Sunday morning, I got up around 6:00am. I got dressed, made myself some breakfast and a Cafe Americano. For breakfast I had an English Muffin with a little bit of peanut butter on it. I made a breakfast pita with peanut butter on it to eat closer to the start time and brought it with me. I gathered up the rest of my running stuff and a change of clothes for after and headed out the door at around 7:00am.
It was drizzling when I went outside but they said it was suppose to clear up. It was a nice quick drive down to the Market Square while listening to 4 Feet Running. I was feeling really good.
As I arrived at the Market the drizzle had stopped. I gathered up my t-shirt, timing chip and bib number. I walked around and did some people watching. I met up with a couple of friends. I talked for a while and it was time for some food and a warm-up. I jogged around the block and stretched a few times and just relaxed my mind and started psyching myself up for the task at hand.
I checked my watch and started heading slowly to the start. As I was standing there, I heard a familiar voice call me. It was my friend Steve and his wife Cindy. Steve was racing in the Off Road Squeezer later that day. The 'Squeezer is a 32K bike race on the road and on the trails. We talked for a couple of minutes and it was time to start.
A few points before you read the following negative.:
I know that these things happen, it may be the one and only time.
I don't know why it happened. It could be the cold that I have been averting with Cold FX.
I may have been the Cold FX.
It might be asthma medication that I started taking before long runs and tempo runs.
Whatever the cause, I hope it doesn't happen again.
I started off and felt OK, but before I finished the first KM, I knew that this run was going to be different. I started sweating profusely. It was poring down my face and I felt hot. It was a slightly humid morning but not too hot. I finished the 1st KM in 5:30, right around where I thought I would be. My breathing was a little heavier than usual and my legs already felt fatigued. The next couple of KM's were getting slower and mentally I was not not in it. I kept on chugging along dreading every step at this moment and the KM's were slowly passing by. My plan for fueling was to eat a ClifShot Blok or a piece of ClifBar every 2KM and a 1 minute walk every 3KM. You wouldn't believe how I scoured the road for the 6K marker, if I had binoculars I would have used them. Between the 6K and the 10K marker, I was a mental mess. It was hard to convince my feet to keep moving but I did. It had felt like I had hit the wall at around the 4K mark and I still hadn't gotten through it.
When I past the 10K marker I finally started to feel OK, not good but OK. I was actually able to enjoy my run for a short while. Around the 16K marker I started to feel whipped again, but I had regained my mental strength by this point and I told myself this is normal, keep on moving. All I have left is a Sunday morning 5K, I slow easy run and I get to have a doughnut. I kept on running and with 2K to go, I tried to put a little more speed into my run (I am not fast at the best of times). In my my I was accelerating, whether I was or not who knows. As I past the 1K to go mark, I had nothing left for a fast finish so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I turned the corner down the final stretch. There were people cheering and yelling, it sounded great as it echoed down the empty street. I thought, "Thank you, I needed that". With that I crossed the mat. As the picture show I was "upright and SMILING!"
My goal time was 2:15:00, my worse case scenario was 2:30:00. Well I finished in 2:28:09. One of my favourite quotes is John Bingham "The miracle isn't that I finished... the miracle it that I had the courage to start".
On Sunday it was a miracle I finished. My training has a lot to do with it. The mental toughness that comes from the long tough runs, the hard trail runs, the runs that you just don't feel like being on the road. I kept with my plan, I just altered it slightly. When I realized my best case scenario was not going to happen that day, I had to change my plans to make sure I could at least beat my worst case. I stuck to my plan of eating every 2K and walking 1 minute ever 3K. I never walked any other time no matter how much it hurt.
I wore the wool trail socks that I mentioned. My feet came out as smooth as a baby's bottom (without diaper rash).
After receiving my medal, I went to the recovery zone and chowed down. I had 2 doughnuts, 2 bananas. I had a bottle of Gatorade, and a 'bunch of water'. A little later I had a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte and a peppered bacon sandwich.
I know I have said it was a terrible race. The first 1/2 of the race was extremely horrible and I do not know the reason why. Will it stop me from running again? Before this race I wasn't planning on running another long race until February, but I am signing up for the Hamilton Road2Hope 1/2 Marathon on November 2nd. I need redemption, I want to have a good enjoyable race and possibly a PB along the way.
Now I have to get my muscles back from the land of hurt, I was hobbling around pretty bad today. No 'hair of the dog' for me today, maybe tomorrow.
Posts
