Moving up...

Yesterday's post said I placed second in my age group. That was great, as I had not expected that. Then I checked our results website and discovered it showed I had actually finished first. A little more checking and it was confirmed there were some glitches in recording times due to the extreme cold, and I really did finish first. Not that 49:22 is any blistering pace, but after missing first place in the Adirondack half marathon by one second, it feels kind of nice. Not that I am the slightest bit competitive, you know.

Richmond 10k race

The 24th year of the running of the Richmond ON (a few miles west of the main city of Ottawa) 10k race went today, on what was the coldest day yet for this venerable kick-off to the running season. Some -18 Celsius and a wind chill of -28 Celsius welcomed the several hundred hardy souls who faithfully turned out for this well-organized event. The opening and closing thirds of the race were a tad chilly, as we were running into the wind (A big rectangle around the town, more or less) while the middle third, in full sun and with the wind, was actually warm, in a Canadian winter sort of way.

I completed it in 49:22, which was good enough for second place in my age group. A good friend of mine, from the Ottawa Hash House Harriers, Louise Hamelin, came second overall in the women's side, with a 44-something run. Not bad for a 40-something runner. Men's overall winner did it in 34-something.

At the award ceremony, the organizers had a stand-up comic for entertainment. He had some great lines about runners and the cold. You can imagine the fun he had with "fartlek".

Happy New Year of running

Wow, seems like forever since I have done a post to my blog. Started working full-time at Foreign Affairs Canada in mid-December, working mostly on avian flu preparedness. Great job, and it will carry on to the end of January, but sure has played havoc wth my running. At about the same time, the weather conditions for the trails I usually run have overcome them, and there is now too much snow and ice.

So I have hardly run at all since December 12, except on Christmas and today. Got to get ready for the Richmond 10k two weeks from today, so I have regrouped. I have scoped out a 20 minute and 30 minute run on the roads, and with a little dedication, and getting up a few minutes earlier, I should be able to get in runs most days until the 15th, even if only 20 minutes instead of the usual 50 minutes. There's also the elliptical trainer and some other cardio stuff I can use.

I got a neat little red flashing light for Christmas to wear on my clothes, which will help with staying visible on early morning runs.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year celebration.