Mississauga Marathon Race Report

Slept a lot yesterday to try to get rid of the light-headedness. What's frustrating is no sneezing, running nose, just if I rotate my head I get dizzy. During the night, I thought of the Whitby International Marathon next week and gave considerable thought to running it instead. When I got out of bed, I had to make an executive decision and went for it, with the back-up plan being to run the 21.1 K instead (although this could mean not getting an official time since I entered in the full marathon - but just want the medal).

Usual stuff -- ate Vector cereal, gave Bud his quick 5 minute walk and fed him. Had the tech shirt ready to go (from last year's Mississauga marathon). Put the time chip on the right shoe (used the more sturdy ties from the Dollar Store) -- I know, should have been done last night -- but I was sleeping! Found the pair of running shoes to donate at the start line for Malawi (also got another pair sitting in the car trunk -- so 2 pairs of used shoes for those less fortunate in Malawi :-)

Left the house at 6 AM and remembered the Gardner Expressway was closed so travelled on the Lakeshore -- no issue since who would be travelling that early on a Sunday? Saw a van with a "26.2" sticker so I know where she was headed. I should have gotten off at Hurontario and then trevel west to Mavis Drive to enter Square One Mall. Instead, I left the QEW at the Mississauga Road exit. As I was heading north, I saw the K markers and got an opposite view of the route. Arrived safely to the mall at 6:40 AM and then had to find one of the designated parking spots (as one can no longer park anywhere in the mall). Parked with others at #6, in front of the movie theatre and then walked for several minutes. Donated the 2 pairs of shoes and then it was time for stretching the left calf and a potty break. Could feel the left calf and hoped it would cooperate. Actually, my mind hasn't been on the calf as it's been on feeling under the weather the few days, in particular. What I noticed yesterday is the morning is fine and as the day goes on, I don't feel as good. So, the run being in the morning when I am "fresh" could be a good thing!

Heard the O'Canada being sung so it was time to get to the start line and "squeeze" in to the proper anticipated finishing time. I jogged to the start line and that would have to be the warm-up run :-| I saw the 4:00 pace bunny so situated myself there. On the web site, they posted revised route change (especially at the end). In past years, the start dispersed quickly; didn't happen this year as there must be more runners. The weather was excellent - sunny and no humidity.

My goal, as always, was to keep the pacing under 6:00/K. Getting to Burhnamthorpe was interesting as it was crowded and had to run over "islands". Once over a bridge (don't know the name) but super scenic, it continued that way, with a slight downhill. Once running 5 K, then it was south on Mississauga Road and into University of Toronto Mississauga campus. Love the downhill! Close to the 15 K mark, the half and full marathoners diverged into separate routes. A peaceful run on Indian Road and Iroquois Drive. Once reaching Southdown Road, it was a major road heading south. Timing mats at 8 K and 21.1 K. At the 22 K mark, there was a small turnaround (not sure why). This is the place which is different from last year as I recall quite a bit of running north (i.e., up-incline) so no complaints here. The first half of the route is excellent; the second half has lots of uphills and turns :-| Went through Jack Darling Park from 26 K to 28 K, Richard Memorial Park at 29 K, and Lakeshore Promenade Park from 35 to 38 K. The route has a nice view of Lake Ontario and is an improvement of the lonely industrial setting from before. Then it was heading west on Lakeshore until the finish line -- too many twists and turns...

What I appreciate about this race is the fluid stations every 2 K (used all 20 stations!). 3 gels stations, took 6 gels, and consumed 4 gels -- do these really work? Lots of volunteers and police. Always a pleasure to see how the community has embraced this race, with households setting their own stations with bananas and oranges -- one lady even had Advil! I did feel bad to see the traffic at a stand-still -- fortunately nobody booing like in a Toronto race.

Not good...a man blew his nose and some of his "contents" landed on my left index finger and bib. It is now permanent on my bib :-(

What I am thrilled about is I actually ran the race today. It could have gone either way and I could have stayed home. Glad I didn't! The first half of the race was great -- mainly downhill and on track for a finishing time of slightly less than 4:00. I passed the 4:15 pace bunny and then the 4:00 pace bunny. Things didn't go well in the 2nd half with the frequent uphills -- this is not an easy route. Love the half marathon route. Also, with the left calf being strained, that didn't help with the training as I did not fulfill what I wanted to do in training -- work on speed. I did get 32 K runs but that happened before the ATB 30 K race. All this proved to take its toll as the final 10 K were extremely difficuly. My Garmin was set for 25:1 intervals and here's what my pacing looked like:

first 25 minutes = 5:43/K
at 51 minutes = 5:22/K
at 1:17 = 5:17/K
at 1:43 = 5:27/K
at 2:09 = 5:40/K
at 2:35 = 5:55/K
at 3:01 = 6:27/K
at 3:27 = 6:50/K
at 3:53 = 7:08/K
at end = 7:06/K

Basically, for the final 10 K, I would walk whenever I saw an uphill incline, although I even walked when there was slight downhill incline. The final 3 K were particularly tough as I could run for about a minute and then had to walk. I am always grateful for the wonderful spectators whose encouragement kept me going. With 400 m remaining, I promised myself I would run to the finish line.

Gun Time = 4:22:01.6
Chip Time = 4:17:09.9
Place = 976 out of 1711
Age = 108 out of 143
Gender = 671 out of 993
Splits: 8 K = 41:48; 21.1 K = 1:51:27; 38 K = 3:42:04

Walked the dog when I arrived home to help with the post-recovery. After dinner, sat in the bathtub with cold water. Not looking forward to the next 48 hours...here's to a speedy recovery! Won't be running for perhaps 2 weeks to allow for some down-time. Oh...during the run saw some people wearing compression socks and thought if I should have gotten a pair.

During the final 10 K this morning, I was reminded to respect the distance. My worse nightmare of not feeling well came true (but thankfully I was well during the race and feel okay as I write this blog). The injury didn't help at all as it was frustrating. Just glad no long term damage. With some luck, I won't have these challenges as it's 5 months tomorrow until the Toronto Marathon! It'll be the first time I'll go 42.2 K in this race and missed the half marathon last fall due to my convocation.