Running Time

I always loved reading John "The Penguin" Bingham's articles when I first started running over five years ago. Part of it was that he actually convinced me that I was slow because I chose to be, and that it wasn't a bad thing to come up closer to the bottom than the top on the final race results sheets. Not only that, but he made me think that I was there because I wanted to be there, that I wasn't up pacing the Kenyans because I didn't want to, not because there would never be a hope in hell that I would be anywhere near them.

That self-deception wasn't such a bad thing because it kept me merrily racing away, enjoying the scenery, chatting with the other tortoises, signing on and travelling to farflung destinations in order to collect the bling.

So you assume from my tone that something has changed. Yes, it has; I've become more competitive. Faster? No, not much. A little; you know how hard it is to make up extra minutes. No, it's the Nike + and the dailymile.com that have made a difference. Every day that I run I want to shave a couple of points off the pace. Sometimes I do, often I don't. But I'm becoming more consistent, and more consistently faster. My pace is building slowly over time. I'm watching my weight and paying close attention to how I feel, how well workouts go. And friends on dailymile cheer on every little triumph.

No, I won't win any races any time soon. But I feel like I'm pushing my personal limits a bit more, getting closer to my true potential. And, as you know, that mindset translates into the rest of life; I find it harder to settle for anything second rate, I try to find a way to make it just that much better. That mindset is a wonderful thing, and that's where you want to go.

Quebec City Marathon

We arrived in Quebec City on Friday afternoon, and I walked or stood almost nonstop for the rest of the day as well as all day Saturday. Yes, I knew I would pay for this once the marathon got underway, but we only had the weekend to explore and I wasn't out to PR or anything anyway. Keep in mind that all of this walking was in a city built on a cliff, with unremitting stairs and hills and cobblestones, and endless streets of visual delights around every corner (don't get me started on the culinary delights...). So this was workout-level walking, and I was almost limping each night. Added to this was a forecast of temperatures over 30 C with high humidity for marathon Sunday. This wasn't the first hot marathon for me, but I had never been this active right before a 26.2, so it was going to be a new experience.

The 8:30 am start time was the latest I ever started a marathon as well. We stayed at a hotel quite close to the finish area, as did many runners since the start areas for the full and the half were across the (very wide) St Lawrence river. Buses were lined up outside the hotel in the morning and took us to the ferry. When we disembarked from the ferry there were more buses to take us to the start areas. Organization throughout was flawless, and I just have to say that the organizers did an outstanding job. I always like to hear John Stanton over the PA system at the start of many Canadian races; his smooth, authoritative advice settles nerves and lets you concentrate on the job at hand. He's truly the godfather of Canadian running!!

The half started at the halfway point of the full, so we only saw the slowest of the half runners during the run, kind of nice in that it meant a less crowded field. The full had just shy of 1000 runners, which is the size of race that I absolutely prefer.

And they're off! These Quebecois folks sure hoot and holler up a storm, huge enthusiasm. The first few hundred metres of the race were uphill, and it was already hot, and I was more than a little worried. However, once it started going downhill it continued to do so for more than the first half of the race. Which put myself and other 4 and a half hour types at a sub-4 hour pace, which, as all marathoners know, means payback in the last half.

But I didn't care about the impending payback. How could you, when every turn in the road opened another breathtaking vista of the old city on the hill across the vast St Lawrence river? I cursed myself for not bringing my camera on the run. Oh well. There was a nice breeze in our faces for a lot of the time, and the spectators, while few and far between, were crazy enthusiastic, even attempting English shouts of encouragement at times. Have to say, the crowds were magnificent.

So after crossing the bridge (another in an endless day of spectacular sights) the course flattened and the sporadic walking began. Lots of walking. Lots of spectators hauling out garden hoses to keep us sprayed down and going. Lots of wet sponges at water stations. And despite the almost dangerous heat, my enthusiasm never flagged; there was very real enthusiasm in the runners and in the crowd.

So I finished in 4:33, and I was gobsmacked that it was less than 5 hours after all the walking I did. But I'll take it. This is a must-run marathon for anyone who is looking for a great destination and a memorable adventure.

Marathon as Group Effort

Running a marathon is not always an individual effort. I know that my fellow runners have had an impact on the outcome of my twelve (to date) marathons in various ways.
The Waterloo Marathon was a very small field of runners. I think there were about 70 of us, but after some big city marathons I almost felt self conscious at the starting line. I didn’t know any of the other runners before we started, so I anticipated a fairly isolated run, which is exactly how it started out.
After about ten kilometres the sore right heel that I had been nursing for a couple of weeks pretty much gave up on me and I was almost hobbling along. The two women who had been close to two kilometres behind me started to catch up pretty fast. When they caught up to me we started chatting as often happens in these races. We discovered that we had other things in common (motorcycles), so it was a good time. However, I knew that I was going slower than they were capable of (one of them had just run Boston), but they were adamant that they would not desert me unless I wanted them to. And I was glad they stayed with me; it was a cold, dreary day on deserted gravel country roads with possibly one runner in sight at any time other than ourselves. It would have been a pretty dismal run without them. So we completed the course together in something over 4 and a half hours, and have been good friends ever since.
I noticed that a buddy was extremely slow in finishing the Toronto Marathon, and sure enough, it was because he was keeping another runner company because she was having a rough race. He’s one of those guys to whom that happens very often, and might help explain why he’s got the enthusiasm to have just finished his 100th marathon.
In the Niagara Falls Marathon I was rocking along at a PR pace, often with the 4 hour pace bunny and his group. They would go past me sometimes near the end, but were always in sight so I was dragged along by sheer stubborn determination to stay with them. I doubt that I could have done a PR without those guys. We all high fived at the finish line (they were still hanging around the finish area when I finally made it).
There have been instances (countless) where I’ve given an encouraging word to someone near the end who is almost at the end of their rope, and I know it’s helped them. Many times little clusters or individuals cheer each other on, make little jokes, do whatever it takes to help each other out. I’ve seen many instances of bonding, partying, and just general helpfulness at almost every marathon I’ve run.
There was only one marathon I ran that had a distinct lack of camaraderie to it that was incomprehensible to me. Runners were peevish it seemed; I didn’t see anyone with a party attitude. In fact, most runners looked pretty tightly wound up. It wasn’t really a competitive issue; we’re talking the 4 hour plus crowd, so no prize money there. Even the spectators were unenthused and tended to ignore any runners they didn’t know. It was a tad cold, but not even jacket temperature for me. Although the attitude fit the general attitude of that city in my experience, that still didn’t explain it for me because participants are never exclusively local. I don’t know, hopefully nobody else saw it like I did.

Marathon Training

I don't have a specific plan that I train by in preparation for marathons. There, I said it, and I feel like a load of guilt has lifted from my shoulders. But I should explain I suppose.
I run 10 km four mornings every week, work out in the gym two mornings, and run 20 km once a week. That's it. I run faster or slower depending on how I feel, weather conditions, etc. I change up the gym routine a bit here and there, but concentrate on upper body and abdominal stuff with a 20 minute stationary bike ride at the end as a bit of a treat. Used to get the odd squash game in there but haven't done that in a very long time. And now that the office is on the fifth floor, I take the stairs in both directions Monday through Friday (and I do that emphatically after getting stuck in the elevator for 3 hours a couple of weeks ago).
I read the marathon training plans. I agree wholeheartedly with the science that goes into the creation of those plans. However, my running and gym routine fits comfortably into my schedule and I seem to get through my four marathons a year quite well. So I'm definitely not knocking the idea of going with a plan; I strongly recommend it for everyone, especially beginners, because it gives you the structure for your training that is critical. I just believe that you have to tailor everything you do in life that's important and worthwhile to your own circumstances and comfort level to ensure that you keep on doing it.

Perspective

It's going to be hot again today, and humid. And like most of you reading this, I will be in a pleasantly air conditioned house all day if I choose to, and won't be forced to do anything unduly threatening to my health. So when I go for an exhausting run, it isn't a hardship. I think that that is something we runners sometimes miss when we talk about our endeavours. We miss the fact that a huge portion of the world's population expends enormously more calories and is significantly closer to dehydration than we can achieve merely by virtue of huddling in steaming hot refugee camps or hopelessly dirty and dangerous slums. Not that I want to be depressing; I just want to point out that our heroics, while admirable, do not approach the field of courage and bravery that our rhetoric sometimes implies. What we do is better than lazy obese people, certainly, but there is a perspective to be aware of here.

Reflections While Stuck in an Elevator

So I was stuck in the office elevator yesterday for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Bad luck; tried to leave fifteen minutes early and a transformer blew up nearby, killing the electricity in a huge area of the city.
A dimly lit, hot, 3 by 6 foot cell is not everyone's ideal place to spend time. There are a lot of things going against it, of course, all mostly obvious: no washroom, no reading, limited cell phone use since time of release is uncertain... However, there were some things to commend the experience. For one thing, you learn from experience how you will react to this claustrophobic situation. You find out whether you will panic, whether you will start going crazy, etc. No, I didn't panic, and I can't attribute my craziness to the experience. But what I discovered was a new appreciation for what it must be like for those who are incarcerated for whatever reason in such enclosures. You feel the boredom building; you get increasingly restless, distracted. Trying to imagine what it would be like for days, weeks... inhumane is what it is. Oh sure, it was an opportunity for me to concentrate on being meditative, doing some stretching, disciplining my mind to deal effectively with the situation. But it was a lark because I, unlike others, knew that I was getting out. It could take hours, but it wasn't even remotely hopeless.
So does keeping people locked up like that rehabilitate them? How could it possibly do so? Incarceration is punishment, pure and simple.
And yes, I will be taking the stairs for the foreseeable future.

Sunburst Marathon

I guess I was expecting the Sunburst Marathon to be similar to Knoxville and other smaller town marathons, and it was similar for the most part. There are, of course, the local sights and sounds that make every race unique if the race is organized in such a way as to highlight the best of the area, and these guys did not disappoint.
The expo was at the College Football Hall of Fame, which was also the starting area for the marathon. Very cool place, highly recommend it. The expo was extremely focused, virtually no vendors, and I absolutely loved that. We got signed up and back to shopping and sightseeing within minutes.
Mishiwaka has tons of great shopping, so my clan was happy and left me in peace to hang out at the hotel when I got sick of spending money.
Starting a marathon at 6 am is very civilized, especially when the temperature and humidity are already soaring at that hour. The field of marathoners was quite small, which was great because at my 10 minute pace it can be crowded sometimes. A lot of the runners were locals, quite natural, and the hoosier types are great folks. The course wasn't terribly flat, a few little inclines, which keeps the legs stretched. Endless out and backs, which didn't particularly bother me since it was unique and kind of interesting to watch other people as you meet them again. However, near the end it was heartbreaking to see some of the hardiest of the 6 hour runners limping along, although their spirit and determination really make you proud of them. Hopefully the 3 hour types think the same when they see me...
I finished in 4:28:30, not my fastest but I did some walking in the extremely humid conditions to ensure I would finish standing.
The Nore Dame field is a great place to finish, and the stands were well populated with cheering crowds so it was very cool. Popsicles at the finish was a great touch. And the best part was that the rain held off literally until I closed the car door in the parking lot at the end.
Would I recommend this marathon? 1000%.