Official chip time was 1:34:32 but it felt more like forever:lifetime:eternity.
Ok, I am being dramatic. It wasn’t THAT bad but it was a tough race. Especially the last 3km. What’s with all the damn hills, St. Catharine?
The biggest problem with the race was the fact that I have been sick for a week. Not badly ill, just a cold, but it has annoying been enough to slow me down and make me a little miserable.
I finished my 34km peak distance run on Sunday, Sept 11 and felt great! It went so well. I nailed my pace of 5:05 min/km for the entire run and then I managed to pick up the pace for the last 2km. GREAT! Sadly, a few hours after I started to get a sore throat. Then and stuffy nose. By Monday afternoon, I was sick. I did my best to keep training normally but Lucy rearranged a couple of the workouts (and I suspect took out a speed session) and I made it through the week, popping vitamins, guzzling fruit smoothies and trying to sleep as much as possible.
Race morning I was feeling better… actually, pretty good. Not coughing too much but still blowing my nose like mad. Mostly I just had a dry feeling in my chest. Not a great way to feel at the beginning of a race. A race? Is this a race? Oh yeah – this is not my race! This is a training run. Everything I am doing right now is leading up to Chicago (which is only 3 weeks away at this point) but it is hard to remember that as you are standing in the crowd at the start line, hopping up and down to keep your calves alive and downing your pre-race gel.
It’s even harder to remember when a guy you blew past at km 7 passes you at km 15. The feet instinctively pick up the pace, the heart rate rises and the arms start to pump. WHOA – training run, training run, training run! Save it for Chicago!
In any case, mental battles aside; runny nose, plugged ears and a lung-butter cough aside too;It was a decent race. Not an awesome race, not a terrible race, but a decent one. If nothing else if was a beautiful sunny day spent running in the wine country of southern Ontario and it is hard to beat that!