May 8, 2022
On any other day at the Fredericton Marathon, I wouldn’t have been satisfied with anything less than a PB. As circumstances would prove this year, however, the path to race day is not always predictable.
I ran Freddy for the first time back in 2016, finishing with a personal best but feeling like I really could have done better. The only certainty coming out of that race was that I knew I would be back. I returned a couple times as a spectator, and ran the half in 2018, but this would be my first crack at the full since that day, exactly six years later.
This year I hoped to run a late summer marathon, but was waiting to find out which events would be happening before making a solid plan. I really wanted to run Marathon by the Sea in Saint John in August, but things were quiet out of that camp for quite awhile, leading me to suspect it would be unavailable for another year. Eventually they announced a new 30K race rather than a full marathon, confirming my suspicion. I then set my sights on the Cape Breton Fiddlers Marathon in Sydney in September as my next likely choice. This left the door wide open to fit a spring marathon in somewhere too.
Scheduled for its normal slot on Mother’s Day weekend, Fredericton seemed like a great choice.
Always well organized, with a large field of great runners, Freddy always brings with it a lot of excitement. The flat route and the cool spring temperature make it appealing to anyone looking for a fast time.
I was coming off the Blue Nose Marathon in Halifax in November, a race that I was pretty satisfied with, but plenty had changed with me since then. A couple weeks after that race, I started a new job as a ward clerk in the emergency room at the Amherst hospital, where I was now working 12-hour shifts, alternating between days and nights. A typical set would see me work two day shifts (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.), followed by two night shifts (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.), followed by four off days.
Adjusting to this schedule meant less time for my training. Running was out of the question for me on the days I worked day shift, meaning I had a maximum of five days per week when I could run instead of my customary six, and that was only if I ran on both of the days I worked night shift. Meanwhile, training for Fredericton means plenty of winter running, and I had some storm days that kept me from getting out there.
The result was that my training had suddenly become “hit and miss” and much more sporadic than ever before. And many of these runs came on days when I was just plain exhausted. Working in the ER can be very rewarding, but it can also be very draining, both mentally and physically. There were many mornings I would walk out of the hospital at 7 a.m. on a cold winter day feeling like nothing more than a hollowed-out empty shell. I would then struggle to keep my eyes open for the 1-hour drive home or to some other destination, and then go for a run that would range anywhere in distance from 5K to 30K.
I didn’t know if this type of training was hindering me more than helping me, but I hoped it was the latter. The optimist in me felt that running tired on those days might help prepare myself to run better when tired in those late stages of the marathon.
Despite these challenges, my body felt reasonably well as race day grew nearer. My mileage was lower than usual for marathon prep, and my knees were not bothering me as much as they often do in the cold weather.
My only injury issue came from out of nowhere, just a few days before the race. When sitting, I noticed some discomfort and soreness in my right glute muscle. It didn’t feel like anything major, and I expected it would be gone the next day. Instead, it was worse the next day, radiating through my hamstring muscles to my thigh.
I was almost at the end of the taper at this point, and had not had any tough workouts in a while. I could not think of anything I had done to provoke an injury, and again expected it to go away on its own. When it continued to hurt the next day, I found myself in full-on panic mode. When you work so hard to train for months, the idea of pulling out of a race is painful to consider, but doubt was taking over my mind.
I explained the situation on Facebook, and was grateful to receive some reassuring comments from my friends in the running community. Heidi McLellan, a physiotherapist, offered me some advice and some stretches, which did help. I went for a short shakeout run on the day before the race, and found that I could run OK once things loosened up. I packed my bags and headed for Fredericton.
But the three-hour drive proved to be very uncomfortable – sitting was the toughest – and I got out of the car feeling the worst I had since this whole issue started. I joined the Amherst Striders for a carb-loading supper at Boston Pizza, and I was so uncomfortable sitting in the chair, I was struggling to wrap my head around the idea of running 42K the next day.
By that point, I had already paid for the race and paid for my room, and most importantly I had put in the training time, so I decided nothing would keep me from the start line. If things got bad during the race, I could always pull out, and was prepared to do so after the first 2-3K if my body wasn’t cooperating. With the Cabot Trail Relay coming up, I wasn’t going to completely wreck myself. But I was going to come home from this one with at least a new shirt.
Shortly after supper I retired to my room for an evening of relaxation. I couldn’t get a room in the city for less than $200 a night, as I booked late and the East Coast Music Awards were happening in Fredericton the same weekend. So I went the AirBNB route and found a nice place just outside of town in Lincoln. Quiet and private, it was just what I needed, and I had the best sleep I had ever had the night before a race. I woke up feeling fresh, and focused on positive thoughts as I got in the car.
It was a beautiful spring morning as we gathered at the start line, and I worked my way to the vicinity of the 3:30 marathon pace bunny. The crowd of runners was quite big, but I saw plenty of familiar faces. My Rum Runners teammate Troy Sandwith was nearby, and just prior to the start I found myself surrounded by several of the Striders I had dined with the day before – Alison, Shelley, Victoria, Amy and Victor.
We started off and I felt some stiffness in my hamstring but no real pain. I ran comfortably with the Strider gang at around a 5-minute pace for the first several kms. What a gorgeous day in Fredericton. I wore a tank and shorts, along with gloves for the first part of the race until the air warmed a bit.
The marathon route had changed a little from when I previously ran this one. The biggest highlight was a trip over the Westmorland Street bridge early on, followed by a new section of trail on the north side of the Saint John River, before hooking into the more familiar Nashwaak Trail and the beloved William Thorpe walking bridge. The new route seemed slightly less flat, and featured more dirt trail and less asphalt than the previous route, but was a little more interesting and still Freddy fast.
After the first 4K I bumped my pace up a bit to around 4:50 and found I could still run comfortably. I was a little nervous about pushing harder, and waited until around 12K to open up a bit more, but it just didn’t feel right. My goal would have been to cruise at 4:40 for as long as I could, but I only found this pace a couple times on this day, and couldn’t hold onto it. I’d love to blame this on my hamstring, but I think it was more likely my training. I wasn’t prepared for a PB on this day.
By the time I got to the halfway mark, however, I knew I was going to finish the race, and this had me smiling inside despite whatever I was feeling on the outside. I hated going into this one with so much uncertainty, and really didn’t need that kind of distraction. It was a relief to know I wasn’t going to be defeated. Cheers from friends along the route kept me smiling all along the way.
So my heart didn’t break when the Wall crept up on me at around 31K, and I just pushed on as best as I could. I was feeling pretty alone until I had around 3K left to go, and who did I meet coming up the trail but another Strider, this one a complete surprise. Anthony Fromm, who wasn’t even racing on this day, showed up just to support those of us who were.
“Come on Wagstaff, I’ll take ya in,” he said, picking my feet up a little, and lifting my spirits a lot.
I crossed the finish line at 3:34:12, a result that wouldn’t have pleased me on most other days, but this day was different. Never before had I gone into a marathon feeling like pulling out early would be a real possibility. Beating those demons was my own personal victory this time around.
Strider Alison Lair finished only seconds behind me, a BQ and new PB for her, which was very cool to see. Ken MacKenzie was on hand to cheer on all the Striders, and I had handed him my running gloves during the race after I warmed up. He congratulated me as he gave me back my gloves at the finish area. Even though I have never been able to participate in many group runs, Ken and others have always made me feel a welcome member of the Striders, and it was nice to see them all in Fredericton.
Looking ahead, I honestly don’t know how many more marathons I have left in me. I would still like to run all of the Maritime marathons, and there are still a couple left to finish off that list. After that I had entertained the idea of running one in each province across the country, but I don’t know if that’s feasible. The half marathon has always been my favourite distance, yet I’ve been pretty much ignoring it for years, while I’ve been also feeling the pull of trail ultras. Meanwhile, changes at work will likely mean fewer free weekends in the months ahead, so things are up in the air right now.
Whatever happens, I will still be lacing up my shoes and getting out there as often as I can, grateful to be able to do it, and always proud to be a runner.
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