#7 - Mississauga Marathon Learnings

Ok, the first thing I want to say is that the course is the best in the GTA when it comes to Marathons. It might be a smaller crowd compared to the other races in town but it’s much nicer, kinda like a family race of some sort. It had been a very long time since I ran a marathon. I really don't like the pavement and the scene, but I took it as a long training run and as a test of endurance. I've lost some speed over the last couple of years but have gained endurance, or so I think.

On the race itself, all went as planned in terms of logistics and organization. I parked at Cathraw and took the bus to the start and from the finish line back to the car, perfect. The stations every 2-3km were nice and very helpful. The roads were clear and well marked. Friendly brave people were out cheering in a rainy, windy and cold day.

Now on my race. I really didn't know what to wear, it was suppose to be around 10 degrees but with rain and 35km wind, so I noodled on a jacket but decided it was too much so I just put on a garbage bag on top of a running t with arm warmers and a pair of shorts. Ended up running 39km with the garbage bag on! The wind from ~25km was brutal and the bag helped with the rain and wind perfectly. My plan was to stick to the 3:30 pace bunny to at least the half way point, but there was one problem, no 3:30 pace bunny! I thought that was the most important one. Anyway, I just stood in front of the 3:40 bunny and behind the 3:15 so as long as the 3:40 bunny doesn't pass me I'm good. Thing started well and got to the half way point feeling great in ~1:42 so ahead of the 3:30 pace by 3min. On a side not, at around 11km mark my wife and kids were waiting for me, since I literally passed 500m from our house, it was great to see them and give my kids a hug. So, at the 21km point I had two options 1) speed up and try to break my personal best of 3:21 or 2) just keep my pace and have and make sure not to hurt myself, remember its a training run!. So I picked #2. Never had a bad feeling in my body, so no wall or down moments. I ended up running the 2nd part in 1:40 for a total time of 3:22 something, just a minute of my PB. Looking back I could of ran this thing much faster I suppose, but I had fun enjoyed my run and I'm not hurting, well maybe just a little bit. No real muscle pain (just some), most of the pain is in my knees b/c of the payment I guess.

I don't know which watches were these, but I'm almost certain they were Garmin's. First of all I think they were giving them away on the start line because everybody had them, and two they are the most annoying watch I've ever seen. They were beeping all the time around me; I couldn't get rid of them. Why do they beep? Because you are going to fast or too slow? How about looking at the km markings and doing a quick math, no need to annoy everyone else. And by the way, why do you even need a Garmin when you run a marathon? They mark the course every single km its not like you don't know where you are. Holy crap, maybe 90% of the people didn’t know how to use them and I assume they are great watches and they are useful but I would NEVER buy them if the have to beep like that.

Hey I got an idea, for trail runs: Trail Bunnies! Think about it, you have a person that would lead you to your desired time and helps you with your pace and tells you to drink or eat. I guess it’s like a pacer after 60% of your race is done but its not only your pacer its everyone’s pacer. Now there has to be some rules for the Trail Bunnies: wear very reflective gear so people can see them easily, no getting lost or taking wrong turns, no running up hills, new bunnies can come to help maintain pace, pace should be adjusted downwards as the run evolves but NO SPEEDING at the beginning, should carry essentials in case someone is missing something (kinda like a mule). Sounds good right?

Next race is 50m Sulphur. I did a practice loop on Saturday and let me tell you that the hill at the beginning/end of the loop it’s brutal, can't wait to do it 4 times!