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!

Race Attire

I got my long run (30.5K) in this past Sunday. It was a bit of a struggle since I was still recovering from Quebec, but I managed to hammer it out. I did what I call a "hybrid" run. A bit of trails, road running, and even two laps on the track (I wanted to add some distance on to my run at the end). The variety helped, and today I am just taking a rest day.

Earlier in the summer, I ordered a few running skirts from runningskirts and I absolutely love them. They are soooo comfortable. I have a hard time wearing shorts now. I feel bad for the guys that they can't wear them, then again, eww! Too many images there!

I have had running skirts before, but these people make the most comfortable running skirts around. They have built in undies and the waist doesn't rub at all. I ran in one yesterday and had no chaffing.

I decided with two marathons coming up, I might as well splurge on another skirt to add to my skirt rotation. Here she is:






Gotta love the polka dots. I will get a black tank to match. A marathon is tough, so you might as well look co-ordinated during profuse sweating!!

I also have decided to get a Nike + band. Marlene has being using one now and recommends it, so look for me to post my runs in the near future. I figure it will help me keep my pace more often!! :) Now what else do I need.....

Still on the fence about whether Scotiabank will be a half or full, but I am solidering on as if I am running the full. On tap this week:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 6k (1 mile time trial)
Wednesday: 6K recover
Thursday: 12K tempo
Friday: rest
Saturday: 6K
Sunday: 22-24K

That's all for now. I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for reading!