Queen City Marathon
Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:07 am
This is marathon #8 for me.
Gun time: 4:26:09
Chip time: 4:25:47
50-54 AG: 6/15
Gender: 45/132
I had signed up for this in May when I was riding high on the vast amounts of running I was doing for Calgary Ultra. I know training in the summer is always tough for me for various reasons, so I wasn't sure what to expect by the time September rolled around. Sure enough, running this summer was OK, but it definitely wasn't training.
The day started perfectly. Cool, but sunny and bright. I met up with Ian and his friend, by chance, and chatted with them for a few minutes. I reminded them both that I had told Steve that Brendan would win and Ian would come in top 5. As it turned out, Ian came in 4th, congratulations, and Brendan won for the 7th time (I think it is).
We started with the National Anthem, and everybody sang. I loved that, and got a bit choked up. With all the wars and conflicts going on around the world, it really made me pause to think how fortunate we are to live in the great, vast, peaceful country of Canada.
I went out with the intention of doing the first half sub 2. It felt way harder than it should have for the first half, but I squeezed in at 1:59:40 by my Garmin. I think on-line it showed a few seconds over 2, so I guess it took about 40 seconds to cross the start mat. I knew that holding that pace was going to be impossible for the rest of the race, so I backed off. It got warm around 25k and just wouldn't let up. There was little to no shade. I didn't want to do the death March, so just started doing run/walk combos. Run for 4-8 minutes walk for 1. I never let myself walk for more than 1 minute, so that's an improvement over just walking endlessly. The heat seemed pretty intense, then right near the end we got into an older section of town with huge trees. RELIEF! Then you cross back into the park where it all started and it was over! John Stanton was the one who put my medal around my neck. I'm like "Hey, John, how are you? Nice to see you again"
It was slow, but I didn't do the death march, and I feel pretty good today. My legs are a bit stiff, but I can walk and go up and down stairs fairly normally.
Highlights:
The volunteers were amazing, super friendly and doing their jobs
Showcased a beautiful part of Regina
Super well organized
Enough food for everyone, even later marathon finishers
A lady was handing out watermelon-what a nice treat for a dry mouth
A lady handing out ice. I took some for my hat and stuffed some down my bra
Lolights
It got hot and stayed hot with no cloud cover
I wasn't prepared as much as I wanted and it showed
The roads and pathways were full of potholes, you really had to watch your footing
Saw a few people staggering from the heat I asked if they were OK, they assured me they were. I kept going, I hope they were fine.
One fellow down (after the race) about a block from where we parked. People were attending to him.
I would definitely go back and do it again IF I could train better over the summer.
Gun time: 4:26:09
Chip time: 4:25:47
50-54 AG: 6/15
Gender: 45/132
I had signed up for this in May when I was riding high on the vast amounts of running I was doing for Calgary Ultra. I know training in the summer is always tough for me for various reasons, so I wasn't sure what to expect by the time September rolled around. Sure enough, running this summer was OK, but it definitely wasn't training.
The day started perfectly. Cool, but sunny and bright. I met up with Ian and his friend, by chance, and chatted with them for a few minutes. I reminded them both that I had told Steve that Brendan would win and Ian would come in top 5. As it turned out, Ian came in 4th, congratulations, and Brendan won for the 7th time (I think it is).
We started with the National Anthem, and everybody sang. I loved that, and got a bit choked up. With all the wars and conflicts going on around the world, it really made me pause to think how fortunate we are to live in the great, vast, peaceful country of Canada.
I went out with the intention of doing the first half sub 2. It felt way harder than it should have for the first half, but I squeezed in at 1:59:40 by my Garmin. I think on-line it showed a few seconds over 2, so I guess it took about 40 seconds to cross the start mat. I knew that holding that pace was going to be impossible for the rest of the race, so I backed off. It got warm around 25k and just wouldn't let up. There was little to no shade. I didn't want to do the death March, so just started doing run/walk combos. Run for 4-8 minutes walk for 1. I never let myself walk for more than 1 minute, so that's an improvement over just walking endlessly. The heat seemed pretty intense, then right near the end we got into an older section of town with huge trees. RELIEF! Then you cross back into the park where it all started and it was over! John Stanton was the one who put my medal around my neck. I'm like "Hey, John, how are you? Nice to see you again"
It was slow, but I didn't do the death march, and I feel pretty good today. My legs are a bit stiff, but I can walk and go up and down stairs fairly normally.
Highlights:
The volunteers were amazing, super friendly and doing their jobs
Showcased a beautiful part of Regina
Super well organized
Enough food for everyone, even later marathon finishers
A lady was handing out watermelon-what a nice treat for a dry mouth
A lady handing out ice. I took some for my hat and stuffed some down my bra
Lolights
It got hot and stayed hot with no cloud cover
I wasn't prepared as much as I wanted and it showed
The roads and pathways were full of potholes, you really had to watch your footing
Saw a few people staggering from the heat I asked if they were OK, they assured me they were. I kept going, I hope they were fine.
One fellow down (after the race) about a block from where we parked. People were attending to him.
I would definitely go back and do it again IF I could train better over the summer.