It has taken me months to write this article about the Hamilton marathon in 2011. In truth I would rather forget the event. However, I have learned that one learns more through mistakes than if one always succeeded. As a busy, working Mommy, I realized the hard way that I don’t always have the energy to run well for 4 solid marathons in 18 months. But, no matter what happens in my races, it is my family’s support that drives me and motivates me to push through the difficult times.
The year 2010-2011 had been a fantastic breakthrough for me and I finished it with a solid, and satisfying Boston run. However, I foolishly followed Boston with continual fast training leading to heel spurs and general fatigue. By the time marathon training began in the summer 2011, I was feeling fatigued and missing my usual eagerness to give it my all in hard workouts. With only a few weeks left to Hamilton, I knew that my paces were off a bit. I was struggling to maintain adequate mileage and juggle work, kids’ swimming lessons, hockey practices and hockey games, while my husband worked 6 days a week. Even though I was hitting the race pace segments in training, doubt rested in my head. These were all indicators that I was overcooked, but I chose to ignore them. I had signed up for Hamilton so I would darn well do it. I had yet to learn that rest and recovery are all part of the training process.
We attacked the weekend as a running family with my boys (age 5 and 7) running the 1km, and my husband running the 10km race the day before my race. Their race day was cold and windy but as a spectator I didn’t feel a thing as I was starstruck watching Reid Coolsaet jog through the 10km. Our goal, as a family, was to take a photograph of our entire family with our race medals at the end of the weekend. Although doubt about my ability to run fast rested in my mind, I was certain that I WOULD finish, no matter what .
Race day was perfect…slightly cool, a light wind, and several running partners to keep me company. Although I started out with my Ajax running partners, I quickly maintained my ardent rule of keeping to the planned pace for the first half of the race. My MO is even split or negative split in a marathon, NEVER a positive split. Trouble started at 5km when I realized I was hungry! This isn’t a good thing when trying to run hard for three hours. Oops! I had forgotten my post breakfast snack. I tried to shake the alarm bells ringing in my head. The Vega gel did the trick for a good many kilometres, to the point that at 22 km, I was declaring that I would “ROCK THIS”. I realized that I had one minute in the bank and that wasn’t my plan, but I would try to adjust through the long downhill. Unfortunately, things started to fall apart at 30km when, very suddenly, my energy dropped. As the kilometres carried on, I realized the time in the bank was bleeding away as I felt my energy continue to fail me. I couldn’t understand what had happened since carbo loading is my forte. We all have tough times in races but we learn to drive our minds through them. This time my mind shut down and my will to chase my goal wavered.
In the final few kms misery stepped in as I felt like I was stumbling along instead of floating my usual strong finish. As I watched numerous strong runners pass me, I thought about my children and my husband. It was my family that supported my running with every nod of encouragement to run instead of playing sand box or road hockey. They stood by me through rainy races and exhausting long runs. They let me nod off on the couch the few times when Mommy couldn’t juggle the training load with the role of Mommy. I stumbled to the finish with low glycogen realizing that I could not, and would not, disappoint them. I would keep my promise to them and make sure we all had a medal for this weekend. I finished in a disappointing 3:08 instead of my planned 3:05-3:07. I wasn’t very far off my planned finish time, but in my mind I failed. I have always been able to perfectly predict my finish time. At the finish, we did take a photograph of the family with each of us wearing a medal from our races. Of that, I am proud.
In the weeks that followed that marathon, it became very apparent that I was overcooked and needed a rest. Within a day I developed a terrible cold (did I have it for the race?), a week later I broke my hand falling off my bike, a few weeks later I badly sprained my ankle, then a week later I got terribly sick again, resulting in bed rest for days. In the end, the rest from running gave my body a break and revitalized me for my return.
Epilogue:
After giving up the crutches in the winter, I slowly returned to jogging and later tempo runs. By March I was logging awesome tempo runs and fabulous 1km repeats with the Ajax Running Free group. I now had new determination to run hard and run smart, with awesome improvement mentally and physically. In truth, I felt like a new person. Although I was well on the way to setting a new PB in a half race this May, I have been temporarily sidelined by a sore foot. This time, I am sitting down. I have learned to listen to my body. When it feels right, I will push on and once again feel the support of my family. In the meantime, my husband is getting ready for a 10km race and my sons are getting ready for a kids’ 2km race.
See you on the road.
