August 11, 2013
After finishing my first marathon in August of 2012, I didn’t really have any plans to do another. The first one had been something I just wanted to see if I could do. I loved to run, but marathons are about more than that. They take a lot of time and suffering to prepare for. It’s a huge commitment.
As the months went by, however, I found my mind coming back more and more to the 42.2K. Even though I was still new to running and an inexperienced road racer, I knew my time of 4:11:28 at the 2011 Age of Sail was nothing to write home about. I was 38 years old, still improving steadily, and wanted to continue testing myself.
For me, the logical choice was to take another crack at my hometown race, the Age of Sail Marathon. The marathon challenge was still pretty intimidating to me, and something about the familiarity of running one on the same route I trained on regularly put me somewhat at ease.
So, I signed up once again.
My training for this race was pretty similar to my first race, but my fitness was a little better, and having the experience from the previous year’s race, and another year of running in general, gave me more confidence.
I trained alone, for a few different reasons, the main one being one of necessity. There were no other runners living nearby, and even if there were, I had enough of a challenge managing my own schedule to get training runs in. I couldn’t imagine trying to coordinate with someone else on top of that.
I also enjoyed the solitude of running. That alone time, with some music, I found very peaceful and a great de-stressor.
On top of my training regimen – which again followed a program I found online from good ol’ Hal Higdon – I ran a couple other shorter races during my buildup. My cousins recruited me to their team in the Cabot Trail Relay Race – Got the Runs – and I made my debut at that event in May, running Leg 6. Cabot Trail continues to be my favourite race on the calendar.
I also returned to the Johnny Miles in June of that year for another half marathon race, and was able to knock more than six minutes off my time from the year before.
When race day rolled around for the Age of Sail, I was feeling ready. I even took a little fuel along with me this time. I had tried different gels during training, but could not find any that agreed with my belly. Eventually, I settled on Clif Shot Bloks, a type of gummy that came in different flavours.
What I didn’t realize then was that the two packs of Shot Bloks I took with me were not going to come close to meeting the calorie intake I needed for a marathon. I believe I took a couple gummies every 6K, when I really should have been consuming an entire pack of six at that rate. I guess it was better than the zilch fuel I took in 2012 though.
Once again, I was part of a small field of runners in the marathon - seven of us - and I was the only local marathoner that year. I noticed that there were several runners that came over from Prince Edward Island, including Elaine Burkholder, Dianne Watts-Pye and Francis Fagan. Those three ran the Age of Sail Marathon every year it was held. Fagan was the winner of the inaugural event in 2011.
Another Islander taking part that year was Michael Gaudet. I remember noticing how calm and collected he seemed, cracking jokes as we gathered at the start line.
Unlike 2012, which saw a spattering of rain at the start of the race, this year's run saw sunny skies throughout. The conditions were pretty good, if maybe a bit warm towards the end.
Based on my pace from my training runs, I decided beforehand that I would go out at a 5:00 per km pace, and try and maintain it as long as I could. That was my entire race plan.
I revealed that strategy to Gaudet as we found ourselves running together early in the race. I’m not sure if he was impressed or not. But he chose to stick with me for much of the first half of the race, running in my draft until around the 12K mark, when he stopped for a port-a-potty break.
I remember feeling really good in that first half. My pace was steady, and everything was going according to plan. I ran alone for the next 6-7K and then, from out of nowhere, Gaudet was back on my tail. He didn’t stay there long, however, as he passed by me shortly before the turnaround in Parrsboro.
I was surprised at how effortlessly he seemed to leave me behind. I felt like I was still cruising at my 5:00 pace. Was he speeding up that much, only halfway through the race? I believe he did pick up the pace a little at that point, but careful review of my run data afterwards revealed that I was starting to slow down as well. One of the problems of running alone is you can lose focus, and I should have worked harder to stay on track then.
The trip back was, as expected, a far different story from the trip up. I laboured hard and started coming up against the wall at around the 30K mark.
I soldiered on and crossed the finish line at 3:46:56, more than 24 minutes better than my time from the previous year. I finished in second place behind Gaudet, and haven’t come across him since. Interestingly, when doing a little research for this article, I found some comments he wrote in review of the event on findmymarathon.com:
“If you’re looking for a ‘small’ marathon with lots of community involvement, look no further. Wonderful views, great meal after.”
The meal may have been great, but I was in rough shape post-race again that year. I stopped into the fire hall after my race, but even the smell of food started to turn my stomach, so I headed home before I could create a scene.
While I was happy to just finish the race in 2012, I was even more satisfied with this one. I knew I had improved as a runner, and wanted to prove it to myself. Mission accomplished.
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