Re: Montreal CoolRunners, a new page
Thank you for your kind words. In all fairness, my focus lies with the September marathon. The following is summary of events:
The purpose of running this event was to establish the first of two reference points to determine a projected marathon completion time.
I booked the day off from work to relax and establish the proper frame of mind for this event.
Preparation consisted of a 5km jog of the course in the opposite direction of the race. We came to the realisation that the majority of this course is a downhill (or at least seemed to be).
Many familiar and friendly faces were to be seen. It was a treat to see Merc, DF7 and KJ.
The weather was warm leading up to the beginning of the race.
What caught me by surprise was the lack of a timing carpet at the start of this event. Consequently, when the race started, my stopwathch was not activated until I came to that realisation five seconds later.
The strategy in in mind was to run 4:05/km. As a result of the poor start I rushed and recorded a 4:00 for the first km.
At that point, my body felt rushed so I decided to slow down fearing that I would not have enough energy to complete in a sound manner. The second km was completed in a time of 4:03
Following the 2km point, my body regained its "composure" and I found myself with the ability to accelerate comfortably. Acidosis appeared out of no where and instructed me to relax. Just a soon as I heard his words, he disappeared from view as he continued onward. Thanks for the words of advice big guy.
The third km was completed in a time of 4:00 At that point, ambient noise faded to the periphery as attention and focus was drawn inward concentrating on my breathing. I remember very little of the 3rd and 4th km. The fourth km was completed in a time of 4:00
The effects of fatigue was consuming my essence from the ground up. My feet began to feel heavy and shortly afterwards, migratied northward to my calves and thighs. Realising that I was running on borrowed time I summoned all my energy and strength to complete before I broke down.
I have the bad habit of pushing off the ground to sail through the air as opposed to pulling and utilising a fast turnover as a means of propulsion. Dorys saw me visibly fatigued with 100 meters to go and told me to focus on turnover in order to accelerate. He pointed toward runner 10 metres ahead and instructed me to overtake him. My instinct was to push off the ground but realised I had no power and was not able to execute. He told me to focus on pulling. With failure imminent, I followed as instructed, and was able to tap into this resource and succeeded Final km was completed in a time 3:49
Thankfully, plenty of corn was available and I helped myself to 2 ears of corn.
My legs feel heavy following this mornings' training and evening's run.
One month remaining before the big day. Let's hope all goes well.
Thanks for reading
TB
