Dial it in.
Two pieces of advice that were given to me by two different people I really respect.... Two sayings I think I finally understand.
Here is my race report for the Victoria Marathon aka "my first marathon" aka "the marathon in which I qualified for Boston"
My plan was always to run the Victoria Marathon as ironman preparation until I got injured this summer... then I decided not to run the Victoria Marathon. Then my leg got better, I got over my post season depression and started running again.... then I thought maybe it was possible and 3 weeks ago I signed up. The purpose this time being preparation for ironman and taking it easy on the run. But THEN I started going on long runs with the best training partner in the world, the one and only Winston Guo training for the Chicago marathon. Runs were feeling great, I was having a blast and my body was holding up fabulously..... then I started thinking about splits and my times and what could be possible. Could a Boston time of 3:35 be a possibility for me? Maybe..... I like to push myself and i liked to think about running in the best known marathon in the world. Two weeks out from race day however my old injury flared up. I stopped running and was back at physio with a diagnoses of patellofemoral pain syndrome - a fancy word for runners knee, mine being cause by the same muscle imbalances responsible for all my other injuries. The good news was that running the race wasnt a risk of a bad injury and that a fancy tape job could help dull the pain... the bad news was there would be (and was) a bit (significant amount) of pain associated with the run.
So race weekend... arrived in Victoria and met up with my awesome friend John, it was a gorgeous weekend and within minutes he had me convinced a hike up Mount finlayson was a good idea. It was. Not overly strenuous as I went slowly, but a great adventure and gorgeous views!
Once we got down I spent the day downtown picking up my race package and went on an easy 20 min run to make sure the legs were loose and muscles felt ok from the hike. Spent the night in, carboloading with some good friends before a movie and early bed. Surprisingly I was super nervous... but able to sleep. Up in the morning and at the race site an hour ahead of time. It was a frosty morning and I was not inclined to take off my long sleeve shirt... tri club peep to the rescue with extra clothes for me so I could turn in my dry bag. Hung out at the start line with Nailey and before you know it I was running my first marathon. First of all I will say what a perfect course... rolling the whole way but no extreme elevation. Gorgeous scenery and well supported. I knew that everyone starts out too fast and I started out faster than I planned but was holding back... turned out I was feeling pretty comfortable at first with 4:40-4:50 splits and I knew in my head if I could told that for the first 21 km that I would a) have a half marathon PB (nailed it) and b) would have a bunch of 5:00-5:20 kms to play around with at the end. Now I won't lie, the adrenalin did it's job for the first 20-25km, my knee didn't hurt too much I could just feel it, but then 25-30km hit and the pain really started. I was tired, I was starting to hurt and every step was sharp shooting pain on my knee cap. Knew it was time to "dig deep" just tried everything I could do to put it out of my mind. Any km I could get in a split less than 4 was a win and gave me more play time at the end. Focused on how hard I'd pushed to maintain my splits and what a waste it would be to give up now... that finishing in 3:30 was a safe boston qualifying time and that somehow I knew across the continent winston had qualified and I didn't want to let him down! Then came the last 10 km... this is where I "dialed it in" just like winston always says on our long run and it works. You have an end point, you know you can do it and you know you can get there. I knew what 10km was, I know what it feels like and I know how to run it... so I just did. Finished the race in 3:29. Exceeded the highest goal I set for myself. Didn't think it was possible. But was so elated at the end. Just goes to show what is possible when you set your mind to it and work for it.Did the usual ice, wine, nap post race thing and had a nice thanksgiving with friends. Next day hit the trails of victoria on this sweet puppy
