Monday, March 11, 2013
UBC Triathlon Race Report
Race: UBC triathlon, short distance, March 10, 2013
[I apologize in advance for the ridiculously long report on this short event. Being my first triathlon I wanted to remember every detail. :) ]
Yesterday I did my first triathlon: UBC Triathlon, short distance (400m swim, 11K bike, 5K run). I had a blast, and I definitely want to do this again. This event is well-organized and executed.; thank you very much to UBC Rec for putting on a great event. Finish time was about 1:20, but no times are listed in this report (see explanation below).
Preamble:
I only decided to enter this race on Friday. I had thought about it for a while, but for various reasons I had decided against it for this year. But on Friday I started to regret not entering, and realized I could still enter on site. UBC is really the only local triathlon that offers the “short” distance, and I thought it would be a good introduction to triathlon for me. I had been making excuses for too long, and just wanted to give this a try. To quote a friend: "Don't wait till you're ready; just do it." My swimming was going pretty well, and my Achilles has been behaving well even with some short tempo runs. I haven't been on a bike since the summer, and haven’t even been using the spin bikes at the gym for a while, but how hard can 11K be? Slight problem: I don’t actually have my own bike. I decided I would borrow my son’s mountain bike. It needed some adjustments, but I decided it would do. Saturday’s “workout” was a short test ride and then a very short run off the bike. My legs felt like the proverbial bricks; this would be an interesting race. My race plan: Relax and enjoy the swim, survive the bike, autopilot the run.
Race day:
I got on the bus to UBC with my bike, arriving at just before 10:00 to register and get my bike inspected. My swim heat was set to start at 12:50, so I still had lots of time before I had to be there. I was able to watch some of the earlier racers in transition, and chatted with my swim coach for a while. He gave me a few last minute bits of advice about the swim and the bike. At about 11 I checked my bike into transition, but did not leave anything with it except my helmet.
At about noon I went to the pool to change and get ready. We could check a wetbag which we would get when exiting the pool; in the bag I put my towel and all the clothes I would wear for the bike and run, including my running shoes. Everything else went into a locker in the aquatic centre. We were lucky that the temperatures were pretty mild and there was no rain, despite a soggy forecast.
The swim:
When I went to check in at the pool, they did not have the timing chip to match my bib number. They told me not to worry, that many chips were missing. I was given a different chip and was told that they would work this out in the results. I still got “branded” with my original registration and bib number. All of us in the 12:50 heat assembled in the area outside the outdoor pool, in rough order of expected swim times.
They sent us off in time-trial format. I started off pretty slowly, and was passed in the second lane by a girl who started behind me. I kept right with her the rest of the time, wanting to pass but knowing that I probably could not swim faster. We caught some other people and ended up swimming in a bit of a pack—the guys would stop at each end and I was not sure if I should wait for them to go sometimes. It was a bit crazy, but I guess easier than an open water swim. Overall it went well; I think I was swimming faster than I expected, but would get slowed down and held up in the traffic. I was surprised that they had us going under the rope after each 50m instead of each 100m, and I was not able to do this with any efficiency because of the congestion. But I just relaxed and figured it was a good chance to save some energy.
T1
In the change tent I took off my swim suit, put on my shirt and long tights, and shoes. This was not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be, although I was not fast. We then had to run about 400m to the transition zone, where I quickly clipped on my helmet and ran with my bike to the bike exit.
The bike:
First problem on the bike- my chain had fallen off the front derailleur, probably when I was lifting it onto the rack in transition. I had had this problem when practicing on Saturday, but I thought we had adjusted it properly. It was pretty easy to get back on (thanks to one of the officials for help), and only took few seconds. Less than a kilometre down the road I heard a rubbing sound on the back tire, which turned out to be a loose fender (which I should have taken off before the race!). It probably had gotten loose when the bus driver was helping me put my bike on the bus bike rack; now I decided to just take it off and leave it with the bike marshal. He did bring it to lost and found later on.
Thankfully, I had no other issues on the bike. I was going faster on the slight downhill grade on the way out on Marine Drive, and then slower on the way back. There were cyclists from all of the distances out at the same time; the duathletes and sprint triathletes were doing two laps and the Olympic distance did four, so I was passed many times by faster cyclists. I can’t wait to do this again when I have trained on the bike and with a better road bike.
T2 and the run:
I saw Rob filming me as I as was coming into transition. Racked my bike, took off the helmet, and I was off on the run. My legs felt like piles of lead. I was definitely tired out from the bike and slowed down by my poor bike conditioning, but the run felt fine. I just could not move very fast. My legs sort of felt like they do at the end of a marathon, but my body was not as tired. The route was an out-and-back loop, and I was enjoying watching for people I knew and the other participants. I was holding about 6:00/km according to my watch and the kilometer markers, and I could not have gone any faster.
Rob got some video of me finishing as well I was ecstatic to have finished, and knew this would not be the first.
I wish I had a proper official time to report; I am listed in the results as finishing at 1:39 (at least I'm listed!). I am not usually one to complain about chip times, but the results have me listed as finishing several minutes after two people I know I passed. And all my times look too slow. I am assuming that the substitute chip was not matched properly to my name, and perhaps someone else actually had my missing chip. I was wearing my Timex, but stopped it by mistake somewhere after the swim and restarted it a few minutes into the bike. I know for sure my run time was about 30 minutes. Rob’s videos have time stamps and he was also watching the time so he could follow me; from those we were able to figure out that my swim time was about 17 minutes (including changing and the 400m run to bike transition), and bike and run were both about 30 minutes for a total of about 1:20. That’s good enough for me. [Update: I think I figured out the chip time mystery. There was another girl listed with a bib number that matches the chip number that they gave me. It seems they didn't make the correction. I hope they do. If I am right, my official times would be: 15:55 (swim + change + run to T1) 0:37 (rest of T1) 33:55 (bike) 29:12 (run) 1:19:35.94 (total). That makes much more sense.]
Thanks for reading and thanks for all your endless support.
Here is a link to the videos:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dz090pc0lzam6ox/qcdwDDJwXS
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Quinoa-walnut burgers (vegan)
Quinoa-walnut burgers, vegan
(makes about 10)
adapted from original Moosewood cookbook’s “lentil walnut burgers” but using quinoa instead of lentils
Ingredients
1 cup dried quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
¾ pound mushrooms (about 8 large), chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, grated (about 1 cup)
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp prepared mustard
2 Tbsp ground flax
4 Tbsp water
½ cup vegan bread crumbs (or processed oats)
Oil (for sautéing and frying)
Instructions
1) Put quinoa and water in a pot and heat till water boils. Lower to simmer and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all water is absorbed.
2) In a fry pan, saute onions, mushrooms, garlic, and carrots in oil until soft. Add walnuts and sauté a bit longer. Add oregano and basil.
3) Transfer contents of fry pan to food processor and process quickly.
4) Combine cooked quinoa to processed mixture in a bowl, and add soy sauce and mustard.
5) Add water to ground flax, let sit for a few minutes, and add to above mixture.
6) Add bread crumbs, mix with your hands, and form into patties (about ten).
7) Fry about 5 minutes on a side.
8) Enjoy with your favorite bun or toppings or alone!
1) Put quinoa and water in a pot and heat till water boils. Lower to simmer and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all water is absorbed.
2) In a fry pan, saute onions, mushrooms, garlic, and carrots in oil until soft. Add walnuts and sauté a bit longer. Add oregano and basil.
3) Transfer contents of fry pan to food processor and process quickly.
4) Combine cooked quinoa to processed mixture in a bowl, and add soy sauce and mustard.
5) Add water to ground flax, let sit for a few minutes, and add to above mixture.
6) Add bread crumbs, mix with your hands, and form into patties (about ten).
7) Fry about 5 minutes on a side.
8) Enjoy with your favorite bun or toppings or alone!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
BMO Vancouver Half-Marathon May 6, 2012
BMO Vancouver Half-Marathon
May 6, 2012
Short story: Not my day for a good race, but an amazing weekend overall.
1:53:04
Splits from my Garmin here: http://www.itsmyrun.com/laps.php?id=55110 (The first kilometre was a little off as my watch didn’t lock into the signal right away).
Elevation profile from my Garmin: http://www.itsmyrun.com/elevation.php?id=55110 (The GPS gets a bit confused downtown; there was only about 40m elevation gain in the last 2K, not 100m. The rest is pretty accurate, though.)
Long story (why can't I write short reports?):
Back in October of last year, the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon committee announced two new courses for the full- and half-marathons. Everyone was excited about the prospect of net downhill courses that went through beautiful parts of the city. I was not sure what to expect with this new half-marathon course; the old course with Prospect Point hill was gone, but I OWNED that course and that hill. It was my first half-marathon back in 2004, and I raced it five more times after that, missing it only in 2006 when I did the full marathon and in 2009 when I was injured. I knew the course well, and nailed it last year for a PB time of 1:47:xx. Could I be in shape to better that time this year?
On race day were blessed with gorgeous weather, and I woke up feeling great. I left my house just after 6:00 to walk/jog over to the start, just 2K away. The corrals were well-organized and not crowded, but many people seemed to be arriving late and trying to jump the fences. We were off just a bit later than 7:00, and I saw Rob cheering on the sideline—gave him a quick high-five and I was on my way.
My plan was to hold as close to a 5:00/km average pace as I could, figuring I could tack 6K onto the pace I did in Birch Bay 15K in March. I expected the first half to be a bit faster than the second with the downhill start. My race started well – the course started on a bit of an uphill but then quickly started downhill as we headed north on Cambie. This felt great; I was keeping a great pace but it did not feel tough at all- I was just taking what the downhill gave me. The first few kilometres were under 5:00/km, and by 5K I was at about 24 minutes. The course flattened out after that and actually had some rolling hills through the downtown area. I took it easy on the uphills, and then tried to get back the lost time on the downhills. The strategy seemed to be working well.
At 10K I was just over 50 minutes. I knew I had lost a bit of the time I banked on the downhill, but I was still feeling very good. The next 5K had some rolling hills with an out-and-back along Stanley Park Drive before we head along the side of Lost Lagoon. I walked a bit on the uphills, trying to conserve energy and saving them for the downhills. At 15K at just over 1:16:xx (close to my Birch Bay time); so I had lost some more time but I still kept holding on. Yes, it felt tough, but I kept telling myself, “it’s ok, it is supposed to feel tough.” I thought if I could just get past 16K I could go into autopilot and take it home.
But around then is where I started feeling some twinges in my calves – similar to what I felt last year at Scotiabank Half in June. I thought it wasn’t too bad and just tried to relax into it. I thought if I could just hold on to as many kilometres near 5:00 I would still be able to finish well, but my time was slipping away as I needed to walk or relax to let the calves release. I stopped to stretch at one point, but that did not help. Sometimes when I started to walk I felt my lower legs start to go numb. Then I would get moving again, and the cramping continued into my feet and the sides of my legs. By 18K I was just holding on to finish, hoping I could make it without any serious damage to my calves.
The last uphill along Pender before we turned at Hastings would have been cruel in the marathon, but at the end of my race it was almost a relief. I was not moving very quickly at that point, but I knew I was almost done. I finished at just over 1:53 on my watch.
I was elated to finish and get my medal, a then a water bottle and a food bag. Even though my race did not go as I would have liked, I toughed out another finish and that made me very happy. I dug a banana out of the bag, the only thing I could stomach at that point. The long walk to the gear check area (seemed like about a kilometre) was brutal, although not as bad as it could have been because of the beautiful weather. About half-way to the gear check area I made the mistake of nonchalantly stepping down a curb and both calves seized on me. I was literally screaming in pain, and a couple people came over to me to see if I was ok; I choked out, “Yeah, I’ll be ok”, looked around for a medical tent but there was nothing around. So I sat there and waited for the cramps to relax. When they did, I tried to get up again—too soon! Both calves seized again and the pain was worse than before. I was trying to work it out, breathing into it and letting them relax (I had had this before and knew what to do), and eventually they did. But I was afraid to try to get up again. Luckily at that point I saw a couple friends who had finished shortly after me. They were my saviours- when I was ready to stand up, my calves might have seized again had they not been there to help me support my weight. We slowly walked to get our gear (another problem, but I won’t get into that here). After relaxing, getting a coffee, some more food, we went back to the finish line to cheer in our marathoning friends.
Now that it is over, I am not sure what I think of this new course. I knew not to get too excited about the net downhill profile, and in the end my race was very similar to Scotiabank Half last year (also net downhill with one long 2K drop). Maybe the calf cramping can be avoided with a more moderately-paced start, and I just paced too aggressively for my fitness. I have been advised by a few people that the cramps can be avoided by addressing hydration and nutrition; I have my doubts since it only happens on courses with big downhill grades. But since now two of the big half-marathons in the city have this profile, I really want to figure this out. Overall I loved the new organization of the races and the scenic courses; the race committee does need to work out a few of the organizational kinks with transit, post-race support, and gear pickup, and I hope they fix these.
Others have their own stories to tell, and there are many. For now will just say that it was great to share this weekend with so many wonderful people. The weeks and days of training and camaraderie leading up to the race, cheering for each each other during and after the race, and hashing out the good and the bad after -- the support and friendship of my running communities cannot be beat. This to me is what running is all about.
Thanks for reading.
May 6, 2012
Short story: Not my day for a good race, but an amazing weekend overall.
1:53:04
Splits from my Garmin here: http://www.itsmyrun.com/laps.php?id=55110 (The first kilometre was a little off as my watch didn’t lock into the signal right away).
Elevation profile from my Garmin: http://www.itsmyrun.com/elevation.php?id=55110 (The GPS gets a bit confused downtown; there was only about 40m elevation gain in the last 2K, not 100m. The rest is pretty accurate, though.)
Long story (why can't I write short reports?):
Back in October of last year, the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon committee announced two new courses for the full- and half-marathons. Everyone was excited about the prospect of net downhill courses that went through beautiful parts of the city. I was not sure what to expect with this new half-marathon course; the old course with Prospect Point hill was gone, but I OWNED that course and that hill. It was my first half-marathon back in 2004, and I raced it five more times after that, missing it only in 2006 when I did the full marathon and in 2009 when I was injured. I knew the course well, and nailed it last year for a PB time of 1:47:xx. Could I be in shape to better that time this year?
On race day were blessed with gorgeous weather, and I woke up feeling great. I left my house just after 6:00 to walk/jog over to the start, just 2K away. The corrals were well-organized and not crowded, but many people seemed to be arriving late and trying to jump the fences. We were off just a bit later than 7:00, and I saw Rob cheering on the sideline—gave him a quick high-five and I was on my way.
My plan was to hold as close to a 5:00/km average pace as I could, figuring I could tack 6K onto the pace I did in Birch Bay 15K in March. I expected the first half to be a bit faster than the second with the downhill start. My race started well – the course started on a bit of an uphill but then quickly started downhill as we headed north on Cambie. This felt great; I was keeping a great pace but it did not feel tough at all- I was just taking what the downhill gave me. The first few kilometres were under 5:00/km, and by 5K I was at about 24 minutes. The course flattened out after that and actually had some rolling hills through the downtown area. I took it easy on the uphills, and then tried to get back the lost time on the downhills. The strategy seemed to be working well.
At 10K I was just over 50 minutes. I knew I had lost a bit of the time I banked on the downhill, but I was still feeling very good. The next 5K had some rolling hills with an out-and-back along Stanley Park Drive before we head along the side of Lost Lagoon. I walked a bit on the uphills, trying to conserve energy and saving them for the downhills. At 15K at just over 1:16:xx (close to my Birch Bay time); so I had lost some more time but I still kept holding on. Yes, it felt tough, but I kept telling myself, “it’s ok, it is supposed to feel tough.” I thought if I could just get past 16K I could go into autopilot and take it home.
But around then is where I started feeling some twinges in my calves – similar to what I felt last year at Scotiabank Half in June. I thought it wasn’t too bad and just tried to relax into it. I thought if I could just hold on to as many kilometres near 5:00 I would still be able to finish well, but my time was slipping away as I needed to walk or relax to let the calves release. I stopped to stretch at one point, but that did not help. Sometimes when I started to walk I felt my lower legs start to go numb. Then I would get moving again, and the cramping continued into my feet and the sides of my legs. By 18K I was just holding on to finish, hoping I could make it without any serious damage to my calves.
The last uphill along Pender before we turned at Hastings would have been cruel in the marathon, but at the end of my race it was almost a relief. I was not moving very quickly at that point, but I knew I was almost done. I finished at just over 1:53 on my watch.
I was elated to finish and get my medal, a then a water bottle and a food bag. Even though my race did not go as I would have liked, I toughed out another finish and that made me very happy. I dug a banana out of the bag, the only thing I could stomach at that point. The long walk to the gear check area (seemed like about a kilometre) was brutal, although not as bad as it could have been because of the beautiful weather. About half-way to the gear check area I made the mistake of nonchalantly stepping down a curb and both calves seized on me. I was literally screaming in pain, and a couple people came over to me to see if I was ok; I choked out, “Yeah, I’ll be ok”, looked around for a medical tent but there was nothing around. So I sat there and waited for the cramps to relax. When they did, I tried to get up again—too soon! Both calves seized again and the pain was worse than before. I was trying to work it out, breathing into it and letting them relax (I had had this before and knew what to do), and eventually they did. But I was afraid to try to get up again. Luckily at that point I saw a couple friends who had finished shortly after me. They were my saviours- when I was ready to stand up, my calves might have seized again had they not been there to help me support my weight. We slowly walked to get our gear (another problem, but I won’t get into that here). After relaxing, getting a coffee, some more food, we went back to the finish line to cheer in our marathoning friends.
Now that it is over, I am not sure what I think of this new course. I knew not to get too excited about the net downhill profile, and in the end my race was very similar to Scotiabank Half last year (also net downhill with one long 2K drop). Maybe the calf cramping can be avoided with a more moderately-paced start, and I just paced too aggressively for my fitness. I have been advised by a few people that the cramps can be avoided by addressing hydration and nutrition; I have my doubts since it only happens on courses with big downhill grades. But since now two of the big half-marathons in the city have this profile, I really want to figure this out. Overall I loved the new organization of the races and the scenic courses; the race committee does need to work out a few of the organizational kinks with transit, post-race support, and gear pickup, and I hope they fix these.
Others have their own stories to tell, and there are many. For now will just say that it was great to share this weekend with so many wonderful people. The weeks and days of training and camaraderie leading up to the race, cheering for each each other during and after the race, and hashing out the good and the bad after -- the support and friendship of my running communities cannot be beat. This to me is what running is all about.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Birch Bay 15K, March 31, 2012
“Wow, you are really looking at things from a
glass-half-full perspective today, aren’t you?” That was a comment from a
friend during a long run yesterday, and it nicely summarizes my attitude about
my running lately. Saturday’s race was far from perfect for me, but it was a
good race and I took away a lot of positives from it. I am looking forward to
some continued improvement this spring.
Early Saturday morning my friend Rob and I drove over the border to
run the Birch Bay International Road Race. "International" because it
attracts about equal numbers of participants from both sides of the border,
most of whom from British Columbia or Washington state. This was the second
year for both of us in this race, Rob in the 30K and me in the 15K. Last year I
finished with a time of 1:14:28, and was hoping I could better that this year,
or at least break 1:15 (5:00/km). Since Rob was planning for a similar pace, we
decided to start together, lining up near the "8:00/mile" cone in the
starting chute. (Funny that the paces were always described in miles (as they
are in the results), but the course was only marked in kilometres.)
In the first 5K we were going a bit faster than 5:00/km with
a tailwind. The new course surprised both of us- last year we turned around at
about the 2K mark, but this year we continued to about 7K before turning
around. This made for an overall flatter course, and in the first 4K I felt
like we were flying. The nice tailwind had something to do with that, and I
knew we would feel the effects of it after the turnaround. Rob and I stayed
together for about 5K, but then he told me to go on ahead. He caught back up to
me around 7K and I thought I could try to keep up with him, but he would
eventually pull ahead. I always had him in my sights, but could not keep up.
We came out of the park at about 7K but did not feel the
full effects of the headwind till about 9K when the shoreline turned. Perhaps I
went out a bit too fast at the beginning or I was fighting against the wind too
much, but every step felt like a struggle in those middle kilometres. I also
had to stop to retie my shoelace at about 8K (boo! not again!). I passed the
10K mark at just over 50 minutes and knew I was still on track for a good
finish if I could hold on. I kept pushing, repeating my mantra "run hard,
run happy." I slowed a bit, but fought hard to make sure I didn't slip too
much. I accepted a gel from the aid station at about 11K and choked down half
of it, taking some water at the next station. We turned around at about 13.5K
and I thought about Rob and the 30K-ers continuing on for another 15K, glad I
wasn’t one of them. I saw Rob up ahead in the distance about a minute ahead of
me, and had a feeling he was going to have a good race.
If we had the benefit of a tailwind for that last kilometre along the bay, I couldn’t feel it. At 14.5K we turned up the hill to the finish. It seemed like forever at that point, but I crossed the line at just under 1:16 on my watch. The timing company had some mishaps, partially because of a rear-ender accident on the way to the race. Their printer was broken so no results were posted; I thought I had a chance at an age group award so I waited as they announced the winners and awards for the 15K. When they got to F44-49 they gave the third place award to a woman with a slower time than I had, so I figured they must have messed up my chip time when I switched distances. I went to the timing truck to sort it out, and they said they would take care of it—sure enough the official results were corrected with me listed as third in my age group (out of 37 women). Unfortunately waiting around for the age group awards meant that I almost missed Rob coming up the hill to finish his 30K. He finished in just over 2:26 with a sizable negative split—his hard training is really showing now, and I can’t wait to see what he’ll do in the Vancouver Marathon next month. Being there to share his awesome finish was worth the trip alone.
My official results:
Time: 1:15:39
Overall place: 48/285
Females: 12/197
F44-49: 3/37
Time: 1:15:39
Overall place: 48/285
Females: 12/197
F44-49: 3/37
So my time was a bit slower than last year by about a
minute, but over a minute faster than what my other races this spring would
have predicted. I learned that I can definitely benefit from some practice at
the longer sustained hard runs and know I can continue to improve. I earned an
age group award and placed in the top 6% of all females in this race. And I was
able to be there to share my friend’s great result. It’s all good.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
"First Half" Half-Marathon race report
First Half Half-marathon, February 12, 2012
My results, by the numbers:
Chip time: 1:50:51
Gun time: 1:51:02
Gun time: 1:51:02
Overall placing:
724/1982
Age group placing (F45-49):
33/158
Placing out of all females:
284/1166
A bit of history of the First Half and me:
2005 - volunteered and was hugely impressed with the race
organization and quality
2006 - raced it as a training race on the way to my first
marathon: 1:56
2007 - had a great race with a 1:51; that would stand as my
PB for over 3 more years
2008 - was away
2009 - had been injured but still ran as an easy run: 2:04
2010 - race cancelled because of the Olympics
2011- had to miss the race at the last minute because of my
mom's stroke
2012 - so happy to be back- one of my favourite Vancouver
races
Although I had to miss this race last year, I did do three
other half-marathons: Vancouver
Half-Marathon in May with a PB of 1:47, the Scotiabank Half in June with a
disappointing 1:54 (bad calf cramping in last 7K), and a decent showing in
Portland in the fall with 1:49, a month before my marathon.
The original plan in training for this race was to build off
my post-marathon fitness toward a possible new PB. But a slight injury setback in mid-December
forced me to cut back my distances and intensity for about a month. Starting in mid-January I was able build back
my distances and ease back into the hard runs.
My race plan yesterday was to start at a pace of around 5:15-5:20 and
bring that down later in the race if I was feeling good.
I started faster than planned and found myself at closer to
5:00/km. It felt great for the first 5K,
but I worried it would be tough to hang on with my lack of hard training
lately. Perhaps I let it get to my head
a bit, but I did settle down into a pace closer to 5:10-5:15 for the middle
10K. Overall it felt tough but really
good the whole time; I was able to tackle each kilometre and mile as it came
without looking too far ahead. The course is mostly flat with a little jaunt
through downtown, a scenic run along the water in English Bay, and then a
beautiful trek around the entire Stanley Park seawall. I know the route very well, running on these
paths often several times in a week. We
were blessed with much better weather than I had expected; just a light drizzle
and almost no wind. So pretty much perfect conditions for racing in the park.
The half-way point was in Stanley Park and I was still
feeling quite good. My watch said
54:something and thought I might even be able to pull off a 1:48 finish. But I started to really suffer after that;
every kilometre was a push, but I just kept on.
Seeing Chantelle at her volunteer post at around the 14K mark gave me a
huge boost, but the rest of the loop around the park was still really tough
physically and mentally.
Before heading out of the park we did a quick loop around
Lost Lagoon. I was anxiously awaiting the 10-mile mark, for me the real
beginning of the end of the race, which I knew would be part-way around the
Lagoon. At that point I was at about
1:23; I did some mental math and figured
I could still come in under 1:50 if I could maintain close to a 5:00/km pace,
but my legs just did not have it for the
final stretch. Funny thing about an
“almost flat” route-- you really do feel every hill (or at least I do). My pace suffered on every bit of an incline, including one coming out
of the park around 18K and two brutal little ones in the last kilometre (coming
up under the Burrard and Granville bridges).
In my good races I can power through the last 5K at a faster pace, but I
slowed quite a bit yesterday. Still, I
was able to hang on strong enough and was thrilled to come over the line with
1:50:xx on my watch, 1:51:02 on the clock.
My splits from the Garmin can be found in this file if anyone is
interested.
So it wasn't a perfect race by far. I ran with a slight positive split, having
started a bit faster than I planned and slowing at the end. But I am very happy
with what I had yesterday. It felt great
being able to push to the limit again, with no injury pain or discomfort at
all, and with a time slightly better than I was expecting (just 3 minutes
slower than my PB). As usual, the race
organization was superb with so much volunteer support. I saw almost all of my running friends at
this race, many of whom ran PBs or close to them. I did not get to see Dylan Wykes on the
course since there is no chance to see the leaders while running this race, but
I was thrilled to find out he set a course record with 1:04:21.
Next up? I am still
waffling between doing the full distance the BMO Vancouver Marathon, (I am
already registered) or switching to the half-marathon distance there. I know I can be ready for the full distance
but I am just not sure that it is the best race choice for me now. I will also
likely go to Birch Bay again at the end of March for either the 15K or 30K
distance. And in June I will probably
do the Scotiabank half-marathon. After
yesterday's result it looks like it could be a good spring for racing.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
New York Marathon race report
On Sunday November 6, 2011, I ran the New York Marathon, finishing in a time of 4:17:57. That finish time is only a small piece of a long story that started about a year ago, so sit back and get a coffee- or jump ahead to the end if you are only interested in the race itself.
Preamble:
I grew up in northeastern U.S., close to Boston and about four hours from New York City. I have been to New York several times in my life, including a high school day trip, a few family trips, visits to friends, and lastly a weekend with my mom and sister for my mom's 65th birthday in 2007. When my mom found out I was going to be running the New York marathon, she didn't hesitate to book a hotel room so that she and my dad could come be there with me. Then in February of this year, our lives took an unexpected turn. My otherwise very healthy mom had a massive brain hemorrhage (ruptured aneurism) leading to a stroke. She was in the ICU for a month, much of that time in critical condition. Miraculously she came out of her semi-coma, was eventually able to go through rehabilitation therapy, and recovered to about 95% of where she was before. Between February and September I took many trips to help her and my family during her long recovery journey. Up until as little as a month before my race she still wanted to come to New York, but we all decided my sister would come instead. As much as I would love to have had my parents come, logistically it would have been difficult to have them there. My sister and I got to spend some great time together, and she completely immersed herself in the role of the marathon support person.
I arrived in New York late on Thursday night, a day before my sister. As I said this was not my first time in New York, but that did not take away from the excitement and wide-eyed wonderment. Our hotel was right in the middle of Times Square. Many of the international tour companies had blocks of rooms in this area, so I was always surrounded by groups of runners amidst the New York excitement. I could write another long report about my two days in New York before the race, but I will keep it to the brief highlights: a short run with Marg to Central Park on Friday morning, dinner at two great restaurants with my sister, a Saturday matinee of Mamma Mia, and several trips to the Times Square Starbucks. We were blessed with beautiful fall weather and I wish I could have spent more time there.
Race day:
I had been warned about nightmarish pre-race logistics and long waiting times at the start area, but my experience was just the opposite. There were three start waves at 9:40, 10:10, and 10:40, and also three bib colours: blue, orange and green for the different start areas. Runners of each bib colour were mixed in each start wave time, and I was assigned green, wave 2 (10:10 start time). My ferry time was 7:30, and I went to the subway at about 6:45. I waited for about 10 minutes for the train, and I got to the ferry terminal at just before 7:20. There were so many keen people at the terminal with later ferry times that I did not get on the ferry until about 7:50. The ferry crossing was about a half-hour, and then another half-hour on the bus, plus there was a bit of walking and waiting in between. By the time I got to the green start village it was already about 9:15, and I had to check my bag by 9:30 for the wave 2 start. So much for waiting around with blankets and tarps.
After I checked my bag they were already announcing for wave 2 runners to enter the corrals. It was still a few minutes before the 9:40 wave 1 start, and the entrance to the corral was very cramped and crowded. Several of us were trying to get in, but the volunteers were about to shut us out saying there was no where to go. I was confused because I figured there must be a barricade somewhere inside to block the wave 2 people from crossing early- surely the corrals would open up more after the 9:40 start. I could not figure out why so many wave 2 people were already inside. I was not worried, though; I figured worst case scenario is they would have us wait until the 10:40 wave 3 start. But sure enough, after 9:40 space opened up and they let us in.
The green start area was on the lower deck of the bridge, and I was in the front group in wave 2. As we stood and waited in the corrals, we could see the masses of blue and orange runners on the upper deck going over the bridge. It was quite the sight and it was hard to believe that I was getting ready to run the same race; it all seemed to happen so quickly. There was lots of music and cheering in the corrals as we watched the clock tick forward toward the 30-minute mark when we would start.
The Race:
The start was very crowded and I was happy enough to take it very easy to warm up into my pace. My Garmin could not hold a good signal on the lower deck of the bridge, so I ignored it and ran by feel, checking my pace at the mile markers. I ended up running most of the race this way; there were timing mats and and clocks at each mile after mile 3, at 5K intervals, and at the half-way point. At 5K I was right where I wanted to be at 27:38, holding about a 5:30/km pace. By this point I realized I was bit overdressed- the weather was absolutely gorgeous with sunny skies and no wind, and a starting temperature of about 12 degrees Celsius. It would reach about 15 by the time we were done.
This race is unique in that the three different bib colours have different routes for the first 5K. The blue and orange groups started on the upper deck but split off from each other for a bit after the bridge. Our green group on the lower deck followed a completely different route after the bridge. All three groups would reunite shortly after the 5K mark. There were actually some bottlenecks in some parts of the course after that, probably because I was running amidst a large group of people aiming for a time of around four hours.
The next 5K went pretty smoothly and I was holding what felt like a perfect pace. Not too easy, not too hard, right in the marathon effort zone. I hit 10K at just over 55 minutes, with a second 5K split almost identical to the first. I was in a happy place.
The next 5K felt a bit harder; there was some steady climbing and it was getting a bit warmer, but overall I still felt excellent. I took my second gel break at around the 8-mile mark (13K). I passed the 15K mark at 1:24:01 (5K split in 28:51), so I lost about a minute total to the gel break and climbing. I did not realize how much time I lost so it did not really faze me. My plan was to stop at 5 miles and then every 3 miles for a quick gel/water break.
Sometime before the half-way point I started to have some GI discomfort which I was mostly able to ignore. Overall I was enjoying the course, the crowd, the spectators, and was immersed in the race; it was not until close to 20K that I realized that I was slowing down a bit. It did not seem like much as the miles went by and I thought I was making up time on the downhills, but I guess I was not. For those of you following the numbers, I was at 20K at 1:52:59, 5K split in 29:02, 21.1K at 1:59:21. So I had slowed to a pace of about 5:45/km, and average pace was about 5:37/km. But I knew I was still in great shape for a sub-4-hour race, I felt strong, and kept pushing on. I felt like I still had a higher gear in reserve, and was not worried about the pace at all. However, from around 14-15 miles the GI distress was getting worse and becoming hard to ignore. I was having trouble relaxing into my stride, and by mile 16 I was starting to dread the rest of the race. This is NOT the first time this has happened to me, but the first time in a race. I skipped the 17-mile gel and I thought I should stop at a port-a-potty, but they were all locked. Oh, forget it, I thought, and kept going. Mistake! After 18 miles it was clear that a stop was going to be unavoidable. There were port-a-potties at every aid station near each mile marker, but I could not see any as I approached the water table. In a desperate tone I asked a volunteer, “Where are the port-a-potties??” He pointed just past the water tables on the sidewalk, and I ran over to find an empty one. I will spare the details, but it took me about 5 minutes to take care of business to the point where I would be comfortable again. I did not want to have to stop again. I sent a short text my sister to let her know I was behind, but I was OK (no details). I also texted Rob who I knew would inform the trackers on Runningmania. Leaving the aid-station area I ran a bit along the sidewalk and thought to myself, “OK, here we go. Time to finish this marathon,” and I re-entered the course. I felt so much better physically and mentally. I had no more GI distress for the rest of the race, and decided with my time goal totally out the window that I would just relax and enjoy the rest of the race as much as possible. I was at just over 2:50 on my watch when I stopped, about 2:55 when I got going again and I knew I would be out there for more than another hour with over 13K to go, even if I was able to recover to a perfect pace. And my legs were not even thinking about that option anyway.
I was euphoric as I passed the 30K mark, and the later the 35K and 40K marks. As we re-entered Manhattan around 34K, the crowds continued to urge us on. This was my favourite part of the course, through the upper east side down the residential part of Fifth Avenue and eventually through Central Park. My legs started feeling the full effects of the distance but I never had to stop to a walk. I kept a slow but steady pace to the end. I tried to find my sister at her designated spectator point near the south-east corner of the park on Fifth Ave; she did see me but I somehow missed her as I scanned the crowd.
The last turn at Columbus Circle and the corner of the park felt amazing, even though I was hurting all over. The best of the on-course bands was here playing "Born to Run". The final 800m stretch to the finish line seemed to go on forever and it was great to finally cross. The time was just over 4:18 on my watch (official time was 4:17:57). My second worst time (but my third best ), and a fantastic experience overall.
After the finish line we got "recovery bags" with food, Gatorade, and water, and there were photographers taking finish pictures which I skipped. Then there was what we were all calling a long “zombie march” to the area to get our bags. Afterwards I had a longer walk back to Times Square (I had waited for a bus, but walking was actually easier at this point). I met my sister, my cousin, and his wife at our hotel for beer and some food, and later went to dinner with Lesley, Jacqueline, Leo, Ed, and their group. Everyone was enjoying sharing their stories, and it seemed that most people had a rough race except for Lesley (you go girl!).
Shortly after the race I was having hugely mixed emotions. I was thrilled to have finished such a great race with all its excitement and lore, but could not hide the disappointment with my time. I told everyone I had no desire to do another marathon. But I have already changed my mind and will be doing the Vancouver Marathon in May. Marathons are tough and unpredictable, but that is part of their charm. After the personal challenges in my life in the winter and spring I still ended up having an great year of training with several PB's and a truly enjoyable marathon training cycle in the fall. I know I am in the best shape of my life and I love what the training does for me. I do not race a lot of marathons, so it is tough when it does not all come together on the big day. But there is so much more to racing marathons than the number on the finish clock.
And my mother? She was at home at her computer tracking me the whole time, making several phone calls to my sister. She found it so exciting to be able to do that, almost feeling like she was in New York with me. And, in spirit, she was.
Preamble:
I grew up in northeastern U.S., close to Boston and about four hours from New York City. I have been to New York several times in my life, including a high school day trip, a few family trips, visits to friends, and lastly a weekend with my mom and sister for my mom's 65th birthday in 2007. When my mom found out I was going to be running the New York marathon, she didn't hesitate to book a hotel room so that she and my dad could come be there with me. Then in February of this year, our lives took an unexpected turn. My otherwise very healthy mom had a massive brain hemorrhage (ruptured aneurism) leading to a stroke. She was in the ICU for a month, much of that time in critical condition. Miraculously she came out of her semi-coma, was eventually able to go through rehabilitation therapy, and recovered to about 95% of where she was before. Between February and September I took many trips to help her and my family during her long recovery journey. Up until as little as a month before my race she still wanted to come to New York, but we all decided my sister would come instead. As much as I would love to have had my parents come, logistically it would have been difficult to have them there. My sister and I got to spend some great time together, and she completely immersed herself in the role of the marathon support person.
I arrived in New York late on Thursday night, a day before my sister. As I said this was not my first time in New York, but that did not take away from the excitement and wide-eyed wonderment. Our hotel was right in the middle of Times Square. Many of the international tour companies had blocks of rooms in this area, so I was always surrounded by groups of runners amidst the New York excitement. I could write another long report about my two days in New York before the race, but I will keep it to the brief highlights: a short run with Marg to Central Park on Friday morning, dinner at two great restaurants with my sister, a Saturday matinee of Mamma Mia, and several trips to the Times Square Starbucks. We were blessed with beautiful fall weather and I wish I could have spent more time there.
Race day:
I had been warned about nightmarish pre-race logistics and long waiting times at the start area, but my experience was just the opposite. There were three start waves at 9:40, 10:10, and 10:40, and also three bib colours: blue, orange and green for the different start areas. Runners of each bib colour were mixed in each start wave time, and I was assigned green, wave 2 (10:10 start time). My ferry time was 7:30, and I went to the subway at about 6:45. I waited for about 10 minutes for the train, and I got to the ferry terminal at just before 7:20. There were so many keen people at the terminal with later ferry times that I did not get on the ferry until about 7:50. The ferry crossing was about a half-hour, and then another half-hour on the bus, plus there was a bit of walking and waiting in between. By the time I got to the green start village it was already about 9:15, and I had to check my bag by 9:30 for the wave 2 start. So much for waiting around with blankets and tarps.
After I checked my bag they were already announcing for wave 2 runners to enter the corrals. It was still a few minutes before the 9:40 wave 1 start, and the entrance to the corral was very cramped and crowded. Several of us were trying to get in, but the volunteers were about to shut us out saying there was no where to go. I was confused because I figured there must be a barricade somewhere inside to block the wave 2 people from crossing early- surely the corrals would open up more after the 9:40 start. I could not figure out why so many wave 2 people were already inside. I was not worried, though; I figured worst case scenario is they would have us wait until the 10:40 wave 3 start. But sure enough, after 9:40 space opened up and they let us in.
The green start area was on the lower deck of the bridge, and I was in the front group in wave 2. As we stood and waited in the corrals, we could see the masses of blue and orange runners on the upper deck going over the bridge. It was quite the sight and it was hard to believe that I was getting ready to run the same race; it all seemed to happen so quickly. There was lots of music and cheering in the corrals as we watched the clock tick forward toward the 30-minute mark when we would start.
The Race:
The start was very crowded and I was happy enough to take it very easy to warm up into my pace. My Garmin could not hold a good signal on the lower deck of the bridge, so I ignored it and ran by feel, checking my pace at the mile markers. I ended up running most of the race this way; there were timing mats and and clocks at each mile after mile 3, at 5K intervals, and at the half-way point. At 5K I was right where I wanted to be at 27:38, holding about a 5:30/km pace. By this point I realized I was bit overdressed- the weather was absolutely gorgeous with sunny skies and no wind, and a starting temperature of about 12 degrees Celsius. It would reach about 15 by the time we were done.
This race is unique in that the three different bib colours have different routes for the first 5K. The blue and orange groups started on the upper deck but split off from each other for a bit after the bridge. Our green group on the lower deck followed a completely different route after the bridge. All three groups would reunite shortly after the 5K mark. There were actually some bottlenecks in some parts of the course after that, probably because I was running amidst a large group of people aiming for a time of around four hours.
The next 5K went pretty smoothly and I was holding what felt like a perfect pace. Not too easy, not too hard, right in the marathon effort zone. I hit 10K at just over 55 minutes, with a second 5K split almost identical to the first. I was in a happy place.
The next 5K felt a bit harder; there was some steady climbing and it was getting a bit warmer, but overall I still felt excellent. I took my second gel break at around the 8-mile mark (13K). I passed the 15K mark at 1:24:01 (5K split in 28:51), so I lost about a minute total to the gel break and climbing. I did not realize how much time I lost so it did not really faze me. My plan was to stop at 5 miles and then every 3 miles for a quick gel/water break.
Sometime before the half-way point I started to have some GI discomfort which I was mostly able to ignore. Overall I was enjoying the course, the crowd, the spectators, and was immersed in the race; it was not until close to 20K that I realized that I was slowing down a bit. It did not seem like much as the miles went by and I thought I was making up time on the downhills, but I guess I was not. For those of you following the numbers, I was at 20K at 1:52:59, 5K split in 29:02, 21.1K at 1:59:21. So I had slowed to a pace of about 5:45/km, and average pace was about 5:37/km. But I knew I was still in great shape for a sub-4-hour race, I felt strong, and kept pushing on. I felt like I still had a higher gear in reserve, and was not worried about the pace at all. However, from around 14-15 miles the GI distress was getting worse and becoming hard to ignore. I was having trouble relaxing into my stride, and by mile 16 I was starting to dread the rest of the race. This is NOT the first time this has happened to me, but the first time in a race. I skipped the 17-mile gel and I thought I should stop at a port-a-potty, but they were all locked. Oh, forget it, I thought, and kept going. Mistake! After 18 miles it was clear that a stop was going to be unavoidable. There were port-a-potties at every aid station near each mile marker, but I could not see any as I approached the water table. In a desperate tone I asked a volunteer, “Where are the port-a-potties??” He pointed just past the water tables on the sidewalk, and I ran over to find an empty one. I will spare the details, but it took me about 5 minutes to take care of business to the point where I would be comfortable again. I did not want to have to stop again. I sent a short text my sister to let her know I was behind, but I was OK (no details). I also texted Rob who I knew would inform the trackers on Runningmania. Leaving the aid-station area I ran a bit along the sidewalk and thought to myself, “OK, here we go. Time to finish this marathon,” and I re-entered the course. I felt so much better physically and mentally. I had no more GI distress for the rest of the race, and decided with my time goal totally out the window that I would just relax and enjoy the rest of the race as much as possible. I was at just over 2:50 on my watch when I stopped, about 2:55 when I got going again and I knew I would be out there for more than another hour with over 13K to go, even if I was able to recover to a perfect pace. And my legs were not even thinking about that option anyway.
I was euphoric as I passed the 30K mark, and the later the 35K and 40K marks. As we re-entered Manhattan around 34K, the crowds continued to urge us on. This was my favourite part of the course, through the upper east side down the residential part of Fifth Avenue and eventually through Central Park. My legs started feeling the full effects of the distance but I never had to stop to a walk. I kept a slow but steady pace to the end. I tried to find my sister at her designated spectator point near the south-east corner of the park on Fifth Ave; she did see me but I somehow missed her as I scanned the crowd.
The last turn at Columbus Circle and the corner of the park felt amazing, even though I was hurting all over. The best of the on-course bands was here playing "Born to Run". The final 800m stretch to the finish line seemed to go on forever and it was great to finally cross. The time was just over 4:18 on my watch (official time was 4:17:57). My second worst time (but my third best ), and a fantastic experience overall.
After the finish line we got "recovery bags" with food, Gatorade, and water, and there were photographers taking finish pictures which I skipped. Then there was what we were all calling a long “zombie march” to the area to get our bags. Afterwards I had a longer walk back to Times Square (I had waited for a bus, but walking was actually easier at this point). I met my sister, my cousin, and his wife at our hotel for beer and some food, and later went to dinner with Lesley, Jacqueline, Leo, Ed, and their group. Everyone was enjoying sharing their stories, and it seemed that most people had a rough race except for Lesley (you go girl!).
Shortly after the race I was having hugely mixed emotions. I was thrilled to have finished such a great race with all its excitement and lore, but could not hide the disappointment with my time. I told everyone I had no desire to do another marathon. But I have already changed my mind and will be doing the Vancouver Marathon in May. Marathons are tough and unpredictable, but that is part of their charm. After the personal challenges in my life in the winter and spring I still ended up having an great year of training with several PB's and a truly enjoyable marathon training cycle in the fall. I know I am in the best shape of my life and I love what the training does for me. I do not race a lot of marathons, so it is tough when it does not all come together on the big day. But there is so much more to racing marathons than the number on the finish clock.
And my mother? She was at home at her computer tracking me the whole time, making several phone calls to my sister. She found it so exciting to be able to do that, almost feeling like she was in New York with me. And, in spirit, she was.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Taper time- let the madness begin
I did my last long run for my marathon training yesterday, and it was a great one. I ran around Stanley Park three times, including twice on the road over Prospect Point hill. The total distance was 34K, and it felt stronger than any of my other long runs have felt this season. The run took me 3:24 for an average pace of 6:00/km. I am now ready to back off a bit on distance for tapering.
The marathon is just seventeen days away, and I will be leaving for New York two weeks from tomorrow. I am already starting to experience that nervous excitement that will build even more as the race approaches. I am trying to remain calm and relaxed, though. I find myself thinking about my goals and studying the course map and elevation guide. It looks like it will be a great course, but the hills will not be trivial. I am starting to think about my pacing strategy, which I hone a bit as the race gets closer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)