Its confirmed, I AM the tortoise!

Thanks to a whole lot of training, and support from so many wonderful friends, and others, I ran and finished my first ever distance race, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront half marathon on Sunday!!!!! Huge thanks to Coaches Rick and Jenna, and my running buddies, Sue and Kaye, and to the TNT alumni runners like Tracy, who shared tips and such in the post-Sunday morning run coffee chats. And to every one of my supporters, particularly those that took the time to send me text message cheers. You made me smile every time one appeared on my watch while I was running. The few that arrived near the end were super helpful in keeping my pace up.

So let me share the excitement of my first ever race event.

I arrived in Toronto on Saturday morning, and walked from the downtown airport to the race Expo. There I picked up my race kit and bib, and had a look around, as it was my first race expo. I met and talked with Cheryl from TNT for the first time in person while there. Then it was on to my hotel, where I had expected to have to wait to check in since it was WAY before 3pm, but I was lucky and they had a room for me, so I was able to check in right away when it was only just noon. I began by unpacking my gear and getting ready for the following day.

I pack light.

Back of shirt.

Have to have a bib shot.

I had a pasta dinner with TNT folks Saturday night, Lots from Toronto there, so when I arrived I took a table by myself, since they seemed to be in established groups. This turned out to be fine, as Coach Jenna and I were the only ones there from Ottawa, and we got the other out of town  folks at our table, which was the contingent from North Texas. They were really nice and friendly, and we hit it off well.

Now comes the point where I have to say one huge thank you to all of my supporters. TNT thanked us participants at the dinner, and I was lucky enough to be the top fundraiser for the event for TNT. I could not have done that without all of you. Together, we raised over $9000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada!!!! That's just awesome. I think Kerry would be very pleased. Our charity was also the top charity for the race!

I barely slept Saturday night, I was so wound up about the race. Again, not so much the running part, but whether I would remember everything I needed, and would I find my way about, and basically all the logistical stuff that was not the actual putting one foot in front of the other part. I finally got up before the alarm went off. It was just after 5 am. I proceeded to try and prepare my body for the event, mainly my feet. My baby toes have had recurring blisters pretty much every week for last few weeks after my long run. I hesitate to say they actually healed between runs, because I don't think they did. So I knew they were likely to be my Achilles heal. I did my best to protect them, and I was in great spirits and feeling very determined when I headed off to the race area at 7 am.

Sunday morning was cold. It was just 3 degrees Celcius when we met up at the TNT pavilion before the start of the race. I made a last minute decision to wear my sweatpants rather than check them for post race, instead checking my yoga pants. I was wearing a ditch-able fleece jacket, gloves, and a windbreaker, but needed the extra on my legs during the 1.5 hour wait between bag-check/ meet up time and the actual race start. It was definitely one of the coldest days I have ever run on. I basically had my TNT vest, shorts, and sleeves as my running attire. I knew once I started I would warm up, but the waiting part was just plain cold. Many were wearing garbage bags even though they had put on extra gear.

We headed as a group to the start corrals, after posing for group photos. I think there were like 45 of us, all in our TNT gear, even if some us did not have it visible due to jackets and garbage bags. :)  A few of us peeled off into the faster corrals, but most of us were in the last runner corral, the purple one, for the slower folks. I was fine with that. I AM slow. I certainly would not want to get in the way of faster folks. I mean, I figured I was going to be passed by some of  the walkers anyway :)

In the corral, we huddled together, using our collective heat to keep warm. As the start time approached, we ditched the more bulky items, like sweat pants and sweaters. I left my fleece and pants, and tried to think warm thoughts while dressed in just my shorts, TNT singlet, and thin windbreaker. I left on my gloves though. I bounced, and shivered, and as the minutes counted down to the start, I began to warm up just from excitement. Every time a corral ahead of us started, we got to move up. The announcers at the start were great at building the excitement, and making even those of us in the slow purple corral feel special.

Finally, it was our time, and the slowest of the runners, myself among them, took off under the start banner, our chip timers beginning their count as our bibs crossed over the timer mats. People were cheering us on, shaking their cowbells, and blowing whistles and horns. It was very inspiring.

I had my race plan to follow, so while everyone took off rather quickly, and people were passing me to either side, I settled into my planned pace- a slow and steady 8:30min/km. I was hoping to finish in 3 hours or maybe even a couple of minutes under that, but this was the farthest I had ever run, and I mainly wanted to finish it, more than meeting a specific time. So I let the other runners pass me. And then some of the faster walkers too. I was smiling and enjoying the experience.

Proof that I was smiling a lot.

I tried not to really think about the route. I knew that I would not get lost, and I did not really want to focus on how far I had gone, or how far I had left to go. I wanted to just run, and take in the crowds cheering, and what it felt like to run with so many other people around. I had a small taste of that at the Terry Fox fun run I did, but that was NOTHING compared to being one of something like 20000 people all running the same course with you.

It was nice to see so many cheering despite how cold it was, and that I was at the back, with the bulk of the runners well ahead of me. They could have gone inside and left us slow folks to run without cheers, but many did not do that. The drink stations were well staffed and equipped, and I always managed to get a drink. I was glad I had decided to walk through the stations, as the pavement was slick with Gatorade and water and discarded cups, and I saw more than one person around me slip, or trip a bit, on them. But I did not walk for long, and I went back to my slow run as soon as the debris lessened.

I loved the first part, with its slow downhill, and the residential area and shops. We ran past the medal landmark for this year's event, Honest Eds. That was neat. I loved the school that had its cheerleaders out with their pom poms, doing cheers as we ran by. I loved the folks sitting on their porches in their winter coats, some with pets and small kids, who cheered us on. I loved the many wacky signs  that were being held up to encourage and motivate us. I loved the cheer station from one of the radio stations that was blasting some excellent reggae music that had me dance run past them.

Then it was onto Lake Shore. It was still cold. I only removed my gloves around 6 km in. I was still in my windbreaker. This stretch of the course was not as visually interesting, and I mainly relied on my music to carry my feet along. At the 10 km mark, I was doing well, pace just shy of my goal, at 8:37/km. I tried to go a bit faster after that, but there were fewer folks cheering, and it was still cold. Still I was happy to be out there, and I really do think I had a smile on my face the whole time. When the smile started to fade from the cold, I just added in a bit of dance to my tunes, and that picked my feet up again, along with my lips. I finally managed to remove my coat somewhere around the 15 km mark. By the time I entered into the final stretch, up the hill of Bay street, the wind was whipping down the street, and I almost put it back on again.

I know that Kerry was running with me as I passed 18 km, and was into the farthest I have ever run stretch, the last 3.1 km to the finish line. I was still smiling.

Last 100m, trying to forget the blister.

My toes were aching around 19 kms. I took an unplanned walk break for a bit around 20 kms, naturally right before coach Jenna shows up to run with me. I KNEW that would happen. LOL. But she got me back running, and I was managing about 8:00/km pace with her in the last km. I was still smiling at that point, with about 400 m to go, right about when Jenna had to peel off to go encourage her next TNT runner, when the reason for my aching toes became instantly apparent. A blister broke on my left baby toe. As I described to others, the pain was intense, as sweat and broken blister met. I saw through space and time. I am sure I was not smiling then. I kept going though, still running, as I was so close to the finish. Another TNT coach, Katie, met me with 300 m to go and ran with me to within 100 m of the finish line. At that point, I pulled on my love of Kerry, and recalled all he went through. The thoughts made me strong enough to push aside my trivial pain. I had experienced a far greater pain than a mere blister. And I had experienced a far greater love and joy. I recalled both, and pulled on the joy that was loving Kerry. I sprinted (well, ok, it was a sprint for me anyways :) ) to the finish line. I wanted to end the race strong, just as Kerry had remained strong through all he went through.

I was smiling then, as I crossed the finish.  Here is the proof.

Crossing the finish.

My chip time was 3:01:42.  I was the Tortoise. But like the Tortoise, I finished the race. Not quite last, but definitely at the back of the pack. I do not care. I FINISHED!!!

OVERALL PLACE	10236/10528
GENDER PLACE	5402/5619
CATEGORY PLACE	450/471

OVERALL PLACE

10236/10528

GENDER PLACE

5402/5619

CATEGORY PLACE

450/471

I continued to smile for the rest of the day, I think.  A friend, on seeing some of these images, asked me why I was smiling so much, wasn't running 20k supposed to be hard work? My reply was that I smiled because of why I was doing it, and I smiled because I could.

Smiling at TNT post race check-in

Still smiling at my hotel later.

I never once forgot that I was running this for Kerry.

And George.    

And Patrick.     

And Anthony.    

And Lyne.    

And Little Sam.     

And everyone who has survived the battle with blood cancer, is still fighting it, or who did not win.  

Every one of them was in my mind as I ran.     

And every one of them was in my heart as I finished.   

They are the real heroes.