Originally I had no plans of running Mississauga this year. I figured that it would be too soon after Boston. However, after what I considered to be a disappointing Boston time, I figured that I wanted to get some redemption. So, what better course than Mississauga, where I had set my PB 2 years prior.

Mississauga is an early start of 7:30am. As such, I was up at 5:30, eating, warming up my legs on the bike and treadmill, more eating, and probably not enough hydrating. Since it was Mother’s Day I was going to drive myself and use the shuttle system (allowing my wife Shelly to sleep in), but Shelly and my 19 month old daughter, Isabelle, decided to drive me up to the start. They just dropped me off close and then went home. As usual, I lay in wait, alone, pondering the race. The start was fairly organized which was good. It was refreshing to see people properly situating themselves into the corrals based on their anticipated finish times. I looked around the sub 3 hour corral, and didn’t get the sense that the people that were there didn’t belong. The weather was looking good, and I was dressed in shorts and my awesome Running Free tank top. As in Boston, I had written “Woody” on both calves in an effort to get some fan support on course. After listening to Hurricane Hazel and Michael Burgess, the race was off.

You’d think that I would learn something from Boston which was less than a month prior, but no. I bombed out of the gates. I partly blame the race organization for this. If I have one bit of criticism on this race it is that the half, full and relay all go out of the same start. I would rather see a staggered start to get the halfers off at a different time. Something inside me automatically makes me want to catch runners that I see in front of me. As such, the first 10 or so kms of the race were spent doing exactly that. As I looked back after each pass, I realized that I had just passed a half marathoner. I think that I ran an 18:13 5km, and like a 37:00 10km. I was running fast, but it felt right, so I didn’t really think about it. The first time I really started to think about things was around the 17/18km mark when some fan yelled to me that I was running in the 5 or 6 spot. While I had big expectations for the race, I didn’t expect that I would be that high up. Stupidly, I persisted!

I had convinced myself that if I could make it through the refineries out and back section, I would be home free. I was basing that on my 2005 experience at Mississauga. At the corner (25 or 26kms), I saw Shelly and Isabelle. That was certainly a boost. Naively I proclaimed that this was my day, and I probably even turned my pace up a notch. At 30kms I was 3 minutes ahead of 4:00 min/km pace, and feeling good. Looking at my watch, I realized that I had just beaten my 1:57 time at Around the Bay a couple months earlier. I though nothing of it and pressed on. Life for me was good until about 34/35kms, and then something happened. I’m pretty sure that I was dehydrated because the cramps started. My legs were giving up on me, and there was nothing I could do about it. Visions of a top 10 finish disappeared quickly, and I shifted to survival mode. It was discouraging to be getting passed this late in the race, as I hadn’t been passed since like the 6km mark. People at water stations were almost stopping me, asking me if I was okay. I got the impression that I wasn’t looking too hot. I felt awful, but pressed on… really, really slowly. Ultimately I ended up crossing the line in 2:59:27, which was just over 30 seconds slower than my PB 2 years prior, but 7 minutes faster than my Boston time 1 month prior. It landed me in 27th overall and 2nd in my age category.
After managing through the chute with people practically begging me to come in and speak with them so they could tend to me, I finally ended up in the meeting area looking for Shelly and Isabelle (they had to walk in from the 41km mark where they last saw me). Since the meeting area wasn’t really well organized, I had some time to think about the result. I think that I am disappointed overall that I couldn’t hold my pace over the last 8kms. The same thing had happened to me in Boston. I recalled my training, and figured that I need to log more long runs. But, with a little one at home, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get out for runs over 30kms. It is however, so necessary. I’m also re-evaluating how I eat and hydrate on course. It has become evident to me that my policy of not eating and not hydrating is not working. As a side note, I popped myself onto the scale when I got home, and had lost 6 pounds. I figure that I could go public with the world’s newest miracle diet!

To wrap up, I guess that I can say that although I am a bit disappointed, I have new perspective and focus on what I need to do to yield a 4:00 min/km marathon. I will most likely attempt a 3rd marathon this year, either at Scotia or Toronto with this in mind (assuming I can stay injury free). Hopefully running in Toronto will give me a bit more fan base so I can get some fluid replenishment on course at some key moments of the race. So, back to the pavement I go. My next race is an all out balls to the wall 5k at the OTMH Classic. Look for good things from me there, and for those that do, train hard.

Woody