Monday morning meditations and musings...

Wow, am I sore today!

Sometimes, after a marathon, I feel relatively fine. A little tired in the legs but, in general, I am usually up and walking normally. I don't anticipate that happening today. I definitely was in some pain during the race and after. I know that I'm in trouble when, if I move slightly awkwardly while walking around after the race, I feel a shooting pain on the outside of my knee. It lets me know I was, basically, on the "edge".

All that being said, I feel good about the race. Having gone for a short ride the day before, I expected tired legs. I expected a decent first half, and wanted to run at 1:35 (I ran 1:34:45) and see if I could hold that the rest of the way. And, of course, I couldn't. Truthfully, when you aren't training specifically for a marathon, and your long runs have not been any longer than 25k or so since November, you cannot expect much different. So, with that in mind, I got a 3:18, and that is exactly what I asked for (or expected).

Even though I am sore, I truly realize this morning how wonderful it is to be able to run a marathon, and how it is great to see others and share the war stories after. Hitting the Dog Pound (a pub) after the race was great, and being able to chat with everybody about their experiences, the good, the bad, the ugly, and then filling up a garbage can with ice and jumping in to an ice bath, was awesome. If I ever need motivation, I can look to those moments as the ones that will keep me going!

Some Monday morning quarterbacking:
-I am not one to complain and be bitter about something for too long, but I do have to say that I believe the Vancouver Marathon committee MUST rethink how it conducts the race. I thank the volunteers and those folks who were out there. They were awesome. But there really has to be a brain trust up there that just doesn't "get it". First of all, there were several aid stations where water was not ready or was unavailable. Again, I don't blame the volunteers for not knowing what to expect, but the organizers should have a system set up to explain to the volunteers just HOW to be ready. Having no water cups filled and waiting for the runners to come in order to fill the water cups is just short-sighted.
-Second, where were the mile markers? I was absolutely amazed when I passed several points where there SHOULD have been a mile marker and wasn't. I thought I was just missing them, but then I went 3 miles before I saw one. And others told me the same thing, so now I know it wasn't me. How hard is it to have the markers up in a visible way. Again, if I just missed them, I am not the only one.
-Third and, actually, most importantly, where was traffic control? There were cars pulling into the runners and I even heard of a car backing out into one of the lead groups.

So, I have to agree with Vince's blog comments on Vancouver (though I am not as passionate in my tone) and say that they really do need to start thinking of their athletes. I get the impression that they believe we are the lucky ones to have the privilege to run in their race. I know we're lucky to be able to spend our time recreationally in this way, but marathons have a special place in making the experience one where, for between 2 hours and 7 hours, each and every person running that race has the opportunity to feel like a superstar. I think these details take away from that and diminish the experience. I've run enough marathons in big and small numbers to know which marathons truly make you feel special. If these details don't change, I would support looking for alternative race organizers to come in and take over.

There, that's my negative rambling on all this. I don't like to focus on the negatives for too long. I've got my own race to analyze and learn from.

Some learning tools I can take from yesterday:
-Pacing. When competing in Ironman and in the Half Ironman's this summer, starting steady and slowly for the first half would be more beneficial. I really do feel if I had knocked the speed down a little at the start I would have been stronger at the finish. After a bike ride, I know I'll need to keep that in mind. It's easier said than done, because we all get swept up in the moment.
-Race nutrition. I tried the Ultima but I don't know if I enjoyed it that much. I still prefer the Gatorade and E-Load. I also carried the Clif Shots in a gel flask and that was helpful to go to.
-Heart Rate. My average HR was 173 for the race. I think there were some hiccups in there technically (I saw that my max HR was 227 during the race which, despite my Lance Armstrong-like heart, I doubt actually happened). But that seems about right. I'd say that my optimum is to stay at 170 or just slightly below for the first half of a race.
-Post race. ICE BATH!!!! A definite must.
-Pre race. Saturday was a great day to relax and keep my plans familiar. I watched a couple of movies in the evening and, otherwise, just got a haircut through the day. I went to the Running Room to grab a Body Glide and wound up chatting with a friend from the Triathlon Club for a while, which was a nice distraction and kept me from overthinking my race too much.

Happy training folks!

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." Lou Holtz