Race Report: Calgary Marathon

But in the last few days, I started doubting my training. Did I taper too much? A few new aches and pains started to solidify my concerns. Maybe I wasn’t ready after all? I had a massage on Friday to loosen up my calves before the big day. It seemed to have done the trick because my legs felt great.

I was up a few hours early the morning of the race. I ate a couple bananas and some quinoa for breakfast and guzzled down 32 ounces of water. I took a cab from the Marriott to the Stampede grounds. Carleigh and Jon were already volunteering at the late registration pick up. I stopped in to say hello before I made my way to the corral.

I lined up with Adam, the continuous 4-hour bunny pacer. We still had a few minutes before the gun sounded so I chatted with a few people. There were a lot of first time marathoners. Everyone was super excited. I was nervous more than anything. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I didn’t have that same sense of excitement I had when I ran my first marathon.

We were off. I stayed close to the bunny and the others. There was Kathleen from Medicine Hat and Tara from Calgary. We chatted for the first 13 kilometres. It was fun to hear everyone’s story. By the 11 kilometre mark, I really had to pee. I didn’t want to lose the group because I wanted the company. But I had to go really bad. I think I drank too much water in the morning. 

At the 13-kilometre mark, I stopped at the aid station to pee. I think I was in the toilet for 3 minutes. By the time I was ready to run, the group had already moved on. I tried to speed up to find them but I had no luck. Tara had stopped too and she caught up with me but she dropped back a few minutes later. I was on my own. 

Around this time I was feeling something was not right with my left hip and butt. I felt a sharp shooting pain that would not go away. I was not comfortable running at all. My pace was slowing and I tried to do everything I could to relax and run. At a turn around point, I saw the 4-hour group and I estimated I was about five minutes behind them. I was okay with that so I kept on. I wasn’t comfortable but I kept on. 

Kilometres 15 to 21 went by fairly quickly. I was running alone mostly. There were small groups in front and behind me. I was at 2:03 at the half-way mark. I tried to will myself to keep a consistent pace. My iPod wasn’t working so I was driving myself crazy looking at my Garmin and trying to calculate my finish times. Not recommended. 

At the 28-kilometre mark, I was starting to feel hunger pains. I had packed a powerbar cookie in my belt so I stopped to eat it. It was hard to eat and run so I stopped at the bottom of a hill. I tried to eat it as fast as I can but it was hard to digest. I ate half of it and asked a couple of spectators to toss it in the trash for me. 

I powdered up the hill. I may have walked parts of the course but I’m proud to say I did not walk up one hill in the entire 42 kilometres. My left leg was not getting any better. I think it hurt more when I walked. I tried to ignore the discomfort. 

The 4:15 pace bunny and her group came up behind me around 30 kilometres. I knew then there was no way I was going to hit my 4-hour goal. I decided to keep with them as much as I could. The pace leader said they were on pace for a 4:10 finish. Sounded good to me so I tried to stay with them. I think I lost them around 38 kilometres.

I ran the last 6 kilometres slow and steady. I wanted to stop so badly. I needed a hug. I was trying not to cry. I don’t know what the heck was wrong with me. Sure I was uncomfortable. I’ve had uncomfortable runs before. I just wanted to put an end to this self-inflicted torture.

Clearly my head and my body was not in this marathon. You know how runners hit the wall at mile 23 or something? Well I hit my wall at mile 1 if not kilometre 1. 

I gathered all my energy that I could muster and finished with my head high. I finished in 4:16:09. 

The tears starting coming when I saw Carleigh, Jon and Alison. I think Alison was a little shell shocked to see me blubbering like an idiot. I could barely walk. My left leg, hip, ass were screaming bloody murder. We went back to the hotel where I sat in an ice bath. I cried and cried while I nearly froze to death in the bath. 

I see now that this was not my marathon. Yes I had a better time than New York but my head was not in the race. I’ve stopped crying for the most part. I’m disappointed with myself. In a few days, I’ll be get over myself and I will move on. 

The numbers:  I finished 523 out of 971 marathoners. I was 25th out of 71 in my age groups and 146th female out of 372 runners. My time was 4:16:09 with a 6:05 pace.