Powder perfect
What a near-perfect morning for racing Sunday was! The biggest goody was the lack of windchill. It was -17 degrees Celsius...period. And it was sunny, and it wasn't snowing...so there was nothing to battle against but the sheer distance. Well, the footing was a bit snowy, with some icy slickness, but that's pretty good for an open green space in the wintertime. I got to dress pretty much the way I planned, so I looked really good out there. And my time ended up looking really good, too: one hour, fifty-eight minutes and seventeen seconds.
I broke the two hour mark, again. I didn't really believe that I'd be able to do that in the middle of wintertime, I figured that conditions had to be better than the middle of winter for me to do it, but I did it nonetheless. I knew after the first loop that I was about two minutes ahead of schedule, so I'd guess that I stuck to the proper pace for the rest of the race as I maintained that two minute lead. Once again, I skipped half my walk breaks, most during the first hour of the race, but I could tell that my shoes were getting old by the aching that my feet developed on the third loop out, so I was more careful to observe them properly from that point onwards. It might be the cold that should get the blame for that, though. I also got a stitch in my side at one point, and my eyebrows and glasses frosted up, so the cold was really trying to get me, I'm sure. It did a number to my glove-mitts, when I took my gel. I had to take the gloves off to tear the little pack open, and so I just hooked them to the strap for my water bottle holster. I took that gel pretty quick, because I didn't want to expose my hands for longer than I had to, and I'm a bit clumsy with fancy gloves. But the time that my gloves spent hooked at my waist, flopping about in the cold, was enough to freeze them quite stiff from the sweat that my toasty little hands had left inside when I pulled them off. It was surprisingly difficult to pull them back, and then my chilled hands had to defrost the gloves before they could warm themselves again.
The temperature let me avoid wearing the balaclava, which allowed me to wear my MP3 player under my matching lavender toque. I’m not sure the earphones would fit comfortably plastered to my head under the balaclava. I expected the course itself to become a bit dull with the repetitions, and I wasn't the only one wearing one. But I didn't actually use my traditional running playlist, instead I started it with some big band swing music while waiting for the race to start, and then let the complete concert recording of Sarah McLachlan's Mirrorball tour play through the race. It's such a long recording that, once it ended, I only had time for the first two songs from Evanescence's latest CD to play before I crossed the finish line for the last time. But it wasn't too bad to have to do four repetitions of the same loop, which was not a loop at all, but a straight course that we doubled back upon to return to the starting point. What ended up happening is that at every turn around everyone got to see how their friends were doing, and encourage each other in passing. In a straight course, you have no idea where your friends are if you aren't running with them. My pace group even gathered together at the start of the race to begin together, and the group leader, Graham, announced that the tactic of the group would be to "follow Christine". I tried to warn them that I was going to start off fast, because this wasn't training any longer and I've been trained to think very differently when I'm in a race, to let the adrenaline show me what my limits really are. I'm not apologizing for it, though, they were warned! But having them there was really nice, getting to exchange greetings and encouragement every time I turned back for the next repetition. Also, the water station people at the start line were led by the Merivale store manager, Hilda, and so I would get a chorus of my name every time I neared the 5km turnaround point. Since leaving high school I haven't had such a network at a race, so it's really amazing to see just how many friends I've made through the clinic program. It's given me so much more than just an improvement in my finishing times and overall confidence when running.
So now, it's on to the full marathon. The clinic actually started last week, but those of us finishing up the half-marathon clinic for Sunday's race were having our celebratory evening out at Local Heroes then, so we were allowed to skip the first night of the new clinic. I do have plenty of trepidations regarding this new challenge--it seems huge. But a lot of my friends from the winter clinic will be training for the full marathon with this clinic, so I'll have plenty of friends again. I wonder if Graham who led my pace group this past clinic will be leading the pace group I will fit best with. I know that he really valued my help in leading the group, with map-reading and pace monitoring. He even endorsed me as a pace group leader on the one weekend he wasn't able to make a Sunday run this past month. When the half-marathon clinic instructor, Jim, was looking for new pace group leaders later, he asked me if I'd be re-taking that clinic this time around. It actually made my chest tighten up to say that no, I was going to be doing the full marathon clinic instead. He was very encouraging on that, which helped me get over the threatening misty-eyed-ness. I'm sure he'll remember me, if I return to the half-marathon clinic in the summer, so chances are I'll be able to step up to the role of group leader then.
That's my goal, so long as I don't hurt myself majorly in this marathon attempt I definitely intend to return to the half-marathon clinic in the summer. It's not smart to do too many full marathons in any given year, and I am thinking that the summer's heat and humidity might put a little too much strain on me for the extended distances that training would require. Plus, I want to go do the PEI race again this October, and I really like how the half-marathon is a looped course that starts just blocks from my sister's place. The full marathon out there involves being bussed out past Cardiff and basically running back to Charlottetown. It sounds very scenic, so I do want to do it eventually. Depending on how my training is going and what races I opt to do in the first part of 2008, it's possible that'll be the year for the PEI marathon. I might even be looking at two marathons in 2008, if I want to do the Ottawa marathon again after my first taste of it in May.
There's a part of me that can't believe I'm thinking that far ahead already. But I'm not really jumping the gun, here, just dreaming, really. Some of my dreams are already becoming reality, so you can't fault a girl for dreaming further. When I joined my first clinic last June, Jim asked us all to think about our goals, from the immediate to the big dream...and I found that my big dream was to run the Athens Marathon, the one that recreates the historic route that all marathons commemorate. It's still a long ways off, but the path from here to there is slowly filling itself in, especially as I experience running year-round, so I can envision how I'd handle things in future training cycles.
The most immediate hurdle for all these dreams, however, is what I must turn my focus towards for now. And so it begins: my first marathon.
I broke the two hour mark, again. I didn't really believe that I'd be able to do that in the middle of wintertime, I figured that conditions had to be better than the middle of winter for me to do it, but I did it nonetheless. I knew after the first loop that I was about two minutes ahead of schedule, so I'd guess that I stuck to the proper pace for the rest of the race as I maintained that two minute lead. Once again, I skipped half my walk breaks, most during the first hour of the race, but I could tell that my shoes were getting old by the aching that my feet developed on the third loop out, so I was more careful to observe them properly from that point onwards. It might be the cold that should get the blame for that, though. I also got a stitch in my side at one point, and my eyebrows and glasses frosted up, so the cold was really trying to get me, I'm sure. It did a number to my glove-mitts, when I took my gel. I had to take the gloves off to tear the little pack open, and so I just hooked them to the strap for my water bottle holster. I took that gel pretty quick, because I didn't want to expose my hands for longer than I had to, and I'm a bit clumsy with fancy gloves. But the time that my gloves spent hooked at my waist, flopping about in the cold, was enough to freeze them quite stiff from the sweat that my toasty little hands had left inside when I pulled them off. It was surprisingly difficult to pull them back, and then my chilled hands had to defrost the gloves before they could warm themselves again.
The temperature let me avoid wearing the balaclava, which allowed me to wear my MP3 player under my matching lavender toque. I’m not sure the earphones would fit comfortably plastered to my head under the balaclava. I expected the course itself to become a bit dull with the repetitions, and I wasn't the only one wearing one. But I didn't actually use my traditional running playlist, instead I started it with some big band swing music while waiting for the race to start, and then let the complete concert recording of Sarah McLachlan's Mirrorball tour play through the race. It's such a long recording that, once it ended, I only had time for the first two songs from Evanescence's latest CD to play before I crossed the finish line for the last time. But it wasn't too bad to have to do four repetitions of the same loop, which was not a loop at all, but a straight course that we doubled back upon to return to the starting point. What ended up happening is that at every turn around everyone got to see how their friends were doing, and encourage each other in passing. In a straight course, you have no idea where your friends are if you aren't running with them. My pace group even gathered together at the start of the race to begin together, and the group leader, Graham, announced that the tactic of the group would be to "follow Christine". I tried to warn them that I was going to start off fast, because this wasn't training any longer and I've been trained to think very differently when I'm in a race, to let the adrenaline show me what my limits really are. I'm not apologizing for it, though, they were warned! But having them there was really nice, getting to exchange greetings and encouragement every time I turned back for the next repetition. Also, the water station people at the start line were led by the Merivale store manager, Hilda, and so I would get a chorus of my name every time I neared the 5km turnaround point. Since leaving high school I haven't had such a network at a race, so it's really amazing to see just how many friends I've made through the clinic program. It's given me so much more than just an improvement in my finishing times and overall confidence when running.
So now, it's on to the full marathon. The clinic actually started last week, but those of us finishing up the half-marathon clinic for Sunday's race were having our celebratory evening out at Local Heroes then, so we were allowed to skip the first night of the new clinic. I do have plenty of trepidations regarding this new challenge--it seems huge. But a lot of my friends from the winter clinic will be training for the full marathon with this clinic, so I'll have plenty of friends again. I wonder if Graham who led my pace group this past clinic will be leading the pace group I will fit best with. I know that he really valued my help in leading the group, with map-reading and pace monitoring. He even endorsed me as a pace group leader on the one weekend he wasn't able to make a Sunday run this past month. When the half-marathon clinic instructor, Jim, was looking for new pace group leaders later, he asked me if I'd be re-taking that clinic this time around. It actually made my chest tighten up to say that no, I was going to be doing the full marathon clinic instead. He was very encouraging on that, which helped me get over the threatening misty-eyed-ness. I'm sure he'll remember me, if I return to the half-marathon clinic in the summer, so chances are I'll be able to step up to the role of group leader then.
That's my goal, so long as I don't hurt myself majorly in this marathon attempt I definitely intend to return to the half-marathon clinic in the summer. It's not smart to do too many full marathons in any given year, and I am thinking that the summer's heat and humidity might put a little too much strain on me for the extended distances that training would require. Plus, I want to go do the PEI race again this October, and I really like how the half-marathon is a looped course that starts just blocks from my sister's place. The full marathon out there involves being bussed out past Cardiff and basically running back to Charlottetown. It sounds very scenic, so I do want to do it eventually. Depending on how my training is going and what races I opt to do in the first part of 2008, it's possible that'll be the year for the PEI marathon. I might even be looking at two marathons in 2008, if I want to do the Ottawa marathon again after my first taste of it in May.
There's a part of me that can't believe I'm thinking that far ahead already. But I'm not really jumping the gun, here, just dreaming, really. Some of my dreams are already becoming reality, so you can't fault a girl for dreaming further. When I joined my first clinic last June, Jim asked us all to think about our goals, from the immediate to the big dream...and I found that my big dream was to run the Athens Marathon, the one that recreates the historic route that all marathons commemorate. It's still a long ways off, but the path from here to there is slowly filling itself in, especially as I experience running year-round, so I can envision how I'd handle things in future training cycles.
The most immediate hurdle for all these dreams, however, is what I must turn my focus towards for now. And so it begins: my first marathon.