Well, race number one of the 2005 season is in the books, I apologize for taking so long to send out this report, I was waiting for some photos to send along with this. So, here it is now finally, a week or two late, but better late than never I suppose.
Overall the race went much as I had expected it would. I felt pretty good heading out in the morning from Guelph, but right away I was a little nervous as I stepped out into a wet, snowy mess. The drive was brutal until we actually got into Hamilton where it was more of a light, cold rain in place of the snow. After finding a parking spot and getting registered I proceeded down to the start line and started my warm up. Heading into the race I knew there were going to be some strong runners there (including the same guy that won it last year) but I was confident in my fitness (regardless of the cold, which I’m not a huge fan of).

Immediately off the start two groups formed, one in front containing about three guys, and one just off their pace containing myself and several others. Through the first 2 km both groups stayed very tight, though there was a definite gap from third back to my pack. Although I was able to hold with this pack until about 2.5-3 km’s, I was definitely fading by the 3rd km and feeling the lack of speed work in my legs as I just couldn’t get my turnover up. Of course I wasn’t the only one feeling this way- by this time the former pack had strung out considerably and I was basically by myself.

As I came into the final km I tried to pick the pace up a bit, although I had lost sight of the guy in front of me around the corner, which made it hard with no visual target. In fact I actually wasn’t paying attention to the people behind me and ended up getting passed literally right on the finish line, which put me into 11th spot overall and 2nr in my age group. My finishing time was, as I had planned, a personal best 16:56, although I would like to have been faster. But given the conditions (cold and wet) and being the first race of the year, I am happy with this result and I think it gives the season a good positive starting note.
Anyways, I hope everyone’s enjoying this spring which is finally coming. I’m in class for another week and a half, then exams for two weeks and then summer! No doubt this summer is going to be another crazy one, and as soon as I finish up with classes I’m hoping to sit down and figure out a full race schedule for 2005. Based on this one little race I can say that I think this summer looks very promising, my run speed is beyond where it was last year and I’m feeling better than every.
Take Care Everyone, and Bye for now!