Saturday was the omen of weather to come in hindsight. The plan was to meet at the RR in Aurora at 10, load up the cars and convoy on out to Picton to the "Crystal Palace" to pick up our kits and hit the "Expo"... The wind was ridiculous, it was cool/cold and overcast and all any of us could think about was - did I pack the right clothes for the race tomorrow.... Weather reports were calling for 6 in the morning and approx. 1-3mm of rain.. Given that 1mm is the thickness of your fingernail I wasn't too concerned... Smooth drive out to Picton, and that's when it hit me how small this race was... Approx. 380 people registered but historically around 240 actually run the full marathon.. Checked out the Expo - all of 1 vendor but they were a running/tri store in from Trenton and it would be worth the roadtrip out in the Spring just to check out their funky cycling jerseys... Back into the convoy to drive the course- only 2 hills in total and of course both are at the end of the route. The first one is about 36k in and reminded me of "THE" hill in Placid as you're coming into town.. The 3nd was smaller and about 39k in... Ok - I could handle that... Off to dinner - awesome Italian place, great pasta, lots of laughs and very little talk about tomorrow... Back to the hotel to discuss morning plans - Angie our instructor had come up with an awesome plan that allowed us to convoy to the start line vs. having to use the shuttle system.. Back to the room where after some last minute chatting and organizing Chae, Natalie and I watched Run Fat Boy Run... Definitely a stress breaker for pre-race jitters...
Tossed and turned at the start but once I fell asleep I was out.. I did wake up at some point and it was raining - I was really hoping that would be the last of it....
At 6:30 we met up in the parking lot and packed ourselves into the starting line convoy. The wind was crazy, it was cold and while there was no rain it was definitely that damp feeling. We all quickly agreed that the wind wouldn't be so bad on the course as a lot of it was sheltered by trees... Checking the weather report and still only 1-3mm forecasted.. Just as we pulled into Wellington where the race started the "mist" kicked in... Got to the community center, picked up my race chip, and straight to the washroom - real bathrooms inside and not portapotties. This was kind of luxurious!! Spent the next little while figuring out what to wear and how many layers I would need.. Did some active warm-ups that my physio gave me on Thursday... Surprisingly there was no pain or stretch in my hip area - guess that whole rest/recovery concept really does work!! Teehee...
Once we were out at the start I realized just how small this race is.. Especially when for the first 4 km you have an ambulance driving behind you - please God tell me it's going to pull away?? It did.. Whew.. But I had my plan and was sticking to it. I'd printed off and made my own pace tag/card with 3 times on it - 4:55, 5, 5:15.. According to my Midsummer results 4:55 was totally realistic and not a stretch... I also had my fuel belt loaded with 4x10 oz bottles of Cytomax, 8 gels loaded in my flask, and 2 packs of Cliff Shot Blocks for when I felt I needed something "solid". For breakfast I stuck to a banana and 2 Boosts with Extra calories. The route map showed portapotties "around" the aid stations but I wasn't risking it.. I had also learned my lesson on fueling in Muskoka so had a solid plan. Take in fluids on every walk break and start with the gel at the 10K mark and then keep it up every ½ hour... The shot blocks could alternate with the gels when I started feeling the tummy rumble for food.. In the end I had to re-fill 2 bottles with on course sports drink (a new one called Xilirate, not bad and I tried it the night before to test it out), used all the gel, had 2 shot blocks left and also took in a few salt tablets and advil.... The aid stations were every 2 km and with the exception of 1 where the volunteers literally F****D off and drove away the people were AWESOME!!!
> Up to about the 10K mark Chae and I were running together and were on track for 4:55.. We'd agreed to start together and then see what happened - we wouldn't hold each other back... It had been windy when we started but not horrible wind and there wasn't any rain - yet... 12k in Chae was dropping back a bit but I kept my pace. The wind had picked up significantly in that short time and the "mist" was back. By the time I hit 18km we were entering Sandbanks National Park which is STUNNING - on a nice day... It was cold, windy, pouring rain and foggy now... The first "what the hell am I doing" through crept up but I slammed it back down again and kept running.... The fog disappeared the further away from the lake we ran but the wind and rain kept up and at times it really did feel like I was running just to stay in place and not get blown backwards... Chae caught back up around the 21k mark but by 24k she'd fallen back a bit again... Going into the race I was comfortable with the first 32k. I've done that distance in training a few times - it was the last 10.2 that made me nervous. But - I hit my wall at 26k.. There was a bus picking up relayers and spectators to move them along the route or to go to the finish and the thought of getting on and being warm was tempting. Every part of my body ached, was wet and cold.... Somehow I talked myself down and I kept running.... I hate to say it but it is a bit of a blur and before I knew it I was at the 32K marker.. One of the great things with this race is they had every km marked - that was great!!! Also - the ½ marathon markers were exactly 200m behind the full markers so I new when I passed that 11k marker for the ½ I ONLY had 10K to go.. From there it was a countdown.. Got to 9k left and woohoo - I was in the single digits...
> Hit the first hill, ran ½ of it and then walked to the top... I surprisingly felt strong but didn't want to waste that match (that still sticks with me Simon)... Used the same strategy on the second hill and then turned the corner for the final stretch...
> What amazed me and kept me going was a strategy many of my friends and fellow triathletes have shared with me that they use in a race - pick a target, catch them, pass them, pick a new target... I employed that the whole race and was so PROUD to be passing people!! Yup - me!! PASSING people!! Even in that final stretch I was passing people who had that look of defeat in their eyes.. Angie was out waiting for me at around 41k. Took my empty water belt and that's when I realized my race bib was shredded... I ended up having to hold it up as I crossed that finish line... But what a feeling.... I knew I couldn't stop moving or else I'd never get going again so grabbed a bag of chips, chocolate mild and heating blanket and started to walk back out onto the course to cheer Chae on... She came in about 10 minutes behind me and was sooo happy!!! Met up with the gang back at the Crystal Palace - everyone had a miserable race weather wise and not a lot of "happy with the time" comments.... Consensus was that was one of the worse weather conditions but what a beautiful course....
