On Sunday April 12th I had the opportunity (after all, these races are all opportunities) to run a 10k race at Around the Bay in Hamilton. My friend Michael from the South Simcoe Running Group decided to run with me. I had told him that this would be my first race since my knee injury and that I certainly wasn’t as fast as previous, but we were going to run it together regardless. In preparing for this race I had felt like in the few weeks prior, something had clicked and my speed was starting to come back. Nonetheless, I had figured that I would likely run in the 41-43 minute range and that I would be happy with anything less than 45 mins.
We went down to Hamilton the night before and had dinner with another friend from the running group and his wife. On the morning of, we went through our usual pre-race routines in order to get ready. The weather was a bit cooler than we had hoped and there was a chance of rain, though it looked like it might start after we finished. Once ready, we headed towards the new start area and tried to get towards the front of the crowd. As it turned out, we didn’t get close enough to the front and spent the first km weaving in and out of slower runners (and some who had already started walking!). Once we got going, we both felt quite good and our paces started to reflect that. Throughout the race I had to remind Mike (and myself) that we were creeping up our pacing too fast, and that we should slow down.
Overall, the 10k run and return to racing was an overwhelming success; Mike and I ran a “negative split” which means that the second half of the race is even faster than the first half of the race. This is often an indication that you strategized the race correctly and utilized your energy appropriately. In fact, I believe each Km in the second half of the race got progressively faster. We ended up finishing the race below the 40 minute mark which was faster than either of us anticipated. We stayed afterwards to watch our friend (and fellow running group member) Brandon finish the 30k event, which he completed with his own personal best!
It was a relatively quick turnaround for me to get ready for my “main event” for the spring which was the Toronto Marathon (where I would be running the ½ marathon distance). I had originally thought that I would run the full marathon, but upon reflecting on my injury from the fall, I had decided long ago that the ½ marathon would be a better reintroduction to racing.
I took a couple of days off after my 10k race and followed my coach’s plan with a gradual ramp up to ready myself for the upcoming race. Even with this careful planning, I developed a new “niggle” (still unresolved as I write this a few weeks later), as runners like to call them (I think in part due to the fact that they don’t want to admit that they are injuries!). I have previously written about my left proximal hamstring injury which I have been dealing with for years; well, now it appears as though I have a matching pair. My right hamstring started to bother me in an all too familiar way after my first hard session post 10k race, and though it isn’t affecting my performance when I run, it is definitely there.
Nonetheless, I had a good build and a pretty aggressive taper in preparation for the Toronto Marathon. I had the pleasure of going down to Toronto and meeting up with Susie and James, my good friends from the Swiss Alps trip. A large group of us went out for a great dinner the night before and I stayed at their condo which is conveniently located at the start line for the race.
I was in an earlier corral than the other runners that I knew, so on race morning I headed out by myself to do my warm up.
The weather was cool, but really just about perfect for running a race like that. At the race start, I believe it was about 6C and didn’t get above 10C by the time I had finished.
I had set a modest goal of 1hr 30mins for the race and figured I would end up right around that time.
Like many races, I spent a chunk at the beginning weaving around slower runners, though I did find that a lot of runners in my group went out quite aggressively. Having completed a few of these now, I know that it is impossible to “roll back the clock” when going out too hard, so I tend to start out on the conservative side. I had been told at the start line that the only real climb is at the 3km mark and from there it is pretty well a downhill race, so I decided that I would hold back until I was at least over that hill. The hill was decent, though it paled in comparison to anything I saw in Switzerland. Once I had crested that hill, I decided it was “game on”.
I started watching my paces a bit more closely, but more importantly I was constantly gauging my effort. As I have become more experienced in distance running, I have also been able to better understand what my body is capable of on any given day. Sometimes when you go out for a run, you just don’t have it, while other times you have some real spring in your step. You always hope that you have that spring on race day!
Once again, I felt well prepared and that my energy was quite good for this race. The first half of the race I was on pace for just below my goal time. Much of the second half of the race I spent dodging the marathoners who had started earlier and whose course met up with ours part way through. It is never ideal to be weaving in and out of traffic as you’d be surprised how much distance and time it can add to your race.
About 5km out I was running next to a younger runner that started up a conversation with me. I learned that this was his first half marathon and that he was hoping to run sub-1:30 also. I told him that I was thinking the same. He started to accelerate and said “let’s go”, but I told him that it wasn’t time for me to turn it on yet. He started to take off, though never completely left my site. In the last 2Km’s when I really started to turn it up, he once again appeared close to me and I told him, “now it’s time”. Unfortunately for him, he had “burned his match” and was unable to keep up (though he did beat his 1:30 goal I am happy to say).
I ran another “negative split” at Toronto and once again bested my goal time with a final time of 1:27.
I was extremely pleased with the effort and with the result and even felt like I had left some in the tank (though with how long it took for my legs to feel normal again, perhaps I hadn’t!).
The race was a great experience and there’s certainly a good chance that I will run it again with Susie and James.
I will say, unfortunately, that this marathon is notorious for having some organizational hiccups and this year was no different.
From not having our checked gear ready for us when we arrived (which meant many of us were left freezing in our sweaty shorts and shirts), to having no structure where people went to collect their medals, to dumping thousands of people into an area with no real escape plan for people to get out of the city, it really could’ve been better organized.
But hey, we got one heck of a medal for finishing (if you could find them!).
The conclusion of the half marathon meant the end of the road racing season for me.
Next up are some fun trail races while preparing for this year’s main event: UTMB Borealys and my first ultramarathon!