One week ago, I ran in my second marathon. This was a very different race from the one I ran two years ago. In 2016, I ran it as a personal challenge. As someone who’s never been athletic, I wanted to see what I was capable of. The motivation this time was different. I wanted to see whether I could genuinely call myself a runner. Six months before the race, on a whim, I decided to sign up for the half marathon. I wanted to prove to myself that I was a runner. In the last two years whenever I’d tell people that I’d run the half marathon, I’d always add, “but, I’m not a runner!”.
Weather issues
This past winter was incredibly long and cold. Spring was long, cold and very rainy. I didn’t start to seriously train until a month before the race. By then, the panic started to set in. I spoke with Mathieu and he gave me a detailed plan for the weeks leading up to the race. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I could not do any of this without Mat’s advice and support. I trust him 100% and he’s never let me down.
As the weeks went by, I started to feel better about the race. I was able to run longer periods. My body felt good. I was getting ready for the big day. The week before, I ran in an RX1 Nation Race. It was a long, gruelling race that involved running to the top of a ski hill three times. Yes, three times. My knees felt very tight afterwards, but after the race, I stretched, iced my knees, and took some anti-inflammatories. Then on my last 10 km run, four days before the race, my left knee swelled up and started to hurt.
Unexpected injury
Boy, did it hurt! I had not anticipated this turn of events. But, to be fair, I’m two years older. Three days before the race, I went for a sports massage with the awesome Ute St. Jean. This lady is a miracle worker. She unknotted my back, quads and hamstrings. Then, she gave me some precise instructions. She said that if it were up to her, I would not do the race. But, she also understood all the training and prep that goes into running a long race. Her advice was twofold: if on race day, I had any pain, I was not to do the race! If, however, I had NO pain, then I was to take my anti-inflammatory along with some acetaminophen half an hour before the race start. This would prevent my compensating for my knee as I ran. She also said to run/walk so that my soft tissues could recover. Mat agreed with Ute’s advice.
Motivated by bling!
The day before the race, I picked up my race kit. Afterwards, I walked around the Health and Food Expo. The atmosphere was electric! So many people walking around smiling, chatting, tasting the various sports drinks, trying cool new gadgets. It felt good just to absorb the energy. I walked over to the Run Ottawa booth and asked to see the medals. They were beautiful! I said “I really hope I can run tomorrow because at this point it’s 50/50” The nice lady told me that I could walk it and still get the medal. From that point on, my whole attitude changed. I really wanted that medal, even if I had to walk the entire 21.1 kms, I decided that I’d do the race!
My race, my pace
Race day dawned cool and cloudy. Perfect running weather. The knee didn’t hurt, so the race was on. I was going to pace myself very carefully so that I wouldn’t further aggravate the knee. As I waited for the race to start, I stretched, breathed deeply and took in the atmosphere. I was surrounded by runners of all ages and abilities. People smiled and wished each other a good race. Mat had told me to start with the 2:30 pace bunny. I thought this was a very ambitious time, especially since I wasn’t feeling 100%. But, I did what he suggested.
For the first half of the race, the pace bunny was within a 100 feet or so of me. Wow! I couldn’t believe that I could keep that pace. And my knee felt good! After the halfway point, I started to slow down. I walked more than in the first half. I kept repeating to myself “my race, my pace”. Like my first half marathon, I found a few people that were keeping a similar pace to me. This helps me adjust my running pace. Luckily, one of these people was a guy with very cool leg tattoos! It was fun to see him directly in front of me.
Memories
The race followed the same course as two years ago. Once again, it was fun to run through my old neighbourhoods. So many memories of my days growing up in Ottawa. The spectators in Ottawa are the BEST! Large crowds cheering us on and holding up some great signs. There was also live music throughout the course. How cool is that? My favourite was the samba band playing around the corner from my junior high.
As the kilometres ticked by, I became more tired. All I knew was that I wanted to run, not hobble, across the finish line. Last time, I found the last kilometer a killer. I had nothing left in me. People would call out my name to cheer me on. This time around, I decided to walk/slow jog from KM 19 to 20. This would give my body a chance to recover so I could run the last kilometer.
Time to motivate
As I approached the 20 km marker, I started running. I saw this young woman who had been keeping my pace for a few kilometres. She had a friend on the sideline who started to video her. As her friend shouted out, she started to run, obviously happy for the support. As soon as the camera stopped, she slowed down to a walk. I ran up to her and said “this is our last kilometer. We’re going to run it together! Are you in?” She seemed surprised. I guess she didn’t expect a crazy woman to approach her, never mind suggest that we run together! But, that’s just what we did.
As we neared the finish line, I told her to raise her arms because this was a moment she’d never forget. We did just that. What a great feeling! We high-fived each other once we crossed the finish line. She thanked me for the support and we headed towards the recovery area. I’ll never see this lady again, but I’m so glad we connected in the last minutes of the race.
As an added bonus, I even managed to improve my time! Yup! One and a half minute faster! Oh yeah!!!
Love those endorphins!
One week post race, the endorphins are still pumping through my system. I love that feeling. Even post race, as my legs complained, it felt so good knowing that I had not only completed the race, but also improved my time. My knee feels ok. Not perfect, but good enough. I’ll book an appointment with my osteo; maybe I’ll go see my physiotherapist too. In two weeks’ time, I have my next RX1 race. I want to do really well. If anyone had told me 10 years ago that I’d be running in these races, I would have laughed. But, here I am, a runner!
