Mississauga Marathon Race Report

This past Sunday I ran the Mississauga Marathon. My sister registered last minute for this race, having run the Nashville Marathon only two weeks before. She was disappointed with her Nashville time and wanted to redeem herself only two weeks later.

Hubs and I also registered late, so no name on the bib, boo! I didn't have great expectations for myself for this race since I knew my training was not 100% since Shamrock, but I felt well enough to run it, and you just never know...

My sister and I went to the expo on Saturday. We originally tried to go on Friday night to meet up with Mel and Emily, but Melissa's plane was delayed out of Nashville, so we couldn't make it there for Friday. We stopped by the Running Skirts booth where my sister bought a new outfit, and got chatting to one of the owners, Cindy, who offered to sponsor Melissa, how cool is that? Here is the outfit she wore:

Anyway, Melissa finished in an amazing 2:53:57, and had the third fastest time (winning time was 2:52xx). Her gun time unfortunately put her in 4th place... seems wrong, but those are apparently the "rules". Melissa is 6 minutes off of Olympic trial times, which I bet she will achieve since this time was run after running a marathon only two weeks earlier.

I hope it doesn't sound like I am bragging about my sister, well honestly I am really proud and like to brag a little, but the truth of the matter is that my "little sister" is such an amazing inspiration to me. She has two boys to which she is an awesome mom, works full time, and runs kick ass marathons. She is a beautiful person as well. It gives me hope somewhere I have the genes in my to become faster... :) Love ya sis!!

Anyway back to my race report. About my race...

Well it all started well. I ran the first 3K rather conservatively to warm up, and then probably pushed it a little too much past 3K (when will I ever learn?!!)

kM 1: 5:42

kM 2: 5:45

kM 3: 5:41 (Felt warmed up at this point)

kM 4: 5:28 (Um yeah, too fast for 4 hours, stuuupid, slow down...)

kM5: 5:40

kM 6 :5:40 (feels sooo easy, lets push the pace a little...)

kM 7: 5:28

kM 8: 5:35

kM 9: 5:30

kM 10: 5:32 (yes the last 4K we too fast, but it felt easy, glorious actually)

So the first 10K were pretty easy, I felt great and wasn't worried about pushing my pace too much...

kM 11: 5:50 (there was a steep hill, so I didn't worry about this too much)

kM 12: 5:36

kM 13: 5:28

kM 14: 5:37

kM 15: 5:41 (starting to feeling tired.... oh no, so soon?!)

kM 16: 5:47 (saw the half marathon cutoff, considered taking it, no Marci, run right, run right)

kM 17: 6:23 (wishing I turned left, I walked, yes already, just felt tired!!)

kM 18: 5:55

kM 19: 6:23 (walked again, briefly, not a good sign)

kM 20: 6:03

kM 21: 6:21

21.1 K, 13.1 miles split 2:01

So I knew at this point based on how I was feeling that it wasn't likely a PR kind of day. I told myself not to give up though, you just never know....

kM 22: 5:55

kM 23: 6:29

kM 24: 5:59 (Saw Hubs running the back part of the out and back loop)

kM 25: 6:27

kM 26: 5:58

Mmm I see a trend here, speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down some more.

kM 27: 6:47 (my knee oddly started bothering my, took some Tylenol)

kM 28: 6:46 (Saw Mel on the course, she looked great, this gave me a little boost)

Then my knee got really bad, and I started to excessively walk/wobble. Took another painkiller.

kM 29: 7:44 (ouch)

kM 20: 7:09

kM 31: 7:34

Painkillers kick in a little, so I start running again..

kM 32: 6:31

kM 33: 6:48

kM 34: 6:38

kM 35: 7:41 (knee talking again, took a third Tylenol, hoped for the best)

kM 36: 6:45

kM 37: 6:53

kM 38: 6:49

kM 39: 6:49

kM 40: 6:52

kM41: 6:24 (Saw a few running friends and Marlene (who ran a HUGE PR -congrats), gave hugs, great to see them!!)

kM 42: 6:03

Final time: 4:24:xx. 12th marathon, done!!

Not bad, not great, but all in all I'll take it.

I have been icing my knee, it feels fine. I think it was my shoes, I bought a new pair the week before but I was nervous to wear them, but I will definitely wear them in Cleveland and Vermont.

I haven't registered yet for Cleveland, I want to test the knee, and I need to complete Vermont since its another stated. I really want to run both, and complete 3 marathons in 3 weeks!!

Thanks for reading

P.S I am putting a poll. How should winners be determined.. guntime or chip time? Feel free to leave comments as well!

Garmin rebate, Race announcements

Today I bought a brand spanking new 405!!!

Now I already have a 205, but I want to be more analytical about my training and have long since lost the USB link my 205 came with...

PLUS

I got a $50.00 USD rebate for my Garmin! In case you are interested, the rebate can be had at
http://www.runningroom.com/. Prices are in Canadian dolllars, but the rebate is in US dollars.

This Garmin will come in handy because I have a slew of races upcoming:

May 10th - Canon Mississauga Marathon
I have run this course twice as a half marathon, but never as the full. I am looking forward to it. I will ofcourse try for a PR, but I am not 100% sure I am ready, but either way, I am looking forward to running another marathon. I ran the Sporting Life 10K this weekend, and although I didn't run a PR, I really just wanted to run a strong race, and I felt like I did well, finished in 50:23, so I'll take it.

May 17th - Cleveland Marathon

We are going to Cleveland with a group of running friends, I am not sure what event I will enter here, but I will be there and running (hoping marathon). It was part of Hubs 5 marathons in 5 weeks series last year, so I would love to run it this year.

May 24th - KeyBank Vermont City Marathon
I have to cross another state off the list, so why not Vermont?! This is a challenging course, but it looks great, and I have read some good comments about it, so I am super excited to go!

May 30th - Toronto Women's Half Marathon
This is a new event, and there is chocolate and pedicures involved. Need I say more? I'm in!

June 14th - Twenty Valley Niagara Wine Country Run Half Marathon
Hubs and I are going with Running friends, we have rented a cottage in Niagara on the Lake, it should be alot of fun!

It sounds a little intimidating when I write it down like this, but I love marathon season. Hope you are all having a great week! Thanks for reading!

Gearing Back Up

I have slowly gotten back into running this past week after having to sit out the Around the Bay Road Race last week. This cold has hung on, and although I am running a little this week, my pace is slow as my breathing is asthmatic- like.

Being the addict I am (I seriously have issues, I know) I am still planning on another May marathon. Originally I had targeted the New Jersey Marathon May 3rd, but since I am still struggling getting back up to pace, I think its too soon.

Other choices are:

Mississauga Marathon - May 11th - This will be my target, but I am not registering until it gets closer to race date since I don't know if I'll be 100% ready. I have run this twice as a half and its a good course to run.
Cleveland Marathon - May 17th -A group of running friends are running this, so we will be going, but I will either run a half or a full here.
Bayshore Marathon - May 24th - I like the reviews of this race on marathon guide. Anyone out there run this one before?
Ottawa Marathon- May 24th - My nemesis, I never run well here. What better reason to come back and conquer (well at least conquer for me!)


I will likely run more than one, I can never just pick one!

I have also been slotting in some lower distance training race runs. My first one is next Friday, the Good Friday Road Race 10 miler. The other I will announce as I get closer to formulating a plan of some sort.

I really need to get a training plan in place, it has to have some flexibility since I don't know how long this cold will hang on. Next year I think I will definately get a flu shot. I usually don't get sick, but this is twice this winter. Anyway, sorry if this sounds whiney. I am feeling better really, I just am itching to get into some serious training again.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Thanks for reading.