never keen on putting my head in the water!) I guess we'll see, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Until next year...

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Updated to add that my official time was 46:33, good for 1,694th place, two places better than last year, despite the slower time - either people suffered due to the 'heat' or more likely there were fewer entries this year, possibly due to the delay due to the Olympics, fewer corporate sponsors, or the conflict with Mother's Day. The time was 185th best out of the 1,753 men in the 35-39 age bracket who ran the race.

Sun Run 2009

Last year's post is here. The post from 2007 where I explain what the heck the Sun Run is, is here.

After running the Sun Run in 46:42 last year, the pressure was on just to match last year's time. I'm not getting any younger after all... I again took the intraining course (along with my girlfriend Christie who joined the learn to run 10k group), and I did, in the end, manage a small improvement over my time from last year, finishing in a nice fractal three quarters of an hour plus three quarters of a minute, aka 45:45.

To be honest, I'm not sure I was any fitter than last year (not enough to offset being another year older, anyways), but with more experience I was able to pace myself better, going out faster in the first 2-3k, which more than made up for not being able to mount much of a sprint at the end. I would have liked to finish in under 45 minutes, but that's actually fairly hard to do, I'm learning. My time was good for 1696th place, which is not too bad out of over 40,000 finishers. Maybe next year will be under 45 minutes.

(hmm, I looked up my time again and now it says 45:43, a few more revisions and I'll be under 45 minutes this year :)

At any rate, it was a nice day for the run, overcast but no rain despite the forecast, and about 10 degrees which is a little too warm, but not really a big factor, although maybe it played a role in my not being able to finish quite as strong as normal. Since I think I'll be hard pressed to do a 10k much faster than the time I did today, maybe I should try another distance, like a half marathon. Or not. We'll see.

Until next year...

Sun Run 2008

Last year's Sun Run post (which explains what the Sun Run is, among other things), is here.

My goal for this year was to beat last year's time of 58:22 for the 10k. I signed up for the InTraining clinic where you go for a group run once a week and there is a set training program to follow which includes 2 other runs per week. I didn't follow the program too closely but I did manage 2 or 3 runs a week over the 13 week training program. Although the Intraining course didn't meet my secondary objective - meeting a cute, local, (on-the-road-to-being)fit, single woman :), it did pretty well with the primary objective as by my unofficial stopwatch estimate, my time for this year was around 46:45.

And no, I didn't knit the socks myself, I won them in a draw...

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Update: Sacha improved his time from last year as well. No word on any secondary objectives.