The Long Run

The Long Post on the Long Run

I had trouble sleeping last night for a couple of reasons. One was the fact that I kept waking up waking every time I moved my legs because my thighs were aching. I’m going up the stairs on all fours and can only sit in chairs that have arms so I can push off when I need to get up. I’ve done some reading on marathon recovery this morning and have a massage booked at 1 p.m. Tomorrow I shall try to pedal my bike, though it seems far from a sure thing.

But the second reason for my lack of fitful slumber was due to my replaying the race and my training over and over again trying to figure out why I missed my goal and, more importantly, what I learned from the experience. I’ve broken it down into three categories:

External Factors
This is the least important of the categories because as my friend Rob likes to say when I gripe about race conditions “it’s the same for everybody.” And it bears mentioning that two other Spec runners, Susan Clairmont (sub 2hr) and Barry Gray (sub 1:50) set personal bests in the half marathon. So did a lot of other folks I’m sure. In other words, it wasn’t that bad out there.

Still, two things threw me off. The first was the wind. I hate the wind. A lot. I find it frustrating and annoying and I let it get in my head all the time. As we were driving to the start I saw a flag stiff against the breeze and said:  “Oh no, it’s really blowing.”

It wasn’t too bad early on. The wind was behind us on the long leg at the start of the race but heading back towards the Parkway on the uphill section along Twenty Road it was right in our faces. It wasn’t helping along the Red Hill either and it was really bad along the Waterfront Trail during the last few kilometres. I let it get to me.

The lack of eLoad on the course was also a factor on my fragile psyche. My race fuel strategy was dependent on having an electrolyte drink available at every aid station. There wasn’t. During the last 15 or so kilometres, there was only one aid station that still had eLoad. The rest had run out. The high school kids who were handing it out and cheering like mad seemed sympathetic and I didn’t scream at them but I sure wanted to. How could they give away my eLoad? I was like an eLoad junkie, I would sold my grandmother’s TV for some.

How big an effect did this have on my race? It’s hard to say. But I didn’t help my state of mind, that I know for sure.

If I ever do a long distance race again, I’ll have to figure out a better fuel strategy. Gels, beans, cocaine – I can’t run out of juice and it was stupid to depend on others to provide it.

Race factors
I also made some mistakes in my race management. My split time through 10km was almost perfect, right on the 5:39 per km pace I set for myself. But my Garmin read 10.2 km as I passed the 10km course marker, meaning I thought I was behind. So I picked up the pace through the middle 10 km trying to make up that time – I ran 10km to 15 km in 5:30 per km.

This was stupid. I should have just held the pace and hoped the Garmin got it right in the end – sure enough it was less than 100m off by the end of the race.

But I also had delusions of grandeur. Feeling so good at 10km and 15km I wanted to go a little harder to see if I could set a really good time for myself. Every single thing I read before the race says not to do this. I did it anyway because I am a moron.

I also tried to make up time on the downhill section of the Red Hill Parkway. I did, but it pounded my legs into Jell-O. It was my burning quads that slowed me down in the end – something I hadn’t experienced in training – and it was that section on the Parkway that did it, I’m pretty sure.

Finally, and most importantly, I underestimated the power of the wall, physically and mentally. Beaten by the wind and the lack of eLoad, my quads burning, my goal time sliding away I passed the 32km marker and slammed into the wall. Ten more kilometres at my goal pace seemed impossible. I felt completely demoralized, utterly spent. I wanted to quit the race, set fire to my running shoes sell my bike for scrap and eat my way to 300 pounds, never to race again. Even though I knew this moment was coming, it still crushed me.

I didn’t quit but I did the single thing I swore to myself I wasn’t going to do: I started to walk. From 32km on in, I ran 800 metres and walked 200m of each kilometre. It was the only thing I could do and still finish.

Even now, less than 24 hours later, I wonder why I didn’t just push through. Where was my strength, my toughness, my resolve? I was still in pretty good shape time-wise: maybe I could have made it… but at that moment, it was so overwhelmingly there was nothing to do but try and survive and that meant walking. All I can say is that at least I didn’t quit.

The real culprit for my performance is, of course, my training. In just 24 hours, I’ve already identified some problem areas:

Too heavy
When I ran the half-marathon last year, I was 160 pounds. I ran yesterday’s race at 168 or so. Over the past year, I’ve slowly added the pounds bit by bit, mostly through bad diet choices. Part of it is that I eat out once a week as a food reviewer and some of those meals are caloric bombs. But the real culprit is too much wine, too much bread and other carbs and not enough discipline. I can probably get away with one bad meal a week, but I have to watch my diet the rest of the time. I haven’t and lugging eight extra pounds 42.2km sucked. I’m pretty sure I could run at 155 if I put my mind to it.

Not strong enough
When I first got myself in shape, weights and core strengthening were a regular part of my exercise routine. But in the last year, I’ve focused exclusively on cardio and that’s a mistake. I need to get stronger in my legs and through my trunk again.

Not enough prep time
Trying to ramp up the mileage for a marathon in six weeks was lunancy. Though I’d done some longer runs in prepping for Around the Bay in the spring, 24km was my longest. This summer, I was really bike-focused as I tried to improve that phase of my duathlon racing. It worked too. But duathlons are about steady, threshold efforts – high intensity for medium duration – my longest race all year was 90 minutes, my longest run a cumulative 9km. It’s different beast than the endurance effort of the marathon.

It wasn’t until I finished bike racing in September that I turned my mind to the marathon and that wasn’t enough time to build the endurance base I needed, principally because there were…

Not enough long runs
I did just five long runs in my training, and only one over 30km. I never hit the wall in training so when it arrived on race day, it was a shock. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I ran out of gas right at 32km – the same distance as my last long run. I’ve never been a big believer in lots of mileage for race prep, but if I was to do a marathon again I would several more long runs, in both length and duration. My brother-in-law Rob, a marathon veteran, advised me to do at least one run that was as long as my goal time, but at a slower pace, just to be on my feet that long. I wish I’d listened. Next time around, minimum training time at least 12 weeks and preferably 16.

Not enough race pace
Another Rob piece of advice I ignored. I did all my long runs at 6:00 min per km even though my goal pace was 5:40 per km. Though I know the risk of injury is higher when running at a faster pace, I wish I had better prepared by body for the toll that pace would take.

So what next? While most first-time marathoners apparently dread the idea of another in the wake of their inaugural race, I don’t feel that way: part of me wants another kick at the can so I can achieve my 3:59 goal.

But I have a decision to make on the direction of my training. I think it’s very difficult to train for both short course duathlons and marathons at the same time. They require different training plans and a different focus. While I think I could run half marathons, even the Bay, and excel at the duathlons, marathons require a different kind of training.

And they are a time killer. While my wife and children were extremely supportive of this endeavour because it was a life goal for me, I’m not sure improving my time will get the same level of support. My wife, who took up road cycling this year, has talked about training together for some events, like century rides. That’s very appealing in many ways.

While I enjoyed marathon training, I missed my bike and part of me thinks I lack the singular focus it requires to be a real marathon runner. I blame TV. One way or another, I plan to map out a year-long race calendar shortly and once I choose a focus, I’m sticking to it. I won’t be adding a marathon with six weeks notice the next time around.

With that in mind, I’m also going to design a year-round training plan with my goals in mind. I’m going to get strong, build a base, and then increase my intervals and speed work. This season, I just biked and ran without a focus and the result was too many junk miles. I’ve gotten to the point where in order to improve, I need to be smart and focused, whatever the goals may be.

I want to thank some people. Sports editor Rick Hughes for the opportunity to write this blog; co-worker Rob Faulkner and brother-in-law Rob Henry for their advice and guidance; co-workers Susan Clairmont, Carmelina Prete, Barry Gray, Jen Moore, Peter Haentjens, John Rennision and Scott Gardner for their advice, encouragement, loans and training runs. I hope we form a kick ass Around the Bay squad next year.

And there were a couple of blog readers including Mark Collis at www.ontherun.ca and Marky Mark at www.markymarkisonthemark.blogspot.com who were helpful with their comments. They seem to be much more committed runners (and bloggers) than I.

And thanks to race organizer Gord Pauls for linking the blog to the race website, driving up traffic and my ego when I got recognized by fellow runners while I picked up my race kit on Friday. And to all the volunteers, particularly the kids at the aid stations who cheered madly as I staggered through. The kid who gave me banana from his backpack at 36 km should be nominated for Sainthood.

Finally to my wife, Nicola and my two daughters. They have been so wonderful as I slogged my way through long training runs, various ailments and constant nattering about the latest web article on running. Not to mention the constant writing about running. Never once did they make me feel bad about this self-indulgent endeavour; in fact, quite the opposite. They are proud of me in a way that is more rewarding than any medal or finishing time could ever be.

Despite the pain in my legs and regardless of the clock, it feels pretty damn good to say this one thing, a title that will stay with me the rest of my days:

Drew Edwards, marathon runner.

4:24:55

That's the time for my first marathon. And despite the fact that it's light years away from my 3:59 goal time, it was absolutely the best I could do today. While there were a number of external and internal factors that led to my performance - I'll dissect them here over the next few days, in a nutshell two things happened: the weather killed me (it was cold and worst of all windy) and I hit the wall around 30 km mark and never really recovered.

First the weather. The first part of the race wasn't bad and I was on pace through 21km but on the run down the Red Hill Parkway the wind picked up and battered me senseless. It was like running in a wind tunnel. I watched as my pace per km just faded away. I'm not the only person who felt the effects: the winning time was 2:15:50, a far cry from the 2:11:00 record on Canadian soil set this year at the Toronto Waterfront. And the winner was one of the supposed race rabbits for the guy going for the record.

But more telling, 81 people of the 570 that started today's marathon dropped out - a rate of almost 15 per cent. By comparison the Toronto Marathon (not to be confused with the Waterfront version) suffered an attrition rate of just 1.5 per cent. I'm not the only person who thought the conditions sucked Welland Canal water.

Though I didn't quit, the thought did occur to me around the 30km mark. My legs turned to lead, my race goal had gone poof and I was running low on energy. One of my biggest criticisms of this race - and the Road2Hope people have been great to me, linking my blog to the main page and driving traffic through the roof so it pains me to do this - is that aid stations ran out of electrolyte drink astonishingly early. I would say half the aid stations I passed were out and that includes almost all of them during the last 15km when I really needed it. If it wasn't for some Westdale students who bailed me out with a banana and a clementine from their personal stash around 37km I might have bonked. Never again will I make a joke about the dorks carrying fuel belts on a marathon course.

But the truth of the matter is I wasn't ready for how hard this really was. I've already made a mental list of what I'll do differently next time but I want to mull it over for a day or so before sharing. Plus, I'm exhausted.

But I'm pretty sure there will be next time. This was a great learning experience but I think I have a better performance in me. I'm not dissapointed but I want to do better.

Here we go

Not a lot time this morning but a quick post to say good luck to the runner's out there and stay warm to all those in the cheering section.

Look for me near the back... and suffering.

T-minus...

OK, I'm ready. Except for the clothes - I'm still humming and hawing about what to wear. But other than that, I've got everything set to. And I'm feeling nervous.

I got two contradicting pieces of advice on the clothing decision today. A Runner's World article I read said overdressing is common among first-time marathoners and the temperature once I get rolling will feel roughly 9 degrees hotter than the actual temperature. On the other hand, Susan Clairmont said she talked to people who ran the 5k and 10k today and they said the waterfront trail was windy and cold. I'm hoping I'll wake up just knowing what the right decision is.

My eight-year-old daughter just went to bed. I'm not sure I'll see her before we leave in the a.m. so she gave me a kiss on the hand and told me to rub it on my cheek when I was tired tomorrow and that it would be like she was pushing me on. I'm going use that tomorrow, I promise you.

While running a marathon is in many ways a solitary effort, it really requires my whole family. My wife encouraged me because she knows running a marathon was something I've always wanted to do and I'm in pretty good shape - who knows what the months and years ahead will bring, she said. But she's had endure weekend long runs of over three hours, managing our two kids for not just that period but the recovery time afterward. My super long runs were essentially day killers.

And of course that's less time for the kids with Dad. But I want my kids to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and I think the best way for them to learn that is to see it in action. I think setting difficult goals and striving to reach them is a good lesson too. Most rewarding things in life aren't instantaneously achieved but that's a tough lesson to pass on to your kids for whom gratification is easily attatinable these days. But you can't click-on a marathon, or play it on the Wii. Maybe that's me rationalizing my own selfish, self-gratifying behaviour but at the very least I hope my passion for it rubs off.

I'm now looking forward to tomorrow. It scares the hell out of me but that's a good thing - the last thing that scared me this bad was probably fatherhood. Smaller challenges - those to do with career or money or other such things - seem less daunting as I gain experience in life. But this feels strangely important, like something I really have to do for myself.

I'm ready, let's do this.

As soon as I figure out what to wear.

A little pick-me-up

Down to Confederation Park this afternoon to grab my race kit, which is always a neat experience. Makes me feel like a member of some cool, moderately healthy club. I never factor in the race t-shirt, the medal or the various other swag you get when I sign up so it always seems like an unexpected present to get the stuff. It's like getting money back for empties at the beer store: the deposit is just factored into the price and the cash I get back seems like free money.

The technical t-shirt is OK. I like the red and the material seems nice. I got the medium, though it seems unusually long in the arms. I'm not crazy about the design: too much writing on the front. I want it to say DREW'S FIRST MARATHON but I think I'll have to get those made up myself. I was looking at some other Road2Hope clothes but held off getting the VISA out. I figure the one T and the finishing medal is probably enough evidence.

Carmelina Prete, Spec reporter and fellow runner, has a piece on marathon pace setters in tomorrow's paper. I'll link to it in the morning. While the focus is on the high end guys who are trying to help break the Canadian record, there is also a little on pace bunnies who help set the tempo for us plodders. I'm not planning to use the 4hr pace group - I've got my own plan and I'm sticking to it - but I suppose I'm bound to come across them at some point.

I feel rested and ready. I feel strangely calm, as if my body and mind are preparing themselves for what they know is a Herculean effort ahead. I find myself thinking a lot about the last 10km, that unknown territory where I expect things will be really difficult. I'm trying to visualize what that's going to feel like physically and mentally so I don't crack when hurting really arrives. I feel confident I can do that first 32 - it's the last 10km that scare me.

Countdown

Doing nothing feels weird. After following a fairly rigid workout routine for most of the last six weeks and having been in training pretty much since early January when I started prepping for Around the Bay, not exercising seems an unusual thing to do. Still, I think it's best. There isn't anything to be gained by training at this stage and resting up will allow the nagging injuries to heal. I've stopped having my daily glass of wine (or two) and am trying to drink more water. I am going to bed early too...

I'm entertaining myself in other ways. I've been contemplating picking up a new mountain bike so I've been internet shopping and checking out bike stores. I miss riding, something I haven't really been able to do since I got serious about the marathon. I have a road bike, but it's now a little chilly for that most days and I don't really want to expose my sexy road machine to the unseemly elements. But trail riding is still great this time of year. I have a 16-year-old mountain bike but it's not really trail worthy anymore: no shocks, old geometry, v-brakes... and it's amazing what you can get for $500 these days... After the marathon, I'm planning to give the running a rest and hop back on the bike.

I've also kept up my reading. The most recent addition of Canadian Running magazine arrived today and it has a section on good places to run in Hamilton and a bit of info on the big races including the Road2Hope. Eric McGuinness, another Spec co-worker, keeps sending me links on injuries and he sent another one today. Maybe its his way of telling me what I'm doing is insane. At kilometre 37 on Sunday, I'll likely agree.

My brother-in-law Rob is also coming in for the race. He's an Air Canada pilot based in Calgary. He was a pretty serious marathon runner until a couple of years ago when he spent a year trying to qualify for Boston, only to get a cramp late in the race and fall short by less than a minute. He was so crushed he basically stopped running altogether. But I think he's got the bug again and it will be interesting to see whether being around a race inspires him. Though I'll likely be less than inspiring.

I'm also making post-race plans. I'm going to an Indian buffet place for my post-race meal with my wife and Rob - ironic that I'll have to walk to get my food. Then I'm going to come home and drink Magner's Apple Cider, watch football and fall asleep on the couch. Then I'm going to Lick's Hamburger around the corner for a steak sandwich, onion rings and milk shake. I'm taking Monday off and my wife has booked a massage for me in the afternoon. Essentially, I'm planning to be sore, hung over and outrageously flatulent the day after the race. I wonder if I can skip the marathon and go right into recovery mode?

I'm going to pick up my race kit tomorrow afternoon with Susan Clairmont, a Spec columnist who is doing the half-marathon. She was complaining today how she wasn't ready and hadn't trained enough and blah blah blah... Susan has run Around the Bay in 2 hrs 59 min and 3hrs 7 min, so I don't believe a word she says. I think she can break 2hrs for the half if she wants. Photog Barry Gray is also doing the half and trying to break his PB of 1 hr 53 min. Barry's also got two marathons under his belt, including a 3 hr 58 min effort I'm covetous of. I'll see if he wants to join the race kit recon team tomorrow as well.

People keep asking me if I'm ready. Because I've never done this before, it's hard to know if I've trained enough or properly. In the last few days before a race, I always feel this nagging doubt that I haven't done enough. But there's not much to be done about it now... the sun is coming up on Sunday and I'll be running 42.2km, right to the bitter (or triumphant, or likely both) end.

Some links

A rest day today - they may all be rest days until Sunday - but that doesn't mean we can't do a little marathon-related reading (and watching and listening.)

Let's start with a little shameless self-promotion: my column in the Spec on my goals for the marathon. I'm pretty happy with how this piece turned out, though I'm concerned it will seem dated five years from now with all the Sarah Palin references. Unless she's U.S. President by then.

The New York City marathon is taking place on Nov. 2 as well and the New York Times has some great stuff regarding the race. The Times does some wicked interactive web stuff and their route map is no exception. They've also got an interesting piece on how the swelling numbers of popular marathons is creating problems.

I've also started reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. I requested it from the public library - there was a waiting list - and through devine providence it arrived yesterday. It's quite good so far. It's a thoughtful book about the role of running in his life. His first marathon was an assignment from Runner's World magazine and he ran from Athens To Marathon - the original marathon route - by himself, not as part of any race. I can't find the original article - it's partially reprinted in the book - but here's the I'm A Runner feature from RW.

There's also a couple movies about running I want to see. Run For Your Life is a documentary about legendary New York Marathon race director Fred Lebow. And Run Fatboy Run is a romantic comedy about a guy who runs a marathon to win his fiancee back. It's directed by former Friends star David Schwimmer.

The weather for Sunday has changed again. It's still variable cloudiness but they are calling for a high of 13 degrees. That'd be shorts and t-shirt weather. Twenty per cent chance of rain and 20km/h winds from the southwest. According to RW, 13 degrees C or 55 degrees F is the perfect marathon running temperature.

The last run... I think

Did what could be my last training run today at lunch, 6.5 km at race pace of 5:40 per km. It went well.

I ran with my Garmin and set the training partner for distance and pace - it then gives you a reading as to how many metres in front or behind your goal pace you are. I've decided that I'm going to use this method for tracking my pace during the marathon and not my heart rate monitor/stop watch combo. I'm also going to print out a little pace chart so I can check my splits every 5km to make sure my Garmin hasn't gone haywire.

After doing a little reading, I've decided against the heart monitor because it's likely my heart rate will be artifically elevated, especially early in the race, due to adrenlaine. If I use it to guide my pace, I'm likely to end out going out too slow or too fast because the reading won't be the same as training. The Garmin isn't perfect, but I think it's the best choice.

It was only about 4 degrees today - the same temperature as they are projecting for race day - so it gave me a chance to try out my gear set up. I wore a long sleeve MEC biking jersey (I like the cut, the pockets and the zippered neck) with my Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon Technical T from Adidas over top. MEC tights and shorts. MEC headband with ear covers and Running Room gloves. The final verdict: too hot.

The tricky thing is that it will likely be cool at the start and then heat up by mid-morning and I will be heating up too. I think I will wear my zippered MPG t-shirt (it has a small pocket too) with my bike arm warmers. That way I can peel them off if I get hot. It's the combo I used on two of my long runs. I'll wear tights with shorts over top, just so the running masses don't have see me in all my tighted glory...

I also picked up some cheap stretchy gloves and a $1 ear warmer headband that I'll stretch over my hat for the only going, then discard it when I get hot. Ditto with the gloves. I also picked up a new pair of Sony headphones because my old ones have been cutting in and out on my last few runs. Reliable tunes are second only to shoes (and probably shorts) in terms of importance.

My last Spec column runs in the Sports section tomorrow and it outlines my goals for the race. I'll link to it tomorrow.

I might run once more Thursday, it depends how I feel. I'm tempted to just rest up for the last four days and save it all for race day...

It would be a nice drive...

I spent my lunch hour driving the Road2Hope marathon course just to get a sense of it. I did the same thing when I ran the last leg of the Around the Bay 30km relay two years ago and found it was helpful - it was good to know the insanely steep Valley Inn Road was coming ahead of time.

Here's what the Road 2 Hope course looks like:

On my drive today I found no such soul killer as the Valley Inn Road but there were some interesting elements to the course. The first thing I noticed is how rural it is. The first portion of the marathon is run up on the escarpment and it travels along narrow, two-lane backroads with corn fields, cows and rural homes as scenery. It's quite nice and it reminded me of the Goderich area where I did a couple of my long training runs. It's an entirely different vibe than running along urban streets.

The terrain along those first 15 km is pretty flat, just the normal rollers you find in most of Southern Ontario. My only concern is that much of it - about 9km - is due West and quite open so if the wind blows at all, it will be right in our faces. The terrain changes at about the 17.5km mark when there is a substantial hill leading up to the turn at Groves Road. It's a series a longer, steady climbs that will likely sap whatever sense of freshness - and happiness - I might have remaining.

Once onto the Red Hill Parkway at the 21km mark, the scenery changes dramatically. The highway is wide and markedly downhill for the first bit: I wonder how loud and distracting the northbound traffic will be. But after running on the tight rural roads, the Parkway is like running through a canyon of open space.

The Parkway section is only about 6.5km before the uphill exit at Barton Street. A quick stretch on Barton leads to familiar territory for us Around the Bay vets: the stretch down Woodward Avenue, up the hill, then under the QEW and onto Beach Boulevard. This is exact route the Bay takes and it's nice, though Woodward is pretty banged up and you have to watch your step. Beach Boulevard is flat as a board and at that stage - around 30.5km - hills will not be welcome.

Once down Beach Boulevard the course looks like it moves to the trail along the waterfront just before 35km. It doubles back along the trail past the Go-Cart track and then into Confederation Park. At this point - we are in the last 2km now - the map line on the course map is impossible to follow: it's not drawn accurately enough to get a good sense as to where you go.

I didn't follow the trail part at all, or the section in Confederation Park - it's not drivable. I should probably run it or bike it as they last few kms are likely to be toughest mentally, but I'm not sure if I'll have time. With the inaccurate map, it'd be guesswork anyway...

I enjoyed my drive of the course today. It's really an interesting mix of rural, highway and urban running with trail and park finish. The terrain has some challenges, but nothing as daunting as the last 10km of Around the Bay. If the weather is good - they are now calling for sunny but cold, low of -3, high of 4 - it should be a nice day.

Except for the horrible suffering of course.

Looking forward... sort of.

It's amazing how fast your body and mind adapt to distance. Five weeks ago, I did my first long run in preparation for this marathon and it was 16km. While I didn't really suffer too badly, it sure felt like a substantial effort. I remember thinking afterward: that was 16, can I really do 42?

Yesterday I did 16km at race pace - 5:40 per km - and it felt like a walk in the park. I actually did most of it well under race pace, but cranked up the last 2.5 km because I was feeling so good. It was a little chilly and there was a vicious, vicious headwind but it didn't matter. After doing 32km the week before, I knew that 16km was going to be nearly the physical or mental effort. And it wasn't.

And so that's pretty much it until race day. My plan calls for some shorter efforts this week and a little tempo work just to prime the pump but all the hard work is done until race day. Now, it's all about physical recovery and mental preparation.

My wife asked me last night if I was looking forward to the race. It's a tough question to answer. I'm looking forward to being able to say I've completed a marathon. I always enjoy the excitement of race day and the energy you get from running with a large crowd. But part of me knows that at some point next Sunday I'm really going to be suffering - at some point I'm going to want to quit, not just the marathon but running in general. It happened during the last few kms of Around the Bay and I'm sure it's going to happen next Sunday. It's hard to look forward to that.