Today I finished the Royal Victoria Marathon in 3:44:42.  It's not my best, and thankfully not my worst.  I had my doubts at first, after the last two races-- Vancouver last year was rough and this year's Rock and Roll in Seattle was a flame out.  It is nice to know that with the right amount of training, and the mental discipline to dig deep and commit, anything is possible.

In terms of a recap, the weather couldn't have been better.  Sunny, not too cold, and a slight breeze.  Great conditions for a race.  The crowd was solid, though a little patchy in places.  It was nice to see the standard beer giver outers, and students cheering you on.  There's also this guy -- Coach Mike -- who rides the course giving people encouragement.  I remember him from my first RVM, and it was great to see/hear him again.  I say hear, as he has a very distinctive voice that resonates and caries well across the crowds.  Thanks, Coach Mike -- you helped me dig down and finish strong!  Overall I felt pretty good.  It's always nice when you have to tell yourself to slow down.  There was one point around mile 20 where the km markers (it is Canada, afterall) seemed to take forever.  Other than that though, I felt pretty good.  Probably I could have pushed it more -- and possibly I may have gotten a PR, but following my last outings, I just wanted to finish.

It's been a few weeks since the marathon, and I feel like I'm still running (with work and buying a home..but that's beside the point.)

In terms of the marathon, here's my time -- 4:03:34

How do I feel about that?  I was really hoping to finish in under four...but eh…I can live with it. 

before I forget, here's a race summary...

The first 10 miles were great.  I was feeling strong, my right leg wasn't hurting.  Felt a little weird, but it wasn't hurting so I felt good.  I was running a bit fast at about an 8 minute mile.  I knew I had to slow down and proceeded to the rest of the way.

Anyway, after mile 10…I started thinking that i wanted to be done.  Not so good given that there were 16 miles to go!  It wasn't so much a physical tired, but I think it had more to do in that at that point the race was in the park and there weren't too many folks cheering during certain sections.  Anyway, the park section didn't last too long and i got my energy back.

With my new found energy, I was running with a couple of different packs of runners.  There were a lot of folks from Team in Training easily recognizable by their purple gear.  Many of the runners personalized their gear by writing the names or pictures of loved ones with them.  Others wrote inspirational words.  The one that really stands out was one woman who ran past me.  On the back of her shirt, it said "Dad can I borrow your wings to help me fly today?"  I don't know what it was about that, but that message really moved me. 

After that, it was mostly uneventful for me until mile 20.  From mile 20 on, the water stations seemed to be a lot closer.  And for whatever reason, I started to slow down and walk through the water stations.  not a good idea in retrospect.  between mile 20 and mile 23 I had bad leg cramps.  Fortunately there were first aid stations and i was able to get assistance.  At the first first aid station, they were able to massage out my quad cramp.  they also gave me some advil.  At the next aid station I got some calcium and some rubbing alcohol (not to drink, but on my legs).  At that point, I was starting to feel better and I was able to get into another groove.  for the rest of the race, being cheered on by bigger and bigger crowds (and perhaps thanks to the drugs) i was able to run the rest of the way and finish strong.

thanks to Laura for always being there (and now running with me!)
thanks to all the first aid folks
thanks to all the other volunteers
(thanks especially for the gummi bears around mile 20 -- they were delicious!)
thanks to all the others who made the race run smooth
but thanks especially for the crowds -- you really help keep folks like me going!