71 pounds lost in that time.
Four half marathons.
1000.16 kilometers logged in 2009 in preparation.
860 registered for the Full Marathon
Temperature at start: 19°C
After one hour: 21°C
After two hours: 24°C
After three hours: 26°C (feels like 30°C)
After four hours: 28°C (feels like 32°C)
691 Full Marathon finishers (80%)
Last recorded time 2009: 5:56:xx (course shut down due to heat)
2008 saw 90% finish.
Last recoreded time 2008: 6:45:xx
My Time:
Four Hours.
Twenty Minutes.
Six Seconds.
Overall Position: 314/691 (45.44%)
Gender: 248/487 (50.92%)
Age Group: 38/65 (58.46%)
It was hot out there my friends. Damn hot.
Many of you have been following my journal for the last few weeks leading up to my first marathon attempt. You may have noticed that all the training runs were essentially in cool/cold weather. My last long run was at an average temperature of 5°C. Needless to say I was not really acclimatized to the heat.
My training, I felt, had been good. I know for your first marathon you shouldn’t set a time goal, but I felt that under ideal conditions that I could, realistically, be anywhere from just under four hours to four fifteen.
So, let’s start at the night before. I got my gear ready, and I checked the weather. Yep, still going to be hot out. But cloudy. Good, no direct sun beating down on my head. At least there’s that. Settle down and get to sleep.
Alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m. Ugh. Get up and check the forecast again. Hey! Where did my clouds go? Awww, crap.
Oh well, can’t do anything about that. Time to get ready. Grab a shower, get into my shorts and RM shirt and buff, and grab a bagel with peanut butter and some water. Get the coffee ready and fill up my mug. Read some of the paper, get my shoes on, and then wait for my buddy to pick me up.
Getting to the university goes smoothly, and we park right on campus. My buddy has an office, so we get to use a real bathroom. Get that out of the way and head to the starting area to check in my bag. I feel good so far! Amble over to the starting area, and line up in the 4:00 – 4:30 area. Hmmm, feeling the urge to pee again. It’ll have to wait. Like we did at the starting line. 7:00 a.m. start my butt! Flag ceremony, national anthem, invocation, speeches…why didn’t they start these earlier? I just want to get going.
Wheelchair racers get their start. Getting close now. Why do we have to listen to this lame song? I don’t like Man In Motion…. OK, here we go…and we’re off! Shuffle shuffle shuffle to Chariots of Fire and then we get to start running by the start line. Start the watch.
My plan was to go at a comfortable pace, and see where I was at after each mile. I’d take fluids at every station. I had lots of gels, but we’ll talk about those later. I had e-load caps (supplied by NewFinnLoper), and I was going to try and take those every 10 km.
The first mile goes nice and easy, down University Crescent out to Pembina Hwy. First split 8:52 – not bad. Breathing under control, have to dodge a few runners but it wasn’t too crowded. Up Pembina to Crescent Drive, into a lovely treed neigborhood. Mile 2 is right at the beginning, split 8:29. I’ve got my iPod on, and this is where it decides to short circuit on me a bit. I futz with it for a little bit, and it gets back on track, working fine. Meander through the streets, and I see one couple that I know from church at the end of their driveway. Mile three is upon me before I know it, split 8:46. Hmm, that urge is getting stronger…next time I see them I gotta stop at the porta potty. Ah, there they are. Wait 20 seconds for one to become available, get ’er done, and back on track. Mile four comes up shortly after that, split 9:22.
Feeling good so far, I decide it’s time to get a gel down. I get it out and have it ready for the next water station. It finally comes up (later than I thought) and I take it in. A couple minutes later mile 5 floats by, 9:11. I love the trees in this neighbourhood, and the temp still feels comfortable. Pass through the first exchange zone for the relay – thickest crowd of the morning so far! The pace feels fine, body feels good. Still in the “party zone” as I was told the first half should feel. Mile 6 comes up, 8:51, right on track.
Back onto Pembina Hwy, which means the half marathon/full marathon split is coming soon. There it is. Head to the left, under the full marathon arch and up onto the overpass to cross Pembina. (Whew, first hill done
). Down the other side, then another slight uphill to Harrow. Hmmm, the crowd of runners seems much less now! Mile 7 comes up right away, and the split – 9:08. I’m happy with my times so far, and I’m feeling great. Another water station goes by. I feel strong as I run this long straight-away…mile 8, 9:05…and then run onto Wellington Crescent – ahhh, the rich kids area! Another gel, and look at all the big houses! Start keeping my eye out for DonnaRiggs, I think she said she was marshalling along here…see her at some point not sure if she was before or after mile 10 (split 9:05). Coming up to Assiniboine Park soon, oh, here’s mile 11 (9:00) total time so far of 1:38:49, making an average of 8:59/mile so far. Feeling good, but the heat is starting to build up. I don’t know it, but it is likely already five degrees warmer, or about 24°C.In the park now. Dipsey doodle around the duck pond, start to wonder where the next water station is…I’m getting thirsty. That can’t be good. Cross the footbridge (mile 12 9:30) and onto Portage Ave.
I hate Portage Ave! No trees, no shade, ugly road. First time today I start to feel the heat strongly. One good point when I see some co-workers about mile 13 (9:20) cheering me on, and there is one water station along here (I thought there was supposed to be three?), but other than that, yuck. But hey, I’m now over half done, and I don’t feel too bad. Yet. (I’m getting there, I’m getting there).
Turn into the Wolseley area, and at least there are trees again. Mile 14 goes by (9:21), and I feel OK. I’m trying to take a little more water in at each station. Then I start to feel it…my quads are feeling a little stiff. Not bad, but I think I’m going to be in trouble. Next water station/relay zone I FORCE myself to take another gel and electrolyte tab (my fourth tab of the day). With the heat, taking that gel was the hardest thing I did. My stomach could not stand the thought of anything aside from liquid. This was the last gel I got down, and we’ll see how that affected me later.
Mile 15 goes by (9:21) and I really start to feel my quads. Still in the nice Wolseley area, but all I’m starting to think about are the stretches I’m not looking forward to. Not a good sign!
Mile 16. Split of 9:58. Quads are on fire. Not cramped, but tight as can be without cramping. That will be my last sub 10 minute mile of the day. I have my first walk break around here. I’m soaking wet from sweat, sponges, showers, dumped water. I’m drinking as much as I can at each stop, and I’m still thristy. I have visions of a death march creeping into my head. Gotta dig down here. I start running again.
Get onto Broadway, pass the Legislature, barely even glance at it. Make my way down to Assiniboine Ave and here comes the mile 17 marker – 10:03. OK, I’m happy considering the pain in my quads. Turn onto Main St and head over the bridges. Here is another area that I decide to hate – no shade, hot concrete…not a good frame of mind here. Another short walk break. Make the turn onto Lyndale Drive, through another aid station (I can’t get enough water in to quench my thirst right now and shortly thereafter is mile 18 (10:18 ). Getting a little slower…but still fighting through. As I run around Lyndale I see two other spectators that I know, one from the band at church that I do sound for and the other is my friend’s dad. Gives me a bit of a boost and I soldier on. Mile 19 goes by (10:10).
Out onto St. Mary’s. I decide to hate this stretch too. Hot now, oh so hot. Let’s see, it’s after 10:00 a.m., so according to The Weather Network it was 26°C (feels like 30°C).
Thirsty all the time. No shade. How far do I have to go? A couple more walk breaks along here. Mile 20 goes by…11:22. Oh my. Is this the wall?Turn onto a residential street. The final relay zone is in here somewhere. People along here have set up their sprinklers and hoses for the runners. Moments of blessed coolness, but they don’t last long enough. Hot hot hot hot….
Run past mile 21…11:15 split. Resigned to slogging the rest of this thing out. But I’m going to finish. Only another hour to go at this rate.
Turn up onto Dunkirk.
It sucks.
This is the absolute WORST stretch of the marathon. A half a dozen spectators. No shade. Nothing but me and the road. Mile 22 coming up (11:40 split). Gotta walk. So hot. Can I do this? Can I finish? Doubts are entering my mind.
And then…an angel. KBO (Karen) is there just before the next turn. Having someone I know to talk to for that short walk helps me get the doubts in check. I CAN DO THIS. I WILL FINISH. FOUR MILES TO GO. I start to run again. I completely miss it, but somewhere in this mile I had entered new territory – my longest run ever. My longest training run for this was 22.16 miles. Every step is a victory. When I realize this, I gain new strength. I push on. Through the sprinklers/showers, down St.Vital Rd.
I turn onto River Rd. I’m in what I will now call the final stages. I will do this. So hot. Look, here comes mile 23…and my slowest mile is done (12:59). Somewhere around here I see abhainn and I make an extra effort to “look strong”. I’m so hurting now, but I’m going to do this. Bishop Grandin is coming up. Final push. Damn, that sun is hot. Turn onto Bishop Grandin, and then over the bridge. Hmmm…where’s that mile marker? I never did see it. We’ll just call mile 24 and mile 25 as 11:33 each. It’s about 11:00 a.m. and the hotest part of the monring - 28°C (feels like 32°C). But I’m almst done.
Turn onto Pembina. Here comes University Cres. The last stage Take on more water. Walk a bit. Run some more. Mile 25 (11:33). OK, gotta finish strong. No more walking. Here it goes. Tell myself to ignore my quads. They’ll heal. Eventually. Gotta finish strong. Here comes the turn onto Chancellor. Not far now. The stadium is RIGHT THERE. Pick it up. Mile 26 just outside…and 10:58! Entering the track now…the anouncer says my name and I pump my fist! I’m going to do it…here it comes, the curve around the end of the track…YAY! Some Maniacs cheering me on! Final straight away…
FINISH LINE! OH MY GOD I HURT!
BUT I DID IT!
I completely forget to stop my watch. There’s Mouse with my medal and a hug. I’m completely drained…I don’t even know if I really feel anything other than my quads. I can’t see Mrs Tater or the Tater Tot in the stands, though later they tell me that they thought that I had waved to them after finishing. Mouse gets Andy, smoosher extordinaire to help me into the infield. Walking hurts. A lot. We get my finisher’s shirt, my bag, and he sets me up in Mouse’s lawn chair (now THAT’S extra special service). Mouse brings me a beer. God bless her. My buddy is there, and he finished just under 4 hours, about 20 minutes slower than last year. I already felt good about my time (whatever it was- I didn’t really know yet), but that really cemented it for me. Under better conditions, I could have been in the ball park for my (non) goal time.
Beer is done, now I gotta find the family. Andy helped, and we eventually spotted them. I got up and hobbled towards the stands, which was right by the medical tent. While Andy helped the Tater Tot down, a medical volunteer was concerned about my shuffle, and recommended a rub down. Put me into a wheel chair and queued me up for the rub down. Got a picture or two with the Tater Tot, who was a little freaked out that daddy was in a wheel chair. Andy took care of her while I got my quads kneaded by a dude named Ricky (Oh Ricky you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind, Hey Ricky!). Once that was done, got the Tater Tot back, hobbled to the infield, relaxed a few more moments, chatted with Andy, got my stuff together, and Andy kindly carried it for me to the exit, where I met up with Mrs Tater for the walk to the car and then the ride home.
Got home, had a cold bath and a hot shower, suffered a bit of heat stroke in the afternoon, hydrated, and once the Tater Tot was asleep, checked FaceBook, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
Made it to work, and I’m getting up to walk every 45 minutes. My legs are sore, but I can walk…gingerly.
I AM A MARATHONER!
All I can think right now is…wait till next year!
eta: more dancing bananas!
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Just teasing. The end of the story is why I read it. You are a marathoner! Congrats, DT!
