Bittersweet Return to PEI
It certainly wasn't a walk in the park this past Sunday. The course was scenic and the weather was gorgeous (at least during the race), but I was unable to fully enjoy it. At least the lessons that I am taking from this experience did not come at too steep a price, as I did swallow my stubborn pride and take the necessary steps to mitigate the effects my ambitious expectations brought upon me. I did not beat my previous finishing time. I did not repeat it. I did not even finish within the four hour goal that I had focused on in my training back in the spring. But I think most people would say I came fairly close, and the time I lost was well spent.
I finished at four hours and eleven minutes, fifteen minutes later than in the National Capital. But those fifteen minutes will probably save me a bundle of frustration and pain in recovering from the race. I pushed too hard at the start of the race, and the band of the timing chip irritated the base of my right shin, such that by the halfway point I was in discomfort as well as getting tired. Sure, I was only a little off my goal, but it was costing me most especially in terms of enjoyment of the race. In the third quarter, I made several adjustments. I took the timing chip band off my ankle and tied it to my waterbelt, and immediately my shin felt just slightly better. I stopped looking at the pace readout on my Garmin, and only looked at it for the timing of my walk breaks. I listened to my body, and negotiated my way to the finish line as best I could. I even managed to look pretty good at the end, picking up my feet at the end rather than dragging myself to the finish line.
I may not have given it my all, but I think it was a pretty good effort. But it was still a bitter pill to swallow in giving up my aspirations of setting a new personal best. Still, there are several facts I can console myself with. First and foremost, I finished the race (though with my chip at my waist the sensors did not register my finish, so I had to contact the timing chip company to input my finishing time manually--after breaking down upon reading the results online--a major apology and thank you to my family for helping me get through the shock). Furthermore, I don't think I have a major injury, though my shin was definitely swollen and tender afterwards. I'll be more confident in that statement once I've gone for a run or two, and seen my massage therapist. I'm hoping it's just shin splints and not a sign of something worse, like a stress fracture. Either way, the remedy is to take it easy, which is exactly what my next training cycle starts out with, as I am returning to the half-marathon clinic through to the end of January.
Lastly, I did manage to enjoy the race course. It was beautiful. A really good course description can be found on the website for the course, so I don't want to re-write the whole thing here. The course was a whole lot flatter than I thought it would be. The half-marathon mostly sticks to the hilly side of the island, while the full marathon only spends the last quarter rolling up and down hills into Charlottetown. Those first three quarters to the marathon were very different from the half marathon last year. The thing about running on flat courses is that your stride doesn't change, so your muscles can very easily cramp from the repetitive motions. Also, downhill portions are a great way to pick up speed and momentum, even if they mean you have to go uphill to balance things out.
In a nutshell, the first quarter of the course was flat and fast, along the northern coastline. The second quarter did have a steady but subtle uphill gradient to it, but what was distracting was the traffic, as they did not close the highway we were following. The third quarter was the loneliest, as it went along a sheltered trail that didn't allow for a lot of human contact, except where it crossed major roads. It was also flat, being a former railway bed. I am so glad I had my sister and brother-in-law waiting at one of those crossways, it was great to actually see some familiar faces. The last quarter brought the relief of familiar turf, as it joined up with the half-marathon route, so I was able to recognize where I was once more (an advantage I had back in the spring running in Ottawa, which I sorely missed in PEI).
All in all, I think I would like to do this race again. Now that I know what it's like, I think it would be possible to pace myself better a second time around. But I think I will not try comparing my performance on different marathon courses ever again. The terrain alone can make a big difference, such that one 42.2km race can be vastly different from the next. Next spring I can try to improve at the National Capital Marathon. I hope to return to PEI again in the fall, to run either the half or full marathon again (it all depends on what sort of training I'm able to commit to during the summer). I really did enjoy the course, and I think I would be much more confident in my abilities by then.
I finished at four hours and eleven minutes, fifteen minutes later than in the National Capital. But those fifteen minutes will probably save me a bundle of frustration and pain in recovering from the race. I pushed too hard at the start of the race, and the band of the timing chip irritated the base of my right shin, such that by the halfway point I was in discomfort as well as getting tired. Sure, I was only a little off my goal, but it was costing me most especially in terms of enjoyment of the race. In the third quarter, I made several adjustments. I took the timing chip band off my ankle and tied it to my waterbelt, and immediately my shin felt just slightly better. I stopped looking at the pace readout on my Garmin, and only looked at it for the timing of my walk breaks. I listened to my body, and negotiated my way to the finish line as best I could. I even managed to look pretty good at the end, picking up my feet at the end rather than dragging myself to the finish line.
I may not have given it my all, but I think it was a pretty good effort. But it was still a bitter pill to swallow in giving up my aspirations of setting a new personal best. Still, there are several facts I can console myself with. First and foremost, I finished the race (though with my chip at my waist the sensors did not register my finish, so I had to contact the timing chip company to input my finishing time manually--after breaking down upon reading the results online--a major apology and thank you to my family for helping me get through the shock). Furthermore, I don't think I have a major injury, though my shin was definitely swollen and tender afterwards. I'll be more confident in that statement once I've gone for a run or two, and seen my massage therapist. I'm hoping it's just shin splints and not a sign of something worse, like a stress fracture. Either way, the remedy is to take it easy, which is exactly what my next training cycle starts out with, as I am returning to the half-marathon clinic through to the end of January.
Lastly, I did manage to enjoy the race course. It was beautiful. A really good course description can be found on the website for the course, so I don't want to re-write the whole thing here. The course was a whole lot flatter than I thought it would be. The half-marathon mostly sticks to the hilly side of the island, while the full marathon only spends the last quarter rolling up and down hills into Charlottetown. Those first three quarters to the marathon were very different from the half marathon last year. The thing about running on flat courses is that your stride doesn't change, so your muscles can very easily cramp from the repetitive motions. Also, downhill portions are a great way to pick up speed and momentum, even if they mean you have to go uphill to balance things out.
In a nutshell, the first quarter of the course was flat and fast, along the northern coastline. The second quarter did have a steady but subtle uphill gradient to it, but what was distracting was the traffic, as they did not close the highway we were following. The third quarter was the loneliest, as it went along a sheltered trail that didn't allow for a lot of human contact, except where it crossed major roads. It was also flat, being a former railway bed. I am so glad I had my sister and brother-in-law waiting at one of those crossways, it was great to actually see some familiar faces. The last quarter brought the relief of familiar turf, as it joined up with the half-marathon route, so I was able to recognize where I was once more (an advantage I had back in the spring running in Ottawa, which I sorely missed in PEI).
All in all, I think I would like to do this race again. Now that I know what it's like, I think it would be possible to pace myself better a second time around. But I think I will not try comparing my performance on different marathon courses ever again. The terrain alone can make a big difference, such that one 42.2km race can be vastly different from the next. Next spring I can try to improve at the National Capital Marathon. I hope to return to PEI again in the fall, to run either the half or full marathon again (it all depends on what sort of training I'm able to commit to during the summer). I really did enjoy the course, and I think I would be much more confident in my abilities by then.