Let’s give ’em something to talk about

Three weeks to go until the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (STWM).

The race will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca and will be re-aired in a packaged show with interviews, the following weekend on CBC TV.

Last week was very eventful for me, solid workout, STWM press conference, 10K race, wedding up north and a long run.  It was also an eventful week for the marathon, in Berlin, Paula Radcliffe returned with a great performance (2:23), a great debut marathon by Scott Overall (2:10:55) and the men’s marathon world record was broken by Patrick Makau who ran 2:03:38!

Check out the coverage on CBC television on Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.

The STWM press conference on Friday at the Fairmont Royal York was much better than I thought it was going to be.  Often these things are poorly attended and not much comes from them but the marathon in Canada is sexy right now and people seem to care.  After a general introduction (Dylan Wykes, Eric Gillis, Rob Watson, Matt Loiselle and myself) we had one-on-one interviews with various media outlets.  I announced that I was going after Drayton’s record, which seemed to generate a lot of interest.  For those that read this blog that should come as no surprise.  I could be very happy with my result even if I don’t get the record and I know it’s a very tough one to beat.  Having said that, I’m going to give it a shot as I feel I’m in a position where it’s possible.

Here are some of the stories that came out of the press conference.

Toronto Star/The Record

Globe and Mail

Hamilton Spectator

After the press conference Rob, Eric and I ran 10K of the course through the rolling Beaches section in the pouring rain. Today, I had an interview with CHCH that will likely air tomorrow and on Wednesday, CBC is coming to Guelph to feature Rob, Eric and I going into STWM.

At the Toronto Zoo on Saturday morning we had great weather, a formidable field and a challenging course for the Canadian 10K championships. This was the last Canadian distance championship that I haven’t won (5000m, 10, 000m, half-marathon, marathon, cross-country being the others) so I had extra motivation.

I set the pace early on with a three-minute kilometre before Josephat made a move after the 2K mark which spread out the field quite a bit.  After that it was Dylan, Eric, Josephat and I with Rob and Giitah right behind us.  After 5km (14:49) Eric pushed the pace quite a bit and then it was just the two of us by 6K.  At 8K, it was clear that Eric and I were well clear of the rest of the field and I decided to push the pace and covered that kilometre around 2:50. Gillis didn’t let me ease up any and I had to push right through to the finish. Considering how tired I felt mid-week and the challenging course, I was very pleased with my time of 29:34.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foknzgesUHU]

After the race it was another race to get to Kim and Taylor’s wedding at the French River. I checked into doping right away to fast track the process and get the heck outta dodge. I was able to pee right away but only got in 50ml of the required 90ml. This meant I had to drink a couple of bottles of water and try again.  Once again, I only managed 25ml, man I was dehydrated. But I stood there anyways with my pants down for 20 minutes trying to will anything I could into the cup. After a while, realizing nothing was going to happen I went outside, cooled down a bit and drank a couple more bottles of water. I thought I was ready but once again only 10ml came out and I was 5ml short. I knew it was enough but they weren’t budging on 90ml.

At this point, I really had to take a No. 2 and was having problems relaxing enough to pee as I didn’t want a poo party in my shorts.  Once I came to grips with what I needed to do I apologized to the doping chaperone and did my business with him two feet from me. After that, I had no problems peeing enough to meet the quota.  Two years ago at the Zoo, the process took 20 minutes, this time it was almost two hours! Hence, I was about one hour behind my schedule.

Once I got in the car my GPS said I’d arrive at 3:07 with the ceremony scheduled to start at 3:00.  I was confident I could melt off 15 minutes over a 370K drive and have just enough time to throw on normal clothes and make it. Low and behold the 3 L of water that I drank after the race caught up to me and I had to pull over four times in the first two hours for pit stops. I got to the lodge just after 3 p.m., threw on pants, shirt and shoes, neglected the socks, tie, jacket and shower.  Luckily they were running 20 minutes late and I sat down just in time.

Taylor Murphy and Kim’s wedding was a lot of fun and a good time to hang out with many good friends. Taylor is the best XC training partner I’ve had and one of the nicest dudes around. The venue was amazing but with very technical trails and asphalt roads I decided to do my 35K long run back in the Hammer. I felt really good for the run considering the previous days race, the long drive and late night. Only having one beer at the wedding saved me.