Fitness Swellness: TCS Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon Race Recap

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!

Leave a Comment November 10, 2023

Fitness Swellness: 3 reasons I’m anxious about the 2018 Chicago Marathon

I’m about nine weeks into training for the Chicago Marathon and why’s it taken so long to post about this? Well, in part because training takes up a lot of time (leaving little time to blog…) and because I’m pretty nervous about this race.

This time around marathon training snuck up on me. A few months ago I’d talked to Nike Canada (one of the race’s sponsors) to explore whether running this race again would be possible (I ran it last year and in 2014) . Before I knew it, the race was three months away and boom, I met with Nike Run Coach Brittany Moran, and I had a three-month training schedule and had to kick things into high gear immediately.

For my personalized training plan, Brittany chatted with me about how I’ve trained thus far for the 11 marathons I’ve done, and asked me about my goals for this race. My goals (A, B and C) are all to PB.

When Nike sent me a magnet detailing my three months of training, with my goals boldly printed on the top, I started hyperventilating. Seeing it in print, with an intense schedule of training, well, shit just got real. I texted a few friends “Goodbye, see after October 7!” since it appeared I’d be doing nothing but running for the next three months.

When I had a chance to have a more careful read of the training plan, I realized it wasn’t that much more in terms of frequency than my training last year. Brittany’s training plan has me running mostly five days a week. She’s made some of the recovery runs longer than the ones I added in 2018. She also has my longest run, this week, at a distance of 34k (up from the usual 32k distance I’ve done in the past). In addition, she’s made some of them a little tougher (a few of the long runs, I’m to pick up the pace at the end, for example).

I’m very much a realist when it comes to most things. Perhaps that makes me approach things with less of a lofty, optimistic view, but that’s just how I think I’ve been wired. Is this a Capricorn thing?

In any case, my A-goal is to PB with a time that will guarantee I qualify and get into Boston. My B-goal is to meet the BQ standard. C-goal is to marathon PB (my marathon PB is from Chicago 2014).

And here’s the thing: right now, with three weeks to race day, I don’t feel like I can PB. There, I said it.

3 reasons why a PB feels out of reach to me:

1. I’m basically going from couch to marathon. Typically, I maintain a certain level of running fitness year round, regardless if I have a goal race. But this winter and spring, I ran very sporadically. Then right when I was going to ramp it up and train consistently for the Lululemon 10k race in Toronto, I caught a cold and flu that knocked me out for three whole weeks. Then, finally well enough to run again having recovered from the flu, my eye doctor ordered me not to wear contact lenses for two whole weeks. I’m too nearsighted to run without lenses and running with my glasses would be very uncomfortable and awkward with my prescription so I took those two weeks off of running. Five weeks of no running meant I was a starting from zero. And I still haven’t gotten my strength and pace up again to what I used to run.
2. My marathon training schedule is three months-long. I usually train using a four-month training plan. It wouldn’t normally be as much of an issue if I were in good shape to train over three months (…but see point #1 above regarding starting from scratch!).
3. This summer’s brutal heat and humidity has drained me both physically and mentally. It’s been an incredibly hot and sticky summer. I know it affects everyone’s training, but if you’ve ever seen me exercise, I sweat a lot and am miserable when drenched in sweat. The conditions mean my runs are even slower and difficult than ever and I just spend a lot of the run thinking of how unhappy I am in that moment. What have summer weekends consisted of? First I spend a lot of time dreading the long run I have ahead of me and then the rest of the time I am feeling sorry for myself in a pool of my own sweat as I pound the pavement. I even cancelled plans to play tennis one weekend because I’m done with drowning in a pool of my own sweat all the time.

I know this isn’t the optimistic, I-can-do-it post that’s fun to read. But this is what the reality is for me right now. REAL TALK, that’s all the rage now, isn’t it? 

I swear this isn’t just pre-race jitters…I’ve thought this for weeks now, and runs that I think should feel effortless are still hard work.

On the bright side, I have learned a few things and can recognize the silver linings, too, with regards to training for Chicago 2018, and I’ll post about that in Part II of this blog post.

Are you running Chicago this year or another fall marathon? How’s your training going?

1 Comment September 18, 2018

Fitness Swellness: Barbados Half-marathon 2016 race recap

Last Sunday, I ran the Barbados Half-marathon for the first time and I still haven’t looked up my official time. Well, that’s not entirely true. I did check that same day and they weren’t posted yet. I guess when I’m not aiming to PB the time isn’t so important for me to know, and I had a general sense of my finish time.

That lackadaisical approach, though, was very much troubling me in the hours before the race kicked off at 5 a.m. on Sunday, December 4th. I slept very little that night, awake til 1 a.m. and afraid to oversleep, I lay awake for much of those wee hours of the “morning” (really, it was nighttime). I’d always planned to do this race as a easy run. It’s in fact the least I’ve “trained” for a race, if you can even call the handful of runs I did training. I added this race to my schedule about a month ago, knowing my body is capable of running 21.1k but not racing it.

But as I lay there sleepless the morning of the race, I found myself feeling a little annoyed with myself. 21.1k is not a short distance, and to run it without a serious desire or passion or goal, it was dawning on me that I was going to have a rough time getting through 21.1k in 29 degree heat and humidity.

My vague plan: run it comfortably, walking as much as I wished,  but trying to have fewer walk breaks than I did in the Cayman Half last December, and in the Bahamas Half in January, and given that, my rough goal time I set for myself given my lack of training and the weather conditions was 2:15.

I got to the start a good 45 minutes ahead of time, and had to switch my bib (I’d accidentally been given a 10k bib), sat around and then used the last 20 minutes to wait in line for the portapotties. The race kicked off at about 5 a.m. (I think it was a few minutes late) without much fanfare, in fact, for about a minute I wasn’t clear if it had officially started. I don’t recall crossing a  mat at the start — so I’m unclear if it’s based on gun time, in which case I would’ve made more of an effort to not have started towards the back of the crowd.

The route features some moderate hills (which I was not expecting), and it ventures alongside some residences, some port land, which is not the most scenic but you are rewarded with plenty of ocean views, and it’s kind of fun to start the race in the dark and have the sky brighten after about an hour (even though you don’ t have a direct view of the sun rise), all of which is what I’m looking for in a Caribbean race. Given the early start time, there is little support along the route other than the volunteers, but the few people that did cheer, I made sure to thank (along with of course the volunteers marshalling the route and handing out hydration). Entertainment-wise, one truck blasting music was in front of the elites, along with a few steel-pan drummers. The road is not entirely closed, so for awhile I found myself trailing a city bus and desperately wishing I could run faster to get ahead of it so as to not be exposed to its exhaust; there was also the occasional car or two passing us runners. The route is an out and back, and the marathoners repeat it to get their full 42.2k distance, which I think must be draining mentally.

Thankfully and surprisingly, I felt good during my run. Despite the heat and humidity, I never felt miserable and needing extra walk breaks. I roughly took a drink of water every 10 minutes or so and would walk for about a minute to do so and regroup. And I could tell early on that it was going to be a pretty decent race for me that day, which is surprising given how rough the Scotiabank Half-marathon felt recently.

I just checked the results and I finished in 2:03:21. This is indeed gun time (which is disappointing, I’m all about chip time) because my NRC app shows 2:02 (and that’s not accurate given it took me awhile to get my sweaty screen to unlock to stop my app), but it is what it is. Faster than my Scotia half  this year, despite being in even less racing form and the harsher weather. So I’m pretty pleased with my time, considering I’d been thinking I’d be done in 2:15. I’m calling this my Caribbean half-marathon PB. With this gun time of 2:03:21, I was 109th out of 344 runners in the half (the results don’t show break down by sex and age group, unfortunately) and I’m very happy with that.

After the race, I skipped going for a dip into the bay because I didn’t want to sit in cold, wet gear for the drive back to my resort, but some runners did, and it’s a beautiful bay to do so (and this was my fave aspect of the Bahamas Half-marathon, having the race finish by the water so you could refresh right away in the ocean).

Barbados is a lovely, low-key island, which I’ll be writing about shortly for VITA Daily, so stay tuned for that, and the Run Barbados race weekend should definitely be one to consider if you’re looking for a destination race where you can enjoy some great beach time and food.

And with that, my 2016 race season comes to an end! I find out in a few days whether I’ve been drawn in the Chicago Marathon lottery for next year. It’s where I have my marathon PB from two years ago, and it’s such a fantastic city, I’m hoping to run it again!

Leave a Comment December 11, 2016