For days leading up to the marathon, I was cautious with my sleep, rest, running schedule, exertion levels, and diet. My discipline regarding those areas of my life was strict. For the extracurricular activities that I indulge in, I managed to cast them all aside. Those would include going to sleep at eleven P.M., partaking in the odd brew now and again, and being carefree, within reason, of what food choices I put into my body.
I managed to get really good quality sleeps during the nights leading up to the weekend, and resisted any poor diet choices. I thought I would have this race dialed in, managing not only the fitness aspect, but the intangibles too.
Thursday came, and with it, a head cold. I fought that off. Friday I took a Peter Twist Conditioning workshop. I participated fully in it, running sprints, doing lunges, core workouts, stability and mobility drills, and probably pushing myself at a time when I needed to store all the energy I would need for Sunday. My male competitiveness got in the way and I took part in it like I thought I should. Friday I was in bed by 10 P.M.
Saturday. A bike ride in the South Surrey Bike Park with Nadia, and the rest of the day set aside for rest. Lor headed out early in the evening, I had the kids in bed, and managed to work on my race plan. The stress that I put on myself for this race was almost tangible. I could not sleep at all on Saturday night, opting for a 1 A.M. snack of chocolate milk and a banana. I never eat past 8. I felt like a pent up ball of nerves, and the only way to unwind was to be on course and running. The last time I had felt this wound up was before my first or second Test of Metal, or my first Sun Run in 2000. The stress was unhealthy.
Sunday Morning. I got up at 5, before my 5:30 alarm that I found out I had not set at all the night before. My clothes all laid out, my breakfast ready to be cooked downstairs. I was as ready as I was going to be. The hard time goal for a sub 3 was adjusted to 2:58:00 after looking at my pace calculator and running mile the splits. I ate my mandatory 1 cup of oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, a glass of water, at 6:30, left home for King Edward Station, making a short detour/ pit stop at the River Rock's very convenient rest rooms.
Sean and I got to Queen Elizabeth Park just after 7:20, and joined out start corral, the first corral out of 5 in total. Bag check and porta-potties were a snap this year, once those chores were taken care of, Sean and I moved up the to the front near the start line and took in Mark Donnelly belt out Oh Canada to start our race. I saw Scott Rintoul at the front and wished him luck.
After the gun went off and the jog down Cambie was quick but on pace. I was pushing a 4:15 or so for the first few kms, but noticed my average at 4:19/km. I thought that I would have no problem gaining back the 4 seconds over the span of the course, and used gravity on the south slope to help hasten the pace. 21 minutes for the first 5 kms.
49th was great with some rollers and fast running downhills as we approached Camosun and UBC--where the work was about to begin. I hit 10 kms at 42 minutes, staying an even split for the first quarter of the race. Camosun was a slug, and I was fighting off a nervous bladder. Cresting the hill and winding towards 16th avenue, I found a strip of gravel/trail on the west side of the street heading north, and managed to give my feet some reprieve from the pounding of the pavement. It almost felt like I was trail running. By the time I was well onto 16th, I hit the UEL for a pee break, and ditched the group I was running with for that pit stop.
The run around UBC was great--beautiful views, cool but sunny weather, and fast pavement as I made my way down Spanish Banks to the halfway point. Feeling great, I tucked in a 1:31:XX for the first half.
With little climbing left, I was confident that the second half could be faster than the first, or just as fast. What I failed to take into account was "the wall", and my leg shutting themselves down. I felt good going over the Burrard Bridge, and kept pacing myself for ten kms to go. I planned that at 10 to go, I would try to maintain my pace and kick out a solid 45 minute 10km. By Siwash rock, my body started to fail me, and I was seeing my time goal slip through my fingers.
My legs began cramping--a tightening soleus calf muscle, twinging posterior right quad muscles. Every stride too long for the condition I was in, or too short, was and effort in maintaining a torturous existence. I was fighting the cramps off big time, and slowing in the process. I gave up on my time goal in Stanley Park, trying to just finish. What I did not realize was how close I was to making a BQ with 5 kms to go. The first half of the race bought me just enough time, but now I realize that I was chipping away at myself for that opening half, and not leaving enough in the tank for the last half.
The final 2 kms were hard, to say the least. At one point I was fed up with the race, knowing that I would not meet my goal, and had a hard time staying positive, focus, and speedy. My pace slowed to 5:XX+/km. With 1km to go, I saw my good friend Jake Francis' dad, Doug. He gave me a high-five, and I managed to pick up a little something for the finish.
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| The bottom fell out towards the end. |
I managed to cross the line with a time of 3:12:31 Chip time, 3:12:40 Gun time.
And I was okay with that. I was not even disappointed that I missed my Gold goal, my silver goal, but still made my bronze goal. I was shooting for a 2:58. If not, I wanted a BQ. If not, I would settle for something near 3:10. Looks like I pulled a 4th place on my list of goals.
Looking back now, I am (somewhat)upset without nailing that BQ. However, I'm consoled by the fact that I managed to take 18 minutes off of last years time, and I will be doing more marathons in the future, so hey, things are looking good. Especially for the Kamloops Marathon on July 29th. The next big thing, before the big thing.
Some of the numbers:
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| Good HR--consistent. I just needed more speedwork to give that bit more to supplement my endurance. |
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| The first half was easy compared to the flat, on the gas all the time second half. |
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| You can see me tail off my speed at the end. |
Shoes: Asics 2160 B, size 13
Shirt: Sugoi BC
Undershirt: Defeet Un-D-Shirt
Shorts: Sugoi Tri Compression
Socks: Sugoi Compression
Glasses: Giro Havik 2
Gels: Gu x 6: 1 gel every half hour
Hydration: Water or electrolyte drink at every aid station.
Now my mind is occupied with Strava and riding wagon wheeled mountain bikes. And getting out on the road bike a tonne. Running has taken a back seat to cycling. I have only 2 runs under my belt in the last two weeks since the marathon. Tomorrow I will head out for 30k, and try to get things going again, in the lead up for the big summer runs.
Good effort Josh! great write-up, I could feel your pain. I remember the physical and mental anguish of running negatives in marathons (and shorter distances for that matter, but you have much more time to think about it during a marathon). It sounds like your training and program were pretty spot-on, with the possible exception of your friday work-out (but nor is it good to pass on regularly scheduled workouts). I look forward to reading about your next race
ReplyDeletescott
Thanks Scott! What a wall to hit when I needed to crank it up. I did not expect that based on my training. But, next time out, I know what to do to change my plan. Hope to see you mountain biking at the South Surrey Junk Yard Dog BC Cup #1!
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