Marathon #2: Victoria, Canada

10 Nov Marathon #2: Victoria, Canada

As if completing 2/4 endurance goals for 2009 wasn’t enough, I had to put in one last attempt at a third. And of course I had to choose a marathon. What a dumb idea! I had been doing 40-50km weeks, then went traveling abroad for a month to England and Scotland. Impressively I managed to keep up some volume there. You see, I was planning on potentially doing the Victoria Half Marathon, but alas it was sold out WAY in advance. Seems like everyone wants to do half marathons these days!

Ok, let’s go for the full. I registered in the final week after determining that my body could handle a big 120km week (not sure how my body handled that torturous bump), then a 95km week, and a taper week. I was running great, but could I handle a full marathon at race pace (4 minute kilometers)?

Standing at the start line, I thought, just enjoy each kilometer. Get into a comfortable pace, eat and drink properly, and take it as it comes.

I was nailing my paces according to my GPS watch. At the halfway, I started working the km’s down to 3:52s, but always preparing for the pain starting at 32km. I actually didn’t even feel it until the last 5km. The km’s went down to 4:10s. And I slipped across the line in 2:49 plus change — much closer than I thought!