Ottawa Race Weekend ‘08

Ottawa is a very beautiful city. I lived in Toronto for over 10 years. In between those years, I had been in and out Waterloo for about 5 years. Toronto is a fast pace and commercialized city. On the other hand, Waterloo is a quiet and relaxing place. Ottawa is like a mix of the best between Toronto and Waterloo. In fact, Rideau Cancal makes all the differences. The landscape in Ottawa gives me a relaxing feeling of a fast pace city! Its uniqueness is absolutely gorgeous.

Part of the reason I went to Ottawa, of course, for the 10k run on Saturday. I also went there to visit a good friend who is studying Psychology in University of Ottawa. A buddy of mine, a friend of his and myself drove to Ottawa on Friday evening. The 10k run happened on Saturday. We went back to Toronto on Sunday evening. We visited Canadian Museum of Civilization and National Gallery of Canada. In the Canadian Museum of Civilization, there was a Glenn Gould exhibition.  As you may know, Gould was a Canadian pianist, noted especially for his recordings of the music J.S. Bach. He was one of the best-known and most celebrated pianists of the 20th century. I also a big fan of Gould’s work. Not to mention I also have many of Gould’d CDs .

The MDS Nordion 10k run was on Saturday (May 24th) evening started at 6:30pm. It was my 2nd 10k run. Overall the run was great! This run was harder than the previous one (Sporting Life 10k) in my opinion. First, Sporting Life 10k was mostly downhill, while this one is flat race. Second, the temperature was ~25′C in Ottawa and it was sunny all weekend. The Sporting Life 10K was earlier while the temperature was still cool. Because of those, I was exhausted half way through the run.  The worst of all, I was having side stitches half way through so I had to slow down. Afterward I talked to my coach, he told me a method to cure side stitches.

Regardless, the feeling of passing the finish line was the greatest!

Sporting Life 10k

It was my first 10k run in my life and it was such a great experience! The run starts at 8am on May 4th. I was there an hour early to warm up. By the time I get to Yonge/Lawrence at 7am, Yonge St was already closed and side streets were packed with cars. Runners were all over. Some were stretching while others were jogging to the starting line. According to Canada Running Series, there were over 10 thousand participants!

I finished in 53min 31sec! Whooohooo! I’ve never thought that I could finish less than an hour to be honest! During my practice, I took longer than an hour to complete 10k. I believe it was because I was running with the crowd and that pushed my limit This is good to know what I am capable of. It was such a thrill to run pass the finish line!

I am getting ready for my next 10k run in Ottawa. This run is part of the Ottawa Race Weekend. The run is going to be on both sides of Rideau Canal. I bet the scenery is going to be great! The run starts at 6:30pm and I will see how it goes.

Warming up

I haven’t been running for long but I do know one thing: warm up every time before running! I was having trouble to get over the half-an-hour running. Not because I lose my breath, but it’s because my leg muscles (thigh, hamstrings, and calves) ache so much without warming up. Literally I have to stop and walk back. The worst of all: I need to rest for at least a day to recover from my muscles ache.

Until I talked to my coach about this problem, he told me I should warm up before I do my running practice. Here’s what I do for warm up:

1. Jogging 8×400m (~10min)
2. Stretching leg muscles (~5min)
3. Stride 10×15sec and rest 15sec in between (~5min)
4. Stretching leg muscles (~5min)

With this approximately 25 min warm up exercise, I haven’t had trouble running over for an hour since I start preparing my first 10k run on May 4th. It works great for me and I hope you can be benefit from it too.

Let’s run!

Map your running route online!

When I first started running in January this year, I joined a running class at the UofT and I ran with people there. We usually ran for 30min or so every time we meet up. For the longest time I have no idea how long (in terms of distance) I ran. 5km? 8km? or 10km?

I have thought of writing a web 2.0 application which allows people to map their running routes online using Google map technology. Until recently I found a site MapMyRun.com and it does exactly what I want!

I’ve mapped the two routes (4k & 6k) that I run with my running group in Toronto:

I’ve also mapped a route (10k) in Thornhill that I am currently running:

So far I’ve run Harry’s Spring Run Off 5k at Toronto High Park on April 5th. I was having so much fun there and I will continue running training this summer. I am getting ready for Sporting Life 10k on May 4th. I am planning to go to couple running events this summer, including Socitabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sept 28th.

My goal is to run marathon once in my life. I realize that my physical capability still far from running a marathon but I am working toward it