Mississauga Marathon

First of all, to anyone who was actually following my blog, sorry for taking nearly 2 months to come back. I'll explain more below.

Ok, so most importantly, I am officially a marathoner! I did it, in a pathetically slow time of 5:55:26. I had sort of hoped for 5:30 but considering the fact that I really didn't stick to my training as well as I should have, I wasn't at all surprised to find myself halfway through the race and not even close to the pace I wanted.

I am very happy to be able to say I did it but I don't think I have any plans of ever doing another. I was in pain by the end and had to really struggle for the last 6 or 7km. I was actually less sore than I thought I was going to be for the next few days (I had to drive 90 minutes to a meeting the next morning for work and was a little scared I wouldn't be able to get out of the car by the time I arrived but I was ok).

The real reason I think I'll stick with shorter distances from now on though was simply the amount of training a full marathon required. By the time the race got here, I was seriously starting to resent running. It was taking up half of every Sunday and forcing me to either get up extra-early in the morning or leave work early in the afternoon, and I was getting to the point where running seemed more like something I had to do than something I wanted to do.

Since the marathon, I've had a few other shorter races but other than those, I think I've been out running twice. I'm just now starting to want to get back out there but I have no desire to train again for that distance. I find that I can train quite easily, without killing myself, but I'm going to stick with those from now on.

But in the meantime, I AM A MARATHONER!!!

5 days to go!

OK. I am officially scared.

(By the way, sorry for being MIA and not responding to comments from my last post...other things have kind of gotten in the way for the last month and a bit)

Back to being scared. I am 5 days away. And for the first time ever, I am scared of a race. Excited but scared.

The issues:

1) I picked a VERY conservative training program, running 4 days a week, no hill training or anything like that.

2) I think there were 2 weeks where I actually got in every one of my runs and all the distance I was supposed to. I got all of my long runs with the exception of 1.

3) I have had 3 runs where I had major knee issues, once at 14K, once at 29K and once at 4K. I've been doing my recommended exercises, although not as often as I should.

I know I can finish. I am just dreading the thought of having knee issues start early on and having to walk most of the race (the knee issues are bad enough that once they start, I am virtually incapable of running more than a few seconds at a time). I'm half tempted to do 5 minutes running and 1 walking rather than the 10/1 I usually do, in the hopes of avoiding issues. Having said that, I ran a 30K race 6 weeks ago at my fastest pace ever with no issues at all.

I think I'm just going to do what I normally do and hope for the best...

Day 92

5 weeks from today is my marathon!!! Even though I haven't really been training as diligently as I should be, I'm feeling like it's going to go ok. I still have a couple of really long runs to get through over the next 2 weekends but I'm not so nervous anymore.

I had another race today - the Angus Glen 10 Miler. I finished 4 minutes faster than last year so I was content with that. It was a perfect day for a race... beautiful weather! The only thing I hate about this race is the hills but at least it makes for a good challenge!!!

Angus Glen 10 Miler Results

Bib: 037
Place: 312/344
Time: 1:55:29.9
Cat: W30-39
Cat Place: 50/52
Gender Place: 200/225

Harry's Spring Run Off Results

Place: 2075/2209
Bib: 240
Time: 1:03:41.2
Chip Time: 1:02:04.9
Pace: 7:58
Cat: W35-39
Cat Place: 143/157
Gender Place: 987/1080

Day 80

I took the day off yesterday for a scheduled rest day. My legs were still a little sore from Sunday but definitely less sore than I thought they would be.

Today wasn't a bad run... I did just under 9K and it felt pretty good. The weather was beautiful (sunny and 11 degrees).

I have another race this weekend - the Harry's Spring Runoff 8K. I'm supposed to do 21K on Saturday so my plan is to run down to the race which just happens to be about 13K. After that only 2 long runs to go before I start tapering... scary!!!

Around the Bay 30K

This was my second year running this race. I really enjoyed it last year (despite the fact that it was cold and that it poured rain for the first 10K) so I decided to sign up again. It was also a good coincidence that I was supposed to be running 29km for my long run this weekend and it's a whole lot easier to get yourself motivated to get out when you're running with thousands of other people.

So... it was around 4 or 5 degrees at the start and cloudy. They were calling for rain later in the day but at least it was dry to start.

I started out at 9:30 and by the second kilometre, I knew I was going to have a good race. I almost missed my first walk break (I do 10min running/1 walking) and when I realized it was coming up, I almost didn't take it as I didn't feel that I needed it. I then reminded myself that I was supposed to be running slowly as this was not supposed to be a race, but just a training run.

So I stuck to the 10/1 schedule and it worked well. No extra walk breaks (which are quite often needed).

The course is almost perfectly flat for about the first 20K and then you get into rolling hills. Nothing too scary, but it's pretty much constant rolling from about 20K-26K so I got quite the workout.

At about the 26K mark is the hill from hell. It's steep and long (lasts a little more than half a km, I think). Last year, I ran about 20 feet and then walked the rest of the way up. This year, I ran the whole thing (slowly, but I ran it). And I was still feeling good at the top so I decided to run the rest of the race with no walk breaks.

I finished in 3:47, 11 minutes faster than my time last year so I was pretty happy. I really hadn't intended on even trying to beat my time but I was just feeling so good that I sort of got caught up in the feeling and pushed myself a little more than I probably should have.

The good news is, I had no major knee issues. At about 29.5K, I felt a little twinge and had to readjust my strap and running down the ramp into the arena didn't feel so great but otherwise, no problems. My legs were super-sore last night but are doing ok today (I'm even wearing heels).

While I know that running 30K is a far different thing than running 42K, I am now more confident in my ability to do the full in May. I remember last year when I did the 30K (without proper training, I might add), I was pretty sore afterward and I really had nothing left at the end. This year, I certainly wasn't going to go run another 12K for fun, but I felt like if I had another 12 to go, I would have been able to get through it.

I'm going to stick with the training as much as possible and hopefully have as good a race on May 17!

Around the Bay Results

Bib: 616
Place: 5328/5657
Time: 3:50:07
Chip Time: 3:47:14
10K Split: 1:13:15
15K Split: 1:51:28
20K Split: 2:30:07
Gender Place: 2425/2652
Cat Place (F35-39): 421/453

Day 75

No running today... I was going to go to the gym and do some leg strengthening exercises but my legs are actually a bit sore from my run yesterday and workout the day before so I decided to skip it. I might go out for a short run tomorrow just to stay loose, rather than taking 3 full days off.

It's not looking like great weather for the race on Sunday. Last year it was cold and pouring for about the first 10 km; it's looking a little better than that at this point but not much. The forecast is for light rain on Sunday and a high of 6 degrees celsius. The temperature isn't bad but man, I hate running in the rain!!!

Day 74

You know, if 5 years ago I had blisters like I have right now, I would have barfed at the sight of them. Suddenly, now, a blister that covers about 10% of the skin on my foot doesn't look so bad. Ok, so actually it does look pretty bad but I'm dealing with it.

I did my 13K today and actually had a pretty good run. It was nice out (12 degrees and sunny).

I'm supposed to do 8K tomorrow but I think I'm going to skip it. I have Around the Bay on Sunday and while I don't plan to race it or anything, I'd prefer to let the blisters heal a bit in the hopes of not limping across the finish line. So I think I'll take a next 3 days off... I'm sure one missed run isn't going to significantly interfere with my training.

Day 72

My poor feet are NOT liking me today! I have blisters on my blisters on my blisters...actually, I don't anymore as I performed surgery on them this afternoon and now just have large holes in my feet.

Ran a little over 24K yesterday. I was supposed to do 27 but was in so much pain from my blisters that I just couldn't make myself do the extra 2 1/2.

Today was a rest day, thank heavens!

So...here's my thinking. I really don't think I want to do another marathon after this one (unless I get into New York, which would be so cool that I'd have to do it).

The training is just crazy. I spent 4 hours running yesterday, which basically ruined my Sunday. I suppose if I got up first thing in the morning and went out for a run, I could be home by noon and still have the afternoon to myself but that would then mean that I'd have to go to bed early Saturday night, which would also put a damper on my plans for the weekend.

This week, I'm supposed to do 8K tomorrow, 13K Wednesday and 8K Thursday. When on earth am I supposed to find time for all this running???

I found that I was able to stick to the training for the half marathon with very little problem but this is just getting to be too much. (And keep in mind that I'm doing one of the most conservative training programs out there!!)

I'm glad I signed on to do this but I honestly think I may just stick with half marathons in the future.

The good news is that I have the Around the Bay 30K this Sunday, so at least I get to do one of my long runs with a few thousand other people! Too bad I couldn't find one of these every weekend...