Pre- Race Day
My parents decided to come watch me and my husband run. I love having my parents around to support me on race day, mom has run so many races that I find her presence to be calming, and she just gets it without having to explain. The day before the race Jake and I went for light 4km run with a few strides to finish. The strides were 200m: we built to max effort throughout the 200m, then brought ourselves back to easy pace between each one. The goal is to warm up the muscles, and get rid of the stale feelings from the last week of taper.
The night before the race I was feeling on and off nauseated and a little restless. I wanted tomorrow to go well, I had trained hard I felt prepared yet anything can happen on race day. My body was presenting with some physical signs of my anxiety rather than just emotional. It was okay because I was easily distracted and it seemed to be right the amount of pre race anxiety, enough to preform well not enough to be limiting to success.
I try to get everything prepared the night before the race to eliminate anxiety the morning. This includes laying out all clothing options, fuel, hydration, and race bib for the next day. I also doubled checked my race splits, and made notes of when I want to refuel and hydrate- I tend to write this on sharpie on my arm the morning of the race; math is difficult when you are tired.
RACE DAY
Race start was 0700. I like to be there at least 45mins ahead of time. Getting a good warm up in, muscles shaken out and being able to go the bathroom (the lines get long) without stressing about missing the start lowers the stress helps you focus. I like to be at the front end of my starting area rather than in the middle or the back. I find this helps you get caught behind people which leads to weaving around them while trying to settle into race pace. I found my pace bunny for my goal time and stuck close to them. I have used pace bunnies before to both great success and failure in the past. I decided in the start area I would stick to my pace bunny for as long as possible as long as they were running true to the pace I needed to reach my goal. The best advice I can give myself or anyone else is stick to your pace right off the start line. Use all the self-control discipline to run this pace even though you are feeling good. It will truly save you in the last few kilometres of the race.
The first section of the course was hilliest section of course. I noticed my pace bunny was running by steady effort rather then even pacing for this portion. I did my best to keep close to even pace, letting the bunny be few steps ahead of me. I always caught up or was slightly ahead at aid stations.
It early on in the race, the first third, yet I do always feel that I am working hard, not hard enough that will not be able to continue just enough to be uncomfortable. I know from training that feeling is normal and I can maintain this for a long period of time; a comfort on race day. If you are not feeling it a little your race pace is too slow.
17-30km is tough for me. At this point the fatigue is setting in and mentally there still a long ways to go before finishing. I spent the time talking to myself positivity about how I know I can run this distance and this pace and to only think about few km’s at a time. I was waiting for the turnaround point, as I was on the out and back section of the race. I knew that if I could stick with the pace bunny that he would get across the finish the line at my goal time. I just made myself stay with him each km. I never let myself consider that I would not be able to keep the pace and or meet my goal.
32km mark the last 10km of the race, or as some will more accurately describe as the true race. It really is the last 10km that makes or breaks your race time. Once I passed the turnaround point mentally I was able to convince myself that it was no different than any other long run. It was route that I typically run on long runs therefore went into autopilot. It was good that I knew the route well because it was taking all my mental strength to get to the finish the line. I knew that I could do it and I was not going to let my body tell me otherwise. I would be successful or not based on how strong I could be mentally not on how strong my body, your body can get through way more than you think it can. The pain, the fatigue has set in and you battle your mind for the next 10km.
I knew my parents were waiting at the 35km mark to cheer me on before the finish. I knew there was no way I was going to quite before then (or after). I tossed my hydration pack at the side of road (my parents were right there so I didn’t lose it), it was starting to bother me. I kept one last gel to take at the next aid station and power through the last 6km.
The last 6km feels like you cannot possibly keep running, your legs are lead, you are mentally exhausted; you feel like you are sprinting full out but you are just maintaining your race pace. You dig deep, find the mental grit to keep pushing through. The pain ends when you cross that finish line and the only way to get there is by running. It is at this point where you really question why you ever do something so silly as run marathon, but it is also why we run marathon, to see how far we can push ourselves, how strong we are. YOU ARE STRONG.
I crossed the finish line at 3:46:04 – a personal best by 7 minutes! My goal time was 3:45, that 4 seconds is a little frustrating though! I’m grateful those 4 seconds over were today instead of when I am trying to qualify for Boston. Overall it was a fantastic race. I loved the support I had out the course from family and friends and I was proud of myself for pushing through when I was tired.
The first thing I said to Jake was I think I’m dying followed immediately what marathon can I run next; I want to qualify for Boston. To get to Boston I need to run at 3:30 marathon time, which a a 5min/km race time, 20 seconds faster per Km than what I ran on race day; 15min overall time improvement.
Recovery
Relaxing, stretching and re fuelling. Today, 3 days post-race I went for my first run. It felt good to get out again but legs still felt tired and lead like. It was nice to be able to just run a not worry about pace or distance.
I am going to take it easy for next couple weeks and then ramp up my training again. I am going to miss September training which means I will not be able to do a fall marathon. I am planning to focus on my 10km and half marathon times. Improving my speed endurance will help to quicken my marathon time.
I plan to run another spring marathon, likely Vancouver and then potentially another one that summer in hopes qualify for Boston next year!
