Tag Archives: The River’s Spring Run Off

Race Recap: The Spring River’s Run Off 10K

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At the beginning of the year I had set some pretty big goals for running, but after a lot of contemplation, I re-jigged them into something more achievable. Originally I set my sights on completing a half-marathon by the end of this year, but now I’m aiming at simply upping my distances and completing eight races in the Kamloops Run Series.

This year, much like last, we kicked off the 2019 running season at the Spring River Run Off race, hosted by the always amazing Kamloops Ridge Runners. This would be my first kick at completing a race at the 10km distance, and to say I was nervous would be an understatement. Lucky for me, Kyle decided that he’d hang out at my pace and kept me going pretty much throughout the whole race.

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We were called “The Cute Couple” but this photo is everything but cute, haha! (Photo by David Graham)

Overall, I felt really good throughout the whole race! My knees started giving me a pretty hard time somewhere between the 7 and 8 km mark, but Kyle really helped keep me going and I managed to finish fast and strong with a time of 56:29 and an average pace of 5:39/km. My main goal was to finish in under an hour, and I’m pretty jazzed that I was able to crush that one!

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Today my legs are pretty much dead to me, but it’s so worth it. I’m looking forward to the rest of the race season, and being able to confidently accomplish longer distances!

Race Recap: The Spring River’s Run Off 5K

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I wouldn’t say that this past Sunday’s run was the race that I was training for, but with it being the first of the year I suppose that it is true!

This would be the first “competitive” 5k I’ve participated in and to say I was anxious about would be an understatement. I mean, I had a look at how many people had signed up and I instantly got nervous. I perhaps will have to not pay attention to that in the future so I don’t psych myself out, but regardless, I ended up being pretty damn happy with how everything went.

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Obligatory pre-race photo, courtesy of Kyle’s mom.

The sun decided to come out and DEAR LORD THANK YOU, because it was so cold otherwise! I’m glad I decided to wear a long sleeve and grabbed a sweater to wear before the race started. Spring may be in the air but winter is definitely still lurking about like a creepy uncle. So, yay for sun! I was also thankful for the nice, flat course because hills are actually the devil and I haven’t trained for them at all. (One day I will, I swear.)

There were about 20 participants in the 5k portion of the race and we started about 20 minutes after the 10k runners. (Which included Kyle and his stepdad.) Three runners immediately took off flying and I lost sight on them by the 1k mark, but I stuck with my plan on just pacing myself and not burning out too soon.

My feet were freezing and I couldn’t feel my toes for a bit, but I felt pretty good up until about the 2km mark when my knee started bugging me a little and my side started cramping up, so I slowed myself down for a few metres. By this time a lot of the 10k runners were also coming through to finish, but as I’ve mentioned in the past, the running community is amazing and had nothing but encouraging words as I trucked along.

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Somewhere between around the 2km mark, clutching that cup of water as if my life depended in it, haha! (Photo by David Graham)

Nothing was sweeter than seeing that “1km to go” sign and I managed to keep my pace going and felt strong heading toward the finish line. My Fitbit clocked me at 29:59 but my official bib time was 29:04, a new PB for me! I ended up finishing 5th in the 5k and 2nd in my age group. (Hashtag: Humble brag, lol!)

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All that technical stuff

We hung around for pizza, door prizes (I won a toque and Kyle got a restaurant g/c), and awards because Kyle and his stepdad both medaled!

So, overall, I’m super satisfied with how I did. I wasn’t sure if my early morning treadmill sessions would be enough but I suppose I proved myself wrong! Now I plan on taking a short break from training to let my poor legs recover before I start training for the next one!

Oh, and a huge shout out to the Kamloops Ridge Runners for putting on this event! I cannot imagine the logistics behind organizing a road race, so thanks to them for doing such an amazing job! I’m looking forward to the Blackwell in May!