Sunday, February 25, 2007

An amazing day from start to finish!

The day started with a phone call from my training coach and friend who was also running in the Peterborough 1/2 marathon. We decided to drive up together and I was thrilled as I thought that I would have to drive up alone, do the race and then head back. For those who have competed in races you know that most if not all of the fun of the race is the experience of having friends there to run with or cheer you on. When I got the call today it meant that at least I wouldn't be alone driving there and then we could share our race day stories on the way back.

We left for Peterborough around 10:45 and arrived there at about 11:40. This gave us plenty of time to get our race kits, check our gym bags and do a little warm up run before the race. Just as we both approached the start of the race we saw a group of friends there who had decided to surprise us by showing up. I can't tell you how much energy that gave me when I saw them there. I was focused already but that just made it all the more special. At the 7K mark there were even more friends that I saw and I even gave one them a "high five" as I scooted past.

I started out running at a good pace and I was hoping to do a 1:40 or roughly a 4:45 minute kilometre. The best 1/2 marathon race I've had was this same race last year when I did a 1:46. Since that race I have had the experience of doing over 20 races and I've also been in a pretty intensive training program for the past month. Throughout the first 6-7K's I was at least 1 minute ahead of what I had hoped for so and I was feeling very good. I knew that if I continued to run at the current pace (between a 4:30-4:40) I would do better than the 1:40 time. This strategy worked well for me when I ran my last marathon in Jacksonville so I tried to draw upon that experience.

As late as the 16K mark I was on schedule for a sub 1:40 and then along came a bad stretch of wind. This lasted for about 3.5K. I've often talked about running in rain, snow and even a lightning storm, but the one thing that I hate more than anything is running into a strong wind. There's no accounting for that and it will always slow you down. Because of this, I was off schedule by about 1 minute which would have put me at about a 1:41 time. Still good, but not what I was hoping for.


I managed to push myself just enough during the last few K's of the race and finished in a time of 1:40:12. This took more than 6 minutes off my personal best and gave me confidence to know that had the wind not been a factor, I would have done even a little better.

After the race it was great to see my friend congratulating me and it made me feel like I had accomplished something today. We got together for a much needed post-race meal and this made the day that much better.

Looking back now, I can feel proud of what I did and I have to realize that I'm still learning about this great sport. There are many things that I should have done including drinking more water along the route. In fact, the first time I reached for something was at the 5K mark. I grabbed a few sips of Gatorade and kept going. The only time that I actually made a "stop" was to take my gel and some water and this was at the 11-12K mark.

I was even more focused with my diet these past few days and although I won't be looking at another bagel again for at least 4 weeks, I know that the carb loading made a huge difference in the race for me.

Next week I will be writing up some carb loading programs for a few of my clients who are running in the Chilly 1/2 marathon. I know that you both will do amazing but you'll probably hate the sight of bagels for awhile......

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