My legs keep no pace with my desire...

The Midsummer Night's Run - my second 30km race this year (and ever racing that distance). My goals for this race were a) to not be bored on the somewhat uninspiring course (I don't know why but I get this weird mental block thing running the Leslie Street Spit); b) to have fun and zen run the "race"; c) to come in under 3 hours (weather and humidity permitting for a PB); d) and attempt some sort of consistency or negative splits, unlike my effort at Around the Bay 30km in the winter or the marathon in the spring.

Before I start writing about my race, I do want to point out what I did like about the race, because otherwise, the post will seem really negative and it wasn't all bad. Seeing all the CCRR folks out before the run was so great - I really need to do more of the social stuff with these guys cuz they be good people. I was razzed by a few of them for not running with the group so many Sundays this season (in my defense, at least I'm keeping up with my training) and it was deserved. Seeing James, Ginny, Kathryn, Steve, Ted, and other supporters out on course was stellar and the volunteers were great. And lastly, the full non-plastic reusable water bottles given out at the end and option to refill your water belt instead of getting paper cups at the water stations is a big winner in my book. A race that's going green. I support that. And to celebrate the milestones: I accomplished 2.5 out of the 4 goals I set out for the race. I enjoyed the Spit by taking out my earphones and listening to the crickets and the waves and the birds and appreciating it for what it is. I took meaningful breaths and totally zen'ed for the first 20km of the run, and I got a PB with 2:56:55 chip time.

The anticipation for the race was tricky, as usual. It's a night run. What do I eat? Did I rest enough or overdo it (um, so glad I didn't do a double yoga class this morning!)? How can I get myself psyched up to race when it's dinner time on a Saturday? Seeing familiar faces including some I hadn't seen in a while was energizing though and the start of the race in front of the 3 hour pacer was good. I fell in a good rhythm at my planned 5:20-5:25 per km pace. At the 10km mark, I thought I was a little too fast on my time so I slowed it down to 5:35 per km, bringing me to the halfway point at 1:24. Still pretty fast for my 3 hour goal. I started to slow down my pace (without noticing) at the 19km mark as the walk breaks here were making my hamstrings seize up. Regardless, I kept running my 10s and 1s as much as I could as even a slow jog is faster than walking. I got to the half marathon mark at around 2 hours so I knew I was still on track but my body was quickly starting to revolt and my pace was already inconsistent and I was being all judgy towards myself for it.

10km mark. Still enthusiastic.

Quin and me shortly behind at 23km. From here, it was 7 grueling kms of "can I do this or is this a DNF for me?".

Being cheered on by familiar faces.

At around 24km, I had to develop a new strategy. I had lost so much salt in my sweat and the humidity was making me dehydrate a lot faster than usual. My shins started getting cramps in them - the kind of weird leg cramp you sometimes get in your calf in the night - and then spreading to my ankles, calves, foot, toes! If I stopped to walk, I looked intoxicated and I would have likely fallen so I had to run slow with no walk breaks as much as I could. On the positive side, it did make my pace faster and more consistent to not take the usual walk breaks and I was passing lots of folks during this stretch, despite my state.



Here's the part that troubles me the most about tonight though. At around 26km, I stop for a washroom break in the Ashbridge's loop and get water. I leave the bathroom and start running again. I double back over because I think I've gone the wrong way and cross over and grab the "correct" path where the volunteer is. But at the end of the race, when I stop my watch, I start doubting that I took the right path because my Garmin only had me at 29.4km. The whole way home, I had this "Oh my god, did I accidentally cheat? Am I a sham? Is this not an official race then?" feeling. So I hope other people's Garmin's had them in slightly under too!

The finish line allowed me to see Nicole, who struggled her way through and is such an inspiration for finishing despite pain, Speedy Sam, looking refreshed at the finish line, and then the paramedics, who gave me salt tablets / electrolytes and kept me from falling over from the leg spasms and cramping. It was like someone was putting the Petrificus Totalus spell on me and my legs wouldn't move and I could have just collapsed over at any moment.

The best thing for me to do was keep walking so I left for home and didn't get to see everyone finish their race, give sweaty hugs, or toast to the race in the Beer Garden. I hope everyone was happy with their race, because guess what, we gots her done. I'm ice bathed, epsom salt bathed, ibuprofened, hydrated, fed, stretched, and now it's time for bed. Looking forward to my next race (a half) to see if my love for the race will come back when it's a distance I'm more familiar with.

PS: I was offered a bib for the Chicago marathon by a friend who can't run it. I'd be nuts not to take it right?