A successful experiment

I'm actually floating about this marathon. My hopes were pretty low because I've felt like crud the past week, am stressed out, had a bit of diarrhea this morning, as usual (though not as badly with past marathons), the weather was iffy at the start, plus at the last minute this morning, I realized that I hadn't been reading the race updates and maybe there was something useful to know in those, like the start happening at 8:30 and not at 9:00....thankfully, Mom drove me down en route to something else, and I hoped out of the car just as the gun went off. They fired a nice big cannon.

I stashed my bag of fuel by the sportstats tent and jogged on. Maybe I lost about a minute there, not sure. I wasn't wearing a watch. That was part of the experiment. Another part was taking a few of my anti-shit-my-pants IBS meds, 2 pills last night, and one this morning. I'd phased off this stuff a while ago, and things have been mostly ok since then...but I figured that, hey, why not give it a whirl? I've laboured with iffy bowels through enough marathons. This stuff could royally backfire, but it wasn't as if I had a lot invested in this marathon, anyway.

Sadly, I didn't have it together to put the final piece in place...late last night, I thought "Gee, wouldn't it be nice to wear a t-shirt with a picture of Obama and Harper holding hands? And a heart around it?" Just for good vibes? A little photoshopping, a trip to a printer, and, voila! Thought of it too late. Dang!

Anyway, I jogged up and then saw someone with red hair...Natalie! Strangely enough, out of the four or so people who read this thing, 2 of them are Natalies with red hair. It was nice seeing Hintonburg Natalie (actually, I think the other one also lives in Hintonburg....maybe....) because I didn't know anyone else running this race, though by the end I felt like it had. She was running the 10K. We chatted for a bit, then I figured that I had to get into gear...I really didn't feel like I had a full in me that day and I had to focus on my form and get things pulled together. I hadn't warmed up, hadn't walked more than maybe a hundred yards that day, but that was ok. My left quad felt a bit iffy, though, so I had to somehow get into better alignment. Strong girdle, strong girdle...kept thinking that. I can't explain the sensation, except that my hip flexors and other muscles deep down around my pelvis seem somewhat more engaged and taut.

Our bibs were colour coded so I could see who was running the full....not many. And I was dead last, so for a while I was envisioning myself just ahead of the truck picking up the pylons. Then I figured that, hey, that would be a new experience, and I would have the whole road to myself. A busy parkway, closed, JUST FOR ME. How often does that happen?

Anyway, the first loop went by in about 30 min. I'm not sure if that included my delayed start, or not, but it seemed ok. Although there was one big hill in it (an overpass?) that I wasn't quite expecting...the thought of running up it 7 more times was a bit daunting. It was covered in greasy slush, too. I hadn't had much time to drink anything in the morning (didn't eat anything, either), so I drank some water. Then went on.

The road was pretty nasty and slippery and there was snow flung into my eyes...that first lap was pretty horrible. My shoes were already soaking wet. But it seemed kind of like a big random joke that I was out doing this marathon, which somehow made things better. Plus, I promised myself that I would have one of the cans of coffee after 10K.

The snow on the road was just as bad--I think I had some gatorade at the drink stand at the 7.5K mark, which lifted my spirits a little--and then it came to that big hill again.

The course wasn't really flat, which was what I was expecting. There was that one hill in particular, though. Most people slowed down...I was still sort of passing people on my 2nd lap, and it was a choice between running on a clearer strip behind people slowing down, or veering around in a couple of inches of slush. I chose the slush the first few times because my body just didn't want to slow down, but I was slipping a bit backwards with each step. I tried to take it as easy as possible.

Saw Natalie a few more times, I think...maybe 2 more times?

At 10K, 58-59:??, I took a break, had the coffee and some jalebi. All this delicious pastry stuff that I've enjoyed during long runs was making my stomach turn just looking at it, but the jalebi seemed safe. I nibbled on it for about an hour. The coffee went down great. I decided to have the other can at 30K.

I think it stopped snowing around this point--I was so grateful. I hate getting little snow pellets flung into my eyes. It makes me cry. My corneas have been more sensitive since the laser eye surgery.

By this point, I was begining to recognize and talk with other runners, which was fun. And I could see that there were a few women ahead of me, surprisingly few. I didn't like them ahead of me....there was one woman in red way ahead, and I didn't think I could catch her, but I figured that maybe the others were fair game. But I had time. Most of the time, I was alone, or passing people...a few people doing the relays passed me.

I got through 20K, and then ran one more loop with the 1/2 marathoners. They were starting to thin out. My left quad issue was less of a concern, but I still had to remind myself to keep my form good.

I guess it was around this time that I was starting to get confused about what loops the other marathoners were on. I thought I was way back.

At some point I passed a few women...I don't remember when.

I grabbed a banana at 25K, and carried it around for an hour, washing it down with sips of gatorade...I had water at one point, but it was cold and weird, so I decided to stick with gatorade.

My legs were getting pretty tired by now, and then I thought, whoa, I should be hitting the wall pretty soon. 25K is roughly 15 miles, I think...I hit the wall early. But nothing happened, really, except on the way back, when I was going up the big hill AGAIN--things felt sort of dully seized up for a few minutes. I noticed too that my breathing had quickened. But then I realized that, wow, it wasn't getting worse. It didn't feel good, and I felt like I'd lost like 1/2 of my muscular control and my feet were slamming into the ground, but I was still moving. Strong pelvis, strong pelvis. Maybe the wheels would fall off down the line, but so far, so good.

There was one guy there who was in his 70s, and has run over a 100 marathons...at some point, I'd passed him--we'd chatted a bit, and then every time we saw each other, we were like 'go, speedy!'. And similar exchanges were happening with other marathoners, too. We were all in the same crazy boat. And some of the course marshalls joked with me a few times, too, because one of them offered to take the banana peel away, but I told him that it wasn't empty and I was still working on it. I ate most of it in an hour.

30K, coffee!! I drank it too quickly and nearly retched, but it stayed down. Had a bit of banana with it too. I was starting to feel a little queasy, but most of this was actually air. I'd knock some sort of fluids down, whenever I felt like it, feel sort of weird for a bit, then burp, which made it better. Sorry if this is too graphic.

I guess around 30-35K, I passed another woman....I could still see the woman in red ahead of me, but less so. STill about five minutes ahead, though. I also congratulated several other marathoners who were on their last lap....I thought. And others said I looked strong. wow, really? That seventh loop was weird. I kept expecting the wall, so I'd slow down a bit in fear, but then my body would spur me on...I couldn't slow down for long. And I was thinking that the 2nd last loop should be the worst, but it wasn't so bad. Although my stomach hurt, but I figured that since I was already wet from the slush, maybe nobody would notice if I crapped my pants. That was surprisingly reasurring. My feet were starting hurt, though. I was wearing my 'new' pair of NB 826s which don't fit as well as my old ones. It was just a fluke that I fit the old pair...NB doesn't usually fit me, but someone at a running store in the States told me to give them a whirl on the treadmill in the store, and it was love at first K.

I ditched my banana at 35K and then, the final loop! That one was a blur. I realized then that I had passed more marathoners than I'd thought, and so I was sort of dreading them passing me...especially the last woman I'd passed. She wasn't far behind me for a bit, but dropped back on that last loop. Still, she was about 20 yrs older than I and ran a Boston-qualifying time. That's more than I can do! I didn't know she was in her fifties until I looked at the results....my hat's off to her. I would love to be still running marathons in my fifties.

Anyway, I finished 40K, and then there remained just a 2.2k loop. This was tougher than the 5K loop previously. I kept waiting and waiting for the turnaround sign, which was uphill, and I was pretty tired. So much for an easy jog, lol. Once I got around that sign, though, it was downhill and quick. My folks had come out for the finish, and I told them just a few more minutes, and then I was over the mat at about 3:50:40?? which was a PB!

BUT....

I went to get my stash of food, and then I heard the announcer say, "Cassandra Chouinard has just finished lap.....nine?" Oh, great. I did the same thing with the Delaware Marathon. I like loops, but I forget to go over the OTHER mat at the end. And there's no point in holding up a sign or even telling me, really, because everything's shut down except for the fuzzy concept that I just have to get over A mat and then I can stop.

So I grabbed my stuff and jogged over. 3:51:11. Still, just 12 seconds behind my PB, on a harder course with worse weather. I was running through slush much of the way, though after a couple of hours or so, much of it had melted. My calves/ankles were white from the salt.

And it was much better race, too, pacing-wise.

5K splits.

30:31
28:17
28:05
27:06
26:45
26:18
26:48
25:37
11:47 (I think I lost about 20 seconds on this one...)

And there wasn't really a wall, either. That's the part that amazes me. There were just a few slightly crappier than normal minutes, and then things were sort of dull and achy but sustainable.

It turned out that I was the 2nd woman overall, out of six, lol...I got a blanket and pillow (which I feel like using soon), and a little SILVER sticker on my medal.

I'm still floating! It was a great race. They really did well with it. The volunteers were so nice and helpful.

edit: photos (already!)
http://www.zoomphoto.ca/viewphoto/10729-243-10650396/40/
http://www.zoomphoto.ca/viewphoto/10729-243-10651173/14/
http://www.zoomphoto.ca/viewphoto/10729-111-10652610/104/
http://www.zoomphoto.ca/viewphoto/10729-243-10650769/104/

they even immortalized the banana!

I might actually buy some...I've never bought photos before from a race, but I feel like I did this one justice.