Sporting Life 10k Recap

Today was the long awaited Sporting Life 10k with 27000 runners down Toronto’s Yonge St!  Sporting Life 10k is a fundraising race for Camp OOCH which is the only residential children’s camp in Canada offering on-site IV chemotherapy and blood transfusions.

To onto the recap!  When I woke up at around 5 am, I fueled my usual way… a banana and peanut butter straight from the jar!! Haha.  My friend and I ended up being early and the race but it was okay, we were able to get a good starting position and be the first runners to use the port-a-potties.

This race was supposed to be an  “easy” race because it was supposed to be a downhill race but do you know what people down tell you about downhill races?? There were a bunch of mini uphills to get through in order to run down those hills!  I was misled!!  The uphill parts were not really noticeable while running but since the race had so many runners, it was visible which took a toll on me mentally.

I wouldn’t say that this was one of my best 10ks… yes I did PR with 53:06 but I didn’t feel as if I worked as hard (those downhill parts helped with my PR haha) mainly because I didn’t feel like collapsing at the very end.   I started off the race feeling good – my shins weren’t bothering me as much and the weather was amazing.  I hit the 5k mark in 25:36 which I have no complaints about whatsoever because that’s faster than my MEC 5k race.

However, when I hit 7k, I started experiencing back pain and some cramping – it felt as if my sports bra was too constricting and I was honestly debating about just ripping that thing off my body and run the rest of the race holding my boobs in place with my hands but I toughed it through.  The pain really took a toll on me and I slow down a lot which was what disappointed me the most.  I was lucky enough to have my Black Toe teammates pass me and 8k and had me tuck in behind them so they could pace me for the rest of the way… if it wasn’t for them, I probably would have a slower finishing them (or a DNF .. that’s how much it was bothering me).  Due to my wonderful teammates, I was able to pick up my pace and finish strong but I still feel a little sad over how I could have finished faster if it wasn’t for the pain.

Some highlights of the race!

• Saw a man’s butt cheeks at the starting corrals as he lifted his short shorts to try and massage a kink out of his butt muscle I guess (I could have gone without this)
• A young man dressed in a full head to toe ELMO costume ran past me, gave me a giggle
• Really awesome under-10 year old kids cheering with Free High Five signs/Black Toe cheer group/Tribe Fitness posters
• Running past closed sushi places and Chipotle made me long for food haha
• Upset over the fact that some lady in the first wave with a double-digit bib walking in the middle of the course.  Yes you may have messed up and not been able to run as you’d like to but with 20k people running, walking right in the middle with your head buried in your fancy pack was not the best thing to do.  Please move to the side and allow the other runners to not barrel through you ):
• The wonderful volunteers who cheered us all through the water stations (I remember volunteering a couple years ago and props to you kids, waking up at 4 am to get bussed down for set up is a pain)
• There was a man hole cover where the middle WASN’T COVERED! Someone could have lost an ankle! Tsk tsk Toronto!
• I passed a young lady was on the ground around 300m away from the finish line (cramp I’m assuming) and the runners around her were wonderful enough to stop and try to carry her to the side for the medics.
• Almost took myself out of the race by tripping over some uneven roads/potholes.
• I would love to meet the guy who placed first with 29:19 because my mind is tired just thinking about running at a 2:59k/min pace!
• They dangled BANANAS just out of reach under the bridge we had to run under.  Some tried to make a grab for it for giggles but of course no one was tall enough. haha

All in all, 10/10 would repeat this race and I’m finishing this recap with letting you folks know I’m experiencing a calf cramp and I should go stretch it out now!

Did you race the Sporting Life 10k or just any race in general today?  How do you deal with feeling disappointed at the end of a race?

Don’t forget to follow me here on my blog ,

Instagram: http://instagram.com/runcarmyrun

Twitter: https://twitter.com/runcarmyrun

<3 Carmy