Instead, I thought Id write down some thoughts
about how this weekends ING Ottawa Marathon came to be. Lord
knows, its been a tough grind with lots of ups and downs.
Im actually writing the first part of this on Thursday
evening to see if my sentiments will be the same on Sunday night.
Its been a long haul getting to the ING Ottawa
Marathon. I started training for it seriously in February and
have hammered myself, and been hammered by, my training mates:
the undroppable Jamie Stephenson and Sarah Dillabaugh. Ive had
my butt kicked over and over again by the unstoppables: Andre
Okenge, Matt Stacey, Stephane Gamache, Stephen Drew, the Ottawa
U guys, and, of course, the coach himself, Ray Elrick of the Ottawa
Lions (yes, this coach needs a coach, too). Its been amazing
training with this group and seeing all of the improvements weve
made. As inspiration, Ive used Jason Dunkerley and Stuart MacGregor,
two training mates that were hit by a car last fall and are still
on the road to recovery.
Ive also drawn inspiration from my clients. I think
I have, without a doubt, the best job in the world: I deal with
motivated, healthy people who are every bit my friends as they
are my clients. Without them, I dont know if I would have as
much fun training as I do.
No matter what happens on race day, its been a
great journey and representing Turnbull School and Ottawa in the
ING Run For Something Better is an honor to which I hope to do
justice.
After Philly last year where I ran 2:34, I felt
there was lots left in this old body. I had a great race, but
I knew there was more in the tank, just not on that day. So I
put my head down and drew up a plan for a fall 07 marathon, and
started at it in December.
In January, I was approached by the Ottawa Lions
to represent Ottawa in the ING Run For Something Better competition
at the ING Marathon, and I accepted the challenge. I re-worked
my plan and compressed the build-up and started at it.
Through the big weeks of training in February, March
and April, I was doubting I could go faster than Philly. Even
though all the short interval training said I was improving, the
long stuff was not so inspiring.
In the middle of April, I was devastated after failing
to do one of my marathon pace runs. I could not maintain my goal
pace for more than 10k.
Marathon pace felt like an all out sprint, all the
time. It was not very encouraging.
Then May came around, the taper kicked in and my
running really started to show the fruits of the months of hard
work.
My confidence grew and the distance I could carry
my pace grew with it.
My race plan two weeks out was to aim for 2:32.
Then I had a great workout, so I modified that goal to 2:29:59
with a negative split.
On the last Tuesday of my taper, I had a very good
run with my Zone3sports group, so I changed my goal to try to
go out a bit fast and hold on for something better than 2:29:59.
On Wednesday, I had an awesome workout, so I changed
my goal again to go out a bit quicker still and see what happened.
Earlier on Wednesday, I looked at the other entries
that might be around my time goal. Theres a guy from Laval, Louis-Philippe
Garnier, who ran 2:26:49 earlier this year. Hes much faster than
me. Hes an ING R4SB athlete as well. He is also 41, and therefore
a masters runner.
and this is the Canadian Masters Championships.
He is the defending Male Champion.
Just before Wednesdays workout, while chatting
with one of the younger runners who could not comprehend running
that far, I said that I did not think about the distance I had
to run. I thought only that it was a race, and if the others could
race that far, so could I. All my best times came when I was in
a battle for position. None of them were paced out efforts. Because
of that conversation, I changed my goal again. So as of Thursday
night, I plan to turn this into a race, and forget about the time.
If I race well and do everything properly, I will be satisfied.
If I do that, the time will take care of itself.
Heres hoping
Okay, so now its Saturday morning and I just got
back from the Elite Technical meeting where they introduced the
pacers for the marathon.
One of the pacers for the lead women is training
mate Stephane Gamache. The goal for the first half marathon is
1:14:30, right where I wanted to be, months ago when I decided
to do this race.
On top of that, superwoman Loudmilla Kortchagiuna
is racing. You see, ever since Around the Bay in 2004, though
she does not know it, I have consider her my nemesis. We were
running together in a very tight pack when she moved to the front
and wound up the pace. We were already going pretty quick, so
I got spit out the back end and lost the group. Ive never forgiven
her for that. :)) At the finish line, she was one place and 55
seconds ahead of me. We have not been in the same race since,
so I have not had a chance to redeem myself.
Not to be lost here is the fact that my goal for
months now has been sub-2:29, not 2:26 of which Louis-Philippe
is capable. Since a week ago I doubted that goal was even remotely
possible, it would seem more reasonable to go after someone with
a similar goal to mine, rather than someone who has run considerably
quicker.
Hmmm. What to do
Okay, its Saturday night and I just got back from
the MDS Nordion 10k and now, I am nervous. Very nervous. I guess
thats good, right?
Race morning, my warm-up felt great. I was relaxed
and set on running with Stephane.
Then the gun went off. All the careful thinking
and advice Id given and taken went out the window and I quickly
found myself trying not to lose much time to the front runners
in the first kilometer. At 2km, Joseph Nderitu, the 2:20 pacer,
went loping by. Jump on and follow me, he says rather casually.
Not on your life!!, say I. I wasnt that crazy.
I was waiting for Stephane and crew to catch up
and realized I was having an on day, so I just ran steady. I
was only about 15sec ahead of schedule and figured that was close
enough. I split 35min flat at 10k, 1:10:15 at 20k, 1:14:15 at
21k. I was right on schedule. The next few kilos were still good
and strong, then, right around 23k, Loudmilla passed me and I
hooked on. That lasted 2k or so, then I became unhooked. At Carleton,
three guys went by me, all normally sub 2:28 marathoners, one
of them Louis-Philippe. I hooked on to them until 30k, then became
unhooked from them. in the meantime, we passed Tim Shannon, the
ING Run For Something Better runner from Toronto. L-P was the
R$SB from Montreal. As far as I knew, I was in second spot for
the competition.
Every time I became unhooked, my pace slowed a bit
more. I was no longer quite so aggressive and switched to do
the best you can mode. I was not in a very positive frame of
mind (I suck! I suck! I suck!)
In through Vincent Massey Park, I had my two worst
kilometers with the overpass of the Canal. I hung on as best I
could, slowed down a lot and tried to recover while still moving
forward (I suck! I suck! I suck!)
Just before the traffic circle, I saw Nancy and
her friend Tessa and said this could get ugly.
At the Dows Lake aid station, I grabbed a cup of
water and felt a twinge in my right hamstring/glute insertion
and stopped on the spot, went back and got some Gatorade, and
walked for a few seconds. Tim passed me back. When I started running
again, I was in a slightly better frame of mind and caught him
with 5.5k to go. I though to myself, I can hold this pace and
it will take forever to get home, or I can suck it up, put my
head down, push hard and I can be there 4min faster. I made the
decision to go for it, and right away, my posture changed, my
rhythm came back and off I went, feeling much better.
All along the course, people were commenting on
my Red Mizuno Revolver racing shoes. Don MacDonald was along Queen
Elizabeth and I mentioned this fact to him and, in Donny Mac fashion,
he added, they match your right nipple! I looked down and sure
enough, there was a bit of chaffing going on. I think I won that
category.
I managed to pull things together and run fairly
strong to the end, putting some good time on Tim. The third place
woman had passed me in the Arboretum but with my new-found enthusiasm,
and the fact she was just far enough ahead of me to use as motivation,
I was able to pass her back at 39km.
The last 3km went by very well with lots of encouragement
from the spectators and a wonderful finish line audience.
Though I did not run what I wanted to, I gave myself
every opportunity to do it. I was on pace at half way. I may have
been a wee bit fast along the way, but not enough to cause such
an implosion.
What happened? Some days are just tougher than others
and I did not give this one enough credit when I started off.
Loudmilla ran a perfect race. L-P ran a very good race. I was
ahead of them for much of the day. I think they were smarter than
I was in how they paced their races. Rather, I was not as smart
as they were in pacing mine.
Next time