Short version :

Event : RnR Montreal Marathon 2015, my first marathon

Time : 3:14:48

Placement : 138/3089 overall, 19/276 M45-49, BQ-10:12

Long version :

The 3:15 bunny tells us something. I think he said that he had run too fast and we were 20 seconds ahead of his planned 3:15, and that he would slow down a bit. Fuck it, I can keep this pace up, I’m not gonna slow down. This was at mile 20.

Rewind

I have been preparing very hard for this. When everybody was running marathons, I was running half-marathons. I remember reading when I started running that 3 years was a smart time to wait for your first. So I waited three years.

In my mind I trained correctly and I prepared correctly: took time to choose my shoes, to learn how to take gels, and many other things I have bugged you guys with in the past months. Last night I went to bed at 8 PM. Got up at 3:50. Ate and had a coffee very calmly, and still had lots of time to evacuate before I left for the race. Nipple band-aids, check, body glide everywhere (yes, there too, thanks LRB), check, 6 Gus, check. Ready to go!

In the metro I see the 3:15 bunny. He was in the same wagon as me. Dtothe2nd told me yesterday that maybe I should go for 3:15 if the bunny planned on even splits, and didn’t plan on finishing 2 minutes in advance for BQers. So I asked him essentially that, and he told me that he was aiming for 3:15 on the nose, with even splits. I took the decision to follow him right there in that moment, and re-assess how I felt every 5K or so.

After that decision, A-Goal was 3:14-3:15, B-Goal, 3:17-3:18, and C-Goal was sub 3:25. I’d be happy with a C goal. I mean, it is my first marathon. Automatic PR. And a BQ on top of that…. Yeah, C goal would be good enough.

Got there long in advance and the corrals weren’t open yet. WTF? People were just hanging there, not able to step on the bridge. Met with Damaris and Richard. That was cool. They seemed like they were freezing. Damaris said she actually enjoyed it. (???) Richard didn’t seem to like it so much. We chatted a bit, took a pic, and when they opened the corrals, I left D and hubby and walked on the bridge with a buddy of mine who was also in the third corral.

When I got to my corral, I stepped over the line to get in the second corral,  as that was where the 3:15 bunny was. Montreal is not very hard on security, but I still didn't want to get caught.

Race starts. Bunny takes off. There’s so many people, I don’t want to trip on someone's foot and fall, so I figure I’ll let the bunny go and catch up with him later on. But after a little while I realise he’s really going at it. Oh, well, guess I won’t be following him after all. I'm pretty sure I can pace myself. In the second or third mile, a guy in a yellow shirt starts talking to me. He says: Wow, the 3:15 bunny is really fast. So I tell him I agree and decided I was just gonna do my thing, and since he had come to that conclusion also, that he was aiming at 3:15 also, and that he had experience in the marathon, I tell him I'm going to stay with him.

1- 7:08 (following the bunny)

2- 7:25

3- 7:15

4- 7:20

5- 7:20

6- 7:26

At some point we caught up with the bunny, then he took off again, but even when he was ahead, he was clearly in sight. We were always 15 seconds behind or less. Feeling good. I’d exchange a few words with my running partner once in a while, but there was no real conversation there. We were both conserving our energy.

7- 7:19

8- 7:08

9- 7:10

10- 7:17

11- 7:29 (hill)

12- 7:17

13- 7:24

Half time: 1:37:04

14- 7:15

15- 7:11

At mile 15 or so, I was starting to feel the pace. Breathing had been easy until now, but it was getting a bit more labored. Legs were feeling fine. As I ran by my house, my family was there, and that filled me with joy. I hi5ed both my kids and it gave me a little boost (boost probably included in the mile 15's 7:11)

16- 7:22

17- 7:18

18- 7:08

19- 7:16

20- 7:23

Photo taken at around mile 20

By that time, we had caught up with the bunny. I was running elbow to elbow with him. I had just ran past my family again, and was feeling tired, but primed. Breathing was in control. Legs were a bit heavy, but I had never ran this much in my life. I thought that was just normal. The bunny says something about slowing down a bit, and I decide to keep up the pace. Didn't feel like slowing down (bad idea?). Only bad part is my running partner in the yellow shirt didn't follow me. So I was alone.

Enter the marathon miles

21- 7:18

22- 7:26

23- 7:26

Holy shit, holding the pace is getting way more difficult than I thought. Actually, I just can’t do it. My legs don’t want to go faster. I feel side stiches that seem to want to bother me, but not really, yet. I'm a bit scared those will come back to haunt me later. I also have slight cramps in my left foot’s toes, so I have to run differently for them to pass. I then switch back to my normal gait, the cramps come back, I alter how my foot lands again… and so on. I’m still ahead of the 3:15 bunny, so there’s that, but I’m thinking he might pass me. And it will be perfectly all right. Just as long as I keep it together, somehow, and don’t completely screw up. A 3:17, 3:18 would be very satisfying. Nothing wrong with my B-Goal. Yesterday I was thinking of making that time that my A-Goal.  But for now, I keep going.

Photo taken at around mile 23 - I look and feel tired

24- 7:24

I can hear the 3:15 bunny behind me (I recognize his voice) yelling to his crew to keep going, not give up. God damn it, I can’t go any faster. This will have to do. I skipped a water station, I don’t think I can handle drinking in that little cup anymore with water splashing in my nose. I almost drowned at the last station.

25- 7:29

Aaargh! I’m not smiling anymore(haven’t been for a couple of miles), I’m not acknowledging the cheers, I just want this to be over with. My legs have never felt so tired.

26 - 7:26

Ok, so the 26^th mile is done with. Now I know I can do this. It’s very painful, and I’m wondering how long I still have to run, because as usual, the course is longer than what my watch records. But I know I'm not going to fail now.

In the last stretch (there is probably a half mile left) my daughter steps from the crowd and starts running with me. I’m too damn tired to feel anything. I see her, but I can’t acknowledge her, I can’t even feel touched by it. I just want this to stop, ffs. I smile at her and look ahead.

Last stretch was 0,96 km, or 0,59 miles on my watch. Man, did I really lose 0.39 miles of making wide turns? Whatever. Ran it in 4:15 (7:08 pace). So I did manage to pick it up slightly for the finish, after all.

3:14:48

My running buddy of the first 20 miles with the yellow shirt came in like 3-4 seconds behind me. He beat the 3:15 also. I’m filled with joy, but at the same time my body is not working properly. It really showed in my face as a girl working near the finish line asked me if I was ok. When I said I was, she looked concerned and said Really?

Then started the agony of leaving that stupid place that’s filled with people who all of a sudden stop moving because they’re on their phones, texting. Grrr. There are gates all around with very small holes for us runners to walk out. WTF??? There are thousands of half-marathoners around, but very few red bibs. I feel a tapping on my shoulder and it’s a red bib dude congratulating me. He’s limping badly, and so am I. He ran a 3:12. I congratulate him, and he congratulates me. But we're too tired to have a conversation. I can’t believe how they could have designed such an uneffective exit.

When I finally got out, I had to walk about 1 ½ mile to get back home. I was crawling, and limping, and people wew smiling at me, giving me encouraging words. It took me about 40 minutes to walk home.

I’m not even hungry. I drink, but barely ate.

But you know what? I’m finally a marathoner!

I want to thank all of you on the B&B forums for giving advice, sharing experiences, writing the RRs, good and bad... I think I prepared for, and ran a pretty well executed race, and you are the ones I have to thank the most.

Race shirt and finisher's medal

I had a banana, a bagel, a coffee and a Gatorade.

I took a gel 45 minutes before the race, another one 10 minutes before, and then it was every 40 minutes of the race, so at 0:40, 1:20, 2:00, 2:40. 2 gels before, and 4 during the race.

Drank water in all the stations, except for the last 2-3.

I had a banana, a bagel, a coffee and a Gatorade.

 

I took a gel 45 minutes before the race, another one 10 minutes before, and then it was every 40 minutes of the race, so at 0:40, 1:20, 2:00, 2:40. 2 gels before, and 4 during the race.

 

Drank water in all the stations, except for the last 2-3.

And also, how did your legs feel and the pace those first miles?  Did you feel tapered and bouncy?

Great performance!  Congrats on your first of many!  Glad to have finally meet you. I will post the picture when I get home.

congrats again!

 

I did not feel bouncy, but I was surprised how good I felt. So yep, the taper worked!

Good.  One more. Did you carb-load pre-race at all?

Wow. Truly outstanding. One of the most impressive marathon debuts we've seen on these forums. No, forget debuts, one of the most impressive period. I want to race like you when I grow up.

The patience to run HMs for 3 years really paid off, helping make the jump much smoother for you. Training was top-notch, you set an appropriately aggressive goal, and executed to perfection. Just barely hanging on for the last few miles is how you want to do it.

Huge congrats!

Holy Shit !! Congratulations.

Wow. Truly outstanding. One of the most impressive marathon debuts we've seen on these forums. No, forget debuts, one of the most impressive period. I want to race like you when I grow up.

 

The patience to run HMs for 3 years really paid off, helping make the jump much smoother for you. Training was top-notch, you set an appropriately aggressive goal, and executed to perfection. Just barely hanging on for the last few miles is how you want to do it.

 

Huge congrats!

Well, Dave said pretty much what I was going to type almost word for word. What an amazing debut marathon. Congratulations!