Gold, silver, bronze

The Army half left me wishing for more so I signed up for the Ottawa Fall colours half marathon in the pittoresque village of Cumberland. I felt disappointed with how the Army race had unfolded mainly because I had trained hard and the result just hadn’t been there (although in hindsight I had only trained hard for a few weeks, but even that is time-consuming, the sacrificies…). As this race was only two weeks removed from the Army run there was no real time available for any improvements, but I was happy to be able to extend training for another two weeks particularly because I was really enjoying my running at this time. An unexpected inspiration had been my iPod (I normally don’t run with music) as the colder, darker nights required some added inspiration to keep me going, and what better way than to hear Young Jeezy informing me what he’s got in store for those haters? 

 Following the Ottawa army run I managed a 80 km week and I kept going strong into the week of the Fall colours half with most runs starting slowly then progressively going faster spurred on by gangsta rap, which is quite dangerous, literally, since 6:30/mile became my easy pace on a regular basis, and thus, leading to the inevitable: on the Wednesday the week of the race I had scheduled a 5-mile tempo run, but I had to cut it short and declared myself in need of rest, which turned into three days of no running immediately preceding the race. All of this pretty much went in line with my strategy for the race: I took myself out of the running before the running had even begun, by saying, realistically, I had no chance of running 1:19…No, don’t even think about it.. So, no pressure then. Just to make things even more interesting (read difficult), the race was the day after a grand wedding in Montreal (note to self: Do not attend wedding before a race, particularly not one where the waiter keeps on serving wine by default). To make things just a bit harder, the course is described as challenging and several people have commented on it “not being a PR course” due to its many hills…. Regardless, it was time to match every course!

Indeed, I was secretly excited for this race: it doubled as the official Ontario Masters Half-Marathon Championships! I had no idea what to expect of a Masters championship, but being able to compete for best of Ontario anything sounded pretty cool to me, and it was promised a $250 win bonus would be awarded if the course record of 1:19:23 be broken. Not without of reach, but I was sure many a Master runner had the same idea in mind, so although I was capable of running that fast surely many others were to run faster. Now you’re probably thinking “Olle, there is no way you’re a Masters runner”…and you might be right, however, the rules state anyone over 30 is allowed to compete, and the rules are the rules. Henceforth…

Focused just after the start

When we got to Cumberland traffic was log-jammed. We were barely moving – disaster - I was going to miss the start! 15 minutes before the start, I jumped out of the car and made a dash for the starting area. As I made my way there, on a cold morning like this, other overly-dressed runners were commenting on my short shorts, I always enjoy when they are complimented... I might haven been a bit cold then, but even at 8 degrees in sunshine you are going to get hot when running. Scrambling to get my bib on, I located the starting area, but because Cumberland is 30 minutes away from Ottawa and I had warmed-up by drinking coffee earlier I was now in need of the washroom. Of course, the line-up was huge, no chance. I fiddled around the starting area and squeezed in to the mass of people semi-close to the front runners somewhat self-conscious of the fact others now behind me had been lining up for a while in the cold.  Suddenly, the count-down had started then ended and we were off, me cold but focused. 

As is inevitable when you’re a bit further back in the starting group, I set off at fast pace. It just didn’t seem that fast given that everyone else around me was also running around 5:40/mile pace. Soon things settle down, and while others drifted off pace, I was closing in on the lead runners…Well, apart from one guy wearing fluorescent arm warmers, who was way ahead of everyone else - was he simply an official showing the way? After about 2 mile we reached the first hill.. it was a good climb, but I relished it and gained ground on the others ahead. In fact, there I caught up with a couple of runners and we were now a small group of three. The lead guy was pushing hard during some segments but I was right on his back. This is great, let’s race! Suddenly, another runner come up from behind and pulled ahead. I sized the opportunity to get away from the others by following him in his tracks, but soon it became evident he was running too fast for me. At least I had created a gap to the others behind. 

Not a flat affair. Course elevation map according to my GPS watch (green, not precisely accurate, but you get the idea), my pace shown in blue

After the climb, there was some down-hill running, and my average pace after 3 miles was 6:03, right on target. I turned a corner and a slow, gradual ascend started. I looked at my watch and the pace was now a disappointing 6:20-25. I tried to push a bit harder but my pace remained unchanged. What was happening? Had I really hit the wall this early in the race? Was racing the others so early on a fatal mistake? Was I really in this bad of a shape? Mile 4 was a disappointing 6:20. Mind you, it was steady uphill and the wind was there in my face as the landscape changed from beautiful fall coloured woodland to open farmland. I was still in good shape position-wise and thought I’m just going to keep at it and see how far it gets me no matter my finishing time, however, it did come across my mind as to what I was doing out here racing in rural Cumberland on a cold autumn day like this…Well, the Championships, of course!  Additionally, about this time I really felt the need to make a pit-stop to pee. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the guy behind me was only trailing by a few seconds. No time to stop, better keep going.

I had brought my iPod with me in case things got tough, and I considered using it now, but then I noticed Anais among a small crowd of on-lookers cheering me on and it was exactly what the doctor had ordered, I picked up the pace, mile 5 was 6:09, much better! I knew things were going to be uphill for a couple of miles at this stage and I was ready. When I turned a corner and headed towards the top of a hill I also changed my stride. I felt like I had been stabbing my feet into the ground, perhaps I was leaning forward too much? Instead, now, I became much lighter on my feet. I kept going uphill realizing that even if I wasn’t going faster now, at least it felt easier. Going uphill slowed me to a 6^th mile of 6:17.

The course was an out-and-back affair and right before the turn-around-point it was all downhill. Here, the two guys ahead of me came back the other way. At the halfway point was also a port-a-potty, but I was in the zone now and felt if I could hold it this long I could hold it longer. So, instead I turned around and headed back uphill. Senorski, the top Swede at Lidingoloppet, recommended a strategy to power-through with your legs when running uphill without using your arms, and I put this to the test by letting my arms fall down my side instead of swinging hard..it worked very well, mile 7 was 6:09.

 I felt fast and became energized seeing all the other runners heading in the opposite direction, and the guy who had been chasing me was now well distanced behind me. Several runners offered me their support in form of encouragements and I have to say it helped, now I was flying back downhill: mile 8 was a speedy 5:55! Then I passed by Anais for a second time and I think possibly I looked in better shape this time around. No longer going downhill, mile 9 was 6:02. Next I hit the slow stretch that had almost broken my spirit during mile 4, and guess what, going the opposite direction was much easier!  Mile 10 was a ridiculously fast 5:54. I realized if I kept this up, I was on pace for sub 1:19, I couldn’t believe it!

At the finish

There was still uphill running ahead and I knew it was only going to get harder from this point on, but when I turned another corner towards the hills I just wasn’t slowing down!  Was this really going to happen? I told myself, “ it’s too bad there are only 3 miles to go, this is so much fun”!  I turned another corner and glanced at my pace watch and noticed it read 5:47 min/mile pace, faaast, but then disaster struck…I had almost slipped once and also stepped into a hole on the side if the road earlier in the race, nearly spraining my anle, but neither could stop me. What could though, was a Rottweiler and some other barking dog unleashed on the side of the road! Qualifying for New York is going to mean nothing if I’m all chewed up and these guys looked angry and moving towards me, I had to stop. I crossed to the other side of the road and walked through someone’s yard. The dogs were out of sight and I had lost time, but worst of all I lost my momentum. I picked it up again, and mile 10 was still a fast 6:05, but now I was angry! I plugged along but suddenly felt less energized, if relieved to have escaped the dogs…

A bit more of uphill followed before cruising down the long hill towards downtown Cumberland; here, it felt like there was just too far to go, 1.5 miles. Mile 12 passed in 6:03 and I believe my average pace was around 6:05/mile. A miracle was needed for me to bring this down to 6:02, particularly as even small hills were slowing me now and I lost my pace. I could hear the announcer at the finish, but nothing really energized me. Even as I entered the finishing grounds and saw my watch surprisingly show a time of only 1:17 I just wasn’t feeling up to it anymore, I was barely moving.

 Once inside the museum grounds the course took a detour and I navigated past 10 k runners and made it over the finishing line in 1:20:31 in 3^rd place. The final mile was tough today, I lost about 30 seconds there. I’ve been training to not drink during my long runs (because I always choke on the water and can’t breathe) and I declined all drinks offered to me; perhaps it wasn’t the smartest choice. I may try to use energy bars next time around. Of course there will be a next time around, perhaps as soon as in November.

Sporting my three medals, and other prizes: one sports bag, one ice cold pain relief gel, one warming rub pain relief applicator, and my favourite: the strain relief cooling spray! I always wanted one. How appropriate for a Master's championship!

So I once again fell short of my time-goal, this time with a bit more, 90 seconds, but when you think about it, that is about 400 meters of half-marathon running, not much! Indeed, I was very happy with my race given the difficult terrain. Icing on the cake, I won a gold medal in the Ontario Masters Half-Marathon championships and received a silver medal (2^nd place in my age group in the race) and as 3^rd place runner overall I received some pretty swell gifts, best of all, a really nice New Balance sports bag! Trifecta: Gold, Silver, Bronze!