The race weekend went perfect.
I took Friday off work to drive to Ottawa so I wouldn`t have to rush getting there. It`s about a 5 hour drive without stopping, however I stopped along the way. Once, for coffee, then I met up with my parents
(they were camping the week prior and ending it at Ottawa
). We stopped for lunch in a nice little town an hour outside Ottawa. Altogether it took us 7 hours.
On Saturday we went into Ottawa, picked up the race kit and walked around downtown. We went back to our campsite in the afternoon as it had an indoor swimming pool and my kids wanted to go swimming. I went for a lite jog and then joined them in the pool. We went to my cousins` house for dinner.
The race had a 9:00 start
(which I really like
) the full mara started at 7:00
). Having done this race last year and reviewing the race map I was ready. I started looking for my coral and I was quite shocked at how close to the start line I was. It took 34 seconds to get to the start. I had written in marker on the back of my hand the 3 goals I had to hit
(5, 11 and 16 km times
). I`ve tried the wrist bands but they never work well once the get covered in sweat and water. The first KM I was way too fast, under 4:00 min, then by km 5 I was more then a minute under my time that I required. My wife, kids and parents were near the 11km marker so I was pleased when I was able to see them. My dad took some good pics, I will post them.
The race started to get hard around the 14km point mentaly, so I just focussed on getting to the 16 km marker on time, after I did that I knew it was all flat to the finish line. The last 750 meters was tough and my heart rate sky rocketed to 105%. My avaerage for the race was very high as well, 94%.
Post race, I grab my food and drinks and started looking for a place to stretch, the legs were and still are sore.
We went back to the camp site where my parents had to leave, after saying good bye I went for a swim with the boys.
On Monday we had to pack in the rain, then we all went for another swim before we left for the long ride home.
I was pleased with my time 1:39:04 and the fact that I placed 541 out of 8300 ish.
Thanks for all your support guys.
Nathan