Flickr: rorris

Tomorrow is going to be a special day for me as I get to pace two of the women that I coached in this summer’s For Women Only running clinic in their first ever race. 

Running your first race is a pretty important milestone and is something that stays with you throughout your  entire running career. My first race was a 5km race in Montreal’s West Island and I still remember how I felt before, during and after the race. I had no idea what to expect or if I even wanted to be there. 30 minutes or so after the gun went off I was standing at the finish line amazed that I had finished. 

This summer I decided to give coaching a try at the Rosedale Running Room. The clinic I coached is geared towards the beginner female runner and is aimed at getting people with no running experience to 5km in 10 weeks. It is perfect for new moms or women who are looking to have a little time to themselves on a Saturday morning. By the end of the clinic you will have heard talks on nutrition, buying the right shoes and much more. Participants will also be able to run over 5km using the well tested Running Room program of running/walking intervals! Best part is that you will have made a great new group of girlfriends. 

Next round of  running clinics will start soon at the Rosedale Running Room, so definitely check out their website for more details. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed.

Extension Method's ballet brunch

Each day I get a newsletter from Sweetspot.ca. which I admit I actually do enjoy – not because of its frequency but because it usually has some good information on what is happening in Toronto.

This week I found out about a ballet brunch event that is happening in early August which I thought was kind of a neat idea. It also sounds like the perfect event to gather up a bunch of girlfriends that you haven’t seen in a while.

So what is involved?

The first part of the event will be a one and half hour Extension Method class. The Extension Method is the brainchild of Jennifer Nichols and “combines classical ballet technique with contemporary athletic conditioning and is designed to impart the strength, posture, ease of movement, and sculpted physique of a dancer” (Extension Method website). According to the event coordinators you do not have to be a ballerina to join in and the class can easily be done by beginners. To learn more about what a class is like check out Canada.com’s recent article.

The next part of the event features guest speaker, spa giveaways and a very delicious sounding organic brunch. Things like a garden vegetable frittata, multigrain blueberry French toast and bowls of fresh berries are on the menu. Delicious!

The event takes place on August 9 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and costs are $55 if you come alone and $45 if you bring a friend! You can register via email at info@boutiquemarketing.ca

If you can’t make it to the ballet brunch (like I can’t due to marathon training) you can always check out Jennifer’s Extension Method Classes at a variety of locations. She teaches classes at the Yorkville Club Uptown, Lawrence Park Chiropractic and Physiotherapy and at a couple of Extreme Fitness locations.

Today, I received an email that the 2010 Toronto Women’s Half Marathon is now open for early registration. Those of us that ran the 2009 edition will have first crack at the next one. I am not too sure if I want to sign up again for a number of reasons.

The course was really tight at times for us average-paced runners which means that there is most likely no chance of a personal best time.

The bathroom situation was not super great.

I also get kind of bored running through 21.1 kms of parks. After a while they all start to look the same.

And I hated the medal. I will admit the organizers did try to be different with a custom made necklace, but it just didn’t suit me.

On the flip side, the race was fun and the shirts were better than usual. Although why do running shirts either have to be cut too small or too large? The XS I got at Mississauga Marathon this year could have fit two of me, while the XS from Toronto Women’s fit quite…snugly. So, how do you know what size to get!? Agh, the dilemmas of a female runner.

Other bonuses from this race were the fireman handing out water and the chocolate station. I actually didn’t take the chocolate during the race, but enjoyed it at the end.

If you would like to read a more detailed account of this year’s race check out these race reports from runshorts and marleneruns.

Mmm, what to do? Knowing me I’ll probably procrastinate and then it will be too late.

But for those of you that are interested in running this event check out their website for more details! Oh and I forgot to mention there are also other distance options, so if the half marathon is not your thing there is plenty to choose from!

Finally, I have a tip for the sponsors – you should develop a social media strategy! Why aren’t you on Twitter? There are so many things you could be tapping into. Create a Flickr group and get all the women runners to upload their photos to it or something like that. The newsletter just ain’t cutting it for me!