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Training race date set

Tara doing a workout.
Getting in some group track work this past Sunday morning (white hat). Photo: Jason Warick.

A race day is set — I hesitate to put an explanation point on this because it will be a training race, not the race. That one will be set later in June — we’re aiming to have me peak in the fall. That race is yet to be determined.

Despite the fact this upcoming race will be used to train and not be an all-out performance I’m still excited about getting to the starting line again. I haven’t been there since the Mogathon last September when I ran the half-marathon.

So, perhaps it’s most fitting I’ll be lacing up for the Mogathon again, which is being sponsored by Brainsport this year. It will be a different race all together for me this time around — it’s on June 14, not in September — and it isn’t my goal race as it was last year. We have yet to decide on the distance I’ll be running for it, but it’s likely going to be the 10K or the half.

After some fun track work this past weekend I have my mind on the 10K — it would be nice to get the legs moving fast over the next several weeks in prep for a shorter race, but I am fully aware that my training schedule over the next month isn’t going to be dictated by the Mogathon. It will be what Jason feels best fits into my training program.

Still, let’s have some fun thinking about a fast 10K and I’ll blame it on all the hype (totally merited) around the upcoming 10K Canadian championships in Ottawa. There’s quite a field, especially on the women’s side.

Lanni Marchant and Krista Duchene will be racing in the championship on May 23. Both have already hit qualifying times for 2016 Rio Games — Krista in the marathon last month at Rotterdam (2:29:37) and Lanni in the 10,000m (31:46.94) at Payton Jordan in Palo Alto, Calif., earlier this month. She may also hit the qualifying time in the marathon before the deadline next spring.  Natasha Wodak, who set her new Canadian 10,000m record ahead of Marchant in that same California race, is also lining up in Ottawa.

Also competing in the women’s field is 2014 10K Canadian champion Rachel Hannah and the winner of last year’s Canadian marathon championship in Ottawa, Rhiannon Johns.

My eyes will be on Lanni and Krista — these two battled it out big at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2013. They both broke Sylvia Ruegger’s 28-year-old Canadian women’s marathon record that year, with Lanni finishing at 2:28:00 and Krista following shortly after at 2:28:32.

Will we see a repeat of this battle in 10K form this weekend? With so many talented women competing, it’s going to be a great race, one bound to keep the 10K juices flowing.

Whether I end up running the 10K or the half it’s fun to think fast, it’s fun to watch fast and it’s fun to run fast. It’s also fun to think strategically, which is what the training plan will encompass in the months ahead.

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