A on-site discussion on the trials, tribulations and triumphs of some Oakville endurance runners. Use the "comments" box below the blog to add your feedback.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Nov 4 - Hamilton Marathon
18 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Hello! I'll start this one off. Lynn and I have signed up for this one. It'll be a training run for us for the Goofy. I know some Chicago people were thinking of doing this one. I wish those runners a great run. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the end of the clinic party. Kim
I'm doing the half not the marathon - I can't do another marathon now and the goofy in January. Both my mind and my body would revolt. Have a great race Mike.
I thought about running the full for a couple days after Chicago, but I came to the conclusion that I'm not ready to climb that mountain again yet. I'm just hoping to run a good race - on a cool day!
Mike, best of luck in the full, it should be a great challenge. Kim and Lynn, good luck to both of you as well, I'll see you at the start line.
Wishing you all a great run in Hamilton. I hope you have a nice cool day with calm winds. You are all so strong and have trained hard so just go out and have a great time. Allan and I will be thinking of you.
Best of luck to all Hamilton runners this weekend! Enjoy this inaugural race and bring back lots of stories for the rest of us. May the weather Gods be kind to you as well...enjoy.
Congratualtion Hamilton runners, what a course this is, reminds me of the Cabot trail run I did a few years ago. Last 6km uphill and into the wind. It was great to see Marci and Val near the finish, see you there lifted my spirits and it was like an instant transfusion of energy. Mario, thanks for being there for us for the entire race. Form most of us this is not a course that you want to try for a PB.
Congratulations on a great run yesterday. I had heard that the course was challenging but to run uphill into the wind at the end of a marathon sounds like a sick joke! Take care and give yourself some much deserved rest!
Thanks for your kind comments, the only thing missing was sleet.
Nothing in the loot bag, T-shirt and Medal OK.
We started out running uphill and into the wind for about 10 Km. Not bad, still on pace, but when I turned down wind at the same effort I was running a 4:11 pace. So I figured I burnt up a lot of energy right there. Wished I had the Toronto Marathon group to run with and do our wind formation. Kept going for the next 20 km and got to top of the escarpment, ran down and turned at km 36 for the uphill. Still on pace for 4:00, but starting to run out of gas, the next 6 km were uphill(and into the wind) as we climbed back to the top of the escarpment with a 100 meter elevation gain. All I could do is run, sputter as I ran out of gas, walk a while and run again, very disappointing as I watched the average pace climb. Managed to finish in 4:13 with Marci and Val running me in the last km.
On the plus side found a great hill for hill training.
Mike, I feel your hill pain :-) I can't imagine running straight into wind as well. Even more admirable was that this is your second marathon in a month! Truly inspiring. I can't wait to hear about Hamilton! Congratulations!
Well done, Mike. That last 7k was tough - I can't imagine what it would have been like to run 35 km and then try and tackle that climb into the wind.
Congratulations also to Lynn, Kim, Sarah and Diane for completing the half marathon, and thanks to Mario for coming out to support us all and for being the official HHB photographer for Hamilton race day.
The day was very interesting for me. I arrived early to see the start of the marathon and I admit that I had mixed emotions while watching the runners head out. Part of me was regretting not signing up for the full, but for the most part I felt relieved - as I said before, mentally I don't think I was ready to tackle a full marathon yet, and I knew from several runs I've done up the escarpment that the climb at the end would be very difficult.
My plan for the half was to keep my heart rate slightly below my threshold (about 88% of max), and let the time just take care of itself. I managed this quite well for the first 14k, but once I started uphill into the wind it was decision time. I was feeling pretty good and I knew from training that I can run above my threshold for about 30 minutes, so I maintained my pace up the hill, with my HR going up to around 95%.
Right at the top of the final climb my brother Greg was there to "high five" and take pictures. This gave me the final burst of energy I needed to get to the finish line. I hadn't looked at my time for the entire race, so when I got near the finish and saw the clock, I was thrilled to see that I was going to run a PB, and I was able to sprint home. The "finish line high" that seemed to be missing in Chicago was alive and well in Hamilton.
Anyhow, thanks to Dave H. and B'Ann for a great clinic. I'm looking forward to the party on the 16th, where we can tell all our stories one more time and hear about everyone's plans for '08. Hope to see you all there.
18 comments:
Hello!
I'll start this one off. Lynn and I have signed up for this one. It'll be a training run for us for the Goofy.
I know some Chicago people were thinking of doing this one. I wish those runners a great run.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the end of the clinic party.
Kim
Hi Lynn, Kim and Mike:
Best of luck on the marathon. It is a good idea to take it as a long run in training for Disney.
Mike, I hope that this marathon is in line with the training plan!
Best regards,
Mario
Let me be clear - I signed up to do the half - I can't do another marathon now and the goofy in January.
Lynn
I'm doing the half not the marathon - I can't do another marathon now and the goofy in January. Both my mind and my body would revolt. Have a great race Mike.
Lynn
Hi All,
I'm going to run the half as well.
I thought about running the full for a couple days after Chicago, but I came to the conclusion that I'm not ready to climb that mountain again yet. I'm just hoping to run a good race - on a cool day!
Mike, best of luck in the full, it should be a great challenge. Kim and Lynn, good luck to both of you as well, I'll see you at the start line.
Dave
Hi Mike, Lynn, Kim and Dave,
Wishing you all a great run in Hamilton. I hope you have a nice cool day with calm winds. You are all so strong and have trained hard so just go out and have a great time. Allan and I will be thinking of you.
Take Care,
Kathy
Hi Mike,
Oh how I wish I was as strong as you and was running this marathon too. I hope the conditions are perfect and that you have a great race.
Thanks for the support and advice during the clinic.
Avis
Best of luck to all Hamilton runners this weekend! Enjoy this inaugural race and bring back lots of stories for the rest of us. May the weather Gods be kind to you as well...enjoy.
Hey you Hamiltonians - have a great race this weekend. The first official Hamilton marathon and you're doing it! Bring your medals for the 16th!
Good Luck to all the Hamilton Runners!
Kim and Lynn, have a great run tomorrow. I want to hear all about this one.
Terri
Congratualtion Hamilton runners, what a course this is, reminds me of the Cabot trail run I did a few years ago. Last 6km uphill and into the wind. It was great to see Marci and Val near the finish, see you there lifted my spirits and it was like an instant transfusion of energy. Mario, thanks for being there for us for the entire race. Form most of us this is not a course that you want to try for a PB.
Wow - uphill and into a wind? We should include that kind of stuff as mandatory cross-training for future clinics! Congratulations Mike!
Hey Mike
Great Great run - you are more courageous than most of us to run this course so soon after Chicago.
Congratulations on an amazing achievement - I'm very impressed.
Jo
Hi Mike,
Congratulations on a great run yesterday. I had heard that the course was challenging but to run uphill into the wind at the end of a marathon sounds like a sick joke! Take care and give yourself some much deserved rest!
Kathy
Hi Team,
Thanks for your kind comments, the only thing missing was sleet.
Nothing in the loot bag, T-shirt and Medal OK.
We started out running uphill and into the wind for about 10 Km. Not bad, still on pace, but when I turned down wind at the same effort I was running a 4:11 pace. So I figured I burnt up a lot of energy right there. Wished I had the Toronto Marathon group to run with and do our wind formation. Kept going for the next 20 km and got to top of the escarpment, ran down and turned at km 36 for the uphill. Still on pace for 4:00, but starting to run out of gas, the next 6 km were uphill(and into the wind) as we climbed back to the top of the escarpment with a 100 meter elevation gain. All I could do is run, sputter as I ran out of gas, walk a while and run again, very disappointing as I watched the average pace climb. Managed to finish in 4:13 with Marci and Val running me in the last km.
On the plus side found a great hill for hill training.
Congratulations Mike. You have nothing to be disappointed with. You are very strong. That is a challenging course. Way to go.
B'Ann
Mike, I feel your hill pain :-) I can't imagine running straight into wind as well. Even more admirable was that this is your second marathon in a month! Truly inspiring. I can't wait to hear about Hamilton! Congratulations!
Well done, Mike. That last 7k was tough - I can't imagine what it would have been like to run 35 km and then try and tackle that climb into the wind.
Congratulations also to Lynn, Kim, Sarah and Diane for completing the half marathon, and thanks to Mario for coming out to support us all and for being the official HHB photographer for Hamilton race day.
The day was very interesting for me. I arrived early to see the start of the marathon and I admit that I had mixed emotions while watching the runners head out. Part of me was regretting not signing up for the full, but for the most part I felt relieved - as I said before, mentally I don't think I was ready to tackle a full marathon yet, and I knew from several runs I've done up the escarpment that the climb at the end would be very difficult.
My plan for the half was to keep my heart rate slightly below my threshold (about 88% of max), and let the time just take care of itself. I managed this quite well for the first 14k, but once I started uphill into the wind it was decision time. I was feeling pretty good and I knew from training that I can run above my threshold for about 30 minutes, so I maintained my pace up the hill, with my HR going up to around 95%.
Right at the top of the final climb my brother Greg was there to "high five" and take pictures. This gave me the final burst of energy I needed to get to the finish line. I hadn't looked at my time for the entire race, so when I got near the finish and saw the clock, I was thrilled to see that I was going to run a PB, and I was able to sprint home. The "finish line high" that seemed to be missing in Chicago was alive and well in Hamilton.
Anyhow, thanks to Dave H. and B'Ann for a great clinic. I'm looking forward to the party on the 16th, where we can tell all our stories one more time and hear about everyone's plans for '08. Hope to see you all there.
Dave
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