The Wind - It Blows: Toronto Waterfront Marathon Race Report

In short:  This year appears to be the year for windy marathons for the Hurleys.  After a really strong start to my race, I faded in the later miles going against the wind, but still managed to hang on for a 3:06:12, which is a new PR, and a Boston Qualifier by 3:48.  My wife on the other hand ran her dream race and smashed her sub-4 goal, finishing in 3:56:57.

Training, History and Goals

I trained for this race using the 12/70 Pfitz plan, and I felt extremely well prepared going in.  I was at or near 70 miles per week every week for about a month and a half before the taper and averaged around 63 miles per week for July-September.  These were new mileage highs for me, and after only marathoning for about a year and a half, I was very happy how well my body held up.  It also makes me wonder if another year running this kind of mileage will itself make even more improvements possible.

Last May I ran a 3:10 at the Green Bay Marathon, which was later adjusted to a 3:09:04 due to the lead vehicles making a wrong turn and making the course long, and I felt very confident that mark was going to fall, due to the increased volume and how my training had gone.  I made a 3:04 pace band and targeted that as my 'A' goal.

The Journey to Toronto, Expo, Course, and Race Prep

On the Friday before the race, I had a colleague cover my last class of the day so I could leave a little early and get on the road.  My dad was in town for a series of meetings, and so my wife and I would be taking him to my hometown of Canton, MI and resting there for the night before getting up the next morning and heading to Toronto.  I was also slightly annoyed that I had picked up a bit of a sniffle, and I was desperately hoping that with all of this travel that it would stay from the "neck up" and not go into my chest.

After resting up Friday night, I got up early on Saturday and did a short 3 mile jog just to shake some nerves  out.  It was very cool and blustery in the Detroit area that morning, but I felt pretty relaxed and wasn't too worried, aside from my steadily running nose, which was more of an annoyance than anything.  It was certainly nice to run with the wind at my back on the way home.  We hit the Tim Hortons near my parents' place, and that was the first of many stops to get coffees and donuts.  We got through customs without a hitch and after getting stuck in a crazy traffic jam, we made it to our hotel in Toronto.  We promptly met up with Christine and the Tim Hortons Racing Team was assembled.

We also met up with two of our friends from the Fred Meijer Trail Relay, Jane and James.  I learned after meeting up with them that Jane would be running her first full marathon.  I thought initially that they were both running the half, but Jane had trained for the full and was ready to go...so that was a really neat surprise to know that we would be there for her first marathon.

From L to R:  Christine, Catherine, KPH, James, Jane

Because it took us so long to get through traffic, we had to get moving if we wanted to catch the shuttle to the expo, make our 5pm pasta feed reservation and drive the course.  The expo was pretty cramped, but the gear was really nice.  I got a red embroidered jacket that I really like and is almost on par with the one I got at the Marine Corps Marathon.  The girls found nice stuff too - these really sharp blue warm-up jackets that had embroidery on the back.

By the time our shuttle returned us from the expo, it was time to head over to the pasta feed.  That turned out to be very nice - buffet style with plenty of pasta, sauce, salad and garlic bread, very tasty.  The only thing that was missing were some cookies, but by that point in the day I had already made three separate trips to Tim Hortons (we stopped on the way to town, and then again for Christine on the way to the expo). See, there's a reason why we are the Tim Hortons Racing Team.  We don't have it in Chicago, so we were determined to get as much of it as we could stand while in Canada.

Next we drove the course.  The start had a gentle downhill, so it was going to be tricky to make sure and not get going too fast, especially since it was going to be cold and windy in the morning and I would not be warmed up.  After winding around the downtown area for a 3k or so, the course headed west until the 10k mark or so, and offered plenty of views of Lake Ontario.  There were a couple of small hills on this stretch, but nothing to get too excited over.  One concern I had was that if the wind was blowing from the west, this could really be a tough stretch and might warrant a slower start than I was planning on.

After the 10k mark the course turned around and went east for the next 22k.  The early part of this stretch was right along the lake, offered a lot of nice views and was very flat save for a gentle incline at around the 15k mark.  Then it got pretty dull from about the halfway point until about the 30k mark, where we would enter a neighborhood on Toronto's east side called The Beaches.  Once in the neighborhood, the scenery was terrific - it seemed like a very nice area with shops and restaurants, and I imagined this would be a nice pick up after the dull spot, but it was pretty rolling in this area.  Between the 32-33k marks we turned around and headed back west toward downtown, and so the hills we just went through would be done twice.  We would also be headed into the wind for the end of the race.

At about the 38-39k mark there was a large bridge and this was the final obstacle.  After that the course was back into the downtown area where we would push hard for the finish.

After driving the course, I thought that it was going to be very difficult to negative split it.  I thought that I would be behind pace at the start, make up ground when I had the wind at my back, and then hopefully save enough to push hard through the wind and hills at the end.

By the time we were done looking at the course, it had gotten pretty late and it was time to wind down for the night.  I fell asleep to the girls watching Jurassic Park at around 9pm, and hoped to God that my cold would not find it's way into my chest.

The Race

I woke up around 4am feeling like I had slept great.  The race was not until 9am, so I lumbered in bed for a while, snoozed a little more and got up just before 6.  I was congested when I woke up, but a quick test of my breathing told me that although I would be snotting everywhere on the course,  my chest was clear and I was good to go for a balls-to-the-wall effort.  The start was just over a block from our hotel, so I had plenty of time to eat breakfast and get ready.  We got out around 8am or so to meet up with Jane and James for pictures and it was cold and breezy.  Temps would be ideal, we would soon see what role the wind would play.

The Tim Hortons Racing Team

It was pretty crowded in the corral area.  It was neat to have the start area right in the middle of downtown, but it made for challenging logistics - there were wall-to-wall people everywhere.  I got into my corral around 8:40 and did my best to keep warm.  I talked with a couple of guys - one was shooting for a 3:05, the other said he would be "happy with anything sub-3:10".  I made a note to look for 3:05 guy just to give myself an idea mentally of how I was doing compared to him.

The course was marked only in kilometers, so I'll provide the official splits and comment on them.

First 10K - 43:41 (7:02 pace overall)

In the early part of the race it took me a while to warm up.  My feet were really cold, and I felt like the first couple of miles I was running on ice blocks.  "I'm just happy with sub 3:10" guy and his buddy took off like the race was a 5k and I was slightly perplexed by that, but I took a mental picture of them for later.  I felt very relaxed once I warmed up and was making eye contact with the spectators hoping for some "Mr. Mocha" yells, but no go.  I was blowing my nose often on my shirt, as I was loosening up quickly, and that seemed to work well and helped me relax.

Some stupid pose I did in the first half

Once we turned east I was shocked that the wind was not a factor, and I kept my fingers crossed for a stroke of good luck.  Took a gel at mile 3.  Some of the runners near me were already breathing really hard, ouch.  About 7-8k in I started running with a group that was talking about 3:05 pace and I decided to tuck in with them for a bit.  3:05 guy and Happy-With-A-3:10 Guy (HWA310G) were among them, but HWA310G looked like he felt good and was pulling away from them, so I decided to keep an eye on him as someone to possibly run with in the second half.

Half Split - 1:31:27 (6:59 overall)

After turning around at about the 12k mark I felt very comfortable and was in a consistent rhythm, clicking off splits at around 6:58 pace, and even a little under that at times.  Took another gel at mile 8. Still running with the unofficial 3:05 pace group at this point, that was around 8 guys or so, with HWA310G about 100m or so ahead.  Saw this guy just after the turn around and he enthusiastically screamed "MR MOCHA!" and I got really excited.  Then, one spectator after another was cheering for Mr. Mocha and the singlet was a hit.  I started to drift ahead of the 3:05 team and caught HWA310G at around the 18k mark.  He asked me how things were going, I told him I felt great, and said something to the effect of being glad I ran a lot of miles for this.  He said he was feeling tightness in his hip, and I suggested shortening his stride and that maybe it would go away.  That was the last I saw of him.  I also dropped the other guys shooting for a 3:05 at this point and never saw any of them again either.

Still in the first half, feeling great

I made up all of the time from the start and then some, and was passing half marathoners who had gone out too fast like crazy.  The half marathoners split off at around the 20k mark and the field thinned out considerably.  Suddenly there were only about a handful of runners in view.  There was this guy wearing a black spandex-type suit that a triathlete might wear so I decided to follow him for a while, as he looked like he was doing OK.  I hit the half feeling like the race just started, I felt incredible, and noticed I was about 30 seconds ahead of 3:04 pace, and I had pretty much made up my mind at that point to go for broke.  Took my third gel just after the halfway mark.

30K Split - 2:09:53 (6:58)

From the half until this point, the course was pretty boring.  This guy who was trailing me came up next to me though and started chatting with me, and that made things interesting.  He was breathing like it was the homestretch of a 10K so unfortunately I knew he wouldn't be around for the long haul, but it was nice to have someone to run with.  Around mile 15 or so I passed triathlete guy and thanked him for pacing me for the last 5k or so, and that was the last I saw of him until the turnaround on the eastern edge of the course.

By mile 16 or so, my buddy dropped off pace and I was looking at industrial buildings, so I decided to put my Ipod on, which made the next couple of miles easier.  I was still feeling great at this point, and was really thinking that I was going to put up a pretty amazing time.

Around mile 18, just before the 30K sign, I started to feel my hamstrings tighten up.  This was a little frustrating, as I didn't feel tired at all at this point, but I thought I would take my own advice, shorten my stride and hopefully run through it.  Looking back, I really was running on the edge of my fitness on this stretch with the wind; my splits were a little quicker than planned.  I didn't feel like my breathing was tough, but this was more like muscle fatigue.  In hindsight, I should have been more conservative here and saved a lot more effort for the home stretch-  this was a mistake I would pay dearly for in the coming miles.  Also took my 4th and last gel around here as well.

35K Split - 2:31:51 (6:59)

Still on pace overall at this point, but the writing was about to be on the wall.  I was able to run through the tightness in the hamstrings, and by mile 19.5 or so I felt fine.  I was running the hills with no issues and got a little choked up as an awesome song came on my ipod and I still felt great, thinking at that point I was going to be able to hold pace.  Unfortunately the field was really spread out at this point, and I was all alone, in no mans land.  This was the critical moment, as I think I ran a 6:4x split which was too fast and possibly the nail in the coffin for my 3:02:x dreams.

At the 32.5k turnaround, the wind hit like an anvil.  I couldn't believe how much harder everything got, it was like a switch was flipped that just turned this race into hard mode.  I slowed pretty dramatically, down to 7:15 pace.  My legs just couldn't turn over, it was awful.  Pretty much right then and there I realized I ran 10-32k just a shade too fast and just didn't save enough energy to power through the wind.  Ugh.  Too bad too, because the crowd during this stretch in the Beaches neighborhood was awesome.  Just very very frustrating and a critical error in judgement that probably turned a possible 3:04:x into something worse.

40K Split - 2:55:57 (7:05)

Worst stretch of the race by far.  I gave back so much time on this part of the race.  We had come out of the neighborhood and the wind was relentless.  I had a split of 7:5x on this stretch, going over the big bridge (described below).  I saw several people walking...people getting cramps.  Fortunately I was not in that bad of shape, my leg cramps had gone away, but I just didn't have the strength or energy to turn my legs over faster.  It was odd...I had gotten passed by a couple of people, but even running at my slower pace I passed many more others.  Sadly, I knew at this point 3:03/3:04 was no longer possible.

Then I saw the big bridge, and I decided that if I could just get over the bridge, I could try and pick it up a bit and try and salvage 3:05:x.  I got over it, and when I made it back into downtown, I finally got a bit of a break from the wind and managed to get pace back down to the 7:30 area.  I was determined to at least make a run at 3:05, but it was going to be really close.

Trying to gut it out at the end

The Finish

I finally saw the 41k sign and gave it whatever I had left, which sadly wasn't much.  There were spectators everywhere, it was thrilling, and really helped me give it my all at the end.  At the "400m left to go" mark I ran as hard as I could.  When I turned the corner to the finish I looked at my Garmin and it had just turned 3:06...aww, so close.  And for the first time in about 45 minutes the wind relented and I came in through the chute at 3:06:12.

Finally done, and pretty damn happy about it.

I was exhausted, and at the same time proud of my efforts, but a little disappointed in how things worked out.  I definitely went for it, but I just didn't run smart enough to have my A+ type of race.  A woman at the end held my hand for a minute while I tried to collect myself...I was worried for a moment I was going to pass out, but then I was OK.  I went through the line and got my gatorade, banana and cookie, and I started to feel much better, both physically and emotionally about the race.  After making some mistakes earlier on, I did fade, but I was able to at least hold on and PR by a pretty substantial margin, and even though that was a more of a 'C' goal, it still made me pretty happy I was able to accomplish that.

Afterwards I met up with Christine (she did the half and came in at 1:58) and she hugged me and congratulated me.  She told me she had a hell of a time getting our bag from the baggage check, apparently there was no organization at all, and it was just a clusterfuck.  I was so appreciative at that point we only checked in one bag, I was able to get warm clothes on and bounce back after a few minutes, and then limp to a spot on the course about 500m from the finish, grab another Tim Hortons mocha, and watch for Catherine.

Eventually she emerged at about 12:57pm, and I knew her sub-4 was easily in the bag.  I got so incredibly excited for her.  She has come so far this year, trained so well, and deserved this so much.  We went back to catch her after she came through the finish area and she was sobbing tears of joy.  What an incredible end to another journey for us...after seeing Catherine, I couldn't feel anything other than joy, both for her, and even for myself.  I had fallen a bit short of my goal, but I still continue to make big improvements.  In the end, it really was an amazing day for the Tim Hortons Racing Team!

The Tim Hortons Team, Post Race