The Year in Retrospect (So Far) and 2009

In an effort to continue training (if you can call it that) Colin and I are already trying to decide what races we will be doing in 2009. So far this is the line up:

Chilly Half Marathon - Burlington, Ontario - March 1st Both of Us
Around the Bay 30k - Hamilton, Ontario - March 29th Both of Us
Hartwell Challenge 10.5k - Aurora, Ontario - April 26th This is a COUPLES Challenge with some friends of ours. And we will lose LMAO!
Nordion 10k - Ottawa, Ontario - May 23rd I will run this, while Colin runs the Ottawa Half Marathon the next day!
Toronto Women's Half Marathon - Toronto, Ontario - May 31st This is just me....Colin and the kids will be waiting for me at the finish!
Nissan 10 Miler - Toronto, Ontario - Date TBA A nice warm up race to Scotia
Scotiabank Half Marathon - Toronto, Ontario - September 2009 Both again
Oasis Zoo Run - Toronto, Ontario - October 2009 And again, on both our schedules.

Sporting Life is out, since we just can't fit it into the schedule and we had already decided that while The Mud Run was an experience, we would NOT be doing it again!

Colin has some other things planned for next year, including a couple of clinics he is teaching and MAYBE taking the Triathlon Clinic next summer! Plus there is a smattering of 5k races that I am sure we will also fit into the schedule somehow!

Speaking of Colin, I want to take a second to applaud his efforts this year. Colin started out 2008 agreeing to run because he wanted to support my efforts to run. Many people may not know that Colin is what I like to call a natural athlete. He started playing hockey at a very young age and his body is conditioned to perform. And has it.

His first 5k race in March he ran in over 30 minutes. His next 5k race in August was run in 26:04, which took off a full 5 minutes from his previous Personal Record. This past weekend at the CIBC Run for a Cure, Colin ran an impressive 24:06! So since March he has taken almost seven minutes off his 5k time!

And in his first Half Marathon he finished with in 1:58:05!

So I can't think of a better coach to get my butt in shape. He is making up running schedules for me so I know what distance I need to run and on which days to run them. And he is letting me use his Garmin so I can finally figure out what exactly my pace is.

We also have a little something planned that I haven't told anyone about, but I think it deserves a post of it's own. So look out for that in the next few days!