BACKGROUND
I ran my first marathon back in 2010 and the lead up to running that marathon was the reason for starting this blog so that I could capture my thoughts and then post a race report. Since then the blog has become more of a documentation of my running that I will be able to look back on for years to come and relive the memories of my races etc.
When friends ask about the marathon I always find it a bit difficult to describe. Instead I refer to it as "the beast" and then shudder at the thought of those last 10 kilometers on very tired and sore legs.
After the first marathon in which I managed to go sub 4-hours (3:55:22) I never really had any real urge to do another, but slowly over time I started to dream about facing the beast once more and beating my personal best.
The Ottawa marathon is an excellent race, a beautiful and varied course, great crowds, diligent volunteers and very well organized. I live across the river from Ottawa so I know most of the course very well and felt that a bit of local knowledge would really help me during the race.
So I signed up for Ottawa and started my training in January following Bruce Deacon's "quest for improvement" marathon plan.
I have trained using Bruce's Half Marathon plan and I find that the format of his plans really suits my needs as a runner. The combination of long runs, lots of different speed workouts, race paced efforts, and steady runs really help me keep my focus and 5-6 days a week is just about right for my level of experience.
Despite missing almost 2 weeks suffering from "walking pneumonia" near the beginning of the program I rebounded really well and this was probably the strongest training cycle I have ever had since I started running for fun in 2009.
PRE-RACE
I got up early and picked up two out-of-towners; friends of a friend of mine who were both attempting their first marathon. We had a good chat on the way in to town and I tried to help them with my local knowledge of the course and where to go and what to expect. I left out what it feels to cross the finish line after 42.2kms. One reason is I didn't want to taint their experience, the other is that even two years after my first marathon I still struggle to put the feeling into words, words that make sense at any rate.
We found a decent parking spot and headed down to the race, lined up for the porta-potties, I wished them good luck and left them to do their own thing. I got in a brief warm up mainly to clear the butterflies from my stomach and focus on the task in hand. It wasn't long before I decided to squeeze into the corral and get ready for the staring horn.
The conditions for the race could not have been much better with
overcast skies and a cool temperature. I was midway into the
yellow coral and close to the 3:35 pace bunny. I don't use bunnies for
pacing, but rather as a frame of reference and instead rely on my
Garmin. My A-goal was to go under 3:45 so my plan was to start on pace
for 3:35 and then see where it took me as I didn't really have a good
idea of what my endurance would be like over 42.2kms and would likely
fade and hopefully end up crossing the line ahead of my 3:45 target.
THE RACE
The race started and we shuffled over the line and up the hill to the top of Elgin Street. As usual I had a lot of trouble finding a space to run and was worried about clipping the back of someone's heels. I decided to just see out the first kilometer and once the race had settled down, to find some space and get on pace. As it was, it didn't take that long to settle down and I got to my race pace of ~5:05/km and just focused on staying calm and tension-free.
As we headed down the Rideau Canal towards Dow's Lake, even this early in the morning, there were some decent crowds giving us plenty of encouragement as we slowly woke up to what we were in the process of doing; running a marathon.
First 5kms - 5:15 / 5:03 / 5:00 / 5:01 / 5:02 - total 25:21
Bang on target for the first 5kms and feeling fine, I held the pace as we headed up Carling Ave and into the neighbourhoods of Sherwood and Fairmount that had a lot of residents out cheering out in front of their houses. The atmosphere was excellent and the crowds thickened even more as we hit Wellington and headed towards the 10km mat.
Second 5kms - 5:05 / 5:02 / 5:06 / 5:00 / 5:02 - total 25:15 (10km split - 50:36 / official race split 50:58 - longer as I gathered extra distance by not running the shortest tangent of the course)
This next section saw us continue along Wellington and into Westboro before turning around and heading towards Tunney's pasture and the Ottawa River parkway. Live bands and music blaring out of various tents kept us moving along well. I was still just behind the 3:35 bunny and feeling very fresh. I felt the first hint of a gusty wind whilst heading into Tunney's Pasture so I ducked behind some taller runners and used them as a shield. I took my second gel as we left Tunney's pasture and headed up the river towards Island Park, all the time looking over at the faster runners who were returning from the turnaround and heading down the other carriageway towards the War Museum.
Third 5kms - 5:00 /4:57 / 5:02 / 5:02 / 5:08 - total 25:09 (15km split - 1:15:45)
After the turnaround it was now a chance to gaze over at the runners on the other carriageway who were waving over at us and whooping and cheering. You get a real feel for the size of the race as the crowds of runners bouncing along seemed endless with runners of all shapes and sizes clearly enjoying themselves. Soon enough, the first real hill of the course was upon us, a climb up and over the railway bridge that crosses the Ottawa River and into Quebec. I shortened my stride and powered up it knowing full well that a long downhill followed the hill and the road swept around and in front of the War Museum where huge crowds had gathered to will us on as we rounded the corner headed onto the Chaudiere Bridge and into downtown Hull. The wind had picked up and made the climb after the bridge a tough one, but I knew the halfway point was approaching so I pushed on and kept up my pace.
Forth 5kms - 5:01 /5:03 / 4:59 / 5:09 / 4:59 - total 25:11 (20km split - 1:40:56)
I could see the halfway mat up ahead at the top of the hill on Alexandre Tache and kept pushing hitting the mat at
1:47:26 (official race split).
Turning on to the Lac des Fees pathway the headwind was at its strongest so far and I felt the first signs of the going getting a bit tougher. I was glad to turn off the parkway and then into the neighbourhoods of Hull and then the downhill along Montcalm before we headed into the twisty-turny up-and-down section through the Government buildings in downtown Hull. With the wind and the nature of this section my pace dropped ever so slightly, but apart from running into the headwind my effort level felt fine and the 3:35 bunny was still just ahead of me, so the course was affecting those around me in exactly the same way.
Fifth 5kms - 5:09 /5:08 / 5:06 / 5:05 / 5:11 - total 25:39 (25km split - 2:06:35)
As I weaved my way through Hull I knew I was getting closer and closer to my family. They were waiting to cheer me on outside the Museum of Civilization. It was great to see my wife and two kids as well as my wife's uncle and our friend Kyla cheering me on and helped give me a massive boost as I crossed the Ottawa River again and tackled the big hill that leads past the National Art Gallery and up onto Sussex Street. I was still feeling really good and took my 4th gel at 28kms, but as we made our climb up towards the Rockliffe Parkway, I started to struggle as my ankles and knees started to ache and the 3:35 bunny got further away from me and eventually disappeared around a corner and out of sight. I was prepared for this as I am not an experienced marathoner and didn't really know just how long I could maintain my pace. I had succeeded for the most part through 28-29kms so I took solace from that, but then put my mind towards the last tough 12kms of the race.
Sixth 5kms - 5:02 /5:10 / 5:10 / 5:20 / 5:32 - total 26:14 (30km split - 2:32:49 / official race split 2:33:49 - longer as I gathered extra distance by not running the shortest tangent of the course)
It was "gut check" time now. My knee and ankle joints were really sore, and the downhills in this section were really tough as I was unable to thunder down them and thus lost a bit of time. My pace was dropping so I just kept pushing as much as I could and kept looking for the next landmark. I knew that if I kept on going I would have a massive personal best so I kept telling myself not to give up, that this was the real race and the first 28-29kms were just the warm up.
Seventh 5kms - 5:26 /5:27 / 5:30 / 5:42 / 5:43 - total 27:48 (35km split - 3:00:37)
Seven kilometers to go, I took my 5th and final gel and just focused on moving forward as fast as I could. I read all the signs people were carrying and hi-fived the kids who were holding their hands out for runners just to keep my mind busy and away from the discomfort I was feeling. Stanley Park was as noisy as ever and heading back onto Sussex I knew my family would be once more waiting for me near the American Embassy.
Sussex Street is another part of the course that runs both ways so there were still many runners heading in the opposite direction getting ready to tackle the Rockliffe Parkway and New Edinburgh and luckily I saw the two girls I drove to the race coming the other way. They went crazy when they saw me, clearly enjoying their races and we instinctively moved the the middle of the road to high-five as we passed in opposite directions. I got a really nice boost from this and was able to pick up my effort level a bit and push myself on towards the American Embassy where my wife, kids, Kyla and another friend Benoit were waiting to urge me on to complete the final 3.5kms to the finish. It was great to see them and I was able to pick up the pace again as I headed past the Rideau Centre and along the canal.
Eighth 5kms - 5:48 /5:57 / 5:58 / 5:47 / 5:49 - total 29:19 (40km split - 3:29:56)
I knew that I would pick up the pace in the last kilometer so I held back a little bit after the 40km marker so that I wouldn't ramp it up too soon and shuffle over the line. With 1km left I started to run as fast as I could and with 500 meters to go, without warning, my right hamstring cramped and my leg buckled beneath me. I steadied myself and actually yelled "NO!". Bizarrely enough the hamstring listened and stopped cramping but I was feeling rather nervous as I counted down the signs, "400m to go....300m to go....200m to go". With 100 left I put everything I had left into what felt like a sprint but in reality was probably some sort of jelly-like arms-and-legs flailing type movement. I didn't care as I could see the clock and knew I was about to break 3:44 and smash my personal best in the process.
Final 2.2kms - 5:55 /5:37 /2:31 (for 480 meters according to garmin - pace 5:18/km)
Official race time 3:43:51 a new personal best by 11 and a half minutes!!!
Reflecting on the race I was very happy with how I ran, I held my desired pace for 28-29 kilometers and then dug in and hung on when the going got really tough and my ankles and knees were hurting. The result was a 9 minute positive split (second half 9 minutes slower than the first half), however it is not really clear to me that if I had started out more conservatively as to whether my overall time would have been better or would the cumulative effect on my knees and ankles been the same forcing me to slow down in the same manner. This sorts of questions can be sorted out by running more marathons and trying out various strategies, but I have no plans as yet to run another marathon and will now focus on a sub 1:40 half marathon.
