Victoria Marathon - Run

The race itself wasn’t too packed, even at the start. I lined up towards the left side of the corral, knowing that the first few turns in the race were left turns and this would set myself up for some better corners and tangents. I was feeling great at the start, though I honestly can’t remember *too* much of it. Right on Johnson and up Johnson past the lululemon cheering crowd. There was a slightly older lady in purple who ran with me for awhile, but slowly pulled away. I would see her later on (mile 12??) when she pulled over to the side of the road and walked a bit. :( There was a much older lady who was running a few feet ahead of me and I was pretty impressed by her pace. Pretty sure she ended up winning her age group! Can't remember, though if she finished before or after me.

Once we got onto Cook, I started trying to settle in a bit more and watch my time. I saw that my pace was around 7:30 and the 3:15 pacer was right in front of me. I tried to back it down and run my planned pace, but it was actually kind of hard to back it down too much. I decided to go with it and just run by feel a little and not push myself to hard. When we came across the first water station (thankfully they had signs a few hundred meters before the actual station to warn you of it), I started yelling gatorade. Was able to grab a cup that ended up being Ultima. Tried my best to down it and keep not slow down to drink it. An older guy in a red shirt who was running in front of me with the 3:15 group asked if there was gatorade and I said I was able to get a cup of Ultima. He sounded disappointed that he wasn’t able to grab one, but made some comment like “I hope it doesn’t screw up the rest of my race”. I would come upon him much later in the race (mile 16 or 17?) when he was walking. :(

First two miles clocked in at around 7:22. I figured, might as well count that as banked time and didn’t worry too much about it. I was feeling great and honestly didn’t pay too much attention to my pace other than knowing I was running faster than I had planned. I also knew that going down Cook was flat/downhill, so I should take advantage of that early benefit.

As we went through Beacon Hill Park, I was still running behind the 3:15 pacer with a group of slightly older guys around me. Older guy in red was still there and I could hear some of the other guys chatting it up with each other. I had my GoT book on and faded in and out of listening to it. It was kind of nice sticking behind the 3:15 group, as it gave me more people to run with and helped me keep an even pace without checking my watch. At this point, I also started to see some of the people in the group slowly drop back.

Miles 6 through 12 I was just cruising. Looking at my splits now, I had one 8 minute mile (mile 11), but don’t really remember it on the run. Elevation gain on that mile was 112, so maybe that slowed me down? Honestly wasn’t even paying attention to distance or time, just kept running and was probably paying more attention to the spectators cheering us on and the other runners in the race. Had my first GU (strawberry with 1/2 shot of caffeine) at mile 8 as planned. About half a mile before each scheduled GU/aid station, I pulled the GU from my belt and held it in my hand to be ready.

Course was also interesting in that there were km flags and very few mile marker flags. Meant that there were a lot of flags we were running by, so it kind of felt like you were moving pretty quickly, but then I also knew that there were 42 of these flags along the course! It was also mentally a little difficult when I’d see the flags marking the km distance for the people heading back to the finish as I was heading out to the turnaround.

When I got to the half marathon split. I finally looked at my watch and realized that I just PRed my half marathon time. I was still feeling great at that point, but also realized I was only half way done and the worst was yet to come! At this point, it started feeling a bit more congested and I felt like I was seeing more people. The front runners were starting to make their way back as we headed out. Not sure where exactly we were, but saw Chris running back the other way. He was with a group of about 5 or 6 and we gave each other screams of encouragement and fist pumps. Looked like he was doing great and I think he could tell I was holding a good pace.

Once we hit the turnaround, it was kind of nice to see the faces of people behind me…and best of all was to see that the 3:30 pacer was minutes behind me. :) Just before the turnaround, there was an aid station. I grabbed Ultima and when I went to throw my cup to the side, a guy came flying out from my left. My cup hit him in and I apologized, but he didn’t seem to care. He was one of two runners guiding a blind runner. One runner had the blind runner "leashed" and the other was just helping to guide and get nutrition at the aid stations. I came across two of these blind runners during the race. Both seemed really strong! In fact the one I encountered at the turnaround had an Ironman tattoo on his calf and him and his entourage slowly started to pull away from me. They would finish ahead of me, though his time was slightly slower because they started 5 minutes before the regular marathon runners.

By around mile 18, I started to feel a little bit of the pain of running. Wasn’t any pain in particular. Not even a physical pain really, but a mental pain...a thought of “this kind of sucks” slowly starting to creep in. My pace was slowing a little, but didn’t pay too much attention to it because I knew I had banked a lot of time in the beginning. Every so often I would check my overall average pace and see that it was still under 7:46. I maybe checked this a total of 6 or 8 times during the race. Not as often as I planned.

As I hit mile 20, the dread really started to come in. I knew I was starting to get into unchartered territory. While this didn’t scare me, I knew I just had to keep running. At this point, we were running back through the Oak Street neighborhood. On the one hand, I was thinking only 10k more to go. No big deal. On the other hand, in my mind I was thinking about what was ahead and the actual streets/distance I still had to run to get to the finish (all the turning and neighborhoods and running along the water) and it felt like an incredible distance remained!

The rest of the marathon was honestly about just continuing to run. I wasn't paying attention to pace, only to how much I had left to run. I fought myself to keep from walking. Did everything I could to keep running, no matter how slow. I was definitely coming up on other runners who started to walk. Sometimes I'd pass them as they walked and a minute later, they were shuffling past me again as they decided to start running...and then I'd pass them once more as they stopped to walk yet again.

By the time I got to where Chris and I had run the day before, I knew I had less than 4 miles to go. And they were the longest miles ever! I came upon the aid station where I would have my last GU. I downed the GU coming into the station and grabbed a cup of water. That was the one and only time I walked during the race. It took everything in me to keep from walking any other part...especially at about mile 22.5 when we had the uphill climb along the water.

I knew my pace was slowing, but I still didn't pay too much attention. I just wanted to finish and that was my priority. I knew I was going to finish under 3:30 unless something catastrophic happened. From mile 20 until the finish, I was surrounded by new people. Not sure where they came from, but the previous runners who had stuck with me the first 20 miles were nowhere to be found. They either dropped me or I dropped them. These new runners were, I think, mostly ones who I had come up on as I slowly shuffled and they dropped their pace. Though I do remember one girl who was strong...she came from behind me and kept a strong pace, passing people (guys and girls) left and right. She didn't pass quickly, but I could tell she was running the pace we were all supposed to be running.

After the hill and the last GU aid station, I kept thinking about the next major marker ahead. Okay, just get to the refraction straw sculpture in the park...next, just get to Ogden point...next, just get to the Great Lakes streets...next just a few more turns and you'll be in the home stretch. I swear I remember one less turn than there actually was. What a huge disappointment that was mentally. The last mile, I started to worry I was going to pass out. Physically I felt fine, but somehow I was a little lightheaded and started to worry. Ran past the Blue Crab hotel (I think that's what it was called) and started to see signs...1km to go...ugh that's still around 5 minutes. 800m to go...still a few more minutes. 500m to go. I think at this point, a few guys passed me.

Finally, I made the final turn onto Belleville. The finish still seemed so far away, but I just kept running. Wasn't able to pick it up, but as the crowd started to grow and get denser, I knew I was getting close. Saw the photographer and pumped my fist. Saw Chris's head poking out from the crowd on the right.

As I crossed the finish line, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Gave the race director there a high five (was nice of him to high five every finisher!). Saw that my time was right around my goal of 3:25.

I did it! I BQ-ed!!

But boy, it was the worst feeling ever!! I was so overwhelmed. I was done. I knew the pain was over, but then again, all I could feel was pain, so it wasn't over...and didn't know what to do to make it stop. Didn't feel like eating anything (surprise!!) and didn't feel like drinking anything either. Just wanted to cry.

Nutrition – Went exactly as planned – GUs at 8, 12, 16, 21. First two were strawberry (1/2 shot of caffeine each), last two were chocolate cherry (2 shots of caffeine each). Ultima at every aid station except those where I had GUs, I took only water. One cup per station…wasn’t able to double-fist it. I know i felt light-headed, but not sure if that was a result of too little nutrition? Maybe could've had another GU toward the end, after mile 21. I'd probably go with Strawberry, since that tastes better and is a little runnier. Maybe I didn't have enough Ultima? At each aid station, I only grabbed one cup and was lucky if I managed to drink all of it (most of the time it landed on my shoe). Never felt dehydrated, though. Weather was also perfect, which helped a ton.

Maybe had another GU late in the run? Otherwise, nothing.

Overall, I'm very happy with my run and wouldn't change a thing. Being that this was my first marathon, I had no idea what to expect. While Chris had fully briefed me on his experience from CIM and what I should expect, I didn't know how I would respond and how my body would handle it all. All I could do was trust the training, which I had followed to a T. The 10k warm-up race from 2 weeks ago predicted an even faster marathon, so that gave me some reassurance that I could do this. It definitely wasn't easy, but I did everything I could to set myself up for success.

Grabbed a tyvek jacket. Took a quick finisher photo. Went over to the guardrail to meet up with Chris and mom. Cried some more.

Walked down to the food, but didn't eat anything. Just sat down. Volunteer came by and asked if I was okay. I said I thought I was. Went outside to join Chris and mom. Tried to put on clothes to keep warm. When I put on my pants, my calves tensed up. Oh. that sucked. Stretched a little, then just got some water from the volunteer and walked toward Parliament for photos.

Lunch of fried foods at Bard & Banker, then off to the awards ceremonies. Chris placed 4th in his AG, 28th overall. He picked up a sweet crystal plaque. The day before the expo, I was checking out the results from previous years and noticed they had a "Married Team" category. Took a look at the times and saw that based on our goal times, we could've podiumed. I mentioned it to Chris and we decided to sign up at the expo. The last award they announced at the awards ceremony was that category...and turns out we placed third. :) And we scored another crystal plaque. We also both managed to pick up New Balance duffle bags they were raffling. :)


Nothing.


Great race! Expo was a little lacking, but they did give marathon runners a really nice New Balance jacket. It's definitely one I'll be wearing proudly! Late start was nice. Course was clearly marked and there were lots of volunteers who seemed to be pretty knowledgeable (knew how to hold the cups) and never had to wait for drinks. Spectators throughout the course. Course itself was very pretty (through the park, pretty neighborhoods and right along the water, finishing at parliament). Couldn't have asked for a better first marathon to run!