October 20th, 2019
Unlike my previous 2 marathons, STWM was not Melissa's idea! In fact, I'm pretty sure it was me getting her drunk and signing us both up for it, #richmacdonaldstyle
The Build
If CIM went better than Phoenix because of more mileage, then STWM was going to go even better. Melissa had us commit to even more miles, pushing ourselves to volumes previously thought of as extreme... My goal was to notch a 120k week, as well as a 4-week rolling average over 100k. Combine that with a healthy dose of speed work, tempos, and progression runs, and a creative mix of all of the above, along with just enough "restraint" to avoid injury and burnout, and I don't think the build plan could have gone any better.
I would race Edmonton half in August in order to set a proper time goal for the full. Breaking the 80 minute barrier convincingly there gave me the confidence to start dreaming big...
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| By the numbers... |
The Plan
"What's your goal for this race?"
That has to be the most common question, and ironically one that seems to make everyone uncomfortable. Do you say it out loud to hold yourself accountable? Do you keep it to yourself, thereby under promising and over delivering? Do you create a diversion by avoiding the question, offering instead some form of comedic, usually self-flagellating retort?
CIM should have taught me better, recalling the immediate embarrassment I felt after openly announcing my 2:45 intentions during a group run.
I suppose my success in that race helped erase that trauma, because when asked about Toronto, I figured I may as well be forthcoming about my logical next barrier, the 5-minute incremental step of breaking 2:40. Why not be bold and try for it, even if the pace on paper sounded ridiculous?
The training had gone great, but at no point did I feel comfortable running the aspirational marathon pace for that long.
So, I did as any good software engineer would do in this situation; I asked math for some help to boost my confidence.
Last year I ran a 1:21 half followed shortly after with a 2:44 full marathon.
Now I had taken 4 minutes off my half in Edmonton, surely I could ask for 5 over a full?
So, it was decided. Stretch goal was 2:39:59, and assuming I felt ok, I would aim for 1 hr for the first 10 miles, 1 hr for the 2nd 10 miles, and finish the final 10k knowing I would only need to hold 4 min/kms (aka, pedestrian pace) to hit my target. Sounds easy, right?
The Reality
After a remarkably good sleep, Mel and I awoke, had a bagel with cream cheese and jam (+ an immodium), and chilled in our hotel 1 block from the start line. Stepped out for a little warm up to get the juices flowing, then meandered to the start.
Despite the large start list, I found myself easily able to move to the first 3 rows of the 1st (non-elite) corral.
Temperature was warm (8C?) and I immediately tossed my arm warmers and gloves.
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| Calf sleeve, completely useless |
Back to my race.
Gun goes off and here we go again!
Starting with a slight uphill, I soon spy another lime green mito jersey just ahead so put in a little dig to catch up.
Josh Inhaber and I proceed to run the next several kms together, which was a great way to settle into the race.
As we loop around and head back south, the road drops elevation on it's way back to the lake, and I recall Reid Coolsaet's advice in the voice over video: relax in the beginning and use the downhill to find your pace group before hitting the waterfront. Combined with Blaine's reminder to find other bodies as it can get rather windy along the water, I take this advice to heart and spend kms 3-6 accelerating and sitting in, repeating this until I find a group I feel comfortable with.
As we hit Lakeshore Blvd I have latched on to one guy in particular, tall, bearded, dressed in blue*. He looks very comfortable pushing what to me is a bit of a stretch, but I reason that every km with him will get me closer to the end sooner!
As we turn around and head East, we are now a group of 4 or 5, though it's clear only me, blue guy, and a guy I raced with in Edmonton, Chris Schwartz, are actually working together on the long, long road in the wind.
When I say working together, blue guy did about 80% of the work.
Just before the half, I see fellow duathlete Garvin pull up beside us on his bike, and we chat for a bit before hitting one of the overpasses. Even though I felt like I had been struggling, I was surprised to find I could hold a lucid conversation still.
At the half way mark, a couple guys veer off to complete their distance, but blue guy and Chris stay on course for the full, and I am so grateful. I hit the 10 mile mark with a handful of seconds to spare before my 1 hr target.
I cross the half-way mat around 1:18:31 (2nd fastest half yet), and am starting to feel like I may have made a big mistake...
Blue guy separates from Chris and I, so then there were 2.
The next 8 km it's just him and I, taking turns in front to block the wind. Our pace feels like it is slowing a bit, but having someone there in that industrial 2nd half was a life saver! Looking at my upload, the pace did slow, down to my goal pace of ~3:47/km.
And then Chris drops me, latching on to a runner that passed us on Lakeshore Blvd East, and I have no response. Kilometer 30, and I am all alone for the foreseeable future.
My world goes dark, my little Jiminy Cricket is telling me I WAS an idiot for going out too fast, and that I am in the process of blowing up majorly!
I look down at my watch and its agreeing with that fucking cricket, 4:05/km... that is about 20 seconds / km slower than my goal pace.
The next part gets worse, because I start to not care. Any competitive spirit in me has completely vanquished.
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| Band of brothers for about 10k |
I know he's lying and try smiling back but inside I'm too busy signing off on my surrender.
Chris is off in the distance, I'm alone into wind and slight uphill, and I haven't even gotten to the last turnaround yet. How can I take down the evil "wall" if I'm so far off pace already and slowing down to a crawl? I should note, that upon review of my post-race data, this slump lasted only about 4kms, but at the time it felt like an eternity, so low were my spirits.
And then I get a couple injections of motivation.
First, I see homeboy Trev Hofbauer come by in the opposite direction, and he's the first Canadian! We exchange some quick salutes and go on our merry ways.
Defending Canadian champ Cam Levins is a good minute or two behind him!
How cool is that, Trev is punching his ticket to the 2020 Olympics!!
Soon after, I reach the final turnaround (finally!!!)
This is around km 32 and the moment I've been waiting for.
By now, I've lost a bunch of time, crossing 20 miles around 2:01:something, and given the past 30 minutes, have all but written off my A goal. But now I at least am going downhill. And have a tailwind.
Then I see Mel! She's not far behind, and there aren't many women ahead of her!
Before long, I'm back to my flow, focusing on my leg turn over and taking down kms.
Around the 35 km mark I hear "hey Ren, good job" from across the street. It's fellow WRTWC runner Frank! He's smiling and looking strong!
I take note of the time. 7.2km to go, clock says 2:12:11... hmm. Could I? 27 mins for 7km? Jiminy is gone, and my watch says I'm back to running 3:45s.
Give it a try, whispered the heart.
6k to go, still holding on.
Then I see, and remember one last overpass. Ugh... that's gonna bite into my pace.
5.2k to go and about 20 mins. Uphill finish. Its gonna be close, but I'm starting to believe.
38k. 16 mins left... keep it going. I am almost back to the CN tower!
39. Crowds are back and loud. Normally in races this drives me crazy but now I'm feeding off it.
40. We will be turning right soon on Bay street. Why is it taking so long? 8 minutes to go.
41. Don't see this marker, nor anything other than that Parliament Building at the end of the tunnel that is my vision.
42. Where is that finish line? Can't even see it?! Oh there it is. What does that clock say? 2:39:something? Oh shit, stay focused Reinier or you're gonna blow it.
Open up the sprint...
2:39:41!
Oh, and I remember a Firetruck trying to get through and runners having to scramble around it to finish!
In the aftermath I see all our friends have done well today. Ken Young setting an 60-69 national record, Frank, Mark Cullen and Jeff Shikaze setting PBs. I learn that I got 3rd in my age!
I learned the Mel was 8th Canadian female!
Across the country, our friends in Kelowna have all had great races too!
Nutrition
A Maurten gel at the start line, another one around kilometer 11, and an Endurance Tap maple energy gel around kilometer 28. Zero gels spilled today!
Gatorade or water at each station, and both in the final 10k (just a small sip each time). Not quite as successful keeping gatorade off my body and shoes :(
Lessons
So, what is your goal for this race?
Ultimately you hope to finish knowing that you gave it all on that day. There are plenty of things outside of our control including course, conditions, and competition/companionship, so having specific goal times can be rather arbitrary. It doesn't mean you can't do your homework and make some aspirational goals along the way. And while anything can happen during the race, don't give up on those goals until you absolutely have to. Keep it close and you may catch a second wind. That can be all you need to get motivated again to dig deep through until the finish.
I was down and out in this race, and ready to pull the chute, but a few key moments helped me snap out of it and begin my comeback.
There are many benefits of running on feel (ask the Hof!), which I mostly did, but one of the downsides is that any slowing of pace combined with an increase of perceived effort can tax your already depleting confidence. My perception of my blow up felt much worse than the GPS-validated reality, in retrospect. On the plus side, when I regained my mojo, my actual pace did not improve by as much as I felt like it did, but it boosted my mood exponentially.
Another good lesson is to wipe your mouth when waiting at the finish line and the CBC cameras are watching!
Acknowledgements
I'm so thankful to Melissa for helping my focus (recall a conversation earlier in the year during a morale slump where she forced me to "pick a *&%#@ goal already"), pushing me when I needed pushing, and holding me back when my natural overzealous nature would have resulted in self-destruction. There were several miles spent in the final stage of the marathon that I dedicated to her.
I'm thankful to my kids for accepting my daily commitment to the Saturday morning long runs and evening workouts before dinner.
I'm grateful to Troy Delfs for taking over leadership of Peloton Racing this year so I could step back. It's a ton of work that is unpaid and underappreciated, and without him stepping up the club would not have endured.
I'm grateful to my physio and chiropractors, Shari Macdonald and Carson Smith, for keeping the niggles at bay.
Immensely thankful to the Calgary running community for accepting and mentoring me, and the positivity and support ahead of STWM was second to none. It's no coincidence that Calgary is host to the current men's Canadian National Marathon Champion (Hof daddy... omfg!) as well as national Master's age group champs.
Strides Running Store, Mito Canada, We Run The World coaching, and Bow Valley Harriers are just some inspirational examples of community and excellence that make it easy for anyone to start dreaming big!
Shared many miles with amazing humans and have come to truly appreciate group/social running for both motivation as well as entertainment.
What's next?
Eat too much, drink too much, then start thinking about Houston Half Marathon in January. But that's a long time away. What will my goal be for that race? Too soon to decide, but if history is any indicator, it's unlikely that I'll keep it to myself!
Link to Strava
Link to Results
* Blue guy later identified as Kevin Lachance (thank you, Kevin!)
Love the RR, wow you're a talented writer. "Give it a try, whispered the heart." sent shivers down my spine. What a race!!
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