Muskoka Rocks 10 K

Well fellow runners, I'm a tad bit behind in my blogging! I know ! I know! Who knew there were OTHER things in my life to take up my blogging time!

As you know, when we last left our heroine she was suffering from tendonitis which, according to all reports, would leave her sidelined for 6 weeks. No running for her! None. Zero, zip, zilch, nada, buttkiss! It was a dark time for our heroine: a dark time indeed, filled with doubt, pain, depression & anxiety. However salvation came in the form of her bicycle. And so our story begins again...

Having promised Tracymac that I would be a group leader for her 10k clinic it was a bit of a bummer to be side lined with this friggin tendonitis. ( I say that with all the respect in the world cuz it really HURT !!) Being very staunch about my commitments, I had to figure out a way to keep on helping. Then it dawned on me: I have a bicycle, I can ride my bike with my runners and work with them that way! WOW~~~ I loved that idea. Until the first night of hill training. I was determined not to ride in granny gear for the Wednesday night hill training & what a work out! And my bike is a mountain bike - about 27 pounds - huge tires. *sighs* so it was great for the quads & glutes. Yikes!

So my RMT said no running until August & I had agreed to that & I meant it. Muskoka Rocks which was out goal race was August 1st. That's August to me. Right? So I kept up my long bike rides & hill training and tempo rides with the group & all the while said a little uhmna to the universe to help me be ready.
I tried a small run the week before and got 560 meters under my belt. I had to turn around less than 300 meters into the run, I could feel my foot flaring up. This did not bode well for August 1st & Muskoka Rocks. But I kept a positive attitude as best as I could and kept saying my little uhmna.

So the morning of arrived & off I went with my partner in many crimes of late, Cindy Marcelli. We packed in our racing bags & our golf bags, I mean if the weather's good why not get 9 in? Right?! So off we headed for Minett, Ontario, punched in the rough address to my Magellan & headed off in a northerly direction. With a little bit of difficulty I located the Peninsula Rec Centr, the start/finish line , then found parking and found Rickiemac & our race kits. Our tech shirts were marvellous - the back of it had written on it THE HARDEST 10K in CANADA - (or something like that... ) I just about fainted. Awesome!! Can't wait!

Found the rest of the 10K clinic folks & got some pre race pictures & got ready for the start. Found one Mr Jim Tuttle wandering about the grounds & beckoned him over. The facility we were at didn't allow the runners to use any of the amenities so off to the portopotties we went. I think there were 6 of them, so by the time everyone had arrived the line up was stretched down the road. Race Directors: how about a few extra next year?

So the race plan was to stick with Cindy who was coaching first timer Britney through the race. Nice and slow. No heroics! No running hell bent for leather. Just a slow and steady plod after all it was going to be hilly. So I was going to walk what hills I had to as to not aggravate my calf issue either. It was going to be a SMART run.

After some shuffling of the runners we were all ready to begin the race - PART WAY UP A FRIGGING HILL!! Really? Seriously? Fine, fine, fine. It can't get much worse that that. Can it. Well they were right, it was a hilly run. I started the race with Cindy & Britney - we were at a very comfy 7:22 pace. I was confident in the fact I would manage just jimdandy with that pace. As we headed for the first water station, which was advertised to be at the 2k mark, but really closer to 2.75 k (but who's taking note of things such as that) I felt a bit of a hop to my step & headed off to test my "wings" so to speak. There were some incredibly large hills. The one at 3k that was going down was nice, but the fact you know you are running up it at the 6k mark made it a bit daunting.
The rest were rolling hills and I could talk my way through them. I walked when I felt I had to. I kept to my 10 & 1's. Steady. Steady. Steady. I got to the BIG HILL and although I had passed one runner only, I had another one in my sights. He wasn't that far ahead of me & I dislike him with all my might, but the hill was bigger. I had to walk it, there was no way I was willing to throw 6 weeks of recovery down the drain for 300 meters. I would gain on him then he'd take off running. Ohhh... that was soooooooo annoying! ACK!! Then I passed another runner who was struggling as well, but it wasn't THE fellow. It wasn't the same feeling. By this point I was running 300 meters and walking about 100 meters. I was TOAST! So much for the cardio fitness on the bike rides. BLECH.
I came up the final hill and started passing the 5k walkers that were still out on the course. By now all of the other 10 k clinic members had finished. I passed them on the way to the turn around. Heckled Aiden McGee as he came speeding by me on his return leg and by the way he came in 1st in his age group. I like to think my positive remarks to him helped spur him on to his amazing finish. AHAH.

I tried to finish strong. I still have Kevin O's voice in my head from time to time. " finish strong" aackk.. ALRIGHT!! ALRIGHT!!. And I picked it up. I was looking at the finishing time and saw 59:xx on the digital timer & I went faster & faster. I couldn't believe the time! Could it be true? could I be under one hour for a 10k? Yeah, not so much! I was looking at the 5k clock. My time was 1:10. Not bad for a first run back on the most difficult course in Canada!
I'd take that for sure.

Afterwards we stayed to watch Aiden be presented with his award, he's a terrific runner for all of his 14 years. Darren Collins was there as well & placed 6th over all and 2nd in his age group. Well done gentlemen! Well done.

I would definitely go back again! It's a great course, definitely tough, but definitely worth the drive to Minett.