Roly (and anyone else) : eat healthily but don't introduce any weird items to your diet nor add excessive amounts of anything you normally eat... stay with familiar things and more carbs.

Have fun everyone!!

Ralf : all the best for tomorrow's marathon!

Hello everyone, beautiful day today, fabulous weather.

My two cents on the expo:

A little disappointed with the lack of signs at Viau metro station, I think they had some up last year ? Shame for out of town runners using public transit.

Once on site I thought the area too small. The few boths were crammed together, and the pick up point should have been out of the way of these. I didn?t have much time to look around ? had an appointment afterwards, but had thought I would go back today. Unfortunately, it won?t happen, not very exciting, no ?buzz?, what a shame.

As Sally pointed out, family theme, also health theme..so there could have been much more. Some ideas:

A draw for a family trip, canoeing, rafting or cycling. A pair of rollerblades, a massage session, a consultation with a trainer etc..

How about something given at the door ? Look at all the ?stuff? runners are in to from clothing, shoes, gels, drinks, toys, etc.

How about a paper, mag ? I was given a copy of Vermont Sports back in June at camp, nothing glossy or expensive but it does the trick, does anything like this exist here ?

How about the fact that a lot of runners don?t necessarily only run ? we cycle, paddle, swim, (Sally dances, DR and JB play hockey)?could have been different booths appealing to other sports and activities.

Running plays a big part in endurance events, some of us would like to get into more trail ? that could be looked into.

How about the stores we collectively spend so much money in ? From Endurance to Boutique C, Mountain Co-op, Sports Experts etc?

How about coaching, training, massage, race prep, nutrition resources ? It?s a shame for Montreal because a good number of people are active from what I see on the mountain, in the streets, along the canal, this could be a big rocking and rolling event.

Anyhoo, longer then 2 cents worth, sorry about that guys and gals.

Ralf, Roly ? you sound very ready, good stuff. JB, do you think you could get a little more excited ? If you and Chops take off like bats out of ****, I?ll have to do my own thing..

Sally ? sorry to read about your mishap, hope you can still walk the event tomorrow.

TB - you are too much

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as I can -- à demain - Df

Gee, you guys seem disappointed already with the Festival, and just wait until you run the race when you discover that yellow lysol will be served on the course as a sports drink in the form of Lassondes Fruite and just forget about Gatorade. I didn't register because I'm completely aware of the mess, and that running may actually be the sideshow at this event. Anyone who is already disappointed and was expecting food at the end, I hope you read your race broshure closely, it said "light snack" and that's exactly what your getting a light snack sponsored by Saputo Oasis and Lasonde (hope you like cheese and Juice). Some were wondering what happened to the expo, and where was Boutique Endurance and Boutique Courir, well... Sports Experts is a main sponsor and they probably didn't want competitors at an event they sponsored and another sponsor Reebok doesn't come to mind as highly involved on the running scene. It's too bad that the interests of the runners are put aside because they could have a high quality event if they removed the rollerblading and the Tour De L'Ile Part II, and gave the runners what they expect out of a race of this size and cost to enter.

Last check-in before takeoff.I don't know whether I am ready, but I have done all I could. I have done my mileage and followed my program. I will keep you posted on the result.

Many thanks for all the encouragement. And good luck to all the halfers.

Ralf

P.S.: The sports drink seems to be the same as last year, in which case I won't complain. I like apple juice and from the ingredients list I can't say that it is worse than the PepsiCo's Gatorade.

In case anybody is still up, here is my Race Report...

http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum10/HTML/003190.shtml[/URL" target="_blank">

Congrats Ralf on your first marathon, what a feeling when you see the end? It's yours now, nobody can't take it away. Never forget this feeling, it will always give you wings when you'll think about it!

Congrats also to the halfers. We had perfect wheather and the course was also just as nice, I really liked the course ( it's about the only thing I liked from this organisation, what kind of a meal was that at the end, no carbs of any kind, I'll stop now because I'll go to far!)

I wasn't expecting to much for this race because my training had gone down with Omniette, and therefore the sleeping part also! So I start the race keeping a steady and confortable pace knowing that the first half had a lot more hills to go up than the second half. I got to the 10k with a time of 47.05, I was quite surprise with that time, I had a pace to get under the 1h40. Then came 15-16k, at that point my legs told me " we didn't do the training to keep this kind of rythm you fool!!!". So I had to slow down a bit until we got to the 20th k, then I picked it up again for a strong finish. I finished with a time of 1h40.50, my second best time ever on this distance. So I'm very happy with my day!

Have a nice week!

A wonderful day was to be enjoyed today. Crisp weather coupled with virtually no humidity were both welcome omens of things to come.

I had the pleasure of seeing familiar faces and was able to carry on tradition by following through with my annual race challenge against my friend Richard.

I began my day by bumping into the old manager of the Running Room in Outremont. She made my day by introducing me to her newest toy: A banana guard. For a brief moment, I thought that this was the beginning of a naughty joke but she proceeded to pull out a long, blue, cylindrical tube that was curved to follow the shape of your fruit. It was hard case shell that opened in a clam shell fashion providing protection for your banana from being reduced to mush. It was perforated so your banana could breathe as well.

A Boreal runner sitting across from myself and the the manager took active interest as we discussed how interesting this could be as a business opportunity. That moment of levity and curiousity allowed me dispel any pent up anxiety that had built up within me leading to the race.

I met up with DF, JB, Roly and Chops as headed toward the the start line and my thoughts were filled with regret for not having staged myself earlier in the corral. It was about a 8-10 minute walk once we pasted the start line before we found place at the back of the line. It was there that we all exchanged final words of support before embarking in this journey.

Once the event started I found myself expending what precious little energy I could afford to "slalom" through the hordes of runners in order to establish and maintain my pace. This was confirmed by my the times recorded by my Garmin.

The first third of the course was reminiscent of my the course that my long runs would take me. I derived solace in the familiarity of the course. However, the second third of the course would be what I would deem as ugly as running this event along Saint Patrick in this event two years ago. Passing by an incinerator would be by far the low point of this race. We running through an industrial park along beside train tracks. The final third was nice as we found our way around Parc Maisoneuve and headed toward the stadium. I must agree with JB, the idea of finishing in the Big O did seems hokey but it was a fresh twist in an otherwise bland course.

It was really thoughtful to see familiar faces appear along various segment of the course shoutng words of encouragement this Sunday morning. Knowing that they took their time to come out lifted during the moments I was fading. One guy from the Running Room was on bicycle and appeared at various segments of the the course shouting words of encouragement. As I drew closer to the finish, it was a treat to see others who I had not expected come out to provide encouragement. It lifted my spirits and for that, I want to offer my deepest gratitude and appreciation to them.

I am content to report that since the Nike half in April, I have realised significant gains and was able to record a personal best this day. But more importantly, I was able to win in convincing fashion over Richard this day. Next stop: Toronto

Chops you definitely the class of your field having chaperoned, both DF and JB to the finish line and still having the energy and resolve to go back for Ralf. You sir, are a gentleman. Ralf, my thoughts were with you all morning. Congradulations on th successful completion of your marathon. I cannot wait but to read your race report.

DR: I wanted to go back, but I could not muster the energy to do so.

TB

http://www.sportstats.ca/res2005/festih.htm[/URL" target="_blank">


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Running to eat guilt free

http://This message has been edited by Turtleboy (edited Sep-11-2005).