Fitness Swellness: TCS Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon Race Recap

November 10, 2023

My first in-person race since the Dead Sea Half-Marathon in February 2020 and it’s good to be back!

I didn’t intend to take such a long break from racing. Although I did run a few virtual races in 2020 (the very taxing Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee (and Back Across) and the Lululemon Seawheeze Virtual Half-Marathon), after those races, pretty much for all of 2021 and much of 2022, I had no time to run. I was working usually more than 80 hours a week, seven days a week, usually with just 1-2 days off a month.

And when I did find time to run — I started making more of an effort to fit in running around December 2021 (I would run as my commute), I was pretty much as slow as when I started to run back in 2007. Looking at my pace times on the NRC app was depressing and rather than motivate me to want to run more consistently, I just felt dejected. I’d almost BQ’d in the Detroit Marathon in the fall of 2019 only to be as slow as when I was a complete newbie.

Another reason it took me so long to run a race? With the ongoing lockdowns we had in Toronto, often you were never sure if a race might get cancelled and have to be run virtually. I don’t enjoy virtual races that much–I love the excitement of in-person racing! With being non-committal when it came to registering for a race (I didn’t want to pay and then be forced to run it virtually if in-person were to be cancelled), I didn’t train consistently and then time would fly by and before I knew it, the race would be mere weeks away and there’s no way I’d be able to race it based on my fitness level.

But I kicked off 2023 determined to get back into racing. I planned to run the Goodlife Toronto Half-Marathon in the spring — my preferred race distance is the marathon but I knew I’d need to ease back into longer distances.

But then, on January 2, I caught a cold — one that would last for about six weeks. Not the worst cold I’d ever had but just feeling a 7 out of 10 level of shitty. I eventually mostly recovered but continued to be hit by waves of exhaustion, where my eyelids felt so heavy with sleep. Then, I was relatively healthy for about two weeks, and then I caught another cold. This one much worse–full on congestion. This cold lasted about a month.

By the time I felt well enough to run, I had four weeks left to train for the Toronto Half — not nearly enough time when I was starting with zero base fitness. (Also, perhaps ironically, this race recap is coming more than three weeks after the race because, guess what, I caught another cold that put me out of commission again!)

Which brings us to this summer. I started running regularly to build a base (a minimum of three but sometimes four times a week, five if I added a short recovery run), but I also got busy with work starting in June. But I was determined to run either the Detroit Half or the TCS Toronto Half. I had a few getaways (both for work and vacay) and I was running around working most days when I realized I had seven weeks until the race day. So I knew I had to really get training.

I kicked off a training program (I took one a friend was using and adapted it based on my experience in my years of training for races and what I felt I could tackle (some of the speed training was quite intense, so I made some of the workouts more moderate, for example). And because that’s just how I am, I thought “well, I should try to PB!” even though I was far from the fittest I’ve been as a runner. I had a vague idea of what my half-marathon PB is so, without looking up my PB, mentally, I set a goal of 1:50.

I was able to hit my target paces in speed work and that lifted my spirits. But then a couple of weeks later, with a tempo run, I realized there was no way I could maintain my half-marathon target pace for 21.1k — I was struggling even maintaining it for a few kilomentres. I got home, and texted a friend that I didn’t think I could PB and that I had to readjust my goal. She was encouraging and said the last few years (the pandemic!) have put everyone’s physical and mental health through the wringer and so things just aren’t the same anymore.

What she said made me feel a whole lot better. Sometime after that, I actually looked up what my half PB time is and it’s the time I ran in the Nike Women’s San Francisco Half-Marathon in 2014. The 1:50 goal I’d set was about two minutes faster so I checked what pace I’d have to run to just PB just by seconds, and made a mental note of the pace. While looking up my time on my blog and on Sportstats, etc., I came across my other half-marathon times, and I think, since it’s been while since I’ve raced this distance, I forgot that most of my half-marathon times are what I now consider pretty slow. I think over the years, I’ve just focused on this need to be faster, faster, faster and forgot that many of my half times are time I now find unacceptable? (And yes, it has been pointed out to me that I can be hard on myself, haha!)

About a month before the race, having decided I was going to stay local and run Toronto Waterfront, I went to the race website to register and discovered the Half-Marathon was sold out. I was floored — since when did Toronto races sell out? Had it been that long since I’d even looked at a local race? Had everyone picked up running through the pandemic?! I panicked and scrambled around asking if anyone knew of anyone looking to sell their bib.

Thankfully, iRun came in clutch — I write for the site every now and then and through their work with Athletic Brewing (non-alchoholic beer — I attempted what turned out to be a hilarious Beer Mile with them this summer!), I was able to register for the half. (In the meantime, though, I did look for what other nearby races I could do this fall, and settled on Hamilton as my fallback plan).

I completed the remainder of my training — I did have to shift my training around a fair bit but completed 95 percent of it despite traveling to Jasper for five days and then going to a cottage for four days (I always aim to complete my long runs at home since it can be impossible to devote the time required to running when travelling — so I can’t usually stick to the long runs on the weekend type of schedule).

I printed two pace bands — one to PB and tbh I don’t even recall what my B goal was for the second pace band.

RACE DAY

Sunday, October 15th, the temp was colder than I expected (I think maybe about 6 degrees) but quite ideal for running. I had some initial stress from getting stuck in traffic on my way downtown as I followed the GPS, which didn’t account for road closures, but I arrived at University Ave. and King St. W. before 8 a.m. and kept warm and zen in the Shangri-La Hotel. It’s one of my favourite hotels here and around the world, and it wasn’t initially very busy (which I like, I need that quietness–being around too many runners and their nervous energy leading up to the race start can just make me more anxious) and I really appreciated being able to use the washroom there and sit in the comfort of their lobby.

I got into my corral, towards the back of it as it was pretty full already and I didn’t care to work my way forward through the crowd. It’s been several years since I last ran this race, and I seem to have forgotten that it’s not as flat as I thought it was. I started the race feeling strong. For 75 percent of the race, in fact, I felt fantastic. I had about 90 seconds banked for much of the race and I thought if I could just keep this going, a PB is within reach.

And then I got to about the 17k mark. I think it’s an on ramp around there, and the hill (which have never been my strong suit) just about crushed me. At 18k, I got a mental boost from seeing my sister holding the great banner she’d made for me, but physically, I knew that my PB was slipping away. I tried my best to run as fast as I could, but my legs felt so depleted after that hill.

As I approached the finish line, I knew I was very close but that I had just missed a PB. Then as I crossed the timing mats, and to the right, I saw a guy standing by the barrier recovering and I thought “Yes, I too would like to just stand  and just collect myself,” so I took a few steps to the right and then it hit me:

“Oh. My. God. I am going to puke.”

Now, I’ve heard of people vomiting after a race, and I’ve never quite understood it. But in that moment, I think it was the shock to my system of having been running at a brisk-for-me pace for nearly two hours and then all of a sudden not running? I had that awful retching feeling overtake me. And rather than being concerned about being sick, I just felt mortified that runners would be accomplishing their PB or completing a big personal goal of completing a long distance race and their view will be off me losing the bagel I’d had for breakfast.

Thankfully, all I did was have the dry heaves. I took a few deep breaths to compose myself and felt well enough to walk through the finish chute. Phew!

I immediately checked my chip time on the app. 1:52:39.

I had missed PBing by 25 seconds. Just 25 seconds!

And while not a PB, I was happy. My PB is from nine years ago. That I could essentially match my half-marathon PB nine years later, from two months of training, after having not run consistently the past three years? That’s major. I finished 52nd out of 338 in my age category, 776th out of 4,783 women, and 2,839th out of 10,682 half-marathoners that day.

I got my checked bag and changed into warmer clothes, went to the VIP to grab some snacks and then met up with my sister and we got a beer at Athletic Brewing and then made our way to brunch. She asked if I was happy with my race and was shaking her head at me when I said “Well, I’d be happier if it were a PB!” Hahaha. It is true, though. I was thrilled with the race I’d run, but ultimately, I wish I’d been 25 seconds faster.

What this race has fired up in me is that I almost ran my fastest half-marathon — I just about matched the PB I ran a good nine years ago, when I was younger and running much more consistently… and that I think this means if I put in the work, I can qualify for Boston. I just need to set my mind to it and get it done.

Thank you to iRun and Athletic Brewing for the opportunity to run this race, thank you to TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon and the volunteers for putting on such a well organized race and the great VIP lounge, and thanks to my sister for the cheers and banner–it’s such a boost to see familiar faces on the route!

Alright, 2024, I’ve got big running plans for you, comin’ atcha!

Filed under: Fitness Swellness

Tags: half-marathon, personal best, running