Race Report - Mississauga Marathon 2011

Well, it's all done. Boy what a day. Got up early, 5 AM, had some baked yam, salted, buttered, wanted it to be digested before the race. Good thing that I had prepared my bag the night before and put in some clothes to wear after the race. A dry t-shirt and a pair of jogging pants. At 6:30 I was ready, shorts, running shirt, running shoes, timing chip secured to my laces with a plastic tie. My fuel belt had five gels and a Clif Blok as well as my apartment keys, driver's license and some cash ($120) in a plastic bag. Always good to move around with ID and money.

So the weight I was going to carry was negligible. Everything fit comfortably in the pockets of the belt and there was going to be no jiggling. I donned the wind breaker, and off I went.

But as soon as I stepped outside, the cold air and drizzle made me realise that I might need more clothes! I had a long sleeved running shirt and perhaps it would be a good idea to run with the wind breaker. I went back inside to get my running gloves. If there's one thing I know, I can't run if my hands are freezing. I stop concentrating and cannot relax as the pain in my hand takes precedence. Looking back, the gloves may have saved that race. I ran with them all the way and I couldn't have been more comfortable.

At the start line looked like there was a healthy crowd. I'd thought that the Toronto marathon would ruin the Mississauga one by moving their race so close to ours. They'd split the runners. And they did. The turnout for the full marathon was close to 1100, which is respectable. Toronto had the same turnout as well. Most of the people had long sleeved shirts and were wearing long running pants. There were some of us with shorts, but we weren't the majority for sure. Many people had jackets on or were wearing the upside-down garbage bags for wind-breaking and warmth-keeping. I had to check in my bag with the dry clothes so I knew that I had to take off my wind breaker. I wasn't going to run in it, but if I took it off I'd start to get cold. But eventually, after a few minutes, when I thought that there were only ten or so minutes to start, I took my jacket off, put it in my bag and went over to the baggage drop-off.

It wasn't as cold as I'd imagined. In fact, I was quite comfortable. This is surprising since I've been in many races where I've had to run with a jacket or a wind breaker, where I thought that the weather was terrible and freezing and saw runners in shorts and sleeveless tops. Now today, on a day that I think is not too bad, I'm the one in a short sleeved t-shirt and they're wearing jackets and long pants. Go figure!

I made my way over to the crowd already assembled in front of the start line. I heard the announcer say "2 minutes to gun time, at this time blah blah blah will sing the national anthem." And it was sung. And then it was only a minute to start time, and then ten seconds and the countdown, and finally the gun.

We were off. Walking at first since the crowd was dense. There was this big guy in front of me that looked like he was never going to get going. Just walking and taking his sweet time even though there was a gap developing in front of him where he could start jogging. And when I started to squeeze myself to the side of him, he started running.

The pack of gels on the belt located on my back started to bounce. That wasn't comfortable so I moved them to the front of the right hip. They stopped bouncing and all was good. I put on my headphones and turned the music on. Low. Felt strange. The legs were still not awake but the body felt like moving. It felt as though everyone was moving really fast. I felt as though I was moving through really think dense air. Not as fluid and as light as I would like to be. But I knew it would pass.

Around Square One shopping centre, to the front entrance, and onto Burnhamthorpe Road and west on Burnhamthorpe. I found space on the left side, away from the crowd milling near the middle of the road. I swung wide so that I could be alone. And people were still passing on the right. They looked fast too. I had to check my feelings and check myself. Full marathon runners were wearing a blue bib and half-marathon runners where wearing red bibs. So every time someone flew by, I made sure to check the colour of the bib. If it was red, then I felt better about it. After all, they could afford to take off and zoom away. They were only going half the distance. I was happy to note that there weren't too many blue bibbed people zooming by. On the other hand, I knew that there wasn't that many of us blue bibbers. And I really wanted to place well. There's one thing to finish. There's a second thing to finish within a certain amount of time. Lastly, there's the respectable thing to finish in a good position. Not too far back in the pack. Something like the top half would be good. So I knew that there wasn't too many of us and that the ones that were left, coming out in this kind of weather, were probably the die hards. The real runners. No wind, rain, sleet or hail will stop them from getting out of their cozy warm beds to practise the sport they love.

The first 15K of the marathon race is on the same part of the route as the half-marathon runners. So, for the first 15K, the full marathon and half marathon runners run side-by-side. Not exactly side-by-side since most of the half-marathoners are running at a slightly higher pace. At 15K, on Indian Road, the two races part ways. And it's finally clear. You now feel like you're running a marathon because you're with your peers. You look around and everyone is different. Those half-marathon kids are gone and only the serious gladiators are left. These are the warriors. And you're into serious running. I turned onto Indian Road easily and looked ahead at the long road. Up ahead a group of runners and just behind me, I could feel him on my left side, was another marathoner. He stayed there, not passing not surging at all. I had a good pace and I felt really good. My legs were doing all the work and I was listening to music. I wasn't going to change tactics and get uncomfortable. But I was really happy to see the 16K sign coming up. These kilometres were ticking off quite fast. When I felt fatigue, I adjusted my stride and fortunately got my legs back and my breathing under control. Felt great.

The 1/2 marathon mark came up at 21.1K and I didn't see a clock! I don't remember if there was a clock at the halfway mark the last time, but I seem to think that there was one. In any case, the sportstats mats were there so I knew that I'd be able to see that split later on. Turns out that I hit that point at 1:44:37. I was on target. Had I known this, I would have turned on the gas a little since there's a great flat section and a small decline before those rolling hills on the last 10K. But we moved into the industrial area. It's not bad, the road's fine, but it's bare. Nothing to see. Not like the nice homes on Mississauga Road that we'd just left.

The Mississauga Marathon then turns right on Lakeshore heading towards Oakville and at the 25K mark it turns back. There are mats at the 25K mark to make sure that nobody cheats. You have to go out there and turn back. And turning back, you now see runners who are behind you as they make their way to that point. But between 22K and 25K, as you make your way to this turning point, you'll see all the runners that are ahead of you as they're coming back. I was happy to see that there weren't too many. And there weren't too many groups. Only individuals. Not hordes of runners. This is a good feeling. On my way back from the 25K mark, I felt very energetic. I'd consumed about 2 gels at this time and they were kicking in. I switched to a lower gear, raised those knees and burst ahead. I was feeling great heading towards 26K, 27K and 28K. I was still amazed at how quickly those kilometre marks were passing by. I felt like I was in the groove. On my game. In my stride. Nothing could stop me. And I knew that I was close to my regular daily run length, the 11K that I do every morning. Once I got to 30K, I would be able to imagine how far I was from the finish.  But there's another thing that happens as you turn around at that 25K mark. You're now facing the wind and it's very obvious. It wasn't so obvious that it was at your back making your way over, but as you turn, the rain's in your face and the wind has that gentle push. It was a gusting wind, gentle at times and blowing relatively hard other times. It wasn't unbearable, but the legs felt the additional workload that they had to do.

The last 13K of the race is along Lakeshore and through the paths along the shores of Lake Ontario. There are undulating hills, some quite steep, but short. There are sections where you can catch your breath after a short climb and some sections where you can take advantage of the downhill slope and elongate your stride to make up those precious seconds lost on the climb. My shoes were doing a great job and my feet were comfortable. My knees weren't even feeling any stress at all. I really didn't think of the knees, even when I got home. I didn't think of my Achilles at all.

My bib was barely legible and I don't know if I'll appear on any photos. Normally, official photographers on the route will identify runners, email them offering the pictures if they can read the bib numbers. As you can see from the photo, I doubt that they would have been able to make out this number, especially close to the end of the race. Despite some of the muddy sections, my shoes stayed relatively clean.

And even though I could feel the fatigue setting in, my ability to push was reaching its limits, my legs kept clicking on. Amazingly, they didn't want to give up. The long runs, 32K's on weekends helped toughen them up and now they were producing results. No bonking out here. I just had to try and stay relaxed and not think of anything and they would drive me home. The longest part of the race was probably from 38K to 40K. I was anxious to see that 40K mark and kept looking ahead for it. At this point, we were winding in and out of parks. Turning through the park paths, not on the road was good. The park paths made it easier to run since you were seeing new things all the time. Not a long stretch of road but a short distance ahead before a turn. Suddenly a vista of the lake, though at this point none of the runners would have been concentrating on how beautiful that vista was. I don't think I looked at the lake long enough to savour it. If memory serves me right, it was grey and dark. The sky was completely grey because of the clouds and everything looked grey and wet. As we got closer to 41, we were in the city of Port Credit. Now the sound of cheering grew louder. More people. More energy. And I forgot, the past few water stops had volunteers giving out gels. This is a Mississauga phenomenon because I haven't seen any other race organisers giving out gels. They're not cheap and I saw boxes loaded with them. This was the right moment for gels. The other thing that I remember on the stops from 30K on were tables with fruit. Oranges and bananas, already cut. I should have probably digested a couple of oranges, that may have made a difference.

But onto Port Credit and the energy from the crowds was great. I could feel them and see them, but not individuals. Just people. Masses of faceless, yet encouraging people. Some huddled under umbrellas, not too close to the path. Some not minding the rain and cheering. I wonder what makes them come out in the rain. Perhaps they know someone running and it's possible that with 1100 marathoners, 4000 half-marathoners and the rest of the different race groups, you'd get at least half that many spectators. And 41K came by and now I could see the finish. It was on the other side of a pier. I would have to run along the edge of the lake, across a bridge and then turn back onto the pier towards the finish. But that was only 1.2K away. I knew I'd made it and my legs weren't going to give up on me. I wasn't tired but I didn't have anything left to push any more. I had only cruising speed. No acceleration at all. Just enough to keep the current pace. One step at a time, getting closer and closer. The path narrowed, more spectators and much closer. You could see faces and cheering. There were other people on the way to the finish line. People who'd started the walking marathon at 6:00 AM. Some stragglers still finishing the 1/2 marathon. Some speedsters from the relay. But I moved easily past them, all on my cruising speed. I was alone on the home stretch. Now there were barriers on the side to stop people from spilling into the finish gate. I heard cheering behind me and felt steps. I stepped into a narrow gate and onto some timing mats. I heard the beep as they registered by entrance to the last fifty metres. My name was announced. They pronounced Mathenge incorrectly, as they usually do, by softening the "g" the way you'd say Stonehenge. I heard more cheering behind me and glanced back to see how close this supposed sprinter was. Nobody even close. I would be crossing the finish line alone. Great! Looking up at the clock, I saw the time at 3:34. Not bad I said. Something inside me told me that it could have been better. Even as I slowed down on the timing mats, hearing their chatter as a million signals picked up my timing chip, I knew that this was only the beginning of another long successful career.

I'd found myself back on track. Life was looking up. I walked over to someone giving out space blankets. Those sheets made of something that resembles foil. Wrapped myself and then walked over to the guys that were removing the timing chips from the shoes. I almost didn't pick up my medal since the girls giving out the medals were busy chatting among themselves but one of them saw me and walked up to me and asked, "did you get your medal yet?" I said no and she said, "congratulations on a great race." I remember that as she took a full marathon medal and put it around my neck. "Thanks!"

And so the lessons finally learnt.

There's no substitute for preparation. If you don't do the time, you'll pay the price.

It's important to know where you are. I need to get a running watch, probably something better for training, but when running definitely something to pace myself with.

Nutrition during the race is very important as is hydration.

There's no substitute for the long run when preparing for a marathon.

You need to include strength work and speed work as part of exercise.

And lastly, it's all in the head. A positive, happy, optimistic attitude works wonders in training and on race day.