What it took to get ready for this race.

This is in part fact (stats), in part a gratitude list, and in part a remembering what it took.

• Changed coaches after 3 years in February of this year. Big decision but I had to try to figure what works for me and what doesn’t. Working with Greg McMillan of McMillanRunning now.
• I’ll have logged a little over 1500 km by race day since the start of the year. 11.87k per day average as of today (27 April). Peak week was 123 km which was actually very achievable. Last week was 118 km.
• My average pace in the last two weeks before the taper (or Peaking phase as McMillan calls it) was sub 5 min (4:57 and 4:54 respectively).
• I did every workout but one with the McMillan program. For that one I needed an extra recovery day.

• Every Tuesday and Thursday I did speed, tempo or Fartlek workouts at the track. We’re truly spoiled having the indoor track at the Dome. I had great support from Dave, Jim and others at the Dome.
• I was willing to try my straight long runs without carbs which McMillan uses for his elite team. The idea is train the brain that it can do the run when it’s getting low on carbs. Brain training is a huge part of running long distance.

• My wife supported me (at least on the surface ;) ) throughout this period as I worked towards my goals. None of this would have been possible without her.

• I had a massage every two weeks to keep things inline. Thanks Paula.
• Yoga was also helpful. Once a week with Tatiana and other days with the DVD.
• Ryan Grant helped make sure I was in the right shoes. I used up more than my share of time with him.

• I setup a nice series of build up races to get to the marathon. 10k early March, 30k end of March and the ½ Marathon mid-April. The Yasso 800 workouts also gave me a good indication of where I’m at.

• I still ran with the group at the Running Room on Wednesdays to keep it real. This helped in a lot of ways.
• A big reason why this cycle has gone so well also is that I’ve really enjoyed the running. It’s been a lot but it’s been okay because I've wanted to do it.

Demi-Marathon de Montreal

April 19th, 2009
1:30:24.4
4:17 min/k avg pace
210/1854
192/1243
8/166

Weather: Cool, -1 overnight, sunny, warmed very quickly.

Pre-race Activities: Arrived in Montreal Saturday afternoon, picked up race kit, was settled into Hotel by supper time.

Nutrition
Saturday: Pancakes and strawberries Saturday morning to get a good base of carbs.
Small steak for super, veggies, mashed potatoes, one piece of chocolate cake.
Deliberately didn't go for heavy pasta the night before the race as it doesn't digest well for me. Overall ate a bit more than I needed.
Sunday: Oatmeal for breakfast with a banana.
One bottle of water on the way to the race.
1/2 a bottle 20 minutes before the race start.

Splits and Comments:
Km Split Fluids Comments
1 4:11
2 4:14 * Mouth was a bit dry hence therefore started fluids (Gatorade) right away.
3 4:09
4 4:15 Slight head wind as we came back around the island.

5 4:11
6 4:20 * Good fluid break.
7 4:14
8 4:14 *

9 4:18
10 4:25 *
11 4:21 This and the next k were harder. Not sure why, just wasn't able to push as hard through here. Slight headwind but nothing serious.
12 4:26 *

13 4:12 Started to really work it with a group I was running with. Didn't want them to catch me. This was a straight 2k section.
14 4:12
15 4:15
16 4:25 * Last fluid break. I was thinking that a gel would have been good here but still felt pretty strong and kept pushing.

17 4:15
18 4:15
19 4:16 Had a really good group from here to the finish. We really pushed each other. Again trying to keep them behind me within reason. I think only one guy I just let go as we just moving too fast.
20 4:18

21 4:01 Strong steady push. Wasn't aware that I had dropped it down quite that much. Again the group was pushing hence fast through here.
At the start of this k, 2 of the guys went right by me. Caught them both in the last 150m. Finishing in lock step with one of them.
0.1 3:50 Felt strong right to the finish. No big sprints here but strong and steady.


Overall comments
- Working with the two groups really made the difference. First at km 13 and then starting from km 19. Both of my PR 1/2 marathons have been when I've had a group to push me.
- Took 3-4 k to get into a good rhythm. Need to think a bit more about my warm up.
- Really focus in this race on a good leg turn over, keeping steady and not over striding.

Post Race Nutrition
- Forgot to bring my liquid carb drink for post race recovery. Drank what was available at the finish to compensate.