Goals: the object of a persons ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. -Google dictionary
I am a very goal driven person and I love working towards goals possibly even more than I love to actually go through the act of attaining the goal.
It is going to take me some time to reflect on the marathon but I thought I would write the review of how the race went down for now.
First thing I typically never sleep the night before a marathon. I have had to learn to not worry about this and rather just rest as much as I can. But for the first time I actually slept 7hrs the night before— should be a good sign right?
I was on the ‘sub top’ runner list which was great as they had a place for our bags etc and escorted us to the start line.
Once the gun went off there was a collision in front of me with a couple of people on the ground that caused a ripple effect back. But I got out of that safely and then it was on to the race.
The weather ended up being quite warm and I definitely felt it from the gun. I did not expect this as I tend to like warmer race conditions. But my mouth felt dry and I was sweating right away. So I noted that I needed to stay on it with hydration. On that note they have a brilliant hydration method here with sponges on top of the cups. I totally did not get it at first and took the sponge off to wet myself. Realizing at maybe the third water station that ohhh the sponge is so you can actually down some water genius! We NEED this to happen in North America!!!!
The race strung out pretty quickly. And I was basically alone for the majority of it. Which is fine. There were of course people ahead of me to keep eyes on. I just envisioned Marco (one of my training partners) ahead of me as he often is on MGT and kept pushing.
Unfortunately I realized pretty quickly in that I did not feel that same flow state as I did in Chicago. But I told myself even if I don’t get the sub 2:40 I am still strong enough to run a PB.
As I said I was pretty much alone for most of the race but at 20k a group of probably 8 men swept me up and I decided to try to stick with them until 26k which I did and then the group kind of strung out.
I went through half way in 1:18:15 which is 30s faster than my official half PB (*i need to run a half). This is of course intimidating to do but I wanted to put myself out there to see if I could break 2:40.
I was able to hold on until around 30k but it got ugly after that. My coach had told me I needed to get to 26k ‘smooth as butter’ and I felt relatively smooth but not super amazing like I had expected.
At 32k I was pretty certain sub 2:40 was not going to happen and maybe that was my demise because realistically over 10k I still maybe could have made it happen. But based on how I felt I did not for see that being the case.
I pushed as much as I could for the last 10k but again I was alone and it was a tough grind. I am not sure why I couldn’t push that little bit further a and i will continue to reflect on this.
A positive out of this is I still not go negative on myself I would say I went more realistic. Recognizing based on how I felt it probably was not going to happen. But maybe that is giving up a little too easily. I don’t know why it was not my day there was no reason for to have not been. But I guess not every race can be a magical break through or we would not appreciate it when they happen. So lesson learned cherish those races when everything clicks they are rare and sacred.
I definitely want to continue to learn to run a better marathon as mine always seem to be a great ~30k and then a slow demise to the finish. I get anxious off the start and likely go out too hard with the worry of not being able to hold a pace but what I do in turn is force myself in to a huge positive split. People say a even or negative split is possible but I have yet to prove that to myself. (*if anyone wants to pace me to one I would love it). I guess this comes with learning to trust yourself which I think I have improved but clearly still need some work.
So in the end as I said I refuse to be upset with a PB especially after my last Pb being a big break through. But I am disappointed. I set lofty goals for myself and this truly does motivate me to train hard and commit everything I have to it. So it is frustrating when it does not come together when training says it should. But in my history I tend to run a break through then run a few times around it and then drop again.
And I also have to remember my over arching goal was sub 2:45 which I did and I said anything else was icing on top— and I have 4mins worth of icing now.
I do believe I can break 2:40 and again now the fire is just that much bigger to keep me working hard towards it. I am not sure what exactly is next but I am excited to get back at training (*after my post marathon vacation of course).
I will learn, grow and evolve from this experience and come back better next time!
I want to also send a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who sent me messages before, during and after the race. It means the world to me and you better believe I think of all of you during the race. A special shout out to manic run club who sent in a video that popped up on a big screen on course… so cool!!!
If you want to see more about my marathon adventure check out my Instagram page (@TORunningChiro) I saved the story to my highlights #maraadventure
Lastly thank you to NN marathon Rotterdam for putting on a wonderful event!!! From the organizers, volunteers to the spectators the city of Rotterdam did a great job and I would highly recommend it as destination race!!!
The numbers:
2:40:46 (1:12 PB)
10th female overall
1st Canadian female
110th overall
Toronto Running Chiro 