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42nd Marine Corps Marathon Recap and Tips!
As we approached October 22, 2017, my nerves started to grow. Having only participated in local races, I was faced with a lot of new challenges with food/hydration/sleep/transportation. I had quite a bit of time to make a game plan for this as I registered one year out from the race. I have friends and family that participated in this race which totally influenced my decision to sign up after all…
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Cellcom Green Bay Marathon Recap
We went up to another town on Saturday morning first so my boyfriend could do a thing for work. In retrospect, if you're traveling for a marathon, don't make the trip any longer than it needs to be. So we went waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay north to come back down to Green Bay. It's been approximately 14 years since I've been here, so doing packet pick up and eventing at the Stadium was cool. We went to Noodles and Company for dinner since I wanted something my stomach was familiar with. We hung out for a while at the hot tub to relax and I went to bed early. Got up on race day and there were rain showers rolling through. They gave out ponchos and I wore that as I walked the short distance from the hotel to the start line. The rain stopped so I ditched my poncho, got in the correct corral and it started to rain again. Ha. It let up in just a few moments, so it was no big deal. I places myself behind the 4:45 finish group and we set out. I did have to talk myself out of pushing ahead, which was good and stuck with that pack as long as I could. We would walk through it water stations and I walked a little longer around mile 12 and they took off. It was fine. I kept chugging along, but by mile 14 I was hurting in the hips. When I would train, it was always like "just a couple more miles, no problem!" But this was like "oh, we're barely over half way. Crap." But I kept going, walking through water stops, and then for a little bit after. About mile 18, it was more walking than running. It was tough, but I kept going. When I got to mile 24 though, I tried to pick the pace back up even though my back was killing me and my hips hurt so bad. But then I ran into Lambeau Field. You get to run around the bottom of the stadium, which is so massive and historic and I cried and I was able to run because I kinda forgot about the pain in that moment. Then you come out and it's around the way behind the stadium ans you're done! I did it! Was my finish time what I wanted? No, it was 5:25:59 and I wanted under 5 hours. Was it harder and more painful than expected? Yes. Am I proud of myself for getting it done regardless of time, especially because of the pain? YES! Do I have a bunch of finishers swag now like a window sticky for my car and a shirt my boyfriend bought me? Oh yea! So in conclusion, I am glad I did it, I don't think I'll do it again, now it's time to think about my half marathon goals!
Marathon Recap! I ran my second marathon - a small one in the woods which is a huge difference to a city marathon. When I came there about two hours before the start I did not have that "pre marathon feeling" I had right before my first one. I knew I was capable of running those 42.2km but the thought of doing it now was kind of strange. It was freezing: 0 degrees Celsius all the way thought so they had warm tea before, in between and after the marathon. The fist 10k felt effortlessly and it was beautiful to run though the foggy woods. There was a rough 3k long hill right before the half marathon mark but I felt much better than I thought I would be. The marathon was kind of Christmas themed: They had gingerbread and tea at the aid stations and one runner that wore a Christmas tree hat took his dog with him that was dressed like a reindeer! (Yes, the dog fast lots faster than I was) My legs felt heavy when I reached the 32km mark but that didn't bother me a lot. And due to a lack of gloves I couldn't feel my hands anymore. I talked to some fellow runners and almost everyone of them was an ultramarathoner. I loved and enjoyed the 2km downhill part a lot that was somewhere near the 36km mark. The last 5-6km felt like flying! I ran a easy pace all the time and I felt so energetic that I ran the last two kilometres with a 5:45pace! Although this race had ~650m elevation and was kind of a trail race I finished just 6 minutes after my city marathon time. (My watch time isn't accurate because I forgot to stop it for several minutes in the post marathon endorphin rush). It was so so so so much fun!
First Marathon Recap
I had some goals for today. Major and minor goals.
Major goal no. 1 was to finish healthy, strong and happy and to enjoy the whole process of running this first marathon rather than just pushing through it. I 100% achieved this. I was smiling and laughing all way through and it sucked not even one single second. I just loved it. I felt like I was built to run marathons and finally there.
A minor goal was to finish in less than 4:30 - an ultra minor goal to finish in less than 4:15. I can tell you: I got that, too.
I had race butterflies on the starting line but I was ready for everything that might happen. I had no fear to hit the wall or to be in pain at some points. One lesson running - and my life in general - has taught me is that pain has a lot to do with attitude. Sure, there are points in life pain just sucks and is overwhelming and there’s nothing you can do about it - that’s not what I’m talking about on here. But the pain in running is of a different kind. Yes, it can suck. Yes, it can be hard to push through. But at some points of the race you’ll be the one who chooses how to deal with it. You can just focus on the pain in your tired legs, hips and the raw skin on your feet or you choose that yes, you feel your legs and yes, they hurt but no, it doesn’t stop you from being happy, grateful, enjoying this run, your marathon and it also won’t be able to stop you from running till you hit the finish line.
I was lucky to feel great until 34km and even then it wasn’t horrible. I didn’t hit the wall and I had no cramps. My muscles were just tired. Really tired.
I started in the big race adrenaline rush and had to keep myself from just running too fast and too hard so I decided to join the 4:15 pacing group and see how long I’d be able to hold that 6:00 pace. I told them it was my first marathon and they were great in supporting me - and keeping me from sprinting apart when I the race adrenaline spiked hard while running through crowds of cheering people.
The 10k mark ~ 1 hour was the first time I used some of my sugary high calorie drink. I still felt energetic and no need to get in some carbs but I had decided to better being safe than sorry. And it worked great. I drank every 5k and got in some calories (in total about 800 I guess) every 5-10k until 36k where I had one last sip from my calorie drink, left the pacing group and increased my speed to 5:40-5:50 because I felt energised and ready for a little last sprint. The last 0,2km with all the cheering crowds including my parents pushed me to a 4:55 pace. I was smiling constantly.
Crossing the finish line was insane and super emotional for me. I met and hugged my pacing group again, drank some water, ate another banana and GOT THAT FINISHER MEDAL.
Race recap: Vancouver marathon 2016
Time
3:30:01 hours.
Location
Vancouver, BC.
Weather
13C / 55F start, 18C / 64F finish. Sunny and clear.
Shoes
Nike LunarTempo 2.
How it played out
I find it hilarious that my time is 3:30:01, not 3:29:59. I love it. Because it pretty much sums up how I felt about any time goals when I crossed the finish line! 😂
I’ll get back to finishing thoughts later, but for now I’ll stick to some sort of sequential order. The morning started with sharing a 5:45 am cab ride with a previously unknown neighbour, she asked us if she could share a ride to the start. We got some upbeat pre-race chat going on early with our new friend.
We got there for @fuelingforfitness‘s half marathon start at 7am, then the plan was to sit in the shade until the later marathon start at 8:30am to lower the core body temperature. Future note: waste of time, doing this is no substitute for a cooler race!
Pre-race crowds, and doing some kind of weather man impression with friends Megan & Allan.
Miles 1-5
I met up with friends Sarah and Jeremy soon after watching the half marathon runners went by, and the 90 minutes went by quickly. Jeremy was aiming to run a 3:15, so I started to run the first couple of miles with him.
If it was going to be hard, I might as well be happy at the start, right? Selfie fun with Sarah & Jeremy in our corral.
Once the uphill at the start was out of the way, we ran together for a bit and found a rhythm. I let him go in front soon afterwards, as I kept telling myself to hold back on the slight downhills in the first 4 miles. He had run this course before and pulled out sub 3 hour times on it, so he knew what he was doing. But a 6:35 downhill pace was about as fast as I wanted to go here, with the Rotterdam fade still haunting me.
At 5.5 miles in it was time to start the main uphill grind of the course.
Miles 6-12
The 6th mile was mainly part of this uphill, and the rolling remnants afterwards. I was getting passed by absolutely everyone. I took it as a sign that I was doing everything right.
One more climb in the 8th mile, and I was clear of hills for a while. The aim was to reel back in a 6:50/mile (4:15/km) pace while monitoring my heart rate, which was somewhere in the high 160′s.
The 11th and 12th miles had a few surprise rollers, but I was still able to keep pace and HR consistent.
About to take on the big downhill.
Miles 13-14
I breathed some relief when I was starting the huge downhill component of the course, just over a mile long from UBC. My coach and I had discussed this section. Thanks to Orienteering, I’m not one to be bothered by leg pain that you’d get from hammering down an early downhill, so I let the pace drop a bit while catching my breath in the 160 bpm range.
I wish that muscle pain - that lactic acid leg burn - was my biggest problem in the marathon! But like last time, I never got to experience it in the end due to problems above the waist.
Just after this cruisey and relaxed downhill is where the alarm bells started. Not a fade like in Rotterdam, but more of a small WTF when I was coming up to the half checkpoint. I suddenly got a massive chest cramp above my ribcage. For a few seconds I thought, “easy come, easy go, ride it out”. Then it dragged on for about a minute and I started to think, “is this what a heart attack feels like?”. I have no idea but it was like a more painful version of heart burn.
I stopped and walked for about 30 seconds, then it kind of faded, so I started to run again slowly, and I picked it up when it didn’t come back. For a moment I thought my race was over. I was not only confused about why I was getting this, but also why I was getting it this early when I had run many half marathons before, and at a much faster pace (fact check: 6 out of 9 to be exact).
I crossed the halfway point in 1:35:16.
Some of these pics are hard to tell, but I’m pretty sure this is just after the halfway point. Trying to get as much shade as I could.
Miles 15-19
Freaking rollers. This section was a grind, and we were running east with the sun just punching us in the face the whole way. Although I like Sarah’s description of “fireball” for the sun, very adequate in this section.
Definitely the hottest and hardest section of the course to get into a rhythm. Every uphill was minor compared to the first half, but it was still enough to slow you down between 15-30 seconds per mile.
It culminated in the running over the Burrard Bridge, the final hill before hitting the flat and shaded seawall.
Mile 15. The only benefit of the hill going up to 4th Ave, was that it had shade!
Mile 19. Cresting over the 2nd last hill of the whole course, the Burrard Bridge.
Miles 20-24
I finally got to pick up the pace again after the bridge and settle into a rhythm. Although my heart rate was in the 170′s by this point, I still didn’t feel anywhere near my limit.
I saw a few friendly faces cheering here, including Alison who I almost missed, and Steph who had just finished pacing duties for the half marathon. Such a lift whenever you see people out there late in the course!
Alison saw me before I saw her, but I was thrilled when I realised it was her.
Although somewhere between when I saw Alison and Steph, somewhere in mile 20, is when my chest pain came creeping back in. The 3:15 pace group started to overtake me from out of nowhere, and Steph was telling me to run with them. I started to pick up the pace but after a few minutes the pain was so bad I couldn’t breathe. It was like I had a broken rib, and every slight movement of my diaphragm would cause severe pain.
There are times to push through pain and there are times when not to, and I think with racing experience comes the ability to recognise which is which. I feel fortunate that my life has so far exposed me to many different races and conditions, and has taught me to recognise any unusual signs.
Some slight knee pain that I got when running across the bridge in mile 19 was a time to push through pain. This was not though. I wasn’t sure if it was an extreme stitch, or something related to the heart, or something else. If it was a stitch, I had never had one that bad. So I stopped and walked for a bit.
Now on reflection, the only reason why I didn’t pull out at this stage was that I thought it could disappear as quickly as when it did in mile 12. Also, because I was in a worse state at this stage in Rotterdam from just walking (due to hyponatremia), I thought I was at least still in a capable state of walking to the finish.
So from mile 21 I let go of any remaining hope of time goals, and just focused on run/walking to the finish. Also in contrast to Rotterdam, I wasn’t emotional at this point. It was almost like I was expecting this kind of shit to happen the whole time, and by the time it did, I was mentally ready to deal with it.
I walked for a bit until my chest stopped hurting, then I ran for a bit until it hurt again, and I kept doing that over and over. But the chest pain never quite stopped, so I did this all the way to the finish. Everytime I’d start running I’d try to see if my heart rate could get a little higher and I could get a little faster. But my chest pain would get to the point where I couldn’t breathe again if I went any faster than about 150 bpm.
About a mile to go at this point. I don’t why I’m giving the photographer the “get me the F outta here” stare. What do I expect him to do?
Miles 25-FINISH
To be honest, I wasn’t even looking at my time that much after getting the chest pains from 20 miles in, so I wasn’t even aware of what time I was going to be finishing in. Until I saw a clock on the course at 40k showing 3:15, I actually just assumed I was going to be finishing in about 4 hours.
I was concentrating so hard on spotting friends in the crowd when running into the finish. They saw me but I couldn’t see them. I guess there’s one drawback to having your name on a bib, because everybody’s yelling your name and you don’t realise when somebody you know is shouting for you or not.
Shira accurately captured the shuffle run into the finish.
Now regarding the part where I mentioned how much I loved my 3:30:01 finish time - in the final stretch I didn’t care about fighting down to the seconds to get a sub 3:30 or anything. I could’ve fought for it, I mean almost anyone in almost any depleted or injured state can shave off just 1 or 2 seconds in that final 100 meters. But those 2 seconds wouldn’t have been the difference between a satisfying result or not, so there was no point in chasing anything down.
The only thing that satisfies me about racing is getting anywhere near, even vaguely near, the kind of result that should reflect your training. That’s a big part of the experience for me!
I was training to be at a level between 2:50-3:00 hours (2:50 being for a flat & cool course). So I didn’t even get vaguely near. I know it’s popular to say, “I’m ok with my result”, but I’m not going to say that because it’s just not true, haha. Being real is a far greater currency than being popular (sometimes real is also popular, but not always).
We can admit stuff like this without coming across as whiny brats. Ironically anyone who whines about someone’s authenticity, is actually being a whiny brat.
Having said that though, at the time I didn’t think I would feel any satisfaction in just finishing. But I did, and that surprised me a lot. Which is probably another reason why I didn’t give a shit about getting a sub 3:30 at the time, because I was just so damn happy to finish without getting carted off in a wheelchair. That is an achievement for anyone.
This is smiling during a marathon. Coming up to the finish.
This is smiling after a marathon.
Yesterday I went to the doctor to start a bit of an investigation to see what was wrong with me. Normally I’m hesitant, because I expect the doctor reaction to be, “here’s your cure - stop running”, but I was relieved to hear from my doctor that he’s training for a half marathon. He gets it, you guys!
He referred me onto a cardiologist, and also to have some blood tests taken. I don’t know if I mention it much, but I used to have a heart condition called SVT until I got operated on in 2007. But I don’t really think about it much because it should be gone, and I don’t like to use it as an excuse. Even though SVT and social anxiety (mentioned in my pre-recap) have been my main challenges in life, they’re just as much motivators for me. Once I get the clear that I’m medically ok to run marathons, I’ll focus on finding a cool weather marathon next time.
I didn’t make this connection until blogging out this recap, but all of my 4 most recent half marathon PR’s have been raced in 4C/40F or less. Being a guy with an excessive sweating disorder, this is probably why I haven’t experienced any body weirdness in my half marathons before.
This wasn’t the hardest race that I’ve run, regarding intensity and reaching the limits of mental strength - I still had a lot more to give there. But it was definitely one of the most challenging and annoying races that I’ve run. For this reason, I don’t particularly want to run another marathon until I have these body issues investigated. But I do hope that I can sort it out and get what reflects my training in a marathon.
I know a lot of runners who run their first marathons, and the X+Y training they've put in gets them X+Y results. I'm frustrated that it's more complicated for me for some unknown reason - whether that’s a heart issue or sweating issue. But I'm not as frustrated as after Rotterdam. I'm less defeated this time and more determined to find answers.
Manitoba Marathon Recap, part two
Manitoba Marathon Recap, part two
Where I stopped yesterday, in the Manitoba Marathon Recap, part one, I’d just hit a serious wall. At mile 9.
The dreaded and much lauded marathon “wall” normally hits around mile 20, and is often related to fueling or the fact that I just ran 20 miles.
I’d eaten a healthy and substantial breakfast before the race, and started fueling around mile six, so I have no idea what happened that made…
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Manitoba Marathon Recap, part one
Manitoba Marathon Recap, part one
The trip to Winnipeg was one of the best trips and most memorable marathons so far, and I reluctantly left on Sunday afternoon after the French won their World Cup match in a rather dramatic fashion. I didn’t arrive in Winnipeg until Saturday afternoon, and after checking into my hostel, the UWHostel, I promptly set about figuring out how I could watch the World Cup Matches since the rooms (UW…
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Fargo marathon recap
A marathon is never easy. Or, a marathon is never easy for me. But some races are easier than others, and the Fargo Marathonfalls right smack in the middle of my marathon experience. It wasn’t the hardest (that award goes to Windermere last year) and it wasn’t the easiest by far (that award goes to my first marathon, which was really the only marathon I’ve done on fully tapered legs). The course…
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