BMO Vancouver Marathon: 42.2 k is a long way!

It’s a funny thing about races in general and marathons in particular: it’s not always easier when you know what you’re in for. In some ways this marathon was harder than my first one last year, which I didn’t anticipate. I can say nearly two weeks later though, that my recovery this time was much faster and less painful.

I had a decent night’s sleep, but I kept dreaming that I had already finished the marathon. I knew I hadn’t when I woke up, though, because I wasn’t in enough pain. John woke me up just a couple of minutes before my alarm went off, and even though I had everything laid out, I still felt disorganized. Nerves, I guess. I had some oatmeal, while Damian ate a bowl of raisin bran, and then a tin of tuna. Then, we headed out to meet Lil at Starbuck’s on the way down to the SkyTrain.

We got to the start line about 20 minutes before the race. We checked in our bags (I frantically sprayed sunscreen on my head and legs because I forgot to before). Damian left to use the urinal (no line up!) and then we headed to the start line. Lil and I decided to start together for the first part, but Damian went ahead, since he was hoping to finish in less than 4 hours.

We weren’t waiting very long before the gun went off and the race was on! It only took about 2 minutes to get to the start line, where I started my Garmin and my music. My right knee, the one that kept me from doing my last long run, started to twinge right away, which worried me a bit. It wasn’t painful and wasn’t slowing me down, but I could feel it and I worried about finishing the race if it didn’t improve.

The first few kilometers seemed to go by slowly at the time, but now seem to have flown by. In fact, I think I struggled with the sheer amount of time I was running this time, much more than with my first marathon, where I didn’t have a Garmin and hardly checked my time at all. This race, I checked my Garmin a lot to look at my average pace, so I was much more aware of the time.

Although I had checked the elevation map for this route, it looked so much less hilly than the Edge to Edge that I assumed it would be flat. It wasn’t; not because of any really steep hills, but because of long inclines. I came across the first one starting at the 4 k mark. As I started up this hill, I separated from Lil, and saw the first of the marathoners heading back down. It was inspiring to see them going so fast! Of course, they were running downhill, but still they were going strong. As I turned around near the Granville Bridge I hit the first real hill, but it was so early that I had no trouble. The way back towards the start, being downhill, was a lot easier and I started to feel like I was in a groove.

After the first there-and-back, we headed back through Chinatown and onto the Dunsmuir Viaduct. It was a nice view and strange to be running on a bridge going the “wrong” way. It was also right around here that my knee just got better. I was surprised, but happy and relieved that I wouldn’t have to worry about that for the whole race, at least.

Right after the bridge I came to my second hill. I had a good song on my iPhone and I should have taken it easy, but I didn’t. I felt great that I powered up that hill, but in hindsight I probably should have saved it for later. After the hill, this stretch was a challenge because we were running through the East Hastings part of Vancouver, which is one of the roughest neigbourhoods there. There were very few spectators and it was much less scenic; it felt like I was running through an industrial area until I got to Gastown. It was also around here that I could feel my armwarmers chafing my upper arms on the inside, and I was getting some mild stomach cramps. I passed by a water station with port-o-potties but I didn’t stop this time.

Next we continued along Hastings, past Canada Place towards Stanley Park. This part of the run flew by because I was just trying to get to Stanley Park, and I was looking for a port-o-potty. My inner arms were stinging, too, but I didn’t want to take my armwarmers off because I had nowhere to put them. I hoped to keep them on until I met John around the 27 k mark, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to stand them that long.

The first part of Stanley Park was hard. I was getting tired already (and not even halfway done!) and I found it was getting warmer. I had to give up the armwarmers right near the halfway mark; I tied the right one around my fuel belt and rolled my left one down so I still had something between my Garmin and my bare arm. I reached the halfway point in about 2:25, so I knew that I would not make my “secret” goal of less than 4:45 unless I ran the second half faster, which was unlikely. I was still well on track to make my original goal of less than 5 hours, though.

Right aroundthe 23k mark, I got a bit of a second wind and actually felt pretty good going along Lagoon Drive. I was passing other people, and was less tired. That lasted until I got to the 26 k mark, where I saw another runner lying on the sidewalk, with the ambulance headed her way. I met John just before the Burrard St. Bridge at the 27.5 k mark, traded bottles, gave him my armwarmers, and even managed to look okay in a photo.

Then I hit the bridge.

This part I distinctly remember because “Lose Yourself” by Eminem was playing and I was trying to pick up my pace in time with the song, but my thighs felt like tree trunks. I simply could not go any faster than I was. My pace, which had been around 6:45/km for the first half, was now creeping up to 7:00/km. When I finally reached the top of the bridge and was heading downhill, the wind was against me, and as I ran down, I thought of how crappy would feel running back up this hill 12k later.

The whole way from the bridge to the 32 k mark, I was getting more and more tired, and it was warm out, without much shade. I kept thinking, I just need to get to 32 k and then I only have 10 more left. I can do anything for 10 k, even if I have to walk. Up until now I had been doing a 14:1 run:walk ratio, but it started to break down. I knocked it down to 10:1 run:walk and managed to keep that up until the 32 k mark. Then, just before the end of this last there-and-back part of the route, was a long, gradual hill that lasted about 1 k. It wasn’t steep until the very end, but it took a lot out of me, and I knew the last bit of this race wasn’t going to be pretty.

From that part until I got back to the bridge, I struggled. I was taking walk breaks every 5 minutes at times, and those walk breaks were getting longer and longer. Although I really didn’t want to, I took a Gu. I was stopping at almost every water station because it was quite warm out, with little shade until about the 37 k mark. On the way back, I saw Lil going the other way, and I knew that she would not be coming in anywhere near the 5 hour mark, since she still had about 10k left to go.

Finally we got near the Burrard St Bridge again. But first we had to do a couple of little loops, which just made it drag to me. The loop right before the bridge was uphill as well, and I had to walk most of it. I knew the bridge hill was coming up, and resigned myself to walking most of that, as well. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t finish before 5 hours, but by then, I just wanted to finish. Surprisingly, I had just enough left in the tank to run (slowly) up the bridge.

John surprised me by being there, taking photos and cheering me on. Right at the top a spectator high-fived me and told me this was the last hill. I almost cried, knowing I was so close.

The last two kilometers were a breeze, although my legs were so sore I couldn’t get them to move as fast as I would have liked. I just had enough left to get the finish, but not to push my pace. I tried to run the whole rest of the way, but had to take one short walk break.Then, with about 1 k left to go, this guy was high-fiving everyone and made my day.

Finally, after a couple of small turns the finish area was in sight. Usually, I try to pick up my pace, but this time, I saw the clock read 5 hours, 2 minutes and I knew I didn’t make my goal, so I didn’t. I took my headphones off so I could hear the cheering and my name being called, and I did it! I finished my second marathon. I looked at my Garmin as I pressed stop and saw that I was only 12 seconds over my goal of 5 hours, but at this point I was just happy I finished it. I got my medal, walked through the chute, got a picture taken and headed out.

Damian had texted me just before I finished to let him know when I was done. I sent him a text, and then went to the food area. I wasn’t really hungry, just really thirsty, so I grabbed one of everything and put it into the bag I was given. I stretched as best as I could and then met Damian. Once John made his way back, we met with him, too, and then tried to see Lil as she made her way to the end of the finishing area.

 We waited for a while, so we assumed that we had missed her. I went to the bag check to see if her bag was still there, but I couldn’t tell. Then I saw her just as I was leaving the expo. She had just finished, so we picked up her bag and met back up with John and Damian.

Lil was meeting her boyfriend at a nearby Starbuck’s so we decided towalk there with her. I was sore, but not nearly as much as after my first marathon. We slowly made our way along Granville street to the Starbuck’s where we left Lil and then headed back to the hotel. It sounds strange but I think part of my easier recovery this time around was this walking after the race. Iwas only really sore for a couple of days, and not nearly as stiff in the legs. Plus, Granville Street had so much to look at along the way, including this cool car.

Back at the hotel, Damian and I each showered (and howled in pain as the water hit chafed parts) and then sat and watched some TV with our legs up on the coffee table and ate Cheetos. Then, all three of us made our way down to the lobby of the hotel and next door to Moxie’s for dinner. Although there were a lot of other restaurants around, I was in no mood to wander and Moxie’s had steak and beer, which is exactly what I had. Damian had a gigantic burger, which he wolfed down in record time. After dinner, John and I went back up to our room, to have champagne for our 6th wedding anniversary. We also got to watch a couple episodes of “Firefly” before my eyelids began to droop.

So my second marathon is in the books. Although I’m still irked even now that I missed my goal by a measly 9 seconds (if I had known right before I finished I might have been able to dig a bit more), I’m very proud that I knocked almost 30 minutes off my time. I’m also glad that I recovered well enough that as I write this a week later, I’ve already had my post-marathon run, which wasn’t bad. I’m still not sure if I’m going to do the full marathon in Seattle in six weeks, but if I do, it’ll give me another try at beating my goal.