A Week of Numbers

We've had a big week this week!

Firstly, Mum and Dad arrived on Monday night, from Australia. They were with us for 10 days and there had been excitement about this visit for about 3 months! They were in great form and lasted a couple of hours with us before heading off to bed to sleep off the jet lag.

Dinner on the deck on the night of my actual birthday.

The first numbers event this week occurred on Wednesday when I celebrated my 40th birthday. I am very positive about reaching 40 and embracing it! Certainly the year thus far has far exceeded expectations and the experiences have all contributed to a very memorable 40th birthday. My final wish was for a warm birthday ... something I've only experienced once before when I turned 18 in Sweden many years ago! The weather was not looking promising until Tuesday, when summer arrived ... and yes, Tuesday and Wednesday were very warm. The children were promised a day off school this week to spend with Gran and Pa; and my children, as they do in Australia, "had things on" at school on Thursday and Friday so couldn't miss the days; so they spent Wednesday at home with us. We had a lovely brunch of pancakes with maple syrup (of course), then a long lunch and walk around Ile d' Visitation in the sun. Dinner was a casual takeaway at home, but we are planning to go out and celebrate in more style next week.

Tony pre-race

The second numbers event for the week was the Ottawa Running Festival. The group I regularly run with here in Montreal were entering this running festival and aiming to complete the half marathon. I resisted for many weeks, as I knew Mum and Dad would be here; however after I started doing the long runs with this group - 12 - 17 kms; I couldn't resist any longer and managed to get a late registration. At the same time, Tony decided to enter his first long run and he did the 10km run on the same weekend. So we headed off to Ottawa, with Mum and Dad, the kids and the Australian flags!

Cheer squad. 

Tony's race was held in the evening, at 6:30pm. This is the biggest running festival in Canada, so it was a huge weekend. On Saturday, there was a 2km, 5km and 10km event. In just the 10km alone, there were 12 000 runners. Tony has been working really hard for this and has increased the distances he runs and the speed at which he runs. It all paid off as he did an amazing time of 46.32 mins. We all felt very proud of him and he was certainly pleased with his efforts, placing about 600th out of 12 200 odd runners. We found a place on the course and set up our flags to cheer him on. Unfortunately it was very hard to be along the course and at the finish line, as moving our cheer squad along with the other 20 000 people watching was a slow process. We did manage to see him just after he had finished, before he came through the recovery zone.

Post race

It is worth commenting that due to the size of this running festival, there was a huge amount of consideration put into the recovery of runners. There were seats at the finishing line, but this was a considerable distance from the "main area" of the fun run and the starting line. Once runners had finished, you had to continue walking - about 600 metres. This was an area for runners only and blocked off from supporters and family. There was first aid initially, then you were then handed your medal; for my run, we were also wrapped in space blankets; then you proceeded through a food tent, where so much food and drink was shoved into your hands. Care of the runners was paramount and they were not wanting people to collapse just over the finish line: in a way, this long walk (yes, long after a half mara) was essentially a warm down for everyone.  The food was to ensure no-one fainted along the way. All up, it was probably 15 mins before I came out and could meet up with Tony and the crew. As they had been watching from the crowds, about 500 metres from the finishing line, they also had quite a walk back to the meeting spot.

1 km into the race when I ran past the cheer squad!

My run was Sunday morning, and along with 13,100 other runners, I lined up for the start. There were several waves and most people seemed appropriately placed in the waves. I was running before the start line which is always good. This photo shows me as I saw Tony and the family, just after the start. This also shows the crowd, which was like this, and more crowded, for most of the run.

21.1 kms is one very long way! I did a particularly fast first 10 kms which was a big mistake. Crowd and excitement urged me on so I did 10 kms in about 51 mins. Of course I paid for that shortly after and found it hard to keep going. A stitch slowed me down for a couple of kms; then at 15 kms, the 1hr 55 min pace bunny passed me ... that was my goal! It made me angry for while, then spurred me on ... but unfortunately I didn't quite catch him at the end.

The Rideau Canal

Gemma post race

Us with our bling!

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, in the province of Ontario. It is a really pretty city,with amazing architecture and is famous for its tulips - a bigger tulip festival than Holland. It has a population of a bit over 800 000. The running festival had over 40 000 people participating over the whole weekend, so the city was packed. Ottawa has the Rideau Canal running through it, which was the basis for Tony's 10km run. I also run along part of it, then further into Ottawa, over the river and back into the province of Quebec and around the city of Gatineaux (Gatineaux is a border town to Ottawa) and back into Ottawa. I didn't really take in the scenery and landmarks very well! The crowds were amazing and the atmosphere was huge. Along the 21km route, there were at least 10 musical acts (singers, bands, drumming groups); about 7 water (and sometimes fruit) stations; and lots and lots of people.  It really was fun and from 18 kms onwards, both sides of the road were lined with spectators. At this 18km, the marathon runners merged into us and we both ran the same last 3 kms. They had started two hours before us, so there were still plenty of them running and the road became quite crowded. It did feel rather special to be running through a line of supporters cheering you on! I was really feeling it at this stage so did struggle somewhat, but the cheering certainly made it fun. I finished in a time of 1hr 56:06 mins which meant I reached my goal of under 2hrs. To give it some perspective, I came  3000th out of 13 100 runners,  so I was pretty happy. I was also struggling with a calf injury, so ultimately I'm just happy to have completed it! The buzz afterwards is certainly a good one!

We had found a great cafe on the edge of the canal in Ottawa and had lunch there on Saturday. It was a restrained lunch for Tony and I; focusing on water hydration and carbohydrates. We enjoyed it so much, as well as the space for the kids to run about, that we made a booking for lunch time on Sunday. Post races, there were some beers involved and a less healthy lunch! A great way to celebrate.

Birthday celebration dinner.

 The final celebration for the week of numbers was a dinner for my 40th. We had decided to wait until after the run weekend so that we could celebrate properly. We got a babysitter and went off to a lovely restaurant in town. We had a very impressive tasting menu, with some very interesting regional food, with matching wines ... that taxi was a great idea! It was also Mum & Dad's last night in Montreal, so a fitting way to end their stay.

Mum and Dad now head off on an 18 day tour of Eastern Canada. They will actually revisit Ottawa, be back in Montreal for a day next week (which we will spend with them), then they head to Quebec City and onto a cruise out through the Gulf of St Lawrence, to Prince Edward Island, then to Nova Scotia and down to Boston. They return to Montreal mid-June and will have 3 days with us before heading home. That will also be the end of our Montreal stay, but we are heading off travelling for a while before heading home.