Around the Bay Road Race -- 30k

Absolutely ideal weather for racing.

First race in a while that I had to walk for a bit of the run. I went out pretty aggressively. Around 19k I started to fade. The aggressive start contributed to the fading for sure but not fueling and hydrating enough before the start was probably the biggest factor. During the early stages of the race I felt my hydration was not yet sufficient.

Through km 10 I was 20 seconds ahead of pace for 2:10. The next 3 km got faster still, another 20 seconds ahead of pace. To that point I still felt pretty good and kept pressing. I wasn’t watching the watch only checking where I was at every 3k marker.

At the end of 18 I was still pretty much on track. I needed to be at 1:18 and I was at 1:18:30. I took a few extra moments for a gel at km 13. I was quite amazed how many people were running with me in the first part of the race. Very competitive field for sure.

As we worked back into the Burlington side of the course I found my energy levels were waning. I was a bit surprised and disappointed to be feeling like that with 12k to go. It definitely threw me off my game plan. With all the work I’ve been doing I thought I would have been stronger until closer to the end. As a result I don’t think I fought hard enough for the next couple of miles. I’m left wondering if I had pushed through a bit harder here would that have gotten me far enough into the race to stay on or closer to target. Instead I became very introspective for the next couple of miles.

My main goal at this point now became to make sure I had enough fluids and carbs to finish the course. I had one more gel to take which I took going up the long hill around km 22. Prior to this though I was already fatigued enough that I stopped and walked briefly. At this point I figured if I could get the last gel in and enough fluids I would hopefully slowly come back as we got closer to the end of the race. In fact I was starting to feel better in the last 3 – 3 1/2 k after the big hill.

From km 21 to 26 I focused more on finding a steady cadence to get me to the finish. Mentally I would have been quite happy to be finished at that point already.

Pace wise I didn’t push it on the hills through this point. I seemed to be moving along okay just not very fast through this section. The legs were feeling heavier through this point as well not surprisingly but that was a bit more expected.

The last section after the big hill went fairly well. It’s generally downhill to the finish. Most of it was run at a good pace not quite the 2:10 pace but closer to 2:16 to 2:17 pace.

A lot of the race I focused on getting through the specific kilometer. Even when things started to come off the rails a bit I was still trying to just keeping going. Overall I think I started having difficulties too far out to fully consider hanging on to the finish at my target pace. It’s difficult to plan for a race where you’re struggling this far out but I think I’ve learned a lot from the experience.

On a personal note it was really fantastic to have some many running friends with us in Hamilton.

In the end the overall result is still fantastic and I continue to be very happy to be running at this level and to have had the possibility to run as well as I did. Bottom line I’m where I need to be for Boston.

Canada Day 10k

43:04 min
10.06 km
4:17 min/k
7 min/mile
AvgHR 168

Splits:
3:59,4:01,4:09,4:16,4:22
4:29,4:17,4:27,4:24,4:21

HRs:
154,166,169,170,169
170,170,171,171,171

Sportstats results:
Place *** Name *** Bib# *** Time *** Chip *** Pace ***
60 Brian LAWLESS 133 43:05.3 43:04.1 4:19

Category *** Category Place *** Gender Place
Men 40 - 49 12/49 50/203

Notes:
- stitch from 7 k for the rest of the way in partially caused by eating to close to the start time.
- very humid
- never got into a good rhythm around the 4:00 min pace.
- My HR didn't feel high but the legs felt sluggish on the day. No get up and go so to speak.
- faster kms tended to be the ones with the slight rolling hills.
- the pace felt like I could go on for quite a while just not faster on the day asuming the stitch would go away eventually.
- seamed to fall back into my half marathon pace which is becoming more comfortable for me.

Disney ½ Marathon

The Facts:
Time: 1:41:51
temp: 64 F
humidity: very high

Summary:
Good race overall for this time of year and given that I’ve just had 2 very light months. First 12k went fairly close to plan and I felt fairly strong. After 12k the legs started to feel heavier.

The humidity was definitely a factor in the overall time. For the second half there really was no opportunity to push the pace with the way the legs were feeling.

One of my primary objectives for the races was to keep a strong steady pace. This aspect of the plan went well. Even when the legs began feeling heavy I still focused on keeping a steady pace.

Highlights:
- Running through Magic Kingdom and coming out through the castle
- Fantastic medal
- One of the best organized races that I’ve participated in. Lots of water stations, cheering sections, great signage and lots of music.

Given the humidity today it wasn’t realistic to run a strong time. It was really good to let me know how things are going after a quieter November and December after the Phili marathon.

Phili Race Details

For a synopsis of my race results see the following page on my web site: http://www.urbanrunner.ca/RacesPics/2007/Philadelphia/Race%20Analysis%20(Philadelphia%202007).htm

Edmonton Marathon: break down by 5k increments

Here's the break down for each 5k
_____________________________
Dist Time Pace

5 23:08 4:37
- drank some Gatorade at first water stop
- long uphill for last km
- finish heed bottle just before the start
hence didn't need to take it with me on the first part of the run.

10 23:35 4:42
- uphill for first 1/2 km and then down
- Horlek park felt uphill all the way
- wasn’t moving well through most of this section

15 24:45 4:56
- uphill after Horlek park for a good ¾ k

20 24:03 4:48
- some continued rolling hills
- stopped to refill water bottle

25 24:42 4:56
- a little off pace in this section but not from lack of effort

30 28:41 5:44
- stopped to re-hydrate and eat a bar
- Also stopped to refill water bottle with what turned out to not be water
- Finished with pee break plus ravine monster hill (3/4 of a k plus steep)

35 27:31 5:30
- refilled water bottle
- stopped to drink bottle to top up my hydration
- pushed the pace as much as possible here as well after topping up

40 25:28 5:05
- recovered nicely in this section. The actual pace was not on pace but felt fast.
- pushed the pace as much as possible through this section

42.74 11:55 4:20
- worked all the way to the finish
- passed some folks who took off from me at 30k
- Average pace for the last 4k got down to around 4:35. Really strong finish.
Final time: 3:33:46

Mississauga Marathon: detailed race report

Overall place= 170 / 4340 finishers

Name	City	Bib#	Time	Chip	Pace (Gun time)
BRIAN LAWLESS	Ottawa	170	3:25:50.1	3:25:19.5	4:53
Category	Category Place	Gender Place	Split @ 8k	Split @ 21.1k	Split @ 25k
Men 40-44	44/150	156/806	35:18	1:33:43	1:52:09

 

5k Splits	Time	Distance	Pace	Calories	Comments
	3:25:25	42.25	4:51	3734
1	21:40	5	4:20		Most of major downhill sections in first 10k hence the faster pace.
2	21:46	5	4:21
3	22:29	5	4:29
4	22:26	5	4:29		mostly just keeping the pace going through here
5	22:35	5	4:31
6	24:57	5	4:59
7	26:59	5	5:23
8	26:59	5	5:23
9	15:34	2.25	6:55

10k Splits	Time	Distance	Pace	Comments
	3:25:25	42.25	4:51
1	43:26	10	4:20	Most of major downhill sections in first 10k hence the faster pace.
2	44:55	10	4:29
3	47:33	10	4:45
4	53:57	10	5:23
5	15:34	2.25	6:55

1k Splits	Time	Distance	Pace	Comments
	3:25:25	42.25	4:51
1	4:32	1	4:32
2	4:24	1	4:23
3	4:21	1	4:21
4	4:08	1	4:08	downhill
5	4:15	1	4:15	downhill
6	4:27	1	4:27
7	4:19	1	4:18	1/2k of downhill
8	4:19	1	4:18	downhill
9	4:18	1	4:17	1/2k of downhill
10	4:23	1	4:23
11	4:41	1	4:40	Big hill
12	4:24	1	4:24
13	4:22	1	4:21
14	4:35	1	4:35	Refilled water bottle with SPR-3
15	4:27	1	4:27
16	4:25	1	4:25
17	4:30	1	4:29
18	4:33	1	4:32
19	4:30	1	4:29
20	4:28	1	4:28
21	4:20	1	4:19
22	4:51	1	4:50	Lost focus a bit in this k
23	4:29	1	4:29
24	4:25	1	4:24
25	4:31	1	4:30
26	4:37	1	4:37
27	5:30	1	5:29	Stopped to take Cliff Shots
28	4:50	1	4:49
29	5:00	1	5:00
30	5:01	1	5:00	Refilled water bottle with SPR-3 (total time in 2:15:53)
31	5:31	1	5:30	All uphill in this k.
32	5:07	1	5:06	Rolling hills through here
33	5:11	1	5:10
34	5:09	1	5:09
35	6:01	1	6:00
36	5:11	1	5:11
37	5:17	1	5:17
38	5:30	1	5:29
39	5:23	1	5:22
40	5:38	1	5:38
41	7:57	1	7:56
42	1:09	1	6:28
0.25	4:38	.25	4:38

Overall Comments
- I still think the plan for the day was right. In hind sight, I should have pushed through those early troubles in km 26. I might have recovered enough for a reasonable finish.
- I don't have a good sense of what I should have been feeling to know that I should have brought the pace back a notch in the early stages up to km 26. I'll need to ask lots of questions about this.
- As mention in the initial thoughts posting, I need to do a lot of training around this area that is gaving me such a problem. This means lots of runs that are at least 26-35 k and routes that have fewer stops and good access to water to refill my fuel. I listened to a interesting Mark Allen talk where he asks the question of what the marathon is asking me to do to be successful.
- To have a bad day and still run 3:25 is fantastic. I'm just really happy to be running at this level. A bad day doesn't take this away.
- Mississauga was a really nice course. I definitely will do it again at some point.
- Possible having to wait several months to get another kick at the can is not sitting very well with me at the moment. I really really want to get back on the horse and get this Boston qualifier out of the way.
Rest / General Health during taper
- Ran a very high fever for 2-3 days 10 days before the race (Wed - Fri)
- very dry throat after this through to and including race day.
- rest was really good leading up to the race. Work was busy but manageable. Minimal overtime during the few weeks before the race.
Nutrition in the week before the race
- made sure iron levels where up (read steak)
- ate pasta in the several days prior to the race
- really watched my water intake during the last 2-3 days before the race.
- night before the race was still hungry so had some pizza as well.
- tried not too drink too much coffee all week.
Race Day
Weight
180.6 lbs
Weather
5 degrees c, sunny light winds. Absolutely ideal.
Breakfast / Fluids 
1 bowl of cereal with milk, 1 croissant (2.5 hours before the race)
1 bottle of SPR-3 1 hour before the race.
Forget my regular cereal at home. Used vector which I have eaten before.
Race Notes
- 1st 25k were really good. This was the plan and I executed this part really well. The pace in this early part just felt string and steady. Let me self go a little fast in the downhill sections in the early stages.
- Went through the 1/2 in 1:33:43.1
- Stopped in k 26 to eat some cliff shots. The pace had started to feel challenging at this point. The 3:10 pace bunny blew by me at this point.
- After this fuel stop I had trouble getting into a good pace. Allowed myself to walk in km 29. This was a mistake I believe in hind sight. I should have tried to find a pace that could be sustained.
- Hill on km 30 was really tough. Its not that long but boy did it seam hard.
- Rolling hills after this which were also very challenging. Legs starting to seize up from the short walk breaks that I had allowed myself.
- At 7k to go wasn't sure that I would even finish without walking all the way back. Pretty much did walk and run for the last 7k.
- Legs still seizing up worse after each walk break.At 40k I couldn't keep a run going. Or perhaps I should say that I couldn't run without going into a whole lot of pain which didn't seam like a good idea. At this point all I was thinking about was survive to another day.
- Forced myself to run the last 600 meters. (pride and ego)
Fuel during the race
- Total of 3 bottles (550 ml) of the 4 planned of SPR-3
- one of 3 portions of Cliff Shots (3 pieces)
This was designed to give me 57.4 g of carb per hour and 14.3 g of protein. On paper this still looks ideal.
My throat was dry throughout the race which is why I didn't eat as much of the Cliff Shots. This was something that I had linger over from being sick last week.
SPR-3 1.3 bottles / hr 33.4 g CHO/hour 14.3g Protein /hour
Cliff Shot Blocks 1 portion (3 pieces) / hr 24 g CHO/hour 0
Totals (per 100 ml) 8.02 CHO 2.00 Protein
Targets based on info from Peak nutrition lecture:
CHO/hr 30-60g
CHO/100 ml 4-8g
Protein/100 ml 1.5-2.2 g
Next Race
For me the ideal would be to get right back on the horse and get this Boston Monkey off my back. That being said, I'd would love to find a race in mid-late June. So far I haven't found one. At the moment it looks like I might need to look at an early September (possibly Montreal) race and then follow it up with the main "A" race in November. I really don't want to wait until September but I might not have a choice.

Initial comments for Mississauga Marathon

- Fantastic weekend weather wise. 5 degrees at the start, light winds and sunny.
- Race course was really nice with most of the downhill sections in the first 15k. Net downhill overall.

Times:

8	35:18	4:24 min/k
21.1	1:33:43	4:26 min/k
30	1:52:09	4:29 min/k
42.2	3:25:19.5

Comments:
- 1st 25k felt really good. This was exactly what I was planning. Ran very much to the plan.
- Started to fall off the wagon at 26k. No obvious early signs that this was coming. :(
- Hill at 30k was really tough and it shouldn’t have been.
- Shouldn’t have allowed myself to walk. This made my problems exponentially worse as I started to really tighten up and it became difficult to start up after each of the walks even though they weren't that long.
- By 40k could barely run at anything that resembles a good pace. Last 2.2 k took 15 minutes, mostly walking as I knew I was going to miss my Boston time by this point.
- Boston will have to wait one more race. At this point I’ll plan on at least one marathon just to qualify and one later in the fall.
- Too have a not fantastic day and still run 3:25 is great. :) I feel really good about that and it was another PB. There's a lot of positive things about this race for sure.

Initial thoughts on why the wheels came off this one.
- I was off sick the week before for 2 or 3 days. This may have taken more out of my than I thought. I don’t think this was a major factor but may have contributed.
- In the winter, a lot of my runs did not have good access to water. I need to run all of my marathon pace runs where I’m getting the same amounts of water/nutrition that I will get in the race.
- The 26-30 k is where this really started to come apart. I did a lot of runs at this distance and more. I think having lots of these again but with fewer interruptions on the course for lights / busy areas, etc would do me a lot of good. It may make for more boring run courses but it is probably what I need.
- I wasn’t confident that I could push through these early signs of fatigue. Mentally I hadn’t planned to be fading this early in the race.

Looking forward to talking to the folks at Peak

Results / Analysis from the Around the Bay Road Race 25 March 2007

Overall place= 268 / 4340 finishers

Name	City	Bib#	Time	Chip	Pace (Gun time)
BRIAN LAWLESS	Ottawa	606	2:12:54.5	2:1225.7	4:26
Category	Category Place	Gender Place	Split @ 10k	Split @ 15k	Split @ 20k
Men 40-44	53/451	234/2421	43:42	1:05:27	1:28:25

5k Splits	Time	Distance	Pace	Calories
	2:12:27	30.19	4:23	2688
1	21:31.48	5.0	4:18	444
2	21:19.08	5.0	4:16	446
3	21:40.51	5.0	4:20	449
4	22:42.32	5.0	4:32	445
5	22:22.76	5.0	4:29	449
6	22:11.96	5.0	4:26	448
7	00:39.71	0.189	3:30	7

10k Splits	Time	Distance	Pace	Calories
	2:12:27	30.19	4:23	2688
1	42:50	10.0	4:17
2	44:20	10.0	4:25
3	44:36	10.0	4:27
4	00:40	0.189	3:30

1k Splits	Time	Distance	Pace	Calories
	2:12:27	30.19	4:23	2688
1	4:23	1.0	4:23
2	4:18	1.0	4:18
3	4:18	1.0	4:18
4	4:17	1.0	4:17
5	4:15	1.0	4:15
6	4:17	1.0	4:17
7	4:15	1.0	4:15
8	4:16	1.0	4:16
9	4:14	1.0	4:14
10	4:17	1.0	4:17
11	4:16	1.0	4:16
12	4:21	1.0	4:21
13	4:23	1.0	4:23
14	4:20	1.0	4:20
15	4:19	1.0	4:19
16	4:33	1.0	4:33
17	4:29	1.0	4:29
18	4:24	1.0	4:24
19	4:26	1.0	4:26
20	4:49	1.0	4:49
21	4:22	1.0	4:22
22	4:36	1.0	4:36
23	4:33	1.0	4:33
24	4:32	1.0	4:32
25	4:20	1.0	4:20
26	4:21	1.0	4:21
27	4:49	1.0	4:49
28	4:30	1.0	4:30
29	4:22	1.0	4:22
30	4:11	1.0	4:11
31	0:40	0.189	3:30

Overall comments:
• Really well organized as usual.
• My only real complaint is that it’s difficult to meet other runners at the end as they force you out of the finish area almost immediately and then your left to find people somewhere in the stands in Copps coliseum.
• My other only complaint was that they closed the race kit pick-up down at 6:00 pm on the Friday night. For those coming from out of town this can be a challenge. I made it with 6 minutes to spare.
• Great for spectators to watch the finish from inside Copps.
• You’d never classify this as a pretty course.

Weather:
• 5 degrees, overcast and damp. Foggy on the way to the race
• Went with shorts and thin long sleeve, with light hat and gloves. Worked out perfectly.
• Very little wind for the first half. Wind start to come up in the second half but nothing serious just kept things cool mostly.

Course Notes:
Start
· Couldn't get as close to the front as I would have like. It was a balance between getting a good warm up and getting a good spot. For my next big race I want to factor in to start my warm-up 15 minutes earlier.
· Start got away okay with no major blockages.
· Very crowded at the start. Ran mostly along the left edge of the road.
1st 10k
· Felt really good and very smooth through here. Decided to just go with the flow which was slightly faster than originally planned. This was a very comfortable pace in this section today.
· Just before the 10k mark had to make a sprint to get across a set of train tracks. A train was approaching slowly and cop was waving everyone through. Didn’t want to take a chance on getting caught.
Kms 12-15
· Working along the edge of the lake. Tried to stay focused on just a nice even steady pace. Wasn’t too worried about the exact pace as long as I didn’t slow down. In the end I was a few seconds slower per k along here.
Kms 16-17
· Couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t moving as fast through this section. Possible reasons might include:
o the openness of the this part of the course,
o gradual elevation change as we got closer to Burlington across the peninsula,
o crossing the Seaway bridge
Km 20
· Approximately 30 seconds to refill water bottle
Kms 22-24
· Rolling hills with one long steady climb early in this section. Really just a series of rolling hills and one big hill.
Km27
· Biggest hill on the course in this section. Felt like something out of the Gatineau’s. Fortunately the hill was over quick. Almost impossible to maintain an even pace on this hill.
Km 28
· First part of this km was really recovery from the hill. Gradually started to pick it up again.
· High fived the Grim Reaper :)
Kms 29-30
· Moved well through this section. Legs felt good still.
Finish
· Enough energy for a good sprint at the end
· Ramp into Copps Coliseum was steep and would be very slippery on a rainy day.

Fuel:
Pre-race fueling (start time 9:30)
· Large bowl of cereal @ 6:45 AM
· 20 oz bottle of whey protein
During the race
· Fueling was okay today not great.
· Total 1.5 20 oz bottles of SPR-3 with 2 scoops per bottle.
o I was drinking frequently but needed to get more in. In think in my upcoming training I need to think about drinking even more frequently. In the actual race it’s difficult to take big gulps.
· Post-race fueling
o 1 20 oz bottle of SPR-3 (2 scoops)
o 2 pieces of some kind of bread that they passed out at the finish.
o Banana
o Ate breakfast 90 minutes after the race.

Weight
· Weight went up 4 to 4 1/2 lbs in the week leading up to the race. That's crazy.
· This probably was mostly due to work being really busy (read stressful) the week leading up to the race.
· Weight already coming back down to normal after the race.
· Need to really watch the weight leading up to Mississauga in May. I don't need the extra anxiety.

Rest:
· Pre-Friday was really busy with work and not enough sleep.
· Long drive to Hamilton/Pelham on Friday ( 11 hours on the road including stops)
· 8 hours sleep Friday night ( no alarm clocks though)
· About 6 ½ hours sleep Saturday night.
· Felt reasonable rested coming into the race on Sunday morning.