You know that aerobic exercise is good for you. It has a positive impact on your physical health and your emotional well-being. Getting out for a run, a brisk walk, or riding your bike increases your heart rate and strengthens your body. Women who run report better sleep patterns, more focus at work, and less stress. Running allows women to feel strong and empowered in a world of comparison and beauty image. It also allows them to feel happy and connected: running with a friend or a group provides social contact. Well, running is also good for the people around you! Mothers who run are powerful role models to the girls in their lives and a new study also shows that active pregnant mothers are playing an influential role in the future health and well-being of their babies.
Kids pay attention what their parents do, and girls especially use their mothers as role models for behaviour. Alyce Barnes, an education researcher at the University of Newcastle in Australia coauthored a recent study that has linked active moms to active daughters, and how a mom’s physical activity has a direct effect on her daughter. “Importantly, our study has shown that mothers have an important influence on their daughter's physical activity in relation to their parenting for physical activity and behaviors," Barnes says. The study of 40 girls ages 5 to 12 found that those with more active mothers were more physically active themselves. And the more time a mom spent being sedentary, the longer her daughter spent in front of a screen. (http://tribune.com.pk/story/919912/mothers-best-role-models-for-daughters/). It’s not just your own daughter, but girls in general who need to see women taking care of themselves, being physically active and having fun. Actions speak louder than words in this case!
Not only does your running show your children to value a physically active lifestyle, but if you are a pregnant mother, your running may be creating the perfect environment to support the long term physical activity of your baby! In a recent study from the Baylor College of medicine, (Born to run? Study suggests love of exercise starts in the womb. https://www.bcm.edu/news/molecular-and-human-genetics/study-love-of-exercise-starts-in-womb) researchers found that female mice who ran (on mouse wheels!) while they were pregnant, had offspring who were more likely to be physically active adults. The study supports the idea that fetal brain development is affected during pregnancy and even the fetal environment is important! (From that same article is the observation from…”several expert groups including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists already recommend that, in the absence of complications, pregnant women get 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise a day. “I think our results offer a very positive message,” said Waterland. “If expectant mothers know that exercise is not only good for them but also may offer lifelong benefits for their babies, I think they will be more motivated to get moving.”
Now you can run and feel good and feel good about running!
Lululemon Run Ambassador and LifeSport coach and former pro athlete Lucy Smith is a top level master’s athlete and a mother of 2 active children. 

Having run various incarnations of the Times Colonist 10K course over the years, I think that the mot recent course showcases the city in a wonderful way, while maintaining a competitive course structure for racing. Starting at the corner of Government and Belleville Streets, runners will be sent off flanked by iconic Empress, Legislature and sparkling Inner Harbour. The course takes runners first along the artsy and fashionable Johnson Street mall and into Fairfield, one of Victoria’s oldest and most beautiful neighbourhoods. After a cruise along the tree lined streets of Fairfield, runners are directed out to the ocean and scenic Dallas Road, at which point the race assumes the same final 5km as previous years, which includes the long stretch along past Beacon Hill Park, past the Ogden Point Breakwater and then the multiple corners back to the finish at the Inner Harbour.

I always look at a course before racing it. Previewing a course takes the mystery out of racing and gives you concrete landmarks to focus on during the race. Knowing where the hills are, the corners and the straight stretches, including areas likely to be windy or calm is an integral part of setting up a pacing and racing strategy and getting ready for race day. Over the last four kilometres of the race, as the legs start to tire, knowing how long you have to run is a good way to push through the final moments of discomfort.
Here is my take on the new course, with tips for both beginners looking for pacing and completion cues, and more seasoned athletes looking for personal best times.

Whether the new course is ‘fast’ or not remains to be seen after the runners test it out on race day, however I would say that the first four kilometres are rolling and this requires some expertise. Very fit runners will be able to absorb the fast start as their legs will be fresh, and be able to take momentum in the rollers around Johnson and Vancouver, but for beginners I would advise to pace conservatively over the first three kilometres of the course so as not to go out too fast with excitement through town, and leaving too much energy on the early rollers.

Start: It’s easy to get excited here with the beautiful inner harbour adding inspiration to the morning. There will be plenty of spectators on the causeway in front of the Empress and along Wharf Street. The first kilometer is open and flat along Wharf to Johnson so a good place for competitive runners to get out to a fast start or for the novice to find space and a comfortable pace.

1-3K Mark: A right turn onto Johnson at 1 km brings the first uphill stretch of the race and the start of the rolling section which lasts for 2 km. The Johnson Street hill is not a huge incline, and the steepest block is up to Government, then it rises and flattens at Douglas, and again at Blanshard. Runners should be thinking ‘light’ and ‘quick and relaxed’ on the hill, working on getting up the rise effortlessly by using the arms well and breathing deeply. Focus on getting to the end of each block well.  Novice races will want to make sure they are running their own race and not ‘sprinting’ to keep up with others is all the excitement. The end of the first uphill section comes just before 2 km at Quadra, and then there is a fast section down around the corner onto Vancouver, and past Frontrunners. Use gravity and try to carry momentum past View Street and up the hill across Fort and to Burdett, where you get to feel the pull of gravity again as you turn left onto flatter Richardson and get to find your rhythm all the way to Moss Street in the heart of Fairfield. 

3-4K Mark:  Moss Street is a long straight stretch where runners can really start to find a rhythm and enjoy the race in this beautiful neighbourhood. A sharp left at May Street gives a short 20m uphill surge before a 1 km gradual downhill to Memorial and the Ross Bay Cemetery. For runners hanging on for personal bests, maintaining contact up this little surge will be important. At this point, just before 5 km, the course returns to the old route at Dallas Rd and for those who have run the race previously, it is the same as always.

5-7K Mark: This is where the race typically starts to feel hard and runners should expect discomfort to rise and have some strong positive thoughts here. What’s there not to love about the last 5 km of the TC 10K? The only major hill of the race appears right after the 5 km mark, as runners climb past Clover Point (just keep focussing on the top of the hill, pretending there is a magnet with your name on it, pulling yourself up mentally)  to wind their way past the bottom of Cook Street and Beacon Hill Park. This section can be windy (on the day I did my preview run, there was a strong Westerly blowing which slowed me down a lot, although the kite surfers were having a blast.) and knowing that you might be up against a headwind is always good to anticipate. Work on relaxing and being calm into the wind, and know that everybody has the same wind to deal with.

7K Mark: There will be a lot of cheering around the beautiful Beacon Hill Park and when you get to Mile ‘0’ and the Terry Fox Memorial, you start the wonderful fast downhill to Ogden Point. There is about 3 km to go at this point in the race and you can now start counting down the minutes left until you cross the finish line. Knowing that you have 10 or 15 or 20 minutes left to run is positive information! You should feel gravity working for you in the section (“Fly! Glide!”) as you start your push for the finish, and just past the Duck Pond you will be able to see the tall red and white striped towers of the Coast Guard station less than one kilometre away, which stand at about the 8 km mark of the course.

8K Mark: When you get to Ogden Pt and start the journey through James Bay to the inner Harbour, you should be drawing on all your resources to finish as strongly as possible. You can remind yourself to relax, to focus on good form, recall all the dedication and training you have done to get here, tell yourself to be tough. There is only 2 km to go!

9K Mark: Just before 9 km you can see the massive glass topped condo of Shoal Point. Starting here, at Erie, there are seven (7!) corners to run through before the finish! I try to run through these corners like an elastic band, slingshotting past each one. As you get closer, the roof of the Empress comes into view, then the IMAX sign on the Royal BC Museum. As you round the last bend onto the finishing stretch on Belleville, the old Wax Museum building (which is now covered in scaffolding) is the last main landmark to focus on, and about halfway between you and the finish, before you round the slight curve and see the finish line banners. With people lining the street, finding energy to finish strong is not a problem! It is often the effort of the last two kilometres that makes your race: how deep into the well can your source your inner and outer strength? Celebrate your efforts and soak it all up!

One of the beauties of the new course will be the protection from wind afforded by running first through the downtown core and then Fairfield, and the ability to run tangents and the course more freely without the out and back crowds. I will miss the energy and passion of running home against the thick wall of runners still heading out, but I love the new loop course, the wide start, and the opportunity to run through downtown.

There you have it, the sort of comprehensive course preparation I do and do with all of my athletes before a big race!

Five more Tips to Prepare for Race Day:

1. Eat just enough. You don’t need to pig out race-day morning. With the high intensity of a 10k effort any undigested food might cause cramps and or other GI distress. But don’t run on an empty stomach, either, which can cause low energy, hunger and even light-headedness. Try a light meal of mostly carbs about one to two hours before the race. A half bagel or piece of toast with a little peanut butter should do the trick. Try different pre-race meals during training and stick to what works best on race day.
 
2. Warm up. Perform at least 15 minutes of easy running before the race, followed by some 15-second strides (speed up and increase your leg turnover), to prepare your muscles for the start of the race. Warm up right before the start of the race so your muscles don’t have time to cool down.
 
3. Don’t go out too fast. Even though it seems short, a 10k is not a sprint. It’s an endurance event and needs to be paced as such. If you start too fast for your fitness level, you’ll find yourself having to slow down at mile two to recover from the lactic acid build up.
 
4. Break it up. Mentally divide the race into thirds segments. First Mile one goes by quickly and the focus is on being quick, but not going out too fast for your fitness. Mile two-4 focus on finding your rhythm and sustaining your pace. Over the last 2 miles, really zero in on maintaining your pace and holding good form, even as you get tired.
 
5. Be tough. With speed comes discomfort. Embrace this “good” pain as a sign you’re reaching your athletic potential. As the discomfort grows, stay relaxed and focussed only on running. Remember how strong you are and that the pain just means you’re pushing yourself to your upper limits. And it will all be worth it. 


Lucy Smith

Lululemon Victoria Ambassador and LifeSport coach Lucy Smith is a 6 time Winner of the Times Colonist 10K and 19 time Canadian Champion in running and multisport. She has run various incarnations of the course over the last 15 years.