Marathon Certificate

GLF Toronto Marathon

The Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon (http://www.torontomarathon.com/) was held on Sunday, May 1st, 2016.  As much as I’d hoped the weather would be as nice as it was last year (when I did the half-marathon), it was not.  At the 7:30am start time it was a breezy and cool 6C with light rain, which was forecast to worsen as the morning progressed. But rain or shine, the marathon must go on.

The 42.2km (26.2 mile) course started at the north end of the city at Mel Lastman Square, then went south on Yonge St, turning east along Rosedale Valley Road into Bayview Ave Extension, heading back west on Front St, continuing onto Lakeshore, looping out towards High Park and then back east one more time along Lakeshore, finishing at Ontario Place. 

Physically and mentally, I felt really good at the start of the marathon.  I had gotten enough rest in the days before the race and eaten well so that I was nutritionally sound to run (e.g. two bowls of veggie pasta with ginger ale the night before, and two bagels with jam, a banana and coffee earlier that morning).  I checked for the 4 vanilla bean GU gel packs that I had stashed in various pockets that would compliment the gatorade I would drink at the water stations about every 5km along the way. I even double checked the laces on my sneakers.  I was ready to do this. 

Starting out, I placed myself just ahead of the 3:30 pacer bunny. It was optimistic, but I knew I could hold a 5:00/km pace, as I did for all my half-marathons, so I wanted to see how long I could hold it now that I had four more months of distance training under my belt. 

I had done the first half of the course last year, when I ran the half-marathon, so I knew the terrain, and I felt wonderful running down Yonge street with my carefully planned playlist humming in my ears, carrying me along, happy and flying like I imagined. I saw people I knew cheering me on at Yonge & Chaplin, and again at Yonge & Rosedale Valley Rd - their smiles and cheers lifted me up even more.  Passing the halfway point at 21.1km I still felt strong, my pace was 4:52/km.  

I was able to hold the pace until the 33km point, when I started fading a little, and couldn’t keep with up the 3:30 pacer bunny anymore.  Not surprisingly, the last 10km of the marathon were proving to be very difficult.  My pace dropped from a strong 4:53/km to a weaker 5:19-5:45/km. Then at the 35km mark, I made the final turn back eastward onto Lakeshore for the final 7.2km stretch and I felt the full force of the wind and rain hit me right in the face.  The winds had picked up to a ENE 35km/h and the rain started pouring heavier, right when I was at my weakest. But I had to keep going, I was so close now.  

This is where the mental grit came into play.  Being an east coaster, I was no stranger to wind and rain, and having trained through the Canadian winter months, I knew I could handle the cold crappy weather.  Also, with the distance training I had done, I knew I could keep my feet moving forward if I kept up the right attitude.  I dug into the last stretch of road and persevered.  It was just a matter of bearing down and running it out at this point.  I reached into my pocket for one more GU gel pack to help me out with the last few km and powered on.  At this point I wasn’t sure if my slowed pace would result in me not making my Boston qualifying cut off time of 3:40, but I have to admit that thought helped spur me on in the last few miles.  I would be an optimist about this.  

I hit the last incline at the 40km mark and once I reached the top I decided to empty the proverbial tank and give it my all for the last 2km. I picked up my pace to 5:11/km and managed to cross the finish line strong at 3:34:38 (4min 38sec behind the 3:30 pacer bunny I started with, and 5min 22sec to spare in order to meet the qualifying standard for the 2017 Boston Marathon).

Reviewing the race stats:

Age category: 8/86 (9.3%)

Gender category: 53/574 (9.2%)

Chip time: 3:34:38

Average finishing time of all participants: 4:11:15

All the hard work had finally paid off.  I had not only completed my first marathon, I also claimed a top ten finishing spot in my age group, and qualified for Boston in my first attempt at the marathon distance!!  

Its hard to put into words how happy I am with myself after this athletic performance.  Needless to say I’ve been grinning ear to ear for days now.  Although the soreness of my quad muscles is helping to keep me tempered.

For now, its time for a protein shake, another round of foam rolling, and a nap.  

After that, I’ll be navigating the BAA website for the application process for the Boston Marathon next year (http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/qualifying.aspx).  While I ran a solid qualifying time, the entry system is competitively based, so there is no guarantee I’ll be accepted, but I’m now allowing myself to dream that I really could run in this highly respected, historical, world class marathon.