Notes
Goal was 1:26:xx but was unsure if possible due to lingering effects of this cold. Pre-race everything went smoothly, used the washroom at Metropolitan Hotel and then 3 times the port-a-pottys. Plenty of port-a-pottys, line-ups not too bad. Did 1km warm-up painfully slow followed by some strides. Wore tank top, shorts, and gloves and felt this was the right choice. Both arches and right calf were the only real pains I felt throughout and after race, left arch was the worst. Overall I just felt drained, lacking energy, possibly due to cold.
Went out real hot, felt super relaxed the first few kms and had dreams of 1:25 but then just sort of got wacked in the head around 8km and even though legs felt strong I felt like all my energy was sapped. Started to worry but continued pushing on at a respectable pace (didn't want to drop below 4:10 at this point) and knew that once I hit the turn around on Lakeshore after 12km I would have some wind at my back. Started to feel better after the turn around and continued pushing when I could knowing that sub 1:27 would be close but possible if I didn't let up. The little inclines actually weren't too bad and I welcomed the downhills. Bay St. was a bit of a challenge but by the time I crested it I knew I had about 1 minute to finish the last 200m and immediately switched gears for a strong kick. The garmin reading was about 100-150m off with the last km up bay measured the same amount short so last km was closer to 4:07 pace. It seemed that each km Garmin would come up an extra 5m short of the km marker due to not running the ideal tangents.
All things considered I hit my goal and am pleased but at the same time wondering how things would have been if I wasn't sick, felt so strong and good in the first 8km. And I always had that extra gear, breathing and heart rate in control for most of the race, only times I had problems were at 8km and 16km while taking GU and going up the inclines. The race definitely didn't feel as hard as Vancouver but I just didn't feel I had the energy/motivation to push to that pain level I did in Vancouver.