After having such an amazing experience in 2011 winning the North Olympic Discovery Marathon (NODM), the Port Angeles NODM races are always high on my list of races to do each year. In 2012 and 2013 I had free entries, and so I ran the 10K and 5K. The 10K race in 2012 was a flat out and back course along the North Olympic Discovery Trail, starting and finishing in Port Angeles in front of the Red Lion. It was not a very competitive race, and I easily won in 37:39. The 5K in 2013 was mostly an out-and-back course from the same start/finish, but it had a nasty uphill and downhill loop thrown in. Up Ennis Street and back down the Rayonier Access Road. It was quite competitive as I ran with a young kid for the first half, but pulled ahead on the downhill to win in 17:25.
I had always planned on coming back and trying to win the half marathon (which is typically a very competitive race) to complete the series. But in 2014 the first of my two kids showed up, and it become harder to travel and train. But finally this year I was able to go back there and race the half marathon. My training wasn't great as I had been sick with minor colds on an off for a month, but I had paid my money for the race and hotel, so off I went.
A little bit of research showed that none of the previous winners were racing this year, so I thought I did have a small chance, and hoped to place top 3 at least. But to give you an idea of how hard it is to win this race - the average winning time in the half marathon is just under 1:15 (with the course record being 1:11:38). Only once in the 15 years had a winner run slower than 1:20! And considering that my PB is 1:19:50 from 5 years ago I didn't think I'd come close to that time or have much chance at winning.
Even though I hadn't done a single run over 18 kilometers in many years, I figured I would still go out at 1:20 pace (3:48/km) and try to hold on. But the course has quite a lot of hills (up and down) in the middle section, so I knew it would be hard to maintain a decent pace.
I hadn't been this excited for a race in many years. And so I put a lot of effort in before the race planning my strategy, memorizing the course and the splits I hoped to achieve. Many people will not bother to learn the course and elevation profile of a race, but I think it's invaluable, especially for longer races.
It was a lot of fun before the race started, I ended up chatting with a nice group of runners from Nanaimo, and then headed out for a 15 minute jog to get warm. The weather was overcast, and very lightly drizzling on and off, and a moderate headwind. Temperature wise it was perfect (~12 C) for racing, but rather chilly for standing around!
When it was nearly 8:30 am, I stood at the start line and sized up my competition. There was one older guy who I thought looked very serious (aka fast), but otherwise everyone looked pretty relaxed and chill. This was especially apparent as we were counting down from 10 and no one bothered to crowd the start line! They all stood back about 10 feet, it was amusing.
As the gun went off, I headed out in front, but soon the other runner caught me and we ran side by side for 500 meters to the first corner where the lead cyclists were waiting.
I was watching my pace to ensure I didn't go out too hard, and saw it was 3:40/km - slightly too fast. So I eased up a touch and the other runner (whose name was Paul) slowly pulled ahead. I suspected at that moment that I was destined for 2nd place, as he looked very fit and comfortable at that pace. And sure enough by the time we got to 5K (in 19 flat for me) he was no longer in sight except on a couple really long straight sections.
The headwind was quite strong, and it was definitely a struggle to maintain that pace. Plus the course is quite hilly from 5-11 km, so it wasn't a big surprise that my splits slowed. But there was also more trees and wind protection in this section so the wind wasn't as much of a problem. By the time I got to 10K I was well off pace (39:13) and not expecting anything much.
But as I said before - it is always a good idea to know the course! And I knew that from 11-13 km there is an out and back along Buchanan Road, so I would be able to see how far ahead Paul was and better estimate my chances (and required effort level!). I always remember that part of the course too because you run down a nasty steep switchback, then across a bridge over Bagely Creek, and back up the other side - and it's really steep. Brutally hard at ~32 km into a marathon! Even at 10.5 km in a half it felt awful. But after that is a nice downhill, so I got my speed back up and turned onto Buchanan Road. This is where the 10K race starts, and so there were still many runners/walkers were coming back the other way. I kept looking for Paul, expecting to see him (and the lead cyclists) coming back towards me. But he wasn't there. I did see one lead cyclist standing on the side of the road. Very weird.
When I got to the turnaround at the bottom of Buchanan the volunteer yelled out
"You've got a HUGE lead!" I assumed he meant ahead of the 3rd place guy. So I replied
"But there was one guy ahead of me right?" "No, you're in first place!" Complete shock. I couldn't believe it. Had I really gotten this lucky? Sure enough by the time I got back to the top of Buchanan Road, the 2 lead cyclists started going again in front of me, yelling
"Lead half marathon runner coming through" Wow. I was about as ecstatic as could be. That part of the course is also a huge downhill, most of which is actually quite runnable. So I absolutely flew down the hill (putting in a 3:25 km), sometimes pretending to be a plane because why not?!? It was such a wonderful moment. Many of the 10K walkers that I passed yelled out nice words of encouragement, it was amazing. Up and over the Morse Creek Trestle, and from there it is all flat the rest of the way - about 7-8 kilometers along the water. One funny runner yelled out
"I LOVE CANADA, TAKE ME WITH YOU!" As my singlet has Victoria, BC, Canada on it. This is one of the reasons I love this race - the timing makes it so you pass a lot of walkers and runners who cheer for you. It is such a great atmosphere.
I assumed that Paul had either pulled out or more likely missed the turn onto Buchanan and gone straight down the hill. Anyway, the lead cyclists continued clearing the way for me, as there were many 10K and 5K walkers/joggers along the trail. By about 10 miles I was definitely running out of gas, but managed to maintain a decent 4 min/km pace the rest of the way. I was pretty sure there was no way the next runner would catch me, but I did shoulder check a few times just in case. When the finish line came in sight I was absolutely giddy, and did a bit of a sprint finishing in a time of 1:22:15. Definitely not as fast as I had hoped, but considering my training (and a 36:30 10K a month ago) it was pretty much what was expected.
After the race it was unfortunately getting colder, windier and rainier, so it wasn't a lot of fun to hang around outside. I did have a few nice chats with the other runners, including with Paul who as I guessed had missed the turn and gone straight down the hill. Really tough luck for him as I'm sure he would have easily won. My best guess is he would have been in the 1:18-1:20 range but it is hard to tell. For a few days the official results had him listed as 1st place in 1:14, but I would assume that was his time without the ~1.4 km section along Buchanan.
I hung around about 15 minutes and was very surprised to the see the lead marathon runner come flying across the line in a course record time of 2:34! After that I quickly checked out of my motel and then hung around the finish line (under cover as it was raining a bit) eating as much food as my stomach could handle! Then I hopped back on the Coho ferry and back to reality.
Not only was I very fortunate with the race, but I was also lucky in that the rest of my family had come down with a nasty 24 hour stomach bug on Saturday afternoon that could have ruined my race. But I just missed it thankfully. For winning I received this lovely metal poster, and a free entry into next year! But what race should I do now?!?
My goals for 2016 are exactly the same last year - try to get PBs at 5K (Bazan Bay), 8K (BMO 8K), and 10K (TC10K). Last year I just missed at 5K, tied my 8K, and missed at 10K by a lot.
But this year with another baby due to arrive in the summer I have a little more motivation, as I am very well aware that it will only get harder to train properly with 2 kids and I'm certainly not getting any younger!
 The start.
 Battling with James Cook near halfway.
 My #1 supporter!
 The pain face.
 3rd place!
The year started off well with a new course best at the Pioneer 8K in a time of 28:29. I had a great battle for most of the race with Lucy Smith with her eventually pulling ahead in the last kilometer and finishing a few seconds ahead of me. That time is only 9 seconds off my PB, which is a nice result considering that it is January and on the Pioneer course which isn't the fastest! And having moved up into the easier 35-39 age group I placed 2nd!
Next up was my goal race for the year - Bazan Bay 5K. After 3 years in a row of running 17 flat I was again determined to break that barrier, in what I kept telling myself was probably my last shot at it. I had some pretty decent training in January and February, averaging about 55 km/week with some good longer runs (16-18 km) and the usual set of speed workouts - mile repeats, 300's, and 40 minute fartlek sessions. As always the struggle was finding/making time to train, and I did end up having to resort to quite a few night runs which I don't particularly enjoy. For specificity I also did two 5K time trials, 2 and 4 weeks out. The first time trial I did at the Oak Bay track and set a new "track 5K in training PB" of 17:48. The second 5K I went out to Sidney and ran the race course to really feel prepared. It was a bit windy (as it often is being on the water), and got off to a slow start (9 minutes for the first half), but crushed it on the way back running the last kilometer in 3:09 and finishing in 17:23 - a huge "road 5K in training PB". Most importantly it gave me the confidence that come race day (2 weeks away) with a bit of adrenaline and some competition I could drop 25 seconds. As a final workout the weekend before I ran 5x1K (also on the Bazan Bay route, 2 mins recovery) and really nailed it - 3:18, 3:22, 3:26, 3:14, 3:11 (16:31 total, 3:18/km avg pace).
So, the training was done, I knew I probably should have done more aerobic training, but it was just so hard to find the time! But at least the workouts had gone well.
This year I decided to actually taper for the 5K (unlike last year), so I only did a few strides and some easy running during the week.
Race day arrives, and the weather forecast is not ideal - rainy and pretty windy (20-30 km/hr). Typical.
As I headed out to run the course for a warm-up it was definitely breezy, but actually quite warm and sunny. But as we stood on the start line the clouds opened up and it started to pour with rain. Ugh. I went over my race plan again - aiming for splits of 3:22, 3:25, 3:25, 3:20, 3:15, halfway at 8:30, 3K at 10:12
Bang, off we went. First kilometer was crowded as usual, and I was running with my friend Mike, but it got too crowded and I couldn't run the pace I wanted so I moved to the outside and picked up the pace. Got to 1K at exactly 3:22 - perfect! The 2K is slightly uphill and with the wind blowing I wasn't able to maintain my pace and dropped to 3:33, not a good sign. Already 7 seconds to slow. The 3rd kilometer is downhill to the turnaround, then back uphill, so it is usually a bit difficult to run a fast K - I pushed down the hill but still got to halfway at 8:39. Already in my mind I was starting to give in to yet another year of running just over 17 minutes. I pushed back up the hill hoping to make up some time, but got to the 3K marker in 3:30 - still way slower than I wanted. At this point my watch read 10:25, and I knew I was now 13 seconds off pace. It was going to take a huge effort to do it. But I told myself to forget about it and just run as hard as I could. Luckily the wind was at my back and I flew through the 4th kilometer in 3:19, passing quite a few people along the way. I was now only 8 seconds behind and only 1K to go! A final 3:15 kilometer would do it... I had done it before (running 3:12 at the end of Bazan in 2013), but usually my last km was 3:18 - which surprise surprise would give me another 17:02... As always the final kilometer of Bazan stretches on and on, and it always hurts. But I knew my family would be cheering at the final corner with 200m to go, so I pushed on and closed the gap on the 3 lead women ahead of me. In the final straight away I passed 2 of them and sprinted towards the line, seeing 16:4X on the clock... finally it was going to happen! I crossed the line in a time of 16:54, having run the last kilometer in 3:09, second half in 8:15, and (since why not) a final 3K in 9:59! Phew. Mission accomplished. The photos show pretty well what I was feeling - a lot of pain! This also got me 3rd overall in my age group which is always nice - you get a medal instead of a ribbon :) Full results here.
The rest of March I mostly just enjoyed a feeling of accomplishment and didn't train too hard. I probably should have pushed it a bit more, but it was nice to relax. April arrived and I used my free entry into the Esquimalt 5K and ran a surprisingly fast time of 17:33, which is over a minute faster than last year, and good for 4th place.
Going into the TC10K I knew I wasn't as sharp as I could be, so I suspected it wasn't going to be a great race. But in the end it was a pretty decent effort, on another windy day. I was hoping to at least break my TC best time of 35:28 (from 2014), and maybe have a shot at my 10K PB of 35:18 (Sun Run 2013). So I had hoped to run the first half in 17:35 to give myself a good chance and maybe even a sub 35 clocking. I started out really strong and got through the first 4K in 14:05, and 5K in 17:42. A little slower than I wanted, but already going up towards Clover Point it was very windy and slow. Sure enough the 3 kilometers along Dallas Road were noticeably slower than previous years (3:36, 44, 42) and I knew it was going to be another battle. I pushed hard, but really didn't have anything left in the tank and got passed by a few people in the last kilometer, crossing the line in 35:30, just missing out on my goal(s). It's frustrating when that happens, but looking at the positives it was a very solid even paced performance (17:48 second half) and my 3rd fasted 10K ever, despite being a few years older! Full results here.
The 3rd and final big race of the year for me was the BMO 8K, 1 week after the TC10K. I knew it would be hard to be totally recovered, but being 2K less does help! This race is always an interesting one as it attracts a lot of runners (usually over 2000) but doesn't typically get the fast/elite runners as there is no prize money or comp entries. After winning it in 2014 and a disappointing race in 2015, I was hoping to rebound this year and run a PB (28:20) and have a chance at winning. Last year's winner Tyler was registered, so I was anticipating a good battle with him as he had just run the Sun Run in 35:18.
The weather was great - warm but not too hot, no wind. Minutes before the start I ran into another runner I know called Robin, who had easily beaten me at the 2015 Victoria 8K in a time of 27:03. So I knew my chances of winning were basically zero. After a bit of a chat, and me mentioning that he should have a great chance of winning, he paused and said "well I have some good news for you... I wasn't able to register in time". The race had filled up, and he wasn't able to register! He said he wanted to run it anyway, but obviously wouldn't be officially in the race. Score.
Before the start I did my usual strides to stay warm and keep the heart rate up, then tried to find a place in the narrow start line. But it was totally packed! All the other runners had squished right up (many minutes before) and it was very difficult to find a place. Eventually I squeezed in at the end of the front row, only to have a much older woman get angry at me because "that was her husband's spot". Oops. I guess everyone is entitled to try and start at the front, but I think trying to roughly organize yourself based on finishing time makes the most sense? Anyway, the gun went off and away we went. Robin and another guy jumped in with the lead pack about 100m in, and one young guy sprinted out to an early lead. But by 500m we had passed him, and the lead pack was made up of 5 runners - 2 "bandits" and 3 official runners (I think?). I was at the back of that pack for the first 2K (so running in 3rd place), then passed one guy to move into 2nd. The lead guy had pulled away a bit, and Robin picked up the pace to stay right behind him. I would guess they were about 50m in front. Far enough that it felt like a mile, but not too far to be out of sight.
The first half was perfect pacing - 3:25, 3:37 (uphill), 3:26, 3:32 (13:58). Around the half way point I started noticing that the lead runner was looking a little more sluggish, and I was very slowly starting to close the gap. Around this point Robin took the lead and opened up a slight gap. I was amused to notice that the lead cyclist stayed right with the lead guy, and not with Robin. So clearly he was aware that Robin didn't have a bib and wasn't in the race. We passed a funny sign that read " Pain Now, Beer Later". Well said! After a slightly uphill kilometer I got to 5K at about 17:38, still very much on PB pace, and now was noticeably gaining on the lead runner (not on Robin though, he was way out front). As we came down past the lighthouse (thankfully this year we took the inner road, unlike last year where they made us run long) and in front of the Aquarium I picked up the pace and flew by the lead runner. The lead cyclist radio'd in my number, woohoo.
Around this point - 6K - we turned off the road and ran along the bike path around the Coal Harbor waterfront. It was quite fun and exciting, being in the lead with the cyclist, and having quite a lot of the half marathoners still out of course walking (and cheering). "Honk honk, stay to the left, move over, runner coming through!" Around 6.5K Robin slowed down (I assume on purpose), and I came up along side him and said something like "come on, let's go". We ran around the last part of the bike path, flew past my cheering family, and turned up the hill on West Georgia. We passed another funny sign saying " If Trump can run, so can you!". By this point I was feeling pretty exhausted and was definitely not pushing the pace. I suspect Robin was just keeping pace with me, he did push the pace a little, but mostly I was content to just grind up the hill. I did a few shoulder checks and knew that there was a large gap behind us, so I was very relaxed about holding on for the win. Of course the spectators didn't realize that Robin wasn't in the race, so they were screaming like crazy thinking that it was going to be a super close sprint to the finish. I picked up the pace around 400 m to go and suddenly Robin was gone, I assume he pulled off and got out of the fenced in finishing area. Instead of sprinting as I usually do this time I enjoyed the moment, gave a few fist pumps, woot woots, and crossed the line, breaking the tape in a time of 28:32 (for the slightly long distance of 8.15K). This race is made purposefully long for safety reasons, so they also list your official 8K time (there is a timing mat about 150m into the race), which was 28:06 - a new PB! Full results here.
It was a pretty amazing moment. I feel very fortunate to have these kind of experiences, as most amateur runners don't often get to experience what elite athletes go through. The rest of the weekend was a ton of fun spent with family and friends, and lots of good food and drink. I might go back next year to try and break 28... we'll see. For now it's time to enjoy summer, and get ready for another baby!
Wow, it's hard to believe another year has gone by, but not hard to believe that I hadn't blogged once in that time period... oops.
Anyway here's a brief recap of my 2015 running season.
In January I ran the Pioneer 8K in 28:40 which was only 2 seconds slower than my course best set in 2013, so that was a promising start to the year. But it was a pretty big positive split (28 seconds), so I don't think it was the best race strategy!
The rest of January and February had some decent training, but nothing too impressive (averaging just over 50 km/week). At the end of February I ran a 1 mile time trial at the Oak Bay track, and finally broke the 5 minute barrier with a time of 4:54. I had some pacing assistance from my wife and another friend - who alternated sprinting 200m of each lap with me. Lap times were 72, 77, 77, 68. 4 days after running the mile I did a 3K time trial put on by Chris Kelsall around Beacon Hill Park Circle Drive, and also PB'd it in 10:09. But that doesn't really say much considering I almost never race that distance! My goal was really just to run the 3:24/km pace that I needed to break 17 minutes for 5K.
That weekend was the Bazan Bay 5K, and this was the year I was finally going to break 17 minutes. Could I pull of 3 PB's in 1 week? Nope. Maybe I pushed it too hard that week, or maybe I was just starting to get sick, or maybe I was over confident, or maybe I shouldn't have worn my new 3 ounce New Balance MR5000 shoes... Whatever the reason I once again ran 17:01. WTF! My splits were almost even - 8:32 at half way, but ran out of steam (or didn't dig deep enough?) on the way back, running 8:29 (compared with 8:19 the year before). Big disappointment. 3 years in a row running 17:00-17:01.
For 2 weeks after Bazan I was pretty exhausted and sick with very little energy. I decided to try the Esquimalt 5K to keep the fitness up, but it was a very windy day and I feeling lousy (this was 3 weeks after Bazan) as I ran a very sluggish 18:37, just sneaking into 3rd place with a sprint finish. Fun event, but definitely not a great feeling race. But I did win a free entry into next year's race!
April I felt a bit off all month, but did manage to get my mileage up a bit - averaging about 65 km/week, and getting in 3 good long runs and a 5K time trial in 18:02 (Lochside trail/roads).
I had hoped to be good and fit for the TC10K (my 13th year in a row running!), but again I just wasn't on form. I don't know what was wrong the last 6 weeks since Bazan, but I clearly wasn't not running that well. I suspect I was a bit sick the whole time, and just didn't take enough down time to get over it properly.
Anyway I ran 36:02 at the TC, which really wasn't too bad except that I threw in a 3:51 K from 8-9, probably just from lack of concentration. Otherwise it was a pretty even race (6 seconds positive split), and still my 2nd fastest TC to date. All my splits were in the 3:27-3:38 range, except for the one mentioned above. So it was a good effort, just a tiny mental lapse which cost me about 15 seconds! I also came 35th overall.
The following weekend (May 3rd) I headed back to Vancouver to try and repeat as the BMO 8K champion. But once again I felt sluggish and ran a minute slower than 2014, finishing in 29:48. The course was slightly longer this year (an extra 100m around the outer Lighthouse loop) which accounts for some of that time. But anyway this year I finished in 4th place, way behind the winner Tyler Ginther (who has 2nd the year before) who finished in 28:32.
In the summer the Victoria Track Series started up, and I dabbled at a few of the distances, but mostly took the summer pretty easy. I had a decent 800m in 2:12.7, and a 1500m PB in 4:40.4.
When September rolled around it was time to get back to racing again in preparation for the Victoria 8K! First up was the MEC5K on the Goose - which I came 3rd place in a decent effort of 17:56, followed up by a "win" at the rainy West Vancouver Terry Fox 5K Run in 17:32. Then I traveled to San Francisco and ran in the Aloha 5K which was a very flat but windy race near to Golden Gate Bridge. I went out hard but quickly slowed down due to the wind and running on a sandy beachfront trail, but still managed to get the overall win in a time of 17:59. There were about 500 finishers in the race. Three 5K's in September, all sub 18 minutes!
My goal race for the fall of 2015 was again the Victoria 8K, and I was shooting for a PB. My official 8K PB was set at the 2014 BMO 8K in 28:20, but I think my fastest 8K was probably done during the 2013 Sun Run in about 28:10. Anyway, I had a really strong race, 18 second negative split (14:19, 14:01), and finishing in the same time as my PB - 28:20. It's always annoying to tie a record, but considering I was a year older it was a very good result. I also came 10th overall which is a great placing.
The rest of the year was taken pretty easy with another couple fun races at Thetis Lake (relay and Stewart Mountain short course). And as always I ended the year off with the Run Thru Time 5K. As that race is a good benchmark for my fitness level going into 2016, I was hoping to set a course record (which was 17:45 from 2013), but didn't have a great race finishing in 18:07, good for 2nd overall.
Overall it was a decent year with good consistency, no injuries, and a few PBs (1 mile, 3K, 8K tie). Total distance run was 2300 km (9 days worth of running!), and 21 races.
It was always going to be hard to follow up on my success from 2013 (where I ran personal bests in all distances from 5K to Marathon). And to add to that challenge, I became a father in February when my son was born.
But overall 2014 was a pretty decent year as far as racing goes.
I was very happy to unofficially break the 17 minute barrier in the 5K - 16:59.99 - at Bazan Bay, but I still hope to officially break it next year at Bazan Bay.
The TC10K was a bit of a surprise where I ran 35:28 in a new course best.
After the unexpected win at the BMO 8K in May of 28:20, I ran a few of the Victoria Track Races. I (just) set a new PB in the 800m of 2:11.38 seconds, and a larger PB in the 400m of 0:55.3 seconds.
The goal race in the fall was the Victoria 8K at Thanksgiving time. I didn't have great expectations for the race, but my training had be alright. I hoped to be close to the 28:20 that I had set in May at the BM0 8K. Overall it was a very strong race as I finished in 19th place overall in a time of 28:24. It was a negative split again (14:20, 14:04) too. I ended up having a great sprint off against the local sprint champ Byron Trajan, but ended up losing the battle. His 8K PB is probably at least a minute faster than mine, and he just had a little more spring left at the end of the race. Always a little disappointing to lose a sprint AND to miss my PB by just 4 seconds!
 After that it was cross country season, and I ran all 3 races at Thetis Lake. For the first time I ran the Thetis Lake Relay solo (4 laps of ~4.2km), winning that category in a time of 1:15:17 despite taking a hard fall on the final lap when I tripped over a log. Tired legs... Next up was Gunner Shaw which I didn't take took seriously and ended up in 16th place overall. Last up was the Stewart Mountain short course (~5.5 miles/9 km) which I had won in 2012. I didn't feel good in that race, but at the turn around was in 2nd place, and slowly, very slowly, closed the gap to the leader (Matthew Thompson) and ended up having another great sprint-off to the finish line across the main beach. Once again I was denied as Matt held me off to win in a photo finish. Good for him as he had been edged out by 1 second the previous year!
I finished off my year in the usual way by running in the Run Thru Time 5K at UVic. Every year I use this race as a benchmark for where my training is at leading into the next year's Island Race Series. I had run the course faster each of the last 5 years: 18:48, 18:13, 18:03, 17:55, 17:45.
This year I couldn't quite continue that streak, but did put in a respectable 17:50 and 2nd overall.
I don't know what 2015 will hold, but my fall training and racing was decent so I'm hoping to be about the same speed over the shorter distances. I plan on running the Pioneer 8K in January, Bazan Bay 5K in May, TC10K in April, and try to defend my BMO 8K in May.
Stats for 2014: 18 races and 2040 km run (over 7 days worth).
I decided to head over to Vancouver on May 3rd to do the BMO 8K around Stanley Park. I had never done any of the BMO races (8K/Half/Full), and this year I had 3 friends running the half and 2 doing the full so it seemed like a good race to do. I will also admit that when I saw last year's winning time in the 8K was ~28:30 I had extra incentive to do it seeing that I had just run 28:32 the week before (as part of the TC10K). The 8K is a large race (with almost 2000 registrants), but doesn't seem to get the elite runners. Probably because there is no prize money or complimentary entries! The timing of the 3 races worked out well for me to be able to get up early and cheer on the half marathoners, do my race, and then cheer the full marathon runners. Unfortunately it was a rather rainy day which wasn't nearly as fun for spectators or runners.
I got up at 7:30am and headed out into the rain to cheer on my 3 friends doing the half marathon. They were all in good spirits at the 10K mark where I was cheering despite being drenched (and one suffering from nasty blisters). I paced two of them for a few kilometres before turning around and going back to my room to change into a dry set of clothes and shoes! I jogged 3K up the seawall to the start of my race.
 At the start line there was a huge turn out and I saw a friendly face - Marilyn - who I had run the first few K's of the TC10K with the week before. I knew she would be the heavy favourite to win the women's race, and mentioned wanting to run sub 28 minutes (which was also a goal of mine!). As we started one guy (Drew) took off and opened up a big lead, then there was a group of about 5 runners behind him, and then me and Marilyn closely following them. Around 1.5K Marilyn overtook me on an uphill, which gave me a bit of motivation to pick up the pace. The first 2K had been run in 3:32, 3:37, but I sped up noticeably and ran the next one in 3:25.
Around this point in the race (3K) I noticed that Drew had faded and the group of 5 had caught him, and I was suddenly on the back of the lead group. Another guy - Tyler - who I had picked out from the start as looking strong took the lead and I quickly tucked in behind him. I was feeling really pumped up at this point and thought "what the hell - let's go for it!". I picked the pace up some more and pulled along side Tyler and said something like "Let's go!". I slowly opened up a small lead on Tyler and the lead cyclists (and motorcycle) stayed just in front of me honking their horns at all the half marathons who were walking at this point to make way for us. It was quite the royal treatment!
I got to halfway still in the lead at 13:55, having run my fastest K in 3:21. I thought perhaps sub 28 was a possibility! But the final kilometre of the race is a gruelling uphill finish along West Georgia so it wasn't going to be easy. I knew Tyler was still close behind me as I could hear the half marathon walkers cheering for him very soon after I was past them. By around 5K I was definitely starting to hurt, those fast K's had taken a toll on me, and I could feel my legs and lungs burning in very unpleasant way. Just hang on was all I thought. The course winds around quite a lot, and I faded a bit through 5K and I had just run my slowest K in 3:42 (17:37 for 5K). Luckily I got a second wind and picked up the pace back to 3:31, 3:32 until the bottom of the hill at 7K. I was so drained at this point that I shoulder checked a few times to see how close Tyler was - and he wasn't far behind. But the nice cyclist who was leading me said "Don't worry, you got this".
 Up the hill towards the finish I was hurting a lot, but now also knowing that it would take an amazing effort by someone to catch me, and even if he did I knew I had enough for a sprint. When it finally levelled out at the top I put in a decent sprint and broke the tape in an official time of 28:43, winning the race by 11 seconds over Tyler who had just held off Matt by one second who neither of us knew was there. It turns out that the race was purposefully long at 8.15K, and so my official 8K time was 28:20, a new PB (excluding my ~28:10 from the Sun Run last year), and also the largest race I've ever won (~1450 finishers).
After chatting with other runners for a few minutes, I tried to get out of the finish line area but it was a zoo. So many people, and very poorly organized so it took at least 5 minutes just to find the way out - which of course was the farthest point away from where I was headed - back down to Beach Ave to cheer on my marathon friends. Luckily I was able to jog the 2K over the hump back to Beach Ave and made it just in time to see them go by. All in all a great day!
Next up was the TC10K on April 27th which I was running for the 12th straight year. The first 4 were all around 42:30-43:00 minutes, the next 4 were all between 37:40-38:33, and the 3 most recent were 36:09, 36:07, and 36:15. So by that logic a 36:0x was probably in the cards? I tried to keep up my fitness by doing hard workouts during my lunch breaks, and felt reasonably good going into the race (unlike last year where I was burnt out from running 10 races in 13 weeks!). Some of my crazy friends were attempting a double race - first the TC10K then ~20 minutes after finishing the new Half Marathon. No thanks :)
Race day was forecasted to be a bit windy which isn't ideal along Dallas Road in the second half of the race where there is an uphill section. So I told myself that the first 5K was going to be "easy", and once you turn onto Dallas at 5K it was time to really focus and push up the hill (into the wind). I really wanted to try and maintain a good pace and not slow down like I usually do up the hill. I cruised through the first 5K in 3:33, 34, 34, 25, 34 (17:49). Along Moss Street my wife and son had just made it on time to see my fly by!
The wind was definitely moderate but I ignored it and pushed up the hill. The next 2K were very solid in 3:38 and 3:37. Back down the hill to 8K in 3:26 (~28:32) I caught and passed a group of about 5 runners. I started fading a bit from 8 to 9K in 3:38 and a few runners from that group passed me, but I picked it back up on the final K (3:19) and passed all of them but one (Lemlem), finishing is a new TC10K PB time of 35:28 - only 11 seconds slower than my Sun Run time of last year! I was very happy with that result, especially considering it was a 10 second negative split and very consistent pacing - definitely the most consistent I've ever run at the TC. As for placing, I was 29th overall (8th in my AG), my highest placing yet.
The following week I ran the BMO 8K in Vancouver.
I've fallen way behind in my race updates, so here's a condensed version of the first half quarter of 2014.
After a very successful 2013 I didn't have quite the same goals for 2014, especially with the birth of my first child due in February. I trained reasonably hard over the winter and through January/February hoping to maintain a decent level of fitness after the baby was born that would see me through Bazan and TC.
The year started out okay in early January at the Pioneer 8K where I ran 28:50 (12 seconds slower than 2013). After negative splitting almost every race in 2013 I made a mistake at Pioneer and went out a bit too hard. The first half was 14:15, and I faded a little bit in the second half (14:35) despite having a good battle back and forth with Damian as we tried (and failed) to reel in Brad Crowe. The final 100m sprint is uphill, and was okay as I placed 4th in 13.6 seconds (Byron won as usual in 12.97s, still not quite as fast as my 12.7s from 2012!).
The next race in the series (for me) was Bazan Bay 5K in early March which happened 2 weeks after my son was born. So the combination of lack of sleep and running in those 2 weeks meant that my expectations were not very high heading into the race. But I did manage one good training run of 6x1K on the track where the final one K repeat was run in 2:57! Which is the fastest I've ever run in training. It did help to have some fast friends out there to drag me along.
After last year's frustration at Bazan where I ran 17:01 I still secretly hoped to break the 17 minute barrier (3:24 pace). The race started out perfectly with a 3:24 opening K, but the slight uphill on the second I slowed to 3:30, and hit the halfway turnaround at 8:41. Damian had been with me through 2K, but fell off the pace and I started picking off people ahead of me. 3rd and 4th K's were 3:23 and 3:26 which meant I still had work to do on the final K to get under 17. Last year I finished in 3:12/km so it was possible... I gave it everything (and didn't make the mistake like last year of looking at my watch and relaxing!) and was very surprised with 150m to go to pass Byron the sprinter. My dream of one day have a real sprint-off with him would have to wait as I was maxed out and he was coasting :) About 50 meters into the final 100m he blew by me on his way to winning his 12th(?) green jersey. I crossed the line in 17:00. Bah. Very happy with my race (22 second negative split), but so annoyed to not get under 17. I think my sprint time of 15+ seconds was the slowest one I've done, which means probably my best race effort! A week later I decided to email the race director to find out what my fractional seconds were just in case it was 16:59.5 and got rounded up to 17. Here's the screenshot he sent me, 16:59.99! How close is that?!?
It was 8:15am. 15 minutes until the start of the race.
I put in my earbuds and headed out for one last warmup jog. The catchy piano intro started playing from Hall Of Fame by The Script:
"You can be the greatest, you can be the best.
You can be the King Kong banging on your chest..." I might have banged on my chest too. I felt a rush of energy flow through me as I flew down the gravel path heading away from the start/finish line. As I turned back towards my car the song played my favourite verse:
"You can go the distance. You can run the mile (or 26 miles).
You can run straight through hell with a smile.
You could be the hero. You could get the gold.
Breaking all the records they thought never could be broke." It was going to be a great race. I was envisioning coming back down that very same path in exactly 3 hours, seeing the finish line and knowing the race was over.
With 5 minutes to go I lined up at the start line, anxiously waiting for the race to begin. The sun was shining, and it felt surprisingly warm. I suddenly realized I was hopelessly overdressed. I rushed over to my bag (which was sitting 20 feet away - one benefit of small races!) and quickly stripped off my long sleeve shirt and tossed my gloves and toque. Back in the start line I chatted with a few runners, including my friends Mike Janes (who was amazingly running his 4th marathon this year!) and Les Disher. A girl next to me asked how many marathons I'd done - "a few" - and what time I hoped to run this one in - "I'm not sure, around 3 hours maybe. I'm just going to try and keep up with this guy" (pointing to the tall guy in a black shirt and toque, who I overheard was called Ivo and who I recognized as being the winner of this race from 2 years ago).
As the race started we all headed up the gravel path weaving through Boundary Bay Park. There was also a half marathon, 10K, and 5K race all starting at the same time, so I made sure to be right near the front so I wouldn't get held up. But as expected quite a few people zipped passed me. There were maybe 20 people in front on me when I hit the 1 km mark at exactly 5 minutes. Wait, what?!? My plan had been to take the first 5K nice and easy at 4:15/km pace. I glanced down at my watch and was relieved, but also a bit worried to see that it read 1.2 km. Okay, the markers must be off. Don't worry. But naturally I was wondering how accurate my watch was! The pace felt really easy, but I didn't want to lose 45 seconds right away.
When I reached where I knew the 2 km marker should be my watched beeped and it read 4:19. The actual marker was 200 m still ahead, right at 2.2 km. So obviously the markers were all going to be offset by 200 meters. This is why GPS watches are crucial. I decided to ignore the markers, and just trust my watch. The third km went by in 4:15, then the next two in 4:10. I took my first gel just before 5K at the first water station. My 5K time was 21 minutes flat (4:12 pace). By now all the 5K and 10K runners had already turned back, so it was just the half and full marathoners. I could only see a few runners a long way ahead.
The next 5K I settled into my goal pace of 4:05/km (4:07, 4:06, 4:05, 4:10, 4:05) reaching the 10K mark at 41:35 (second 5K was 20:35). The perfectly flat course (despite being hard packed gravel) really made it easy to maintain a consistent pace. There was a slight wind was in my face, but that meant it would be at my back in the second half. I had already taken my second gel before 10K as well - I was trying to get in some carbs much earlier in the race this time.
After the 10K, the half marathon runners turned around and headed back to the finish. I think there were 4 of them ahead of me - 2 guys and 2 girls. When I passed the 2nd aid station at 10.55K I asked "How many runners are ahead?" - "Just one!" he yelled back. Sweet. It was a 2 man battle, me and Ivo. But I couldn't even see him! Despite the course being right on the water and very straight, Ivo had gone out hard and was already way ahead. Every now and then I would catch a glimpse of the lead cyclist because he was wearing a reflective orange vest that was easier to spot. "He'll fade" I repeated to myself, "he went out too hard".
The next 10K went by very smoothly and uneventfully. I stayed relaxed but focused, and enjoyed myself - smiling at spectators and random walkers. Amusingly one spectator cheered me on around 15K saying "Go catch him!" to which I replied "I will!". It probably sounded a little arrogant, but I felt strong and just had that feeling. At 18K I took my third gel.
That second 10K took 40:29 (20:20/20:09 for 5K splits). The pace had increased slightly as each kilometer was run between 4:02 and 4:06 per km, until the 20th one which was 3:58! I knew my brother and his wife would be cheering me on at 20K, so I think my pace picked up in anticipation. It was definitely a big boost to see them. I yelled to my brother "That was the easiest 20K I've ever run!". As I headed around the loop at Mud Bay Park towards the turn around I couldn't see Ivo or the lead cyclist at all, which seemed weird. I knew he was far in front, but if he was so far in front then why wasn't he coming back towards me yet? Finally on the last corner before the turn around I saw him coming back. I mumbled something like "good job" as we passed and glanced at my watch (~1:25:50). When I got to the turn around my watch read 1:26:52, so I guessed that he was about 2 minutes ahead (~500 m). I had been aiming to run the first half in 1:26-1:27, so this was a very positive first half. In fact it was the fastest first half of a marathon I'd ever run!
When I passed my brother and his wife the second time (around 22.5K) he jogged with me and I said "next time you see me I might be in the lead!". Or not. I had increased my pace to 3:56, 3:57, but Ivo probably increased his too. I could rarely see him and the cyclist in the distance, and I didn't seem to be gaining at all. The kilometers flew by now, and they were definitely getting more difficult. I took my 4th gel at 25K, and held on to that same pace - running that 5K in 20:08.
After 25K I knew my brother was going to be cheering me on at 31K, so I decided to try and pick up the pace a bit more to see if I could gain some ground on Ivo. On the long straight stretches I could see him up ahead, and the distance between us was closing very slowly. The 5K from 25 to 30 was my fastest yet in 19:58 (and 3rd 10K in 40:06), wooohooo! When I passed by my #1 cheering squad at 31K my brother yelled "you're gaining, you're way closer to him now!". I tossed him my empty handheld water bottle (10oz) which I had been carrying up to this point. It felt really good to be free of it. I had taken my 5th and last gel, and only had a few honey stringer energy chews to last me the rest of the way (I ate two every 2 km until 40K).
This is where the race begins I said to myself. The inevitable fade is bound to happen soon, so stay strong, stay focused. You only have to run 10K more. Ever. Gotta love the logic of a tired brain!
It was around this point in the race when I realized how pain free the race had been so far. I had already run 32K at a great pace, and nothing hurt! Well that is unusual. But I'm sure the next 10K will suck, right?
Luckily (and similar to the North Olympic Discovery Marathon in 2011) I was in 2nd place and had the leader in my sights. This really helped me stay focused and keep pushing. I was definitely gaining ground on Ivo now. I felt like I could have passed him around 34K, but instead I let myself ease back slightly to conserve some energy. I wanted to overtake him "dramatically" - not slowly inch past him. I could tell he was fading now, as looked tired - he would run the long way around a corner instead of hugging the inside corner. The 5K from 30 to 35 was 20:03.
 When I was about 20 meters behind Ivo at 36K I picked up my pace and zipped by, saying something like "Great work Ivo, keep pushing man, get that PR!". The lead cyclist sped up to match my pace and off we went. I tried to make a bit of conversation with the cyclist, but he tended to stay about 10 meters ahead of me. At this point I realized again how good my body felt. Shouldn't I be suffering by now? But amazingly nothing hurt, and I was running faster than I had all race. I dropped my fastest kilometers so far - 3:55, 3:51, 3:57. I had this big goofy smile on my face and was just ecstatic to be out racing on such a beautiful day. I felt tears come to my eyes as I envisioned crossing the finish line. Not yet I thought, still 3K to go. Anything can happen.
When I passed 39K I glanced behind and saw that I had a big lead now. The 5K from 35 to 40 took 19 minutes and 42 seconds. Unbelievable. I have often visualized running the final 10K of a marathon in under 40 minutes. Well today could be that day. The final 2 kilometers were back in Boundary Bay Park on the winding gravel trail. I continued to pick up the pace, causing the lead cyclist to speed up as well. The final kilometer was my fastest in 3:50, and the final 10K took 39:30. Once again I felt overwhelmed with emotion, and fought off tears as I could see the finish line up ahead. Hearing my brother yelling "He's gaining on you, he's right behind!!!" I sprinted all out, crossing the line in 2:51:08. A new personal best by almost 9 minutes (was 2:59:45), a course record (previously 2:59), and amazingly almost a 3 minute negative split (1:26:52/1:24:27). I had fully expected to fade a few minutes and run 2:56.
The rest of the afternoon was awesome. Family friends had made it to the finish line just in time to see me cross the line, and so we all hung out for an hour in the glorious sunshine, and then had a nice lunch together before I headed back to Victoria. Unfortunately Mike didn't have a good race as he has been battling an abdominal injury and had to pull out after half way. Les on the other hand ran a very strong race finishing 4th overall in 3:07 with nearly even splits.
Post race my right hip was a bit sore, and I had a raw spot on my left baby toe. But otherwise the body felt fine. And interestingly I felt fine the next few days too. No DOMS on the quads, and I was back running 2 days later. Perhaps the softer surface and the flat course took less of a toll on my body then previous marathons?
I would highly recommend this race to anyone wanting to run a fast marathon. It was well organized, has a nice friendly small race feel.
Obviously being in November and on the water (no protection) means that the weather can be a big factor. The gravel didn't seem to be an issue. It is mostly hard packed (as long as you stay in the tire tracks) and didn't cause any discomfort. About 4 km is on pavement, and 4 km on softer gravel (at the start/finish). A few things to consider if you are planning on running this race - prepare for all weather conditions! And consider carrying water. There aren't many aid stations (5, 10, 14, 21, 28, 31), so it's hard to get in enough liquid. I carried a handheld 10oz water bottle which I swapped out at half way for a full one.
Garmin Activity, Full race results.
Note that there was a glitch with the timing system, and all the times were shifted 40 seconds faster. I suspect the glitch only affected the half marathon (since they were the ones who complained).
 I was over in Vancouver last weekend (May 26th) for the Abbotsford Run For Water 10K race. There is also a 5K, Half and Full Marathon as well, which attracted almost 5000 runners to come out and race in the rain. The forecast was decent, but ironically it was very very wet... plenty of water for everyone!
Before the race started I ran into Paul O'Callaghan, also from Victoria, who was doing the race announcing. It was great to see a friendly face as I didn't think I knew anyone else from Victoria who was racing. Plus I love the energy he brings to the job!
In my pre-race scouting I knew that last year's winner Yue-Ching (in 34:48) was registered to race again, but I was excited to find out that I had narrowly beaten him at the Sun Run by 9 seconds (35:18 to 35:27). If no one else faster showed up, perhaps I had a chance to battle for the win!
 Before the race started I was disappointed to see that Yue-Ching hadn't picked up his race package... perhaps he didn't like the rain? But that didn't last long because at the start line he appeared right beside me wearing a different bib number (in the white singlet in the middle). Apparently they couldn't find his at the race expo!
We had a nice chat, and joked around with another runner Jin (on the left in the USA tank top) who turned out to be a friend of his, and looked pretty ripped.
When the race started I was in the small lead pack of 5 or 6 runners. By the time we had looped back to the starting street (Bevan Ave) at 3K, the lead pack was just 3 runners - me, Yue-Ching and Jin. The pace was comfortable at around 3:37/km, and we were talking and joking around. Jin looked behind and announced that the top 3 places were now decided (us), and he would happily take 1st. Soon after he put in a small surge and I jokingly yelled "I see the race tactics have started!". He replied with "Well you see I've been training with the Kenyans, and that's how we do it". 
Around 4K Jin yelled back at Yue-Ching (who was hanging behind us by a few steps, and wasn't joining in our friendly banter) - "Yue-Ching - why so out of breath?". I think that may have been a mistake, because soon after Yue-Ching blew by the two of us and quickly opened up a 50m lead as we ran away from the start along McDougall Ave. Jin turned to me and said "Uh oh, I think the race is over". We both picked up our pace and tried to gain some ground back. The course goes gradually downhill at this point until the turnaround (at 6.5K), and we didn't gain an inch despite dropping our pace to 3:16 from 5K to 6K. At this point Jin pulled away from me and I let him go, reassuring myself that I would be fresher for the uphill on the way back.
Around 6.5K there was a sign warning us that the turnaround was ahead, and then 100m later another larger sign saying "10K Turnaround". But the volunteer at that sign was busy directing a car out of the way, and wasn't ready for us. So unfortunately Yue-Ching who was leading kept running past the turnaround (maybe 50-70m?), and Jin also went too far. When I got there a few seconds later and ran past (blindly following the leaders) the volunteer yelled "10K turn around is back here guys!". I immediately turned around, as did the other two, and suddenly I was in the lead! But for some reason it didn't feel right taking advantage of their mistake, so I slowed my pace slightly and let them catch me. In no time both of them went flying past with Yue-Ching quickly re-gaining a similar sized lead as before - maybe 50-100m. Hmm, perhaps I shouldn't have slowed!
As we climbed up the steeper uphill section I pulled even with Jin, and with 2K to go it flattened out so put in a surge to try and gain some ground. It didn't work, but it did cause Jin to fall off the back. The runners going the other direction were very vocal cheering for us, it was pretty cool.
The finish line was visible from a long way off, and I was still way behind Yue-Ching. I knew at 500m I had to start going otherwise the race was over. The spectators (despite the rain) were amazing at cheering for me, yelling "You can catch him!".
  So I started sprinting with about 400m to go. When I was right behind him with 200m to go and gaining fast I thought perhaps I might actually do it, but when I pulled along side he glanced over at me and then easily shifted gears, pulling ahead. I had no response and he crossed the line 2 seconds ahead of my time of 35:40. Part of me is annoyed I didn't try to catch him earlier, but the more rational part of me knows that he deserved to win and was the faster runner on the day. Plus it was my second fastest 10K ever, and considering the conditions I am very happy with my time. My half way splits were really solid too - about 17:55 on the way out, and 17:45 on the way back - so another strong negative split race!
Full results here.
Here is an amazing video of the race highlights and some neat scenes of Africa. My finishing fade out is at 1:45.
Envision Financial Run for Water 2013 Race Day Video from Run for Water.
In the other races, the marathon was won by David Palermo in 2:35 (who I believe dropped out of Vancouver/BMO part way, so a good result), just edging out Ryan Prachnau in 2:37. I heard that Jason Loutit was running, but I didn't see him finish so maybe he dropped out. Mike Janes had a great marathon too, finishing in 14th overall in a time of 3:06:02. That is nice redemption for him after having bad luck at BMO a few weeks ago.
The half marathon was won by David Jackson again, easily cruising to victory in a time of 1:10:53. This was his 4th race in 6 weekends, and he said he plans on racing Whistler next weekend too! Care Nelson also had a great race in a strong women's field, placing 2nd in 1:22:40.
The 5K (which is called a competitive "fun run") was run through the trails around Mill Lake Park. I don't think there were any runners from Victoria, but did have some fast times for a windy course with 3 people finishing between 17-18 minutes.
Overall it was a very well organized event, lots of good food after the race (yogurt with granola on top!), a nice finisher's medal, and nice shirt/hat/socks in the race package. And the atmosphere was great too, especially considering the inclement weather.
The Sun Run on April 21st was near perfect conditions. A little gusty perhaps, but not too cold and not too warm.
Leading up to the race I was feeling great - I was very satisfied with my training, especially my speed work. I did have a nagging left toe problem (seismoiditis) but I figured it wouldn't affect my race. I was well tapered, and feeling good.
The morning of the race I followed my usual routine - wake up 3 hours before the race and go for a very easy 15 minute shakeout run. I didn't really feel like running around the streets of Vancouver yet, so I ran on the treadmill at the hotel. It worked out okay despite my dislike of treadmills!
After the run I gobbled down my usual pre-race breakfast of a small bowl of yogurt, fruit and granola. Then proceeded to crank up some tunes and get pumped up! Luckily no one got to see my horrible dance moves except for my wife.
The race starts at a very reasonable time of 9am. I headed out the door at 8:25, and as soon as I started my warmup I had this sudden burst of energy and excitement. "Oh yes, I feel fast today!". A few laps around Nelson Park and then headed over to the start line. It's a nice setup - the start is on West Georgia Street (very wide, probably 4-6 lanes?) - and the first kilometer of the race course is open to seeded runners for warmup. Did a few sprints, chatted with some friends, and then it was time to get serious. I purposely waited as long as possible before moving in behind the start line to be as near the front as I could. I figure I was probably about 4th or 5th row back.
The gun went off, and away we went. The first kilometer is very fast - it's straight and mostly downhill which really lets the lead runners get off to a fast start. It was congested but not too bad at all. I tried to make the most of the downhill without getting my breathing up too much, and passed the first marker in 3:16, perfect! The second kilometer has a couple corners and a slight uphill in it and ended up being slightly slower at 3:39, but still nicely on pace and feeling good. The next two kilometers are flat and relatively straight and the goal was to maintain a 3:30 pace: 3:30, 3:34, close enough. Just before 5K there is a short and nasty hill up Hornby before going over the Burrard Street Bridge (which is also an uphill but not as steep).
I knew my friend Jonathan would be waiting at the bottom of the hill, and sure enough there he was! Perfect placement because it really helped propel me up the hill. I also knew that my wife would be waiting at the top of the hill, so I had to be smiling :) Here is a photo from the bottom of Hornby. Interestingly the guy in green and the girl in orange both finished right with me. Both of them pulled ahead after this photo but I just caught them right at the line (although the green shirt beat me even though we had the same time, and of course he is in my age group!).
The 5K was slightly slower as expected (3:43) due to the climb, but my 5K time of 17:47 was right on target for my goal of 35:30. I clawed my way up the Burrard Street Bridge telling myself that there is a nice long gradual downhill on the other side. The next few kilometers were a little bit of a blur but the pace was good: 3:33, 3:31, and 3:27. I had some more friends waiting at 8K and it really helped to keep me going. Somewhere around this point I glanced down at my watch and saw that my pace was 3:31/km... and had visions of going sub 35 minutes (3:30 pace)! But I quickly realized that my Garmin watch is never that accurate, and so in a 10K race I usually run around 50m more (10 more seconds), so I figured I was on pace for 35:20.
Right around 9K there is a short and unpleasant uphill on to the Cambie Street Bridge, and this was when the race really started to hurt. That kilometer was slow at 3:36, but luckily by then all the hard work was done. I held on along the bridge knowing my wife would be cheering at the end of the bridge, and put in one final push down the off ramp and a decent sprint to the finish, crossing the line in a time of 35:18. As the photos show, I was quite happy with that result! 50 seconds faster than my previous PR at last year's TC10K. It is also my highest ever points - 770!
Splits:
3:16, 3:39, 3:30, 3:34, 3:43 (17:47)
3:33, 3:31, 3:27, 3:36, 3:32 (17:31)
Here is my garmin activity for the race, and full race results.
After the race I met up with my wife and brother (who also ran the race) and we walked back along the course to the 8K marker. It was incredible to see the sea of runners as far as the eye could see. We relaxed in the warm sun at a friends place, and then walked over to Granville Island for some lunch. My legs felt pretty good overall. Slight soreness in my right knee but otherwise fine. We stayed another night in Vancouver to relax and enjoy ourselves before heading back to the island on Monday.
The last 2 photos are copyrighted (in case you couldn't tell) and belong to Marathon Fotos, from this website:
http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event.py?new_search=1&event=Sports%2FSTCA%2F2013%2FVancouver%20Sun%20Run&match=123.
 It's hard to believe my last post was almost a year ago! Running has been going well: no major setbacks, lots of decent training, and a few personal bests along the way.
The first 4 months of each year are always busy with the Island Race Series and the TC10K. This year I decided to add a race that I've never done before: the Sun Run. The Sun Run is a huge race that attracts thousands of runners. The race organizers cap it at 50,000 runners making it Canada's largest road race. This year it is my goal race!
Last fall I read a book called Running With The Buffaloes, which chronicles a 3 month training block of the Colorado University men's cross country team (the Buffaloes) as they gear up for the NCAA 10K Championship. It was an interesting and easy to read book which includes lots of different workouts and helps explain why we do certain workouts. And to see the benefits and downsides of pushing yourself to the limit.
After finishing the book I thought it would be fun and beneficial to replicate the workouts in the order they were done in the book as closely as possible leading up to the Sun Run. The only differences were that I wasn't going to be running 100 miles per week like the guys in the book do, and I would be running a lot slower.
I've entered all the specific workouts into a spreadsheet and shared it in case anyone else wants to follow them: Workouts from the book.
Each week follows a basic format of 4 hard workouts (Tues, Wed, Fri, Sun) and 3 easy or rest days. The hard workouts each week include one long run, one medium long run, and one or two intervals, fartleks or tempo runs.
The training is divided up into 5 stages (modified from Lydiard's teachings) which start after the usual base building phase:
| Period A | 6 weeks | Ascend to full volume: no intervals, tempos, races, etc |
| Period B | 5 weeks | Aerobic short specificity: work done at goal race pace, with full recoveries on intervals (non-anaerobic) |
| Period C | 6 weeks | Aerobic long specificity: longer intervals, still no anaerobic. Longer fartleks, mile repeats, long tempos (10 milers). |
| Period D | 3 weeks | Anaerobic specificity: short fast intervals with very little recovery. Wed/Sun long runs decrease by 10-25% in distance, same speed. |
| Period E | 2 weeks | Anaerobic speed: sprinting and intervals at faster than race pace. |
As part of my training I included 3 Island Races: the Pioneer 8K in January, and Bazan Bay 5K and Comox Half Marathon in March. Partly because they are my favorites, and partly because they are in the Timex Road Race Series. By doing the Sun Run and TC10K in April gives me the minimum required 5 races.
All 3 island races went very well. In each race I ran a negative split and achieved a personal best. At Pioneer I finally broke my old record of 29:03 from 2008 with a time of 28:39. At Bazan Bay 5K I improved by 20 seconds from last year, finishing in 17:01 (my highest race points ever - 764!). Comox was 1:20:29 (70 seconds faster than 2011 RVHM) which wasn't quite the sub 80 minute time I was hoping for but a back injury and lack of long runs were probably to blame!
Last weekend I did one final tune-up race before the Sun Run (which is this Sunday, April 21st) - the inaugural Bob Reid Magical Mile. It was an out-and-back course on the Galloping Goose which had a slight uphill on the way out and a downhill on the way back. It was a fun event which featured some very fast runners and lots of prize money, for them! I placed 4th out of 6 in my 30-39 age group with a decent time of 5:07.
The Sun Run should be an interesting race with it's downhill start, the steep climb over the Burrard Street Bridge (at 5K), and of course the other 40,000 runners!
Here's a look at the route and elevation (click for a larger version):
After the Sun Run there is not much time to recover - exactly one week after it is the TC10K on April 28th!
In my previous post I covered as many of the details as I could think of about what happens before the race starts. This entry is all about the actual race - the excitement, the pain, the heat, and the finish!
GoalsGoing into this race I set 2 goals: finishing under 3 hours again, and enjoying the Boston atmosphere. I've said to a few people that this could well be my last marathon (yes I know we all say that), so I really wanted to enjoy the experience as much as possible, and try to draw energy from the hundreds of thousands of spectators that come out to watch on the holiday Monday that is race day.
I was actually hoping for a time of 2 hours and 55 minutes. This requires a pace of 4:09 per kilometer, 20:45 for 5K, 41:30 for 10K, and 1:27:30 at half way. When the forecast showed 30 degree heat (86F) on the day, I made the foolish decision to not change that goal. Looking back this was probably not a good choice...
The Start (0 - 5 km)I anticipated a slow start due to the 2000 runners who would be lined up in front of me (I was in corral 3 and there was approx. 1000 runners per corral), but I knew that the first 6km was quite steep downhill so I figured once we started to move smoothly I'd easily be able to make up the lost time from a slow start.
It actually wasn't a slow start at all. It took me exactly 1 minute to cross the start line, and although it was very congested we all managed to move pretty quickly. My first kilometer was 3:57 which was a surprise. I was carrying an extra water bottle, and was frequently drinking from it, hoping to chuck it after a few kilometers to let my arms swing freely. I stayed to the left side of the road (which is a narrow street, one lane each way) for the first few kilometers, and this was good because I was able to move past quite a few people. After 1km or so there was a wooded area on the left with some bushes and quite a few runners stopped for a quick pee!
The first bit of chaos happened at mile 2 where the first water/gatorade station was setup. Boston does an amazing job of having water and gatorade stations every mile starting at mile 2. They have them on both sides of the road slightly staggered. This is key because when there are that many runners you simply can't get across to the other side of the road to get water! Well at the first water station I (like many others) was simply trying not to trip on the runners in front, and didn't see the water station coming up. So all of a sudden WHAM, we all ran into each other and slowed right down. Luckily no one around me fell or was hurt, we simply slowed down and carried on. But it was not pleasant. I couldn't even grab a water because I wasn't close enough to the left side of the road.
I finally finished my water bottle around kilometer 4, and was very relieved to chuck it. I hate running with stuff in my hands. It was around this time that a guy wearing a very bright yellow singlet came up beside me and asked if I was from Victoria. This confused me, but I later realized that my red Harriers singlet has Victoria, BC on the back, duh. Anyway, it turned out to be Geoff Courtnall (formerly of the Vancouver Canucks and other NHL teams) who is also from Victoria! I knew he had run a 3:03 at Victoria to qualify and was running Boston raising money for charity. For every minute he ran Boston under 3:10 he'd donate money to charity ( full details). We chatted for a couple minutes while we flew past many runners (I definitely picked up my pace a bit to stay and talk with him!). Then he slowly pulled ahead of me and I lost sight of him. While I wished him the best of luck, I was a little surprised that he'd be going out so hard...
Coming up to 5K I was trying to slow myself down because I knew I was ahead of pace, but despite the heat things felt okay so I wasn't too concerned about being 20 seconds fast. My splits were: 3:57, 4:11, 4:04, 4:15, 3:54 for a 20:22 split (4:04 pace).
5 - 10 kmThis next section is where things started to get harder. Way too early to be feeling crappy right? I was drinking water and a gatorade at every water station. It wasn't as crowded now, and the streets were a little wider too so there was more room to move which was nice. Many runners started to run almost single file along the right side of the road because it had slightly more shade from trees and small buildings.
I had some pain in my lower back as we neared 10 km, and that definitely didn't help keep my spirits up. I was also getting annoyed with my fuel belt digging into my stomach and sliding around my waist. It was a tough choice - do I wear the fuel belt to carry extra water/energy drink and hold all my gels (7)? I don't like wearing a belt, but I thought on such a hot day the belt was a good idea to have a little extra liquid and to hold the gels. But it is not comfortable at race pace, it slides around and digs in, and generally annoys me. Anyway, during a marathon these little things can really drag you down if you're not careful. I had planned on dumping the 2 fuel belt water bottles once I finished them, and then dumping the fuel belt too (and carry the remaining gels in my hand).
I knew I was going a little slower during this section, but I thought this was good to balance out the first 5K. My splits were 4:05, 4:12, 4:14, 4:20, 4:13 for a 5K time of 21:04 (4:12 pace). At this point (10K) I was exactly on my goal pace with a time of 41:26 (although looking at my results I actually crossed the official 10K line at 41:39).
10 - 15 kmIf I really had any belief that I could run a 2:55 in the heat, that changed during this section. I dropped a full minute over these 5 kilometers, and basically felt like crap. My back was still aching, and I just wasn't moving well. My splits were 4:22, 4:26, 4:25, 4:18, 4:25 for a 5K time of 21:54 (4:23 pace). Way off goal pace.
I have to say that the crowds were pretty amazing. Apart from a short section just after the start there were people lining both sides of the street the whole way. In residential areas it was families camped out on their front lawns offering oranges, water (often ice cold), or spraying you with water from a super soaker or sprinkler. In commercial areas people lined the sidewalks cheering and screaming for everyone. The ice cold water cups and bottles were the nicest surprise, since most of the official water stations had been setup for hours and were serving luke warm water.
15 - 20 kmThis section was no better than the last. The only good thing about it was the "Scream Tunnel" right at 20 km where thousands and thousands of girls from the Wellesley College lined the right side of the road where the college is. It is infamous. Everyone told me you have to run on the right side through Wellesley! So I did, and it was unbelievable. If I was single I would have definitely slowed down for a kiss. I high-fived almost everyone, and really enjoyed reading all the creative signs such as "Kiss Me! Don't worry, you're faster than my boyfriend", "I majored in kissing", "It's hot, but so are you!", etc. I especially enjoyed seeing an 80 year old woman at the end of the tunnel with a "Kiss Me" sign.
Apart from that there isn't much I remember. There was some nice shady sections as there was a park on the right side I think? My splits were 4:31, 4:27, 4:35, 4:26, 4:40 for a 5K time of 22:39 (4:32 pace). By now my overall pace was 4:18 and I knew before half way I would be going well over 3 hours.
20 - 25 kmSince the Boston Marathon has more of the downhills in the first half, I wanted to be slightly ahead of pace at half way. That way I could handle losing a minute or two in the Newton Hills which are from 25 - 33 km. Well when I got to half way and the clock read 1:31:23 I knew that wasn't a good sign! Marathons are hard to begin with, but the extra difficulty of trying to stay motivated, stay positive, keep pushing etc gets even harder when you aren't running well. If I had a clear mind I might have realized that a 1:31 half in the heat is very good, and a sub 3:05 finish is still possible (which is the Boston qualifying time for my age). But I was not thinking clearly, and still fixated on my goal of 2:55 which was long gone. So instead of taking some positives, it was all negative.
By now I had finished both the water bottles in my fuel belt, and chucked them. My strategy was to have 1 gel every 5 kilometers, so I had already taken 4 and only had 3 left for 25, 30, and 35. Somewhere during this section I decided to just chuck the whole belt too and carry the remaining gels in my hand. I definitely felt a little better, and managed to run a little quicker. A couple times I put some ice cubes under my hat which was nice as I was definitely over heating and feeling that extra bit more fatigued due to the heat (and maybe the fast start). Before 30 km I had also chucked my hat because I was too hot - a nice souvenir for some lucky spectator (or dog).
Somewhere in this section I saw a runner getting put on a stretcher and carried off the course. Ugh, not a good sign.
Being free of the fuel belt seemed to help my splits too, as my times were 4:28, 4:22, 4:24, 4:25, 4:39 for a 5K of 22:18 (4:27 pace), slightly faster than the previous section.
25 - 30 kmRight around mile 16 and kilometer 25 the course goes down a nice steep hill before crossing the Charles River. This is a low elevation point and the start of the Newton Hills. From here the next 8 km are definitely the toughest section of the course. People generally say there are 4 Newton Hills (see the Elevation Profile). Each one is roughly 1 km of uphill followed by roughly 1 km of gradual downhill with the 4th hill being Heartbreak Hill which is the steepest. I was prepared for these hills (many runners from the West Coast had told me that these were pretty small hills) and did a decent job of keeping up my pace. My splits might not reflect that, but I think it was a decent effort. The first 3 hills were definitely nothing serious at all, they just dragged on a bit. I kept looking at my watch wondering why it was taking so long!
30 - 35 kmThe couple kilometers before reaching the summit of Heartbreak Hill (at 33 km) seemed to drag on forever. I didn't stop once and still managed to keep moving reasonably well right up the steepest section of Heartbreak Hill, and gave a little yell when I finally reached the top. There is a nice steep downhill after Heartbreak, and more gradual downhill the rest of the way until the final mile. On a good day this would have been the section to take advantage of and make up some lost time. I didn't. By this point I wasn't even looking at my watch, and I had a whole new game plan now - just finish (or "get er done" as Donald would say!).
My splits were 4:42, 4:51, 5:08, 5:17 and 4:41 for a 5K time of 24:41 (4:55 pace).
35 - 40 kmIt's not good to admit it but I had definitely lost all motivation to keep trying at this point. Each kilometer was getting more painful and dragged on and on. And even though the crowds of spectators were getting louder and bigger the closer I got to the finish I couldn't find any way to get motivated to pick up the pace. In my head I had long since realized that a sub 3 hour was gone, a sub 3:05 was virtually impossible. So there really wasn't that extra incentive to dig deep. To me a 3:06 and a 3:15 were the same, and the 3:15 sounded a lot better :) I'm sure many other marathoners have reached this same conclusion!
The roads were so wide at this point that there really weren't many runners around. It felt like tons of runners were passing me (and they probably were), but I think I was actually passing more people. At one point right around 40 km a guy running right beside me face planted on the asphalt. He must have tripped on an uneven section or something. I wanted to stop and help, but in that super fatigued state I didn't want to stop moving since I felt pretty wobbly myself. There were so many spectators I'm sure someone rushed to his aid and hopefully he was able to get up and finish.
Not that you care, but my splits for this section were 5:12 (ouch), 5:12, 5:23 (double och), 4:37, and 4:58. That made for a 25:21 5K (5:04 pace). I honestly don't remember too much during this section. It was a blur, I just keep running and wishing that the turn onto Boylston would hurry up and get here.
40 - 42.2 km (Finish)Right at 40 km I must have been running beside Geoff Courtnall since our times were 1 second apart (he had been ahead of me since before 5 km), but even with his bright yellow singlet I didn't see him. He obviously suffered in the heat too and faded to finish in 3:14:xx. I had my head down and was shuffling my way towards the finish so I guess it wasn't a surprise that I missed him.
There is a nasty little underpass around 41 km where we ran under a road and back up again. It wasn't much but it still sucked. But the good news was I could finally see the turn on to Hereford Street, which meant I was only 1 km from the finish!
Hereford is a slight uphill, but once I rounded that final left turn on to Boylston a huge grin broke out on my face, and I started to run, finally. I knew my wife was cheering on the right side of the road (the shady side), so I crossed over to that side and sprinted down the final 650 m to the finish. There were so many people that I simply couldn't scan them fast enough to spot her, so sadly I didn't see her. But I still appreciate her being there and holding up the sign:
"Chris 'Chariots of Fire' is NONSTOPPABLE".
My finishing time was 3:13:30. A nice number. Not a time that I would have chosen, but all things considered it is a time I'm proud of. The experience was something I'll never forget - the whole event, the spectators, the heat. It was definitely the most unpleasant race I've done though, and does re-affirm my plan of not running another marathon. Apparently the first thing I said to my wife when I saw her after the finish was "Don't ever let me do this again". But apart from the heat and a bit of back pain I really didn't have any major physical problems during the race. It was just too f*cking hot.
Post RaceIf you want to look up any results, here is the Searchable Results Page. My bib number was 2849.
It was freakishly hot at the finish line - the pavement, the buildings, it all made for a very unpleasant feeling. We were herded down Boylston were we were given our medal, a shiny space cape, water, gatorade protein drink, a banana, and some protein bars. Eventually I made it to the bag check area and the nice volunteers gave me back my bag (very quickly, they had it ready for me before I could hobble over to the bus). I had to stop a couple times and lean up again various trucks, but eventually made it to the family meeting area. I texted my wife and lay down in the shade.
We had to walk about 2 km back to our hotel, but it actually wasn't too bad. The heat in the direct sun was still unbearable, but walking actually felt pretty good. The rest of the day I mostly napped, ate some delicious junk food, and took a couple cold showers/baths (since I was still over heating from a bit of heat stroke). By about 9pm that evening I was feeling okay enough to walk around (with medal on of course). The atmosphere out on the streets was amazing, so many people said congratulations. Anyway, that's about all I say about Boston. Will I go back and run it again? No almost certainly not. Once was enough. But it is definitely an experience I would not have wanted to miss.
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