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Wednesday February 22 2012
 

Toronto Goodlife Marathon, 2010 Race Report

Printer friendly version Posted on: Sunday November 07 05:05:00 PM

Toronto Goodlife Marathon, 2010 Race Report It's about time. Right? Most of those of you who actually read this blog already know the details of the Goodlife Marathon so I will keep it brief. I could go into detail and rehash every moment because it is all so clear to me still. From failing at Mississauga earlier this year to my decision to back off multiple marathons and focus on one fast one this year in order to re-qualify for Boston.

But I won't. Except for the fact I really enjoyed the training program I set out for myself. It was geared towards the late October race, no meandering, no training at 'other people's' paces or doing hard workouts when I was scheduled for and easy one and visa-versa. It was fun knowing I was always on track, except for the fact many runs were shorter than I wanted to do but time restraints and not being able to drag my butt out of bed early in the mornings got the better of me. Sometimes I woke up feeling over confident that I didn't need to run that much. This is one area I will improve next time around.

I digress. I woke up Sunday October 17th and was bummed that my back spasms that plagued me the final week before had not subsided and considered not running at all. I decided to get moving and give it a whirl and promised myself I'd pull out if things weren't looking good, or feeling good. My support crew of Mary, Julie and Nir picked me up and got me to the start in time to see my lovely wife start the half marathon after her early morning pre race training run. Then it was time to warm up and focus, and I did, so much it seemed effortless. I felt great the entire run cruising down Yonge street, through the lovely areas of Forest Hill, Casaloma, Rosedale Valley Road, downtown TO, the Martin Goodman train and back into downtown. I did suffer a bit in the last 3k, but managed to hold pace enough to reach my goal and used the only real non-sparse crowds to get me home. Nir ran with me for the final 10k which was nice to have company and we were even joined for 5 of those kms by the awesome world record single amputee runner Rick Ball, a true modern day Canadian hero.

Almost there!The splits were good for me, with a well paced first half, banking a bit of time on the downhill section and I arrived at the half in 1:36:30. I felt great and this lasted almost the entire race. I knew at about 28k I had it. I know that's early to celebrate but I just felt that good. It was great making the turn for home at 31k feeling this good still and was actually shocked when at 39k I started to slow. I didn't even look at the time again as I knew I was well within Boston Qualifying time and more than likely a personal best. I cruised through the aforementioned well spectated last couple of k's and stopped at 41 to take a breather so I could finish strong. I rounded the final turn 150 metres to go, passing the mrs and our good cheering friends which is a great way to finish. I crossed in 3:18:20 and breathed a huge sigh of relief combined with great satisfaction. Boston was a reality again and this time, I did it much stronger than the first time I qualified. I rewarded myself with a post race massage for the first time. I usually avoid them because I'm so sweaty but I had some cramping I wanted to attend to asap. I headed to the cheering friends section and was welcomed with warm applause and hugs and that warm fuzzy feeling good friends give you.

Thanks guys.

As for the event itself, I have been trying to promote it for years. I despise the late start, and especially that the marathon starts an hour after the half. Again I heard a lot of negative comments re the expo, the shuttle bus issues and running out of Mylar blankets, some food etc. Hopefully they resolve these issues to make the future events better. I like the route and the finish area though. It looks like the new May date will not see a start time change so I guess Mississauga will win me over, and many more despite my emails to the Race Directors stating the negative comments about this.

Oh, the medal, wow, gaudy, ostentatious and heavy as a pumpkin, but pretty, Olympic gold medal-esque and hey, why make 'em all look the same?!

That's all folks. This one's in the book and that book is already gathering dust! Time to move on, though it was nice to recap it here, I almost forgot how enjoyable this one was.

Next up, today's Hamilton Half Marathon report....stay tuned.



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 Posted by Dave on: Sunday November 07 05:05:00 PM

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