Carm's First Marathon RR at Ottawa Race Weekend (photo added
Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 4:21 pm
It's the first chapter of a memoir. Get a cup of coffee. 
I've had a busy couple of years. I've only been running since 3 summers ago. It's one of those things that I decided to pick up in celebration of my 30th birthday. After doing a bunch of triathlons and a couple of half marathons, I decided last fall that I wanted to do a marathon. I have a friend at work who has done one and has done ATB several times. I always thought that she was just a little bit crazy. I decided to join the crazy club and having been friends with Jes for quite some time, I spoke with her about some things and signed up with the K2J Fitness Marathon Clinic. It's a pretty fast group and produces many BQers and Boston-bound runners. Despite the speediness of the group, everyone is incredibly friendly and welcoming. I was pleasantly surprised by this since you never know.
Marathon training began in mid-January and this cycle was the first time that I focused on running and put my other cross-training activities on hold for the most part. I ran 5x a week, swam once and played underwater hockey once whenever I had enough energy. I did a really easy yin yoga class on Mondays. I pained me a bit to not be riding my bike but oh well, I had other priorities this winter/spring. Training went extremely well. I did Tempo Tuesdays up to ATB with Andy and Jes, and did all of my long runs (except for one) with friends, who eventually became known as the Zoomphoto Run Club (ZRC). What a blast and I feel really fortunate to have gotten to know everyone really well over our 2-3 hour runs, and have developed some great friendships. ATB went well and my Montreal 1/2 did too. Both were supposed to be B races but became "mini-A" races (Andy's term), which is my own darn fault I guess. I PB'd the half distance, which I'm really happy about.
Since Montreal, my training has been hit and miss - definitely not as solid as the first half of the training cycle. I'm not sure why but it seemed that my body had had enough. I tweaked my hamstring mildly heading into taper but thanks to my trusty physio, Jordan from Momentum, it was quickly fixed with IMS, stretching and a few days of rest. Heading into Ottawa, I felt really well rested and tapered. My legs re-gained their pep in the week leading up to the race.
Fast forward to Sunday May 27th. After a decent night of sleep, I headed downtown and met up with many Maniacs doing the marathon, as well as some friends from K2J. I put myself near the 4:15 bunnies (my friend was the R:W bunny) but honestly, didn't know where I would be comfortable for most of the race. I was happy to try and stay ahead of the 4:30 bunny and I didn't see him until the last 2K and he passed me- dammit! Anyway, that's getting too far ahead. My plan was to carry my hand-held and re-fill it as needed; I would take gels every 6k and supplement with Gatorade if needed.
The first 21K were quite enjoyable. It was slightly overcast and cool, with a light breeze coming from the East/North-East. I was holding back (so I thought) and running around a 6:00/km pace. I ran through Westboro and went through a bunch of cheering stations, including my tri club's and Team MitoCanada, the team that I was running with. Wow, talk about noise! I was enjoying the marathon experience to its fullest and I'm so happy that I did that. The time on the Western Parkway wasn't too bad and passed quickly. At this point, the little hills along the parkway and on the Hull side took their toll and I was getting tired. I pulled back the pace and wasn't disappointed about that since it was still very early in the game. On the Gatineau side, I stopped at a water station and re-filled my hand-held. The water tasted funny and metallic. After a few sips, I decided that I would chuck it at the next water station. I ran into a mini-wall at about 25K heading back to the Ottawa side. I saw Maniacs near the National Art Gallery (thanks for cheering guys!), which was such a boost! I loved the sign, Smiles!
Heading into Rockcliffe, I re-gained some of my sanity and my legs until about the 35K mark, when my body said to me, "OK, that's it...time to call it quits or slow down since I'm tired!" The sun was shining really brightly at this point and there was no wind/breeze. One word: HOT! My friend Kim from work lives near there and was so kind to scurry on her bike to 3 different locations - the 30K mark, Beechwood and again along the Canal. I really appreciated her words of encouragement at this point since I was VERY VERY miserable (8-9 on a scale of 10). I saw 2 marathoners wrapped in blankets waiting for medical assistance. UGH. I didn't need to see that. Along Birch St., there were a few residents with hoses on. I didn't want my feet to get wet so I threw my head into the mist. It felt so nice! The last 7K felt like a death march (I guess that this was The Wall!) and I thought of Spirit's advice to me on Saturday. She told me in the last 10K to focus, look straight ahead, keep the legs moving and run straight. I did just that but every muscle in my body was telling me to slow down or walk. I briefly ran into Jes near the 38k(?) mark and she was gone again. Damn, you've got some serious stamina, Jes! Seriously, she was gone like a rocket. Heading back onto Sussex, it was hot and I squeezed a bunch of sponges onto me. Ahhh! Up to this point, I didn't feel that over-heated but I guess that it caught up on me. Since I was struggling, I figured that breaking down the last few km into chunks was a smart idea; otherwise, I might give up and walk more than run/shuffle. I didn't want to do that. I kind of lost track of my time goal in the last 10K. The 4:30 bunny hadn't passed me, so I guess that time goal was still within grasp although looking at my Garmin splits, I didn't really care at this point. They were SO slow. I wanted to get it done!
My short-term aim was to reach the Canal. I made it there and saw the massive crowds but wasn't in the mood to look for people that I knew. This girl was grouchy! Along the Canal, I started feeling nauseous on the verge of vomiting. Oh no, this wasn't good. My heart rate was fine, I was running quite slow (high 6's, low 7 min/km), I was hydrating with Gatorade (at this point) but anytime that I tried to increase my pace, I felt like I was going to puke. To cope, I took a few un-timed short walk breaks. I won't lie, I talked to myself but given the red marathon bib, I'm sure that people understood. I didn't want to push the envelope because once you do, you might be stuck and I wanted to finish the last 2.2K! It was the longest 2.2K ever and just as I was down, the 4:30 R:W bunny (the only bunny) passed me and was high-tailing it. I caught him just before Pretoria Bridge while they were on a walk break but then him and his group were off again. I was in no condition to chase them. I saw the lululemon girls since they had great signs and my favourite song at the moment was blasting. I don't recall the name (DH always has Live 88.5 blasting at home) but it really pumps me up. My focus heading into the finish chute was keeping my eye on the 4:30 bunny. I never caught him but I held my arms up and smiled crossing the finish line. DONE and I am a marathoner!
Good:
Fueled and hydrated well. The brain felt well glucosed.
My body didn't fall apart on me but fatigued more than I thought it ever could. My feet got sore, which is such a strange feeling!
Battled the Wall and made it through, just barely. All walls have doors.
The crowd. Ottawa Marathon has a wicked set of volunteers and community support.
Bad:
Went a bit too quickly for the first 1/2. Should have dialed it back just a smidge.
Tummy troubles, which may have been due to the nasty QC water, the heat, dehydration...who knows?
Slowed down way too much from 25-42K and ran a big fat positive - not ideal.
Stats:
Gun time: 4:33:17
Chip time: 4:30:41
Pace: 6:25/km
AG: 155/215
Gender: 877/1456
Splits:
10K: 1:00:25
21.1K: 2:08:29
30K: 3:06:31
I've had a busy couple of years. I've only been running since 3 summers ago. It's one of those things that I decided to pick up in celebration of my 30th birthday. After doing a bunch of triathlons and a couple of half marathons, I decided last fall that I wanted to do a marathon. I have a friend at work who has done one and has done ATB several times. I always thought that she was just a little bit crazy. I decided to join the crazy club and having been friends with Jes for quite some time, I spoke with her about some things and signed up with the K2J Fitness Marathon Clinic. It's a pretty fast group and produces many BQers and Boston-bound runners. Despite the speediness of the group, everyone is incredibly friendly and welcoming. I was pleasantly surprised by this since you never know.
Marathon training began in mid-January and this cycle was the first time that I focused on running and put my other cross-training activities on hold for the most part. I ran 5x a week, swam once and played underwater hockey once whenever I had enough energy. I did a really easy yin yoga class on Mondays. I pained me a bit to not be riding my bike but oh well, I had other priorities this winter/spring. Training went extremely well. I did Tempo Tuesdays up to ATB with Andy and Jes, and did all of my long runs (except for one) with friends, who eventually became known as the Zoomphoto Run Club (ZRC). What a blast and I feel really fortunate to have gotten to know everyone really well over our 2-3 hour runs, and have developed some great friendships. ATB went well and my Montreal 1/2 did too. Both were supposed to be B races but became "mini-A" races (Andy's term), which is my own darn fault I guess. I PB'd the half distance, which I'm really happy about.
Since Montreal, my training has been hit and miss - definitely not as solid as the first half of the training cycle. I'm not sure why but it seemed that my body had had enough. I tweaked my hamstring mildly heading into taper but thanks to my trusty physio, Jordan from Momentum, it was quickly fixed with IMS, stretching and a few days of rest. Heading into Ottawa, I felt really well rested and tapered. My legs re-gained their pep in the week leading up to the race.
Fast forward to Sunday May 27th. After a decent night of sleep, I headed downtown and met up with many Maniacs doing the marathon, as well as some friends from K2J. I put myself near the 4:15 bunnies (my friend was the R:W bunny) but honestly, didn't know where I would be comfortable for most of the race. I was happy to try and stay ahead of the 4:30 bunny and I didn't see him until the last 2K and he passed me- dammit! Anyway, that's getting too far ahead. My plan was to carry my hand-held and re-fill it as needed; I would take gels every 6k and supplement with Gatorade if needed.
The first 21K were quite enjoyable. It was slightly overcast and cool, with a light breeze coming from the East/North-East. I was holding back (so I thought) and running around a 6:00/km pace. I ran through Westboro and went through a bunch of cheering stations, including my tri club's and Team MitoCanada, the team that I was running with. Wow, talk about noise! I was enjoying the marathon experience to its fullest and I'm so happy that I did that. The time on the Western Parkway wasn't too bad and passed quickly. At this point, the little hills along the parkway and on the Hull side took their toll and I was getting tired. I pulled back the pace and wasn't disappointed about that since it was still very early in the game. On the Gatineau side, I stopped at a water station and re-filled my hand-held. The water tasted funny and metallic. After a few sips, I decided that I would chuck it at the next water station. I ran into a mini-wall at about 25K heading back to the Ottawa side. I saw Maniacs near the National Art Gallery (thanks for cheering guys!), which was such a boost! I loved the sign, Smiles!
Heading into Rockcliffe, I re-gained some of my sanity and my legs until about the 35K mark, when my body said to me, "OK, that's it...time to call it quits or slow down since I'm tired!" The sun was shining really brightly at this point and there was no wind/breeze. One word: HOT! My friend Kim from work lives near there and was so kind to scurry on her bike to 3 different locations - the 30K mark, Beechwood and again along the Canal. I really appreciated her words of encouragement at this point since I was VERY VERY miserable (8-9 on a scale of 10). I saw 2 marathoners wrapped in blankets waiting for medical assistance. UGH. I didn't need to see that. Along Birch St., there were a few residents with hoses on. I didn't want my feet to get wet so I threw my head into the mist. It felt so nice! The last 7K felt like a death march (I guess that this was The Wall!) and I thought of Spirit's advice to me on Saturday. She told me in the last 10K to focus, look straight ahead, keep the legs moving and run straight. I did just that but every muscle in my body was telling me to slow down or walk. I briefly ran into Jes near the 38k(?) mark and she was gone again. Damn, you've got some serious stamina, Jes! Seriously, she was gone like a rocket. Heading back onto Sussex, it was hot and I squeezed a bunch of sponges onto me. Ahhh! Up to this point, I didn't feel that over-heated but I guess that it caught up on me. Since I was struggling, I figured that breaking down the last few km into chunks was a smart idea; otherwise, I might give up and walk more than run/shuffle. I didn't want to do that. I kind of lost track of my time goal in the last 10K. The 4:30 bunny hadn't passed me, so I guess that time goal was still within grasp although looking at my Garmin splits, I didn't really care at this point. They were SO slow. I wanted to get it done!
My short-term aim was to reach the Canal. I made it there and saw the massive crowds but wasn't in the mood to look for people that I knew. This girl was grouchy! Along the Canal, I started feeling nauseous on the verge of vomiting. Oh no, this wasn't good. My heart rate was fine, I was running quite slow (high 6's, low 7 min/km), I was hydrating with Gatorade (at this point) but anytime that I tried to increase my pace, I felt like I was going to puke. To cope, I took a few un-timed short walk breaks. I won't lie, I talked to myself but given the red marathon bib, I'm sure that people understood. I didn't want to push the envelope because once you do, you might be stuck and I wanted to finish the last 2.2K! It was the longest 2.2K ever and just as I was down, the 4:30 R:W bunny (the only bunny) passed me and was high-tailing it. I caught him just before Pretoria Bridge while they were on a walk break but then him and his group were off again. I was in no condition to chase them. I saw the lululemon girls since they had great signs and my favourite song at the moment was blasting. I don't recall the name (DH always has Live 88.5 blasting at home) but it really pumps me up. My focus heading into the finish chute was keeping my eye on the 4:30 bunny. I never caught him but I held my arms up and smiled crossing the finish line. DONE and I am a marathoner!
Good:
Fueled and hydrated well. The brain felt well glucosed.
My body didn't fall apart on me but fatigued more than I thought it ever could. My feet got sore, which is such a strange feeling!
Battled the Wall and made it through, just barely. All walls have doors.
The crowd. Ottawa Marathon has a wicked set of volunteers and community support.
Bad:
Went a bit too quickly for the first 1/2. Should have dialed it back just a smidge.
Tummy troubles, which may have been due to the nasty QC water, the heat, dehydration...who knows?
Slowed down way too much from 25-42K and ran a big fat positive - not ideal.
Stats:
Gun time: 4:33:17
Chip time: 4:30:41
Pace: 6:25/km
AG: 155/215
Gender: 877/1456
Splits:
10K: 1:00:25
21.1K: 2:08:29
30K: 3:06:31
The thing about the marathon is that it's impossible to prepare for what it will feel like until you're out there. Now you've been in it and through it. Great experience overall!
Did it the first year I ran and never ever again! Way to push through the final KM's