Running for the Mountain

Last weekend I participated in the 9th annual Run for the Mountain 6K (R4TM) race around Westwood Lake. The goal of the event is to raise funds for Mount Benson Regional Park. This beautiful 1,023M mountain serves a magnificent backdrop for Nanaimo and is considered by the local running community as equivalent to the Grouse Grind (um, if you want to climb it that way). I’ve walked, run and snowshoed this wonderful mountain several times and it has been so satisfying. Thankfully there are well marked trails.

Second Time Running
I ran the 6K Run for the Mountain race last year in 32:19 and was 6th in the Female Masters Division (40-99 yrs). I recorded that as my PB since that was the first time I had run that race and actually that distance. This year I beat that time by a whooping 7 seconds and was still 6th in the same division. So again, another PB. A small aside, if there had been more age specific divisions, I would have been first in my division – that delights me a wonderful way. Who me competitive?

Wasp Sting
I should have had a better time and I probably could have run it faster, based on my exhaustion level at the end, i.e. not wheezing and gasping for air. A few minutes after I crossed the finish line I was breathing normally and I was back to my resting heart rate. (So in theory I had room for more). At least I wasn’t slower. And goodness the conditions this year were fantastic! With Mount Benson providing the backdrop and gorgeous reflections in Westwood Lake. It was sunny and warm compared to last years cold and fog, where the mountain-view was non existent.

Not that this was an excuse or anything, but last year, I was stung by a wasp in the first kilometer, but I kept on going after I brushed it and it’s stinger off my right tricep. Apparently one should NOT exercise after being stung as this may increase venum distribution, but I did not think about that at the time. The swelling, which spread all the way down to my wrist, after the race, eventually went down after the third day. I’m told that I need to be concerned about wasp bites from now on (I do carry antihistamines in my backpack, just in case, but haven’t gone as far as carrying an epipen).

Personal Bests
There was more to this year’s R4TM race that was special than a PB, great weather, and the company (and camera) of some wonderful friends. This year I truly felt part of the Nanaimo running community. Last year, I knew a few people in a friendly casual kind of way. At that time, I had been part of the Running Room Marathon training program for a few months and knew a few folks from that group and a few other running buddies from my neighbourhood. However the R4TM race was one of the first officially timed races that I had run in a very long time. Since then I’ve run in all sorts of timed races and since most of them were the first official records of those distances, I’ve listed them all as PBs. I therefore consider the Run for the Mountain as my anniversary run and all the ones I do from here on in are second runnings of the same distances and same races. With all the training I do, they should all be PBs, right? Let’s hope so… that is my plan for the next racing year.

Running Community
Getting back to being part of the Nanaimo running community. After running as many local races as I could this past year, including several in the Vancouver Island Running Series, joining the Bastion Running Club, and taking and teaching a few more Running Room Clinics, I know a lot more people – mostly in Nanaimo, but also some from other Vancouver Island communities. This has been such a great way to connect with people for training runs and for fun adventures, as well as race support (before, during and after). This makes me feel good, to belong to a group such as this: happy, fun, like minded outdoor fit people. We should all be so lucky.

Join Up
In reflection, last year, had I not gone with my running buddy Penny to join her in a Running Room clinic and learn about the R4TM race and had I not taking the plunge to commit to the race and run it with my buddy Alison, I might not have been motivated to participate in other races and I might not have met such a great community of people. I therefore encourage my dear readers who want to improve their running times and fitness condition, meet new people, have fun and feel good, join a running clinic (there are lots of them out there), join a running club (almost every community has one – or start one) and sign up for your first officially timed race. You will feel so much better and you will have become part of a wonderful and inspirational community.