Post apocalyptic ponderings

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill

An apocalypse is an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale, so my title to this blog may be slightly on the side of exaggeration. My marathon on Sunday did not go quite as planned but I didn’t get sucked into a black hole or have a building crumble on top of me and I can walk today, but things did not go as planned.

The plan

The plan had been to run my best ever marathon time at the 2014 Ottawa marathon (the biggest and highest calibre race in Canada)(and pretty darn flat) by training as smart and as hard as possible with the advice of experts. I started in January with a few month preparation before for an intense build-up to the May marathon. I had a great online training program and guidance from Olympians Eric Gillis and Reid Coolsaet. The Ottawa marathon registered me and New Balance Canada and Polar Canada jumped on board as supporters.

I worked on training, pace and nutrition. I got my V02 max tested and got talked with people who know how to to achieve goals on how to achieve my goal. Through my blog and social media I kept in the loop with other Canadian runners.

I have been running for 26 years and have done higher mileage running before, so I figured I was ready and everything was in place.

The training

I logged over 2,500K from January to May, often squeezing in two or three runs a day through snow and slush, or on the treadmill. I stretched and tried to follow the other exercises and things to help me stay healthy and strong. I tried to eat healthy and only occasionally inhaled treats when my body howled for calories. I often felt tired or exhausted and slowly learned that rest was as important as running. More sleep and taking an unplanned recovery day was also important.

I did not always feel great but had the occasional training run where things fell into place and I could crank out a run at a surprising pace. Not often and often not on planned race days, but I trained on, unworried. On a nice spring day in Toronto, I set a lifetime best for 10K with 35:18. Things seemed to be on track for a good marathon performance. The long Canadian winter seemed to be ending and my hip flexors, that had taken a beating  with all the snow and slush, got a break.

I trained, stayed hydrated and focused on the goal.

The taper approached and my training started to wobble a bit. I began to feel tired and a poor half-marathon in Montreal a month before my Ottawa goal worried me. My hip flexors started to nag me again —  not enough to affect my running but enough to keep me stretching and getting massages — and I took an easier week. Things seemed to be OK.

Three weeks to go and I got my last big mileage week in. Things were not perfect and didn’t feel 100 per cent. My hip flexors tugged slightly with every run, not enough to stop me but enough to make me feel them and feel like I was not as loose and flowing on a run as I needed to be.

Taper-tantrums

The last two weeks before race were tough and I ended up referring to the feeling I had as pre-marathon syndrome or PMS. I was cranky, felt unfit and was waiting to have that rested and bouncy race-ready feeling. Plus my hip flexors were worsening. I had one taper-tantrum and sat in the bathtub after a shower -wondering if it was going to be OK.

Rested, I survived the taper. Stretching and a few massages seemed to quiet down my hip flexors. A few workouts had to be slowed but I felt okay. Race day was imminent.

The race

Sunday morning arrived and I felt rested and didn’t notice any pains or tightness anywhere. I did not feel the bouncy feeling I get when really ready to go, but thought I felt at least 90 per cent. I had also received some mental preparation advice and a message from my old running coach and friend Louis Brill in Halifax, N.S. Louis told me to smile at every mile mark and enjoy my run and the feeling. I also had the support of those who loved me and those following me. I had trained hard. I was going to run at my planned 2:40 marathon pace and take any challenges as they came and enjoy the run.

I handed in my bag for after the race. I had a quiet moment in a hotel bathroom (my secret on race day to avoid lines and porta-potties) and did my warm-up. No problems. I found my way to the less crowded  sub-3 hours corral and shook hands with my friend Frank Lauzier and with Rejean Chiasson who was pacing someone that morning. I felt OK, relaxed and positive.

The gun sounded and everyone was off in a mass of nerves, legs, arms and bib numbers. I had my Polar GPS watch and watched the pace and eased up after the first kilometre to my planned pace. I passed those who had started too quick. I watched the pace and soon found myself with a tight group of five who were all running at 2:40 pace. I think one of the guys was pacing two of the Canadian women in the group (who I think went on to finish as the second and third Canadian women). A motorcycle with the camera guy on the back filmed us for a while. The pace felt like work but only marginally uncomfortable. Doable.

I didn’t feel great, but didn’t feel bad. We passed 10K in around 38:30, a bit off pace and I had begun to drop off the back of the group. The hip flexors were rearing their heads and saying they were unhappy.

I eased the pace a bit and waited to see if I could sort things out. I held the pace under 4-minutes for a while but my form and pace deteriorated. I didn’t panic but was unhappy. I refocused and waited to see how things would play out. Had trained hard for this. Things just got worse.

After passing through the half at around 1:29 and my hip flexors tugging and hurting and running with poor form I felt finishing was possible but would probably destroy me. I decided I knew I could run the distance and had nothing to prove there and would rather try and recover, save my fitness and live to run again. I chatted with a friend on a bike who had come down to cheer me and stopped running shortly after 23K.

I watched the marathoners go by on the walk back with envy. I took a deep breathe. I was alright, it was not the end of the world and I would run again.

Thoughts

One of the main things I have learned is that I enjoy running. I have a passion for the sport, the lifestyle and for sharing it with others. I truly enjoy running, perhaps more so than racing. I enjoyed the journey of self-discovery and pushing myself extremely hard. I chose to stop on Sunday to save myself from injury and to allow myself to recover and run again. There are other races. There are more trails to run, more adventures to explore. I don’t feel defeated, just discouraged and with unfinished business.

Run on my friends. Revel in your accomplishments and find motivation through your failures.

Do you have a running story to share?

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Also catch me on Twitter @NoelPaine or on my personal blog.