Wooo!!! You probably know that I love being part of the Oiselle Volée. If you don’t know what that is…

“The Volée is a global community made up of women with diverse running backgrounds and competitive goals. We work hard to raise the bar in terms of how women support other women, fostering strength and leadership – not just through healthy competition, but in daily actions big and small. Our mission is to continue to build our sisterhood: one that is strong, supportive, passionate, and all in on a woman-up world.”

The Tenacious Ten is the like the biggest sisterhood gathering ever, and that’s one of the reasons I love this race! Of course you don’t have to be a member of the Volée to run the race, but a TON of the birds show up for this plus many other amazing women and men. Other reasons I love it are the beautiful and fast course, including the start and finish in the breathtaking Gas Works Park, and that it’s in Seattle. I friggin LOVE Seattle! I felt so ready for this race, thanks to Lifelong Endurance, and I was ready to run well and restore the faith after that gut bomb of a half marathon two weeks ago.

Packet pick-up was both Thursday and Friday from 11am-7pm. Bailey, Crystal and I hit the Watertown Hotel on the way into Seattle before going to our AirBnB. It was easy, fast and not busy. This year they had a Momentum Jewelry table, too. The race shirts are a red version of the Flyte tank, which is a top I already own and love. The hat for this year’s race is also sweet; it’s the same as my Oiselle baseball cap and I like it far more than the trucker version from last year. We got Picky Bars (yum, first time trying them) and the girls bought some Momentum stuff, and then we got going! Thursday night: Mexican food and chill. Friday morning: November Project. We spent the rest of Friday going to Pike Place and eating lots of food, before more food at a little Volee Canada dinner!

On Saturday morning Bailey and I were drinking our coffee (black for me, no risks) by just after five. The others started to wake up and everyone started getting pumped, eating our preferred race-day breakfasts and suiting up. My final decision was black Volée crop, big blue new Portman shorts, Gibbler PROs, New Balance FuelCore Rush runners and Goodr sunglasses. This time around, I stuck to my quick oats with raisins and NOTHING else for breakfast.

I wore a warm jacket on top of my throw away shirt, plus some $1 gloves and planned to check them in my gear bag once it was time to warm up. It was surprisingly cold. Cold wind was blowing plus it was only 6:30 am when we left the apartment.

The event site opened at 6:30am and we were there by 6:45 for the eight o’clock start of both the 10k and 10 mile races. It was sweet because the porto-potties (or HONEY BUCKETS, as they call them there…gross!) had been locked overnight with zap straps and they were just clipping them off when we arrived so we got fresh toilets ahahah. Win!

The music started up and our lady crew met up with the rest of the Canada Volee, some of whom we’d also met up with the previous evening at JOEY University Village for dinner.

Gas Works Park is so cool! So happy we all found one another easily in the morning! This race isn’t tiny like our local races at home, but it’s definitely not big. I think there were less than two thousand runners and it wasn’t difficult to find familiar faces.

Just like last year, it was quick to check a gear bag early, but later on the line-up was long, so ditch your bag early! I checked my bag with my jacket and toque. My mitts I kept, and I’m glad because it was cold warming up and I ended up wearing them for three-quarters of the race.

I did five minutes of easy jogging and came back to the main area where we all joined in the warm-up led by Kinetic Sports Rehab. Then we had a short dance party to stay warm. Sally, the CEO of Oiselle, wanted in on the action with the Canadians.

I went for another five-minute jog (AND SAW KARA GOUCHER AND GOT A HUG) and then hit the grassy area between the start and finish chutes to do strides and stretches. By start time, I was warm and ready to run. Really, really glad I took the time to get my strides in! I ditched the long-sleeve up on some random old piece of gas plant equipment and was pretty sure it would still be there after the race (it was), but didn’t care as I brought it for a throw away.

This race doesn’t have corrals, but it does have a few pacers with signs based on pace/mile, not finish time. After the national anthem, Erin and I shuffled up towards the 8min/mile sign and it was almost time to go! I found my GPS signal with the new Garmin Forerunner 35 that I’m using as a back-up (no problems, great watch), and it was time to race!

Lifelong Endurance gave me a fairly specific race plan as I requested and I was determined to stick with it. Here is the course we were working with; basically flat with a couple minor hills, mostly at the beginning.

The plan, as I mentioned in my training recap of last week, was:

• First 5k: controlled (~5:04/km)
• Second 5k: apply a little pressure (~4:58-5:00/km)
• kms 11, 12, 13: tighten the screws (stay under 5:00/km)
• the rest: progress to slay-mode (werk)

Never in my life have a stuck to a plan the way I stuck to this one! I am so fking proud of myself for being patient and mature from start to finish. I ran the first few hills super easy and made up for it during the rest of whatever kilometer I was in. I held back and stayed present. So good. Here’s how the splits went:

I felt good the entire race. When it started to get more difficult to hold pace after about 10k, I stayed present and even said a few funny inside jokes from our girls’ weekend under my breath and it made me smile and remember how much I love this shit. Every once in a while I felt a bit hot so I unflapped the gloves I was wearing to let my hands get some air, but other than that my crop, shorts and compression socks turned out to be the perfect gear for the temperature and weather. Sunglasses were smart and helped me keep my face relaxed. I took water at all stations (I think I remember three or four?) and took a mocha HumaGel around 11km for a caffeine boost and it sat well. There is an out-and-back portion of the 10 mile course. Many people, including me, aren’t fans of out-and-backs, but just like in the BMO 1/2, this one is pretty short and it’s flat. I enjoyed seeing the leaders, including Kara Goucher, fly by in the opposite direction, and I also got to see most of my friends on course at one point or another! High fives and energy boosts.

Once I’d run 13k it was time to turn it up, and then when I was on the Fremont Bridge with just one mile to go I really stepped on the gas. My patience was paying off. There were so many volunteers from November Project on course, and one lady who we met on Friday morning was at the final turn back into the park and she was just screaming and it was SO awesome ahah!! I passed a ton of people and literally flew across the finish line. Fuck yeah!

As soon as I finished I got to see Whitney! She crushed her first sub-1hr 10k! Nola also destroyed her 10k and was already done. Then in came the rest of the crew! Everyone met or surpassed their goals for the day! We all got our COWBELL medals (so sick), took pics and hugged the shit out of everyone!

YEAHHH!!! My watch showed me a time of 01:19:01, which I was overjoyed about, but I was also hoping that the official chip time might be just under, and it was ahahah!

So happy with this!!!!! And can’t believe I ran kilometer sixteen in 4:25 yahooo! Back in the area where we warmed up with Kinetic, there were donuts, apples, water and tunes. I met up with more friends from home who were down for the race, plus various Instagram buddies, including Jess (@forminfocus) who I’m hosting the We Run Social meetup with at BMO Vancouver in two weeks!

Once I got my gear bag (the line wasn’t too long, I waited about five minutes in line) and got my warm clothes on (plus my throwaway shirt that I retrieved), I had lost my crew. My phone died too, so I just took my time walking back to our AirBnB in the sun with the cowbell jingling around my neck and feeling happy with my new 10 mile PR. LOL.

The Tenacious Ten is fantastic and I highly recommend this event. Oiselle creates a very energetic, fun and inclusive vibe. The location is unreal, with a scenic course and perfect start/finish location. The swag was great, with a new colour of a tank top I already liked enough to buy in the past, and a hat that I will definitely wear. The logistics were easy, the value was worth it, and Seattle is such a great city. I will be back next year, already planning to drive down from Kelowna where I’ll be for school at that time!

Relating back to Operation: Pump up the JAMmie, this race is good news. My goal marathon pace, come Jack & Jill, will be 5:00/km, so I’m working on holding paces around or faster than that for longer and longer. Ten miler: in the bag; next up is another shot at the half marathon. Then the workouts are going to get longer, faster, and two-a-days are coming my way as well. Lifelong Endurance and I are doing this. Stay tuned.

Talk soon from Week 3!