Mount Washington Gutbuster

July 28, 2012

I decided to make the 3.5 hour one way trek up to Mount Washington so I could could get in this final Gutbuster race.  I have not done all the races in quite a few years so this was a nice oppertunity.  Luckily, I was able to catch a ride up with Larry Nylan and Valarie Bell which made the trip much more enjoyable.

Once we arrived I saw a few familiar faces with Shawn Nelson, Brad Crowe, Andrew Pape-Salmon, and Matt Ceill in attendance.   It is always great to see everyone both before and after the race so we can talk about more running....  I've done the Mount Washinton Gutbuster once before several years ago when it was an ascent only race.  I recall it being about 4 min of running followed by about 15 min of maxed out hiking with a tiny bit of running near the summit.  It was high intensity for sure!  This time, I expected similar on the way up, but the course now returns to the start line via some single track trails so it would be a bit different.  Who arrives at the top first may not be the winner depending on their downhill technical prowess.

I knew my high intensity climbing skills were probably not quite as honed as I have had them sometimes in the past, but I still thought I could put out a decent effort on the climb.  In the first few minutes of the race, I gained a small lead on the field with Matt settling in behind.  I tried to expand my lead, but was quite near my limit and could do more.  I wasn't gaining more, but at least I wasn't giving up ground either.  After 17:54 of this pain (and under 2k actually covered), I reached the top nearly 500m above.  I quickly got my legs back and headed back down.  

At first I felt I had a healthy lead, but after a few minutes, I heard someone behind me.  Whoever it was, was gaining for sure.  I responded, picking things up a bit, but it was all I could do to stay ahead.  It turned out it was Michael Ravensbergen, a young cross country skier with amazing downhill skills. I was able to just keep ahead for most of the decent. Then, near the bottom, the trail turned on a service road for a bit. The direction we needed to go wasn't clearly marked, I had failed to hear the instructions that were apparently announced at the start (kids let this be a lesson for you to pay attention!). I went the wrong way and Michael followed for a bit.  Soon though Matt came down and told us we were going the wrong way.  Now, all three of us were neck and neck and it with only a few hundred metres to go.  It was going to come down to a sprint.

Michael didn't had quite the leg speed that Matt and I could muster so fell back, but Matt and I were close right to the wire.  I managed to get a single stride on him and that alone got me the win by less than a second.  Indeed, our finished times were an identical 29:13.  Micheal come in 24s later with Shawn taking 4th, Andrew 5th, and Brad 6th.   Top woman was Shauna Connaughton.   Larry had solid race with a 31st placing.   Not my best ever race, but just good enough to get the job done that day.

Thanks to Nick Walker and Mark Nelson for another great year of Gutbuster races and to all the volunteers that help make it happen.

Results

Knee Knacker 50k

July 14, 2012

It may seem as though I have dropped the ball on my blog, but I still have intentions to add my races over the last couple of months.  Sadly, I have probably forgotten a lot of details by now, but I'll do my best.

Once I determined that I wanted to taste a bit of the ultra scene this year, I decided to give Knee Knacker a try.  I've heard from others that is a great race with some amazing technical terrain and tough climbs.  It seemed to be something that would fit well with my strengths.  It is also very popular and has a cap of 200 racers so getting in is only by lottery.  Based on the numbers, I had better than 50% odds, but it was by no means a guarantee.  Obviously, since I am writing this, I was luckily enough to get in.

I did a few long runs, but should have done more to prep for this race, but while I knew I could have probably been more prepared, I figured that should still be able to pull off something decent.

I stayed in a friends apartment the night before.  Sadly, I tossed and turned for a while before sleeping despite knowing that I had to get up before 4am to drive to the finish line to board a shuttle to the start.  The night before, I had prepared my hydra pack with everything I planned to use during the night, I just needed to grab it and head out the door once I got up.  The alarm, went off, I ate a bit, grabbed my bag of extra gear and headed out the door.  I had just walked out the front door of the complex when I realized that my hydra pack was still sitting where I had left it.  Normally, this would not be an issue, but I didn't have a key and my friend was soundly asleep in his 2nd floor apartment with no active buzzer and with a phone on vibrate.  I had a sinking feeling - that pack was pretty important, loaded as is was with water, Gatorade, electrolyte tabs, gels, blocks, and bars - could I even do the race without it?  I tried calling to no avail and even went so far as trying to buzz some other units to see if someone would let me in.  Needless to say, one woman wasn't too impressed to be woken at 4:20am and promptly hung up on me.  I contemplated not doing the race and all then sat and thought for a few minutes.  I could carry an extra bottle I had or perhaps even borrow and proper hand bottle from someone.  I also had extra bars and gels and would probably get me though especially since there was going to be more at aid stations.  I could survive and decided to go for it.

Unfortunately, by now it was too late to make it to the shuttle in Deep Cove so I had to head to the start line directly near Horseshoe Bay.  It didn't help I didn't know exactly where it started and had failed to bring the directions so hoped to be able to find it somewhere along the highway.  Luckily, I was able to do so and make it there with just enough time to check in and hit the toilet before the race started.

After that gong show of getting to the start line, I  hoped the race went a little better.  The course starts with a couple km of flat and gentle climbing on single track and I eased into things knowing this was a long race.  After 10 min or so I was in in 4th place had slotted in just behind Gary Robbins who I felt would run smart and pace himself well.  Gradually the trail steepens and the main climb to the summit of Black Mountain begins.  The total ascent is 1000m so it is a tough climb.  Soon after things got quite steep I was surprised to noticed that Gary seemed to be struggling.  After a bit, he told me to move ahead as he was not feeling well do to a lingering virus of some sort.  He would later drop. 

I managed to be a bit of effort in and catch up to the 2nd place guy, Phil Villeneuve, a very seasoned runner whom I had heard of before, but never met.  I was feeling reasonable, if not amazing on the climb and Phil and I continued together to the summit.  As we started a small decent to Cypress Bowl, Phil opened it up and I realize that I no longer felt that great.  Since I was only about 12k in, this was bad news indeed.  I decided I had to throttle it back a bit if I wanted to survive so I didn't attempt to go with him.  I would have to race my own race and hope I recovered someone.

Fortunately, after the first major aid station and another few kilometers I did start to feel better.  I was still concerned that Gary (I didn't know he had dropped until after the race) would come whipping by me but no one did.  There was a modest climb out of the bowl which wasn't too bad, followed by a long decent that led to the halfway major aid station.  I had left a drop bag here in case I needed it, but didn't end up requiring anything from it.  I grabbed a bit of fluids and food and moved on.  There were a lot of enthusiastic volunteers and spectators which was a nice little boost.  Ellie Greenwood (a world class ultra runner) mentioned to me that Phil was only a couple of minutes ahead and wasn't looking that great.  I certainly had not expected to see him again, but anything can happen in this length of race and sure enough I soon spotted him on the road climb up to the base of Grouse Mountain.  This section was definitely a grind, but I was feeling fairly decent and was able to gain quickly on Phil who was obviously suffering somewhat.  I caught him just before heading back onto trail where we had to grind up another significant climb.  It hurt and I ended up hiking much of it with Phil just behind.

We finally make it to a to a plateau where I was able to speed things back up a bit.  The trail was technical which I generally like, but this far into the race, it does start to grind away at you.  Overall though, the legs were still working pretty well.  After a few minutes I realized that Phil was no longer right behind.  I took a look back and he was gone - I later found out he just hit the wall, likely a result of fatigue from another recent ultra.  Not a fun way to finish a race as his last 20k involved a lot of hiking.

I powered up another small climb which fortunately wasn't as bad as the last one and then had a long section of most flat and downhill to contend with.  At one of the aid stations in this section, Wayne Crowe (a seasoned veteran runner who son was also racing) told me that the leader had left only about 5 min ago and had been cramping badly at the time.  This information gave me a bit of new life.  Did I really have the chance to win the whole race?   That would be really amazing and unexpected.  At the time it seemed possible as I was still feeling pretty decent.  I picked a the pace a bit with the hopes of reeling him in.

Things continued to feel decent for another 5k or so until the final climb up the Seymour Grind started.  It wasn't steep, but my legs decided to call it a day and refused to cooperate anymore.  I was forced to hike even the slightest slopes and the climb seemed to last an eternity.  I knew there was little chance I was gaining time on the leader at this pace and thought it was quite possible someone else would catch me.  After what seemed like an hour (but which was certainly much less) I topped out.  It was a huge relief to hit some downhill, but my muscles were now so toasted that I could not open it up very much.

The course briefly pops onto a road before heading to the final stretch of 4km of downhill single track leading to Deep Cove.  Having done this section a few years back as part of the Iron Knee race, I knew what to expect.  This is a very technical section with roots, bridges, and a few little ups.  It is slow even when fresh and a bit of torture when fatigued.  It feels much longer than it really is.  I was thankful to finally hear the finish line and knew that I was just about finished.

I cruised in for a time of 5:18:04.  Not a spectacular time by any means, but considering my couple of low points in the race wasn't too bad.  My 2nd place was better than expected, but I was lucky to not get caught by the 3rd place guy (Colin Miller) would flew in just 2 min behind me.  The winner was Nathan Barrett who recovered well from his cramping finishing over 20 min ahead of me in under 5 hours.  An impressive performance for Nathen who told me it was his first ultra.  Phil managed to hold on to a top 10 finish coming in 8th and the first woman, Lisa Polizzi, finished 11th overall in 5:53:20.  Overall, I was satisfied with my performance, but know I could have performed better with more training.  Results.

Kusam Klimb

June 23, 2012

This was to be my fourth Kusam Klimb having run it previously from 2007-2009. I have been fortunate to be able to take wins for all three of those previous attempts. This year though, would be much harder, as Jeremy Clegg was in attendance and he has been training like a madman. I knew his climbing skills would be off the charts and it would be tough to beat him.

Jeremy and I took off quite quickly on the first couple of flat road kilometers running about 3:40/km splits. Then we headed uphill for the start of the epic 1650m climb over less than 6km. The first couple of kilometres are not too steep and Jeremy stayed together. While I wasn't suffering too bad, I wasn't feeling amazing either and knew that the steepest part of the climb would be tougher than ever this year. Jeremy definitely seemed to be more comfortable than I was and I wasn't surprised when he decided to take off on me about half way up. I wasn't able to match him and he slowly pulled ahead. This was the steepest part of the course where we were gaining 400m for each kilometre - running is not really an option for most of this section and taking close to 20min is not unreasonable. There are many sections so steep that I was on all fours many times.

The trail finally eases off a couple of kilometres from the summit, but the snow also appeared on the ground making it a little more challenging. By this time Jeremy was out of sight, perhaps a minute or so ahead. There wasn't much I could do about it so moved as best as I could on the remainder of the climb and hoped that I could reel him back in on the downhill. Soon enough I make it to the false summit where the course descends to the alpine lake before the final push to the summit. Unfortunately, the course is not well marked here and Jeremy missed the turn up to the final climb. I helped him get back on track and we scrambled together to the pass.

The extreme downhill in the snow is my favorite section of the race, with very steep snow covered slopes. There are ropes set up that some racers use and others prefer to slide down. I personally love just to run down, but some sections are just on the edge of my control - luckily I held it together and was able to put a bit of time into Jeremy on this section. He fought back though when the slope leveled out. I knew it would be a tough remainder of the race. Neither of of would allow the other to have an easy victory.

Once we were out of the snow, there was about 4km on double track with several creek crossings before heading onto gravel road with a nice downhill grade. We were cranking out kimometers just over 3:30/km for this section. The next section is a decommissioned road which is flater and a little tougher. Then comes a bit more single track and a final creek crossing and a tiny uphill grunt. It is nothing really, but hurts after so much downhill and I always cramp here a little bit. The final 2.5km is partly gravel road and then a final kilometer or so on pavement. Jeremy and I were still neck and neck before the pavement, but he opened it up on a small downhill section. I just didn't have anything to counter with since we were already running at about 3:20/km pace. I tried to make a move on the final flat section, but there was nothing more in the tank. Jeremy crossed in 3:23:03, just one second faster than my previous course record from 2009. I came in 14s later for my second best Kusam time.

I was honestly a bit disappointed to not get the win and lose my course record, but Jeremy certainly deserved the win and it was good to be challenged for the first time in this race. Matt Cecill was 3rd about 10 min back. Top woman was Alex Gillett from Victoria. Congrats to Jeremy Lawrence and Richard Knowlton for there 7th and 8th place finishes for the first Kusam try.

Results.

Ladysmith Long Course Gutbuster

June 17, 2012

This was my first time doing this course so I was interested to see what the course would be like. I had heard from others that there was both a tough climb and a punishing decent and I didn't doubt them.

There were a number of solid runners in the field including Brad Crowe, Shawn Nelson, Travis Pirozzini, and Stefan Jakobsen. The race started with a steep road climb and I went out fairly hard, wondering if anyone else would go with me. This day, no one opted to do so and by the time I made my way onto the single track I was on my own. There was a bit of downhill back towards the highway before crossing Holland Creek and heading back up the other way. I kept a good solid pressure on myself without going crazy. There were a few good little grunt climbs along the creek, but nothing too sustained.

After a couple of kilometres, the course popped out onto some double track. Soon though came the major climb of the day (over 300m in just over 1km). It was tough, but I was determined to run all of it and just barley succeeded in that goal. The course eventually topped out at Heart Lake and the soon turned into a mostly flat rocky road. After a little more than a kilometer of this, the course turned downhill and quickly lost all the elevation previously gained. The decent wasn't that much fun being double track with some loose rocks. I hammered it out though keeping a good pace going. The course leveled off for a bit before heading back down the steep road we came up on. It was punishing, but is thankfully short.

I crossed the finish line feeling fairly strong in 1:11:50. Brad ran well, capturing 2nd in 1:14:20 with Shawn Nelson in 3rd. Julia Tschanz took the woman`s win edging out Kaylee Beales. Overall, I didn`t feel amazing, but was still a fairly solid race. Results.

Elk Lake 50k, Colliery Dam Gutbuster Half, North Olympic Discovery Marathon

I've been busy racing and not blogging so here are some quick race updates from the last month.  Three solid races for me.

May 12
Elk Beaver 50k:

I decided to pop into this race primarily as an good excuse to get a solid long training run in.  I wasn't trying to set any records and mostly wanted to just run smart and finish strong.   I didn't even realize until a few days before the race that the 50k distance was the National Championship this year.  This didn't really change anything except that I was not allowed to have any pacers for the event.  I was initially thinking of asking some friends to see if they wanted to run some laps with me, but it wasn't a big deal since I am accustomed to running on my own and pushing myself.  The 50k consists of 5 laps around Elk/Beaver Lake.  Perhaps it is not the most exciting of race courses given the repetition, but is a flat and fast course and does make refueling easy since you pass by your own drop bag every 10k.

When I picked up my race number the night before, there was talk of a 2:20 marathoner being entered into the event, but I race day, no one materialized, so I don't know if it was just a rumor or if he was a no show.  The start time was a painful 6am which makes sense for the longer 50 Mile and 100k distances some others where running, but seemed pretty early for a 50k.  On the plus side, I planned to finish well before 10am which left more of the day (most likely just for napping, however).

I was curious if I would have any competition during the day and as soon as we started I found myself running with Chris Barth, a talented Masters runner from White Rock.  Chris competes in a decent number of long events and with a marathon PB in the low 2:40's is a solid competitor.  Within a few kilometres, Chris mentioned that he had just completed the Vancouver marathon a week before and could still feel it in his legs.  I was not surprised, as marathons definitely take their toll on the muscle fibres and require more than a week to recover.

We set out at just over a 40 min 10k pace, which was just slightly faster than I had planned to go, but it was still quite comfortable for me.  The first lap went by in 41:07 and I grabbed some fuel and headed out for the 2nd lap.  I mentioned to Chris that I was going to slow down just a bit so I could finish the race strong and that he could move on ahead if he wanted to go faster.  He opted to stay with me though and we chatted a bit while cruising through the lap.  I was feeling quite good at this point which is the way I knew I had to feel if I wanted to avoid fading.  The 3rd lap also felt good, and on the start of the 4th, I decided it was time to push a bit harder.  Chris, certainly feeling his marathon now, was unable to stay with me and fell back after a few kilometres.  Now, I just had 18km more to go!

Things started be be less comfortable at about the 35km mark as my legs started to tire and my right hip was becoming sore and strained for some reason.  Still, I was able to maintain my pace and resolved to push to the end.  At 40k, I grabbed some final fuel and headed out for the final lap.  Things were certainly more challenging now and although I fully expected to be able to finish fairly strong, I did think that I may slow just a bit.  Probably the worst thing I was feeling was my left foot where my sock seam (which was not quite placed correctly), started to rub on one of my toes.  At times it was quite painful and I knew a large blister was forming.  It almost forced me to limp, but wasn't quite bad enough to make me stop.

I managed to work my way thorough that pain and general fatigue although I did have to stop to water the trees at one point.  I was able to muster a decent surge to the finish line and was surprised to find that I actually ran that final lap faster than any others, clocking it in at 40:36.  My total time was 3:25:59 - not near a course record and probably a little slower than I am capable of, but still respectable for me.  Chris had a rough go for the last 20k and finished 12 min back.  Jim Swadling rounded out the top 3 and Robyn Standing took the win for the women.  Apparently I am now the National Canadian 50k champ...although it felt just a little too easy to claim that crown.

Results.  Splits.

May 27
Colliery Dam Half Marathon Gutbuster

This year boasted a new course designed by Jeremey Clegg which promised to offer some sweet single track.  Jeremy was also racing and since he has been training very hard, I expected him to offer stiff competition.  Also in attendance was Shawn Nelson, who despite only doing minimal training at the moment, was still a serious contender.

The course started with a gentle climb and for the first couple of kilometres and I tucked in behind Shawn with Jeremy and several others just behind. My plan was to bide my time until I saw a place to make a break for the lead. I generally prefer to run out in front setting my own pace rather than coming from behind (assuming I can do this without risking blowing up).  We were moving at a decent pace, but it felt quite sustainable.

At about 5k, we hit the first the 3 main climbs consisting of a modest grade 150m climb.  Shawn slowed down and I saw an opportunity to put on a bit of a surge to see if anyone would respond.  I felt good powering up the grade and no one seems keen to come with me.  Within a few minutes I was on my own and was soon treated to some great downhill single track that I bombed down.  

A few kilometres later I faced the toughest climb of the day, peaking out at about 350m above sea level (we started at around 60m).  There was a couple of especially tough sections, but I managed to run everything and was still feeling pretty solid.  I flew down the downhill, but near the bottom I caught a toe on something and did nice flying sprawl drawing some blood in a number of places.  Fortunately, it was nothing serious and I scrambled to my feet and got moving.

The final climb was gradual, but was a bit of a grind after the first two.  I was happy to peak out and be able to head downhill for a while.  After a bit of gravel road and some more single track adjacent to Colliery Dam I finally neared the finish line.  I pushed hard to the line and crossed in 1:40:02 a bit over 3 min ahead of Jeremy who had a strong race.  Shawn would have finished 3rd, but somehow missed a turn (the course was very well marked) and cut the course short.  Brad Crowe benefited from his mistake, taking the third spot.  Laylee Beales took the woman's win in 2:08:18.

Overall it was a great race for me and I really enjoyed the course.  Thanks to Jeremy for putting together a fun one and to all the race organizers (Frontrunners Westshore) and volunteers.  It takes work to put such a great race together.

Results.

June 3
North Olympic Discovery Marathon

After my disaster at Boston, I decided I wanted to take advantage of my fitness and training and prove to myself I could pull off a decent marathon.  This race was a good option, with the timing working and being in Port Angeles just across the Juan de Fuca Straight.  I scaled back my goal from sub 2:35 to sub 2:40 perhaps aiming for a little less than what I am capable, instead wanting to have a positive experience rather than potentially blow up and suffer to the finish.

With a field of only around 300, this race generally doesn't boast a deep field, but about half the time the winner has posted times under 2:40 so it was uncertain if I would have competition or not.  Regardless of who was out, I was planning to run my own race.

Race start was a reasonable 9am, but it required a shuttle out to Sequim where the race began.  After a small loop in that town, the course continued toward Port Angeles and was primarily on a paved trail.  Chris Calendar won this race last year and gave me some useful info on the course.  It wasn't overly hilly, but did have several steep climbs out of creek valleys plus a few gradual climbs.  Luckily there is a nice downhill on the later section of the course and after that, it is pretty much dead flat along the water.

I took an earlier shuttle than required so had to wait nearly an hour before the race started.  Since it was a marathon, I did not need to do any warm-up since I didn't want to be on me feet any more than required.  On the start line, I chatted a bit with other Victoria racers, Mark Richie and Craig Payne who were both hoping to finish in the 3 hour range.  I bid them good luck and soon we were off.  The one nice thing about the marathon is that the start feels quite comfortable and almost effortless.  Of course, near the end of the race that same 'effortless' pace becomes extremely difficult to maintain, but at first it feels great.

One young guy pushed ahead quite fast, but I could tell just by looking that we would be unable to maintain that pace so settled into my pace in 2nd place.  As expected, before the first mile marker, I caught and passed him and he was already breathing hard - not a good way to start a marathon!  After the race, I heard he finished in the 4 hour range and I'll wager that wasn't a fun time for him.

I needed to run a 3:48/km pace to get a 2:40 time, but since we were in the US, I had to start to think in miles a bit more.  I incorrectly converted that pace into about a 6:15/Mile (it is actually 6:06).  This unfortunately meant that I went out a little slow and this was complicated by the fact that the mile markers were not placed correcting or were completely absent in some cases.  This is my only criticism of the race.  If you are going to have markers, you should measure them out to be at least reasonably accurate - some of them were out by over 300m!  In retrospect, I should simply used my Garman to track my kilometers - it wouldn't have been exact, but would have been close at least.  What this meant was that by the time I hit  half way (or about where I though half way was since it wasn't actually marked), I was over 1:30 off my goal time.  If I was going to reach my goal I would really have to pick it up.

Luckily, the first half had felt good and well in control so picking up the pace seemed quite possible.  From that point on, I put the pressure on myself to run hard and test myself.  Unlike Boston, conditions were cool and overcast - basically perfect for running.  The aid stations were placed about every 2 Miles, which was frequent enough and I utilized most of them to grab some water or Gatorade to make sure my hydration level stayed high enough.  There were only a few spectators, but both they and the aid station attendants were enthusiastic.  The nice thing about leading was that I never once had to second guess my route choice since there were 2 lead cyclists in front of me the whole time.

To be honest, much of the race blurs together, but I do recall a lot of paved trail with a few of the afore mentioned dips for creeks.  There was a bit of a sustained gradual climb at one point which forced me to dig deep for, but which I still moved fairly well.  When I hit the 16 Mile marker, I started to count down....OK, just 10 Miles left now.  This is one advantage of the imperial system - it is easier to fool yourself into thinking it isn't that far to go!  Slowly the miles ticked off and I still continued to feel good and was able to sustain brisk pace.  With about 5 Miles to go, Chris Calandar was on course just after the big downhill to cheer me on.  He had already won the 10k race earlier in the day.

I pushed on and was soon running along the ocean on the Discovery Trail.  I had been passing early start marathon walkers and slower half marathon participants for quite some time now, but the density really increased along this section.  Many of them were great, and stopped and turned around to cheer me on when they were alerted to my presence by the lead cyclists.  It really does provide a boost, especially this late in the race so thanks to all everyone!  The miles did go by slowly at this point, but compared to how I felt at Boston at this point in the race, I was as fresh as a daisy!

I was trying to calculate how close I was to being able to break 2:40 and I knew I was on the cusp, but my fatigued brain couldn't quite figure out exactly how close I was.  With a couple miles to go, we were diverted off the flat trail to make a small detour on gravel around a construction site - it wasn't terrible, but certainly affected my time a bit.  Eventually, I saw the 25 Mile marker and knew there I was on the final stretch - at 26 Miles, I looked at my watch and saw that I had mere seconds to make my goal - I gunned it finished the last 0.2 Miles in a 3:08/km pace which I felt pretty good about.  Unfortunately, it wasn't quite fast enough and I crossed the line in 2:40:14 - so close!  I was a bit bummed to not quite make it after all that distance especially since I almost for sure could have done it if I had just been closer to on pace on the first half of the race.  Still, I couldn't be too disappointed to get the win, feel good doing it, and be very near my goal while setting a 6min PB.  Those are things that seem to be particularly tough at the marathon distance.

I found out later that Pascal Spino passed a fading Kevin Saur on the last Mile to claim second place in 2:55:06.  On the woman's side Ginger Gruber claimed the title after several previous tries in 3:28:15.  Mark Richie came in forth with a huge PB getting under the 3 hour mark.  Other than the Mile markers, it was a well run event.  I even got interviewed by a couple of local reporters after the race.  The Marathon definitely attracts the most attention.

Results

Times Colonist 10k

April 29th, 2012

Just a quick race update. This was my 10th year running the TC making it the only race I have run every year since I started running. Seeing that I am more focused on longer races right now and coming just two weeks after the Boston marathon, I didn't have huge aspirations on the day. Since I had run sub 33min earlier in the year at Cobble 10k, I was hoping to get close to 33min which meant running about a 3:18 pace.

During the first couple of kilometers I settled in and was initially on pace for around 33min with close to 3:15/km for the first two. While on pace, I felt that I was working a bit harder than I should have been this early in the race. I moved on and I reeled in a couple of quick starters. I had my eye on Ben Brzezynski just ahead of me who had just ran around 32:30 at the Sun Run two weeks ago. If I could keep him close, I could probably end of with a decent time.

The 3rd km was slower at 3:20, but not too bad and by the 4th I was back on pace. Unfortunately, I knew the climb up to Mile 0 was coming so maintaining that pace would be tough. Even though I felt that I was pushing pretty well and I did make some ground on those in front of me, I did slow on the climb somewhat, hitting a slowest km of 3:28 for the 6th km. I should have been able to gain some of that time back on the decent from the high point, but I still found myself behind pace. I didn't feel that I was really hurting, but I still couldn't I pick it up any more. Around 7km, I noticed Ian Hallam pulling off to the side ahead of me. I'm not sure what happened as Ian is quite a fierce masters runner.

While I knew I was off my goal time, I still pushed ahead feeling like I could get a decent finish. With about 1km to go, Kelly Guest was pushing hard to the finish and passed me. I picked it up a bit, but couldn't quite match him. I still ended up with a 3:18 final km which wasn't too bad finished in 33:30. This was a bit slower than I had hoped, but not a total disaster either. Kip Kangogo won overall with a 29:51 finish with Willy Kimosop just 14s behind. Ben ended up 23s ahead of me. Natasha Wodak-Fraser clinched the woman's win in 34:32. I was very pleased to see two of the runners I coach, Heather Afford and Larry Nylan both posted PB's.

Next Race: Elk/Beaver 50k.

Results.

Splits: 3:15, 3:16, 3:20, 3:15. 3:23, 3:28, 3:25, 3:23, 3:23, 3:18

Boston Marathon

April 16, 2012

For many runners, running the Boston Marathon is a lifelong goal.  Since you have to qualify to run at Boston by running another marathon under a certain time (the specific time depends on your gender and age) just getting to the start line is a big accomplishment.  It is often referred to at the Olympics for the everyman (or woman) although there is no doubt that it takes a decent amount of dedication and discipline to run a marathon to begin with, let alone having to do it relatively fast.

While it wasn't on the very top of my bucket list, it was something I wanted to someday accomplish.  As Sonja had qualified back in 2010 while running the Victoria Marathon, I decided to go ahead and get in a qualifying time so that we could both go this year.  I almost waited too long, but did manage to get a marathon in Edmonton last August in time for registering for Boston.  I didn't train specifically for that race so didn't push myself to my limit, but got the job done (Running 2:47).

This time around, I upped my long runs and managed to get in about 12 more than 20k with 6 of those being over 30k.  I also kept up my speed work and did a handful of ~1 tempo runs.  I certainly could have done more, but I was hoping it would be enough to get my goal time of 2:35 (3:40/km pace).  

We planned our trip to have a few days to visit Boston as neither of us had been there before.  We had two full days before race day and one full day afterwards to hobble around.  Boston turned out to be quite a nice city to visit with very friendly people and some great historical sites and architecture.  I would definitely recommend it if you are in the area.  We also spent some time checking out the massive race expo and managed to pick up some sweet shoe deals.

Boston Sky line

Sonja and I at the Race Expo

Weather predictions before the race called for a heat wave just in time for the race.  I didn't worry too much about it as stressing about it wouldn't change anything.  Race organizers encouraged racers to not run if they were not prepared well enough.  It turned out 4,700 people choose not to run (out of 27,000).  I expect that most of these people were charity runners/and or local Bostonians.  I can't imagine that too many others from out of the city would forgo running when they have already spent time and money training, and travelling.

Even with reduced numbers running, getting everyone to the start line (42 km away in this point to point race) was quite an undertaking.  It took us nearly 40min waiting in line to get onto a bus.  By the time we finally reached the start area, I had just enough time to use the facilities, drop my bag off, and take a quick photo before walking over to the start line about 1km away.  It was definitely warm but not extremely hot at this point.  I still opted to race without a shirt as I knew it would get even hotter as the day went on.

I was feeling pretty good and felt ready to take on the challenge.  Despite the anticipated heat, I still choose to stick with my original plan hoping that it wouldn't affect me that much.  The course started with some significant down hills in the first 10k so I expected my times to be a little faster than goal pace, but I definitely didn't want to beat my legs up too much on the down hills since they would be needed later.

The elite field of men were brought to the front just ahead of where I was standing.  There was some amazing runners in that field including Geoffrey Mutai who set a new course record and world best time with an unbelievable 2:03:02 clocking last year.  At best, I could run 2km at the pace he ran the entire marathon in!  Being in the first corral (out of 9) in the first wave (of 3) was great as it meant that it took just 15s to crossing the starting mat.  I was worried there would be some congestion, but as soon at I crossed the mat, it was smooth sailing and I could set my own pace.  

I settled into a comfortable pace and cruised down the initial hills.  The course loses about 200 feet of elevation in the first 5km so I knew it would be a quick start, but I tried very hard to make sure I wasn't beating myself up too much.  I crossed the 5k mat in 17:46, which was about 30s ahead of schedule.  The next 5k went by right on track, hitting 10k at 36:03 and things continued to feel pretty good.  It was warm out, but it didn't seem to be effecting me too much.  There were plenty of other people running around me, but I didn't stick with anyone in particular, determined to run my own race.

The crowds were not thick at this part of the race, but still quite supportive which was great.  There were water stations every Mile so Gatorade and water were never far away.  As the race progressed, they became all the more important.  I rolled through 15k in 54:41 still on pace.  While not struggling, I was noticing that I seemed to be working a bit harder than I should have been at this point.  I know that if you don't arrive and the halfway mark feeling very comfortable, things are going to go bad.  By the time I had hit 20k in 1:13:41, I had slipped a bit from my goal, but I still thought that I could have a reasonable finish.

One of the features of the Boston Marathon is Wellesley College, which is an all girls school just after 20k mark.  They are famous for giving out kisses and holding a ton of funny signs and their cheering was very loud!  I didn't stop to get kissed, worried that I wouldn't get going again, but it was great fun to slap hands with many of them - it was certainly a nice little boost.

Unfortunately, it didn't last and the race and heat began to wear on me.  By 25k, I had fallen about 1 min back from my goal pace.  I started mentally adjusting my goal and still thought that a sub 2:40 time was possible.  We started to run through some towns with great crowds.  The spectators were really fantastic and enthusiastic.  There were tons of them giving out oranges, ice, water, and other treats.

As great as the crowds were though, they couldn't take away the fact that the heat was rapidly draining me.  I poured a ton of water on my head and headed though several spray stations.  It helped, but was never enough to cool the body sufficiently.  By 30k, I was 2.5 min behind schedule.  Still not a total disaster, but I had 12k to go.  It also didn't help that the Newton Hills start around this point and consisted of 4 modest hills with the last being the steepest most notorious Heartbreak Hill.  Normally, these hills would not have been too bad for me, but in my weakened state, they really hurt.  I was very grateful to get over the last one, but by the time I crossed the 35k mat, I had dropped 3 more minutes.

I managed to speed up slightly on the downhill, but I was pretty much in total survival mode by this time.  I just wanted to be done.  I never considering stopping or quitting, but it each Mile seemed to last an eternity and it literally felt like I was crawling.  I had long ago stopped looking at my Mile splits as I didn't want to see what my watch said.  With about 2k to go, another shirtless racer caught up to me and encouraged me to hang on to him.  I thanked him, but said I had really had nothing in the tank - I could barley maintain my pace let alone increase it.  He took off, but then a few hundred meters down the road, he apparently hit the wall and I passed him again. I don't know where he actually ended up finishing, but it was somewhat amusing at the time.

Over the last mile, I got passed by a steam of runners pushing for the finish.  I really wanted to be one of them, but it just wasn't in the cards.  The crowds were massive and screaming at the top of their lungs, but I just about tuned it all out in my desire to get to the finish line.  I finally limped over it at 2:46:54, nearly 12 min off my predicted time.  I was disappointed with my major fade, probably the worst that I've ever had, but at the time I was just so grateful to be done.  On the plus side, I placed 156th which was about where I expected to be with my goal time - it was obvious the heat took its toll on everyone.  One of unfortunate things is that I will never know what I could have run under better conditions, but I guess I'll have to tackle another marathon to find out.

It was a tough day for nearly everyone and negative (or even splits) were few and far between,  Even the Elite fields were close to 10 minutes slower than normal.  Fellow Victoria, Chris Callendar, also felt the heat  and finished off his goal time.  Sonja faired better, while she was also off her goal time, she ran a smart race, only losing about 2 min on the second half.

Results.