Mississauga Marathon 2011

It's Saturday morning, May 14, 2011, Ciru's birthday, and the day before the Mississauga Marathon. I'm nervous, I even got up early. 7:00 AM, went outside and got a coffee at Second Cup. My last full marathon was in 2007. It was also Mississauga. A chip time of 3:30, gun time of 3:33. There were a lot of people then. This one will have just under 2,000 full marathon runners. A host of 1/2 marathoners and a ton of 10 K'ers. The smaller field is because the city of toronto (I won't even capitalise the city name) moved their fall marathon to the same day as the Mississauga one. They've split the field.

Running shoes and bib

After 2007 I suffered an Achilles injury which sidelined me for a while. I now know how bad an injury like that is but I also know that simple rest just won't heal it. And don't trust physiotherapists who will apply only ultrasound. My Achilles problem was actually a problem with the hamstrings and hips!

That's a shot of my 2001 running shoes. I'm running in blue this year. Not sad, but the bib's blue, the shoes have blue lining and the shirt's blue! I've trained my butt off and gotten to those magical 120 K weeks with long 32 K runs. I tapered without too much resting and so, I don't think I could have done more from the running front. I should have done more weight training to strengthen the abs and get the quads stronger. But hey, I'm not doing this for money. I just want to be comfortable and enjoy the sport and right now that's what I'm doing.

So as I sit here, in my bed, typing this up, at 9:30 AM, wondering how I'm going to spend this day, and wondering what it will be like running in rain! Yes, look at the forecast below:

It's supposed to rain, and the probability of precipitation is 90%! So, it's going to rain. The temperature looks about right and this morning it was quite mild. I think it's about 16-degrees Celsius right now, at 9:00 AM. So, if it's slightly under 10-degrees in the morning, little wind, with just a spattering of rain, that should really be OK.

I wasn't in this shape back in 2007. I was not getting lazy and actually that 3:30 finish was a pleasant surprise. The finish killed me. Mississauga, though having a net downhill, has wicked little hills at the end. At that time in the race, your legs are mush and you're basically running on fumes. No gas left. Anything you take isn't having an effect. Back then, I'd be surprised if I did more than one long run, a run over 20K. I must have done two just to see how things were and convinced myself that I was good to go.

This year's different. I've been clicking on the mileage throughout the winter. I've done a lot of back-to-back 32K's! That's 64K weekends. The morning runs have been about 11K each morning. Since January 17th, on returning from Kenya, I think I've only missed three or four days. And so there might be an over-training, issue. Definitely not under-training.

Here's my shirt, shorts (black) and bib. Number 759! That Mississauga running shirt is from 2007. The 2011 ones are red. Not my colour. Nice shirt though and I'll wear it during training, but for this event, I want to continue and strengthen from where I left off.

Just checked, 1352 registered runners for the full marathon. That's really low! I'd really like to make the top half, somewhere in the 500 range would be presentable.

So today will be spent resting and meditating. Stretching a little, not trying to cause an injury here or leave myself bruised, and hydrate all day. The tapering week I think was good. Long back-to-back runs over the last weekend. Wasn't sure if I should do that since the posts I read from runners online seem to indicate that a two week taper schedule is better. Mine was one week, or less. In fact, all my weekends will have had long runs including the marathon. I did two 11 K runs this week. That was satisfying since I ran the Tuesday 11 K in under an hour.

As usual, I'm running with my favourite fuel. Cliff's energy gels. Danny Kassap recommended those Cliff Bloks that you see on the right side of my belt. I'll get those in early, between 5K and 10K to make sure my electrolytes are in order. And hit the gels after the 10K mark. 4 gels and 2 blocks. Mississauga is really well organised with water stops every 2K so no need to carry personal water. I'll hydrate with what they have.

A quick note about Danny Kassap. He was a runner from the Congo who passed away on Sunday May 1 after stepping out of the Sporting life 10K race in Toronto at the 7K mark. He was an excellent runner who had won the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in 2:14. He used to work at the Commerce Court Running Room and that's where I'd see him. I didn't know him personally but chatted with him when I went in there. He's the one that recommended I try the Cliff Bloks. They're a solid gel, unlike the gooey ones I normally take, that are chewable. They seem to take a shorter time to kick into the system but they're very easily digestible and don't cause stomach problems.

So that's it. Rest, water and later on in the afternoon, say 5'ish, do the carb eating thing. Get some cassava and sweet potatoes from the market across the street and bake those. Early night and it's all done!