All posts tagged BMO Vancouver Marathon

BMO Vancouver Marathon 2012 Race Report

By On May 13, 2012 In Thoughts With No Comments Permanent Link to BMO Vancouver Marathon 2012 Race ReportPermalink

You train for weeks and weeks and then it all comes down to one day. You set goals, you imagine that you’ll have a good run, or a great run. And in the end you cross the finish line, get a medal and you’re a marathoner.
A few things stood out on this run.

  1. Running buddy Kirsty and I ran well together. We rocked the hills, kept the pace sane early on, and had fun.
  2. As usual, the last 6km kicked my ass. It always does. But it kicks almost everyone’s ass.
  3. Running in Vancouver is awesome.

We ran a good first half. I owned a couple of huge hills and with a 1:56:15 for 21.1km, it was a sane pace that put us in a good position to come in under 4 hours which was the goal of my running buddy.

I defeated the Burrard St. bridge this year. Granted it was earlier in the race, but I ran up one side, and down the other. The cheering around the corner towards English Bay was amazing.

The seawall…beautiful, but mentally tough. It was once I got onto the seawall that I started hitting the wall. My first extra walk break came after 37km. And then it all started slipping away. My running buddy was running away to her sub-four and I knew I was going to be a bit slower than that.

Mentally that’s difficult because all of a sudden there’s no time goal to keep you going. I walked too much through 39 and 40km. From Denman and Georgia it was pretty good again. Walked once along Georgia and ran it in up West Pender, saw Ginny along with Miguel and Maria and made the two left turns onto West Hastings and under the Run Finish sign. Done.

Running buddy Kirsty was there and I asked her if she did it – she said yes and I was happy. Then it all hit me and I spent 30 seconds sobbing in the finish chute.

Not the finish I was thinking it would be

It’s been a tough year since the accident and I always imagined that Vancouver would be the end of a recovery journey. The fact that I ran it, and still have to go back and finish the physio for more months is tough. This race was the thing that really kept me going for the last few months through painful physio and some pretty dark days.

Four days in Vancouver with Ginny and my YYJ, YVR and YYZ run friends has been awesome. Everything I hoped for and more. I’ll be thinking about how great the run was and about how things don’t always go the way you think they will for a while. I’ll get through physio, get better and maybe we’ll come back and run the crap out of the half.

As much as I love the challenge and the reward of the full, I think I’m done with 42.2km. Maybe it won’t be forever, but I’m a five-time marathoner and I’ve accomplished all that I want to for now.

Running is a big part of my life and I’ll continue to run half marathons and work on my PB there. It’s been a great couple of years of taking on the challenge of the marathon (and beyond!).

Long Sundays, Lots of Hills

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By On February 11, 2012 In Thoughts With No Comments Permanent Link to Long Sundays, Lots of HillsPermalink

Just 12 weeks to go until BMO Vancouver Marathon day. That means just 11 more Sunday runs, all of them 19km or more.

After tomorrow’s 19km LSD, it’s at least a half marathon every Sunday until race day, with the exception of one step back week in early March when I have a mere 19km run scheduled (and the taper the weekend before).

I’m also now done with the 10km tempo runs I’ve been doing on Thursdays. The transition to hill repeats is here and that means I’ll switch to 6km on Tuesday, then hills on Wednesday or Thursday (depending on what’s going on in my life).

Hill Repeats…Ughhh

I haven’t been that committed to hill training in past years. I really don’t like doing them and I always figured that they wouldn’t make much difference. But last year in Vancouver I could have used the extra strength – it was a hilly route from start to finish. That’s the Burrard Bridge picture above and it was a killer, coming at the 39km point in the race.

This year I’m going to do them all, every week. I’m hoping that pays off with an improved performance this May.

On the schedule this week is a mere four repeats, and then I add one a week until I’m at ten by the end of March. Weeks where I’m travelling and I can do it, I’ll add in the fifth day of running during the week and do Tempo Tuesday, hills on Wednesday, a steady run on Thursday and Saturday and the LSD on Sunday. If I’m lucky that will happen maybe three or four times.

I’m off to Orlando on business this week so I should be able to get in more running, although it’ll will all be treadmill at the hotel. I’ve been to this hotel before and there’s no good roads or sidewalks around to run outdoors. It really sucks.

Selling Out

By On February 8, 2012 In Thoughts With No Comments Permanent Link to Selling OutPermalink

Have you noticed that your favourite race is selling out faster than ever before?

  • The Chicago Marathon sold out in 6 days this year. 45,000 spots. In six days.
  • The Ottawa Half Marathon is sold out four months before race day. 11,000 spots.
  • Around the Bay Road Race 30k sold out weeks ago. 8,000 spots.
  • The Vancouver Marathon is already more than 70% sold out three months from race day. 5,000 spots.

Running is definitely a sport that has been on the rise over the last few years. Races have been getting bigger, and selling out sooner. And more and more events are being added all the time with plenty of runners willing to put up the cash and run.

There is a downside to all of this popularity. Some runners are missing out on races because they don’t get registered in time. And some races have hiked fees as a way to try and temper the enthusiasm of those who want to run. Want to run the New York City Marathon and you live in Canada? First, you enter the lottery – that’s $11US with no guarantees. Then, assuming your name is pulled from the hat, you get to pony up another $347US to run the race. Crazy! Yet every year there are still three times as many people who want to run the marathon as there are entries available.

Boston has a similar problem – even if you manage to qualify, there’s still no guarantee that you’ll be able to get in thanks to the huge number of runners who are all vying for a limited number of spots.

What do you think? Is running getting too popular? What can be done to help keep race fees down and races accessible to the average runner?

Negative Splits

By On February 4, 2012 In Thoughts With No Comments Permanent Link to Negative SplitsPermalink

I’ve been focussing more on consistent running these days. That means slowing down a bit off the start and trying to keep the pace and effort consistent throughout. Running the second half slightly faster than the first half – a negative split – is proof that I maintained that consistent pace throughout and I’ve done that a few times since training started in earnest.

I’ve never run a negative split on race day, although I’ve come close. I ran the second half of the Ottawa Half Marathon in 2011 within a couple of minutes of the first half and finished with a solid personal best that day.

The reason I never negative split on race day is that I usually start too fast, because I choose a goal time that is a bit on the optimistic side. Last year in Vancouver I started well with a 3:50 goal time in mind but faded in last few kilometers (thanks for nothing Burrard St. Bridge).

I’m determined to negative split a marathon at some point and maybe 2012 will be the year I do it. I’m definitely training differently this year and I’m hoping that pays off in Vancouver on May 6.

This week’s Sunday run is 16km and we’re doing a north-south route once again. That means an uphill start, with a downhill finish and it also means another opportunity for a somewhat easier negative split.

13 weeks to go until the BMO Vancouver Marathon.

Hair of the Dog 9k

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By On January 1, 2012 In Thoughts With No Comments Permanent Link to Hair of the Dog 9kPermalink

What better way to kick off the new year than a 9k race along Lake Ontario?

I ran my first race since the summer today – a 9km called “Hair of the Dog” put on by the Balmy Beach Canoe Club. It’s a laid back affair along the Waterfront Trail and boardwalk starting at the Balmy Beach Club. The route is an out and back to the entrance to Tommy Thompson Park. The halfway point aid station features water, orange juice and schnapps.

To top it off, many runners add a polar bear dip in cold Lake Ontario at the finish (but not me).

A Quick Race Report

I ran it fairly conservatively and finished in a respectable 46:02. That’s slower than my fastest 10km time, but on a flat course with a pretty good headwind on the way back, I was very happy with the effort.

The rain was coming down pretty good just before we went outside to start, but it tapered to some light sprinkles at noon for the race. I forgot to start my Garmin until about 100m in, but that wasn’t a big deal since the time wasn’t all that important to me.

Early on I was running too fast – about 4:30/km. That wasn’t going to be sustainable for 9km, so I dialed it back and settled into a nice easy 5:00/km pace.

Around 2km I saw Mac, Lindsey and Ginny at the Woodbine Beach Pool – a little cheer station for me and a good energy boost. They were watching the Polar Bear event from a distance. As I ran by I heard the cheers from the lake as hundreds went in for a quick swim.

I chose to do walk breaks (10 and ones), which I normally wouldn’t do in a shorter race like this, but I figured why not, since it was really more of a Sunday LSD than a race.

By the halfway point at the end of Leslie St. I was feeling pretty good and started thinking about a finish time around 46 minutes. More cheering here in the form of Sam and Maria, complete with ample cowbell.

The return trip featured a decent headwind and the rain started picking up a bit through the last 2km. Running on the boardwalk was also sapping some energy – those wood slats not only give you heavy legs, but they make you dizzy too.

The finish was good – I reeled in a couple of runners in the last 200m and finished strong with Mac, Lindsey and Ginny cheering me to the line.

125 Days Until Vancouver

My BMO Vancouver Marathon schedule starts today so I can now say I’m officially in training for marathon number four which happens in just 125 days.

Thanks to Ginny and the kids for coming out in the rain to cheer dad on. And to Sam and Maria for doing the same. Miguel ran it too (kicked my ass with a 42 minute run) and topped it off with a dive into what looked like a pretty frigid lake. Better him than me.

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