Best of Times/Worst of Times

Despite what the people at race kit pickup had told us, the bridges we wanted were NOT open. I ended up being dropped off at the Art Gallery, and walking across the Alexandra bridge. Halfway over, my friend Kevin passed me, so I jogged along side him, and chatted. I knew that he had been injured. He said he'd be happy with anything sub-50. I wasn't too sure what to expect, between vacation eating and insufficient speedwork. I guessed that I'd do something between 45 and 49 minutes.

I left him to find a washroom. I'd drank at least a litre of water so far, and was feeling it. I saw some people lined up in front of 2 porta-potties, so I hopped a fence and lined up. Just as my number was about to come up, two volunteers came and told us off, telling us that these were reserved for volunteers. I understood, and left, but with 15 minutes to the start of the race, I was annoyed. I was 10x more annoyed when I found that the racers only got 4 porta-potties.

Bush time. Down to the river I go, what I'm doing nobody should know.

Back at the startline, I saw Kevin, and a few more Running Room people. We chatted, relaxed, listened to the sponsor's speech, then we were off.

Kevin and I were both happy to not be right at the front, since neither of us wanted to start too quickly. No need to worry about that. This race seemed to have lots of people who didn't know race etiquette. I did the first kilometer in 5:36, and probably could not have gone any faster if I'd tried. I wasn't angry, as I knew I could make up lots of time over 9km, but I wasn't exactly smiles and roses, either.

I hit 2km in under 10 minutes which barely seemed possible. In fact, my pacing felt decent. I was fast on the downhills, without taxing myself, though. The route was essentially the loop I do on my Bridges run, around Portage and Alexandra bridges. The marathon follows this loop for the most part, too. The added distance was along the Ottawa River Parkway, though, not the canal or Sussex. The only other difference was that we ran behind Parliament Hill, at water level, rather than along Wellington, in front of Parliament Hill.

By 4km, I was well under 20 minutes. I also had a problem. I wondered what I'd do if I saw a porta-potty. I needed one. Badly. And no, a bush would NOT do. I seriously considered stopping if the opportunity came up. I don't want to belabour the point, but I was in distress.

I passed 5km in either 22:14 or 22:44. The latter makes more sense. Even better, I felt comfortable, and strong. The 5km mark was uphill, or I'd have stepped it up then and there. The turnaround wasn't until 6km.

Between 6km and 7km, there was a porta-potty in sight of the road, down by some pipeline construction. I thought about stopping, I really did. Two things dissuaded me. One was that I knew I had a shot at a PB. The other was that over the previous 4km, I hadn't really gotten any worse. No better, but no worse.

I also passed Kevin around the 7km mark. He was at least 3 minutes under 50:00 pace, so I figured he was happy. We exchanged breathless words as I went by.

I passed 8km in 37 minutes. I figured I could do 9 minutes for the last 2km for sure, but couldn't really guarantee any faster than that. 46 would be an excellent race, but no PB. Oh well. Off we go.

The last mile or so was all familiar territory. Marathon route, forwards. It really helped, knowing the distance so well. Across Portage, I was strong. Turning onto Laurier, I was stronger, reeling people in. Past the Museum of Civilization, I eased up a bit, but into the finishing chute past the Alexandra Bridge I went for it. I passed my family with a nod. The clock showed 45-something, and I watched my PB tick by. I had no idea what my chip-gun lag was, but my gun time was sub-46.

Past the volunteers, who handed me a water. Past the person who tried to take my racing chip, with a word that I'd be back, but that I was having a "bathroom emergency". Fortunately, the vast array of 4 porta-potties had a vacancy (and doctors can't find a benefit to running, Bev? Faster is better), so in I went.

I probably spent a good 15 minutes in there over the next hour. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Eventually, my stomach settled down, and I was able to watch my son set a PB in the 1km kids run. We then all walked the 3km walk, and did some activities.

Eventually, I found the race results. 45:10, a PB. I posted a good time, to be sure, but I sure didn't have one. =(

With some more speed work and hard runs, good things lie ahead of me this summer.