I feel like I say this every time I do a race… but I was really not prepared for this one. And if I always think I’m unprepared, then this had to be the race I was definitely the MOST unprepared for due to a combination of things.
I had started semi-training for the St. Patrick’s Day 5K race back in January once we got back from LA, but it was kind of half-hearted. I wasn’t doing sprints (because I hate them) and I was relying on doing tempo runs to help me gain my speed back. I also hadn’t been running outside – instead opting to use the track at the gym, which meant my lungs were not conditioned to the colder temperatures outside. Things took a steep nosedive in March when I got sick (just some random cold) and then I seriously injured my shoulder at a soccer game. The pain was so bad that I stopped ALL exercise for 2-3 weeks. So I wasn’t running, I wasn’t weightlifting, and this race was coming up on me quickly.
Since I love St. Patrick’s Day and this is my favourite race of the entire year in Toronto, I decided I was going to run it despite the pain I was feeling in my right shoulder. I did a 1K practice run the day before the race and determined I could sustain the impact of my feet hitting the pavement repeatedly without causing too much damage to my shoulder (unreal to think that the impact of my feet was so painful to my shoulder, but it was).
Unfortunately, the way the race worked out this year, the Achilles St. Patrick’s Day race was the AFTER St. Patrick’s Day (please, guys… don’t ever do that again – make it the weekend before!). I wasn’t hungover, but I had certainly curtailed my usual St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans the night before so I wouldn’t feel terrible the morning of the race (or, as good as I could given my injury).
Because I was injured, I treated this race so differently than I normally would. I figured I wouldn’t do very well, so I slept without constantly waking myself up from nerves (which is usually an issue for me the night before a race) so – for once – I actually got a good night’s sleep.
Once the race started, I turned on my trackers and told myself to go at a comfortable pace, but not to overstress myself. I’m someone who is constantly checking their Garmin to make sure I’m on pace for the time I want to finish in, so it felt very odd to just turn it on and leave it be. I wasn’t in too much pain so I just race at a comfortable pace where I wasn’t gasping for breath. I had resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be beating my personal best time in a 5K (which I did the year prior in this race with a time of 26:06), and figured I’d come in somewhere around the 28-29 minute mark.
Imagine my surprise when I rounded the last corner of this race and checked my Garmin to see what time I was at and saw that I was around 23 minutes. What??? That’s AMAZING! There was about 700 meters left, which meant I could definitely come in under 27 minutes if I just stayed on pace/sped up a bit. I was so shocked! I had spent the whole race ignoring pacing and just ran at a comfortable speed, and somehow, despite the pain I was feeling and my intense lack of training, I was on target for staying in my typical 26 minute racing zone!
I crossed the finish line with a time of 26:41, and I have never been that excited to have a high 26 minute finish time. I always want to beat my best, but given the circumstances of this particular race, I was over the moon with my finish time! I don’t know how I managed to stay under 27 minutes, because I know I’ve completed some races in this time frame and felt like I put my all into it, but this time I definitely felt like I still had extra gas to spare once I’d finished the race. I’d held back because of my injury, but I know that means that next time I’ll be even better.
And just to reiterate, even though I’ve chatted about this race before – this is one of my favourites to do in Toronto. I love the St. Patrick’s Day theme, I love that they welcome you into Steamwhistle Brewery afterwards and give you some beer and chili, I love the atmosphere, I love the course and I LOVE that it’s one of the cooler temperature races where I can breathe easily around 0 degrees. Hands down a fantastic race to run in Toronto!
Race Results
- Finish Time: 26:41
- Pace: 5:20 per kilometer
- Overall placement: 309/1122
- Age group placement (Female 30-39 years): 43/186
- Gender placement (F): 108/619