I hadn't run a marathon in 2 years. But following some PB's in the half and 10K last fall I started to wonder if I could PB at a marathon too. Who knows. I was getting fast enough to even dare to dream of a BQ.
I set an aggressive training plan recognizing that I'd have to run more than ever before. With my busy life, I planned out a complicated scheme of running some runs before work on the TM (5am TM go -
), some of the shorter ones at lunchtime from work and then the long runs happened whenever I had childcare (sometimes Saturday afternoon, sometimes Sunday - thank you ZRC for being there for some of those and even the occasional Friday vacation day).My training was unremarkable except for a foot issue that plagued me after my first 30K LSD on a mid-march day that was very, very frigid. I ended up having some sort of plantar faciitis issue or peroneal tendon issue that almost completely sidelined me for about 3 weeks. It caused me to miss ATB. My first ever DNS. I figured my marathon goal and surely BQ dream was out the window. I did the right thing by following a rest, ice, stretch, wine and whine program and eventually got back to proper training.
I knew I set the bar high with a goal of hitting a 3:38:00 (needed 3:40 to BQ). My shorter distances seem to indicate this was possible however my previous marathon PB set 5 years ago at this race was 3:56:56. In the time nearing the race I spent a lot of time working on getting my mental house in order. I knew the body was ready but I needed to be mentally strong.
And then it was race day. I was a bit nervous the first 10K as it did not seem super easy. I was battling the mental game early on hoping it wouldn't get hot, wondering why I could feel my hamstring hurting already and what it might feel like in 25 more km. I had tried to put even a min in the bank yet couldn't seem to do it. I was 15 sec behind my goal at 21.1K and felt like I had expended more than I wanted to at that point. I was not feeling fresh and peppy and I worried. My garmin was showing a 5:07 pace (needed 5:09) but I knew I was running long so I didn't have anything banked. But I held on to my pace and started passing people like wildfire (this continued for the whole second half). Dominated the hills up and down on the Quebec side and sped by anyone in my way. By 30K for some reason my spirits lifted and I was "only" behind by 9 seconds. Then I had some "happy" km's. I ran with music for the first time ever and zoned into some peppy songs (a little 90's Salt n Peppa - lol, some Imagine Dragons - I'm on top of the World) and made myself feel pretty darn good that if I was able to be happy at all at 30 some kms that I had a good shot at pulling it off. I thought a lot about all the important people in my life and how blessed I am and that made me really happy.
Then it got hot. My legs grew heavier and my blisters and growing black toenail became hard to ignore. I had some "low" km's around 35K or 36K. With about 4.5K to go I glanced down at my watch and saw some km's at 5:26, 5:27 and I got worried I might not even make the 3:40 if I let 20sec a km bleed for 4 more km's. I dug deep. Really, really deep, hunkered down and didn't even waste energy glancing at my watch. I was shocked that I was so close to the 3:38 when I crossed the finish line. I thought I was gonna just squeak in at 3:40. Finishing was so weird as I was instantly surprised it was actually over. I felt like I spent so much time wishing for it to be over and then there it was over. With a PB a BQ and a smile that's lasted since Sunday.
If you are still reading, thanks, that was a long one!
Official Stats:
Split 1 5 km 00:25:42 5:08/km 00:25:42 1833 243 63 07:26:20
Split 2 10 km 00:25:53 5:10/km 00:51:35 1905 260 69 07:52:13
Split 3 15 km 00:26:11 5:14/km 01:17:46 1922 262 69 08:18:24
Halfway 21.1 km 00:31:33 5:10/km 01:49:19 1911 255 68 08:49:57
Split 5 25 km 00:20:02 5:07/km 02:09:21 1820 237 64 09:09:59
Split 6 30 km 00:25:55 5:11/km 02:35:16 1630 204 55 09:35:54
Split 7 35 km 00:25:45 5:09/km 03:01:01 1508 182 54 10:01:39
Split 8 40 km 00:26:10 5:14/km 03:27:11 1282 152 42 10:27:49
Split 9 42.2 km 00:11:00 5:00/km 03:38:11 1285 154 45 10:38:50
Finish 42.2 km 03:38:11.0 5:10/km 03:38:11.0 1285 154 45 10:38:50
