Mississuaga Marathon 2007

Race: Mississauga Marathon
Location: Mississauga, ON
Date: May 13, 2007
Description: 42.2K
Website: www.mississaugamarathon.com

It was finally here – the day of my first full marathon. I’d been training for this day for the last four months! The training schedule had been up on the fridge since January. I remember doing my weekend long runs and questioning how I could ever run the full distance. I remember running in wind, in sleet, and in snow. I remember the horrible training runs done on the treadmill when I was too whimpy to go outside. It was all in preparation for this day, May 13, 2007.

It was a perfect day for a race. I woke up at 4:30 am (YUCK) so that I could get a good breakfast in me (bowl of cereal and a coffee, my usual pre-run breakfast) and get to the race start at the Square One Shopping Plaza in Mississauga with plenty of time to make several visits to the washroom and relax before the race. (if you don’t get there early enough, the traffic bottlenecks trying to get into the parking lot and I didn’t need to add that stress to my existing race anxiety). The race was set to start at 7:30 am. It was cool in the morning so I was a little confused about what to wear. I was planning on wearing a singlet and shorts, but because of the cold morning I decided to put on a t-shirt under the singlet (as it turned out, it warmed up and I didn’t need the extra layer, though I was glad to have it at the start line when we all had goose bumps covering our arms and legs).

The gun went off and, after about a minute of shuffling with the crowd of runners up to the start line, I was finally on my way. Later I heard that the mass of people at the start went back so far that some people probably walked about 10 minutes before they actually crossed the start!

I started out strong, wanting to “bank” a little time because I knew I might fade near the end. My goal was to complete the race in four hours (although I had also decided that no matter what my time was I was going to be happy with myself for crossing the finish line). To reach my goal I needed to average a 5:41/km pace. I managed to bank a fair bit of time in the first 5km running between a 5:15/km and 5:36/km pace. It’s a great start – mostly downhill.

From 5km to 15km, I bounced around a bit – some km’s were on pace or under, and some were slightly over. There was one hill in this section but generally nothing too bad. At 15km, the half-marathon runners head straight down to the waterfront and on to the finish line, while we marathoners make a right turn and begin our journey. It felt very cool to turn right knowing that today I was one of the marathoners! The clock said 1:25:29 and I thought to myself “Brian Serroul is about to finish his race and I’m only at 15km”. It suddenly got much quieter as the half-marthoners went their own way. Runners were more spread out now and I was alone with the sound of my footsteps. It was amazing.

As I continued along the marathon route, I ran into an unexpected familiar face at 17km! It was Terri Baker (Team Running Free) out to cheer us all on. Apparently she had found another Team Running Free runner (Esther Tam) and had run with her to about the 19km mark. She then left Esther and ran back to see me run by. It was wonderful to hear her cheers of support!

I took my second gel at 18km (I planned to take a gel every 9 km) and then pushed forward. My fiancée (David Topping, also Team Running Free) was going to meet me somewhere around the 20km mark and run the remainder of the race with me. I was looking forward to getting some company. Sure enough, as promised, there he was. He ran up beside me and told me I was doing great (at this point I was just a couple minutes under where I needed to be to get my goal – so I was in good shape). Having him with me gave me a boost and the next couple kilometers were under my goal pace. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep that up very long. By 25km I had settled back to running slightly over my 5:40/km goal.

Now, for those of you who have heard that Mississauga is a great course and mostly downhill, I’d like to offer a bit of clarification. Mississauga is a great course, it is a NET downhill, but do not confuse that to mean no up hill climbs. I was actually surprised by the number of hills in the second half of the race. They are gentle hills, usually short, but they are there. And they slowed me down. I made great use of the downs, but I lost it on the ups. I’ll need to really train on the hills more to get stronger so that these sections don’t affect me (and my time) as much.

When I saw the 30km mark there was a clock – it showed that I was just a little slower than where I wanted to be. I tried to push and David was very supportive of me, telling me I could do it and to be strong. I had a few strong km’s in the last 10km, but not enough to come in at four hours. By the time I hit 36km, my legs were really sore. It was time for my last gel and when I stopped to walk to take it, I could barely move my legs. In the future, I’ll need to take this last gel while running because once I stopped to walk I found it very hard to get moving again. This wasn’t a problem earlier in the race, but my legs sure seized up at 36km! After a few awkward walking steps, I managed to get moving again, slowly. At the 37km marker, I looked at my watch to see that my last kilometer took me 6:11. That just wasn’t good enough. I tried to push harder for the next one and when I got to the marker my watch said only 5:56. All that effort and I was only able to manage increasing my pace by 15seconds! I knew at this point that I just had to hold on to whatever I had and get myself to the finish line. It wasn’t that far away, only 4kms. I didn’t care how I got there, or what my time was going to be. All I knew was that I WAS going to get there and very soon I was going to complete my first marathon. I couldn’t believe it!

It was an amazing feeling to get closer and closer to the finish. Finally, with the finish line in sight, I dug deep and sprinted as fast as I could toward the end, hearing all my friends who were already finished yelling my name. It was such a great feeling.

As soon as I finished, Nick Capra (Team Running Free) was right there calling to me, congratulating me, and following me through the chute. David caught up quickly and offered a big hug. Soon all my friends who came out to cheer for me, and others who had run their own races that day, were there and sharing in my moment. We exchanged congratulations, finish times, race stories.

Thank-you to everyone who supported me through my journey, who joined me for my training runs, and who talked strategy with me about the race. To the people who come out faithfully to Running Free every Tuesday and Thursday night, thank-you. If it weren’t for you guys, it would have been really hard to get out and do the training. Knowing you are there and waiting every week makes all the difference. To the weekend morning waterfront runners (you know who you are), your friendship is invaluable to me. Your encouragement and endless support are much appreciated. A VERY special thanks to Esther Tam, who kept me company on all of my long runs (the 30km+ ones). How I would have run those without you is completely beyond me. I know you could have run faster most days – so thanks for staying with me. Finally, thanks to David for your constant support and encouragement – thanks for introducing me to the wonderful world of running and the amazing people associated with it.

Final thoughts – no matter how hard you train, the first marathon hurts! I only ran three days a week but I made it. My longest training run was 38k. I thought this would make the marathon no big deal – what’s another 4k? The answer – a lot! Plans for next time (because there WILL be a next time!) – I think I need to either add another easy run day into the schedule and/or add some cross-training. I learned that I can walk through my water stations and walk to take my gels up until about 30km or so, but then I have to do things on the go, because if I stop, my legs will give up on me. I’ve learned that I fade at the end – so forget the negative split plan. For me, I need to bank more time at the beginning in anticipation of the fade.

If you have ever thought about a marathon and concluded that you could never do it, let me be proof that you can! Sign up for a marathon clinic and just go for it. It’s an amazing journey and experience.

P.S. For those who are wondering how the legs feel the day after…let me say this: Stairs are a nightmare, the toilet is a very long way down, and I think I know what it will feel like to be 90 years old!