Finishing Time - 2:52
Finishing Place - 11th
Age Category Place - 1st
Top Mississauga finisher at the
Mississauga Marathon to boot!
Feeling at the finish line of the marathon
after 8 1/2 years of trying to get there....priceless!
It is said that a picture says a thousand
words...so instead of writing another 7000 words (amen!), I thought I'd include
7 choice pics in GIF (lo res) format (hopefully didn't clog up your inbox too
long!) which form a kind of "photo journal" at the culmination of my
journey. Take a look...pretty accurate "storyboard" of the hour after I
crossed the finish line!
Most of us have heard the expression "you
never truly fail until you give up"...and I suppose that my journey here
reflects that, and is a testament to my character (or my stupidity,
eh?)
A long time ago, I was
told by very highly esteemed sports medicine professionals (and then
retold/reconfirmed by others since then) that not only should I give up
running in the future due to the hopeless state of my biomechanics and
physiology, not only that I should have stopped a long time ago, but that I
should never have even started! Now, as those of
you who are "wired" similarly to me, that's just about the worst thing you can
say to someone who loves running with all their heart, especially if you want
them to stop!
And so began my extraordinary battle to
"find a way to win", to achieve what many very learned pundits within the sport
deemed near impossible, or at least pure madness.
The result - a very strong marathon
performance (if I may say so myself) despite some rather inauspicious
numbers/facts going in:
# of miles per week (avg over 19 weeks)
- 23
# of miles/week over final 6 weeks
- <20
# of runs per week (over 19 weeks) - less
than 2 1/2
# of speed workouts - 0
# of hill workouts - 1
# of injury set backs through season -
6
# of days before marathon of last injury
onset - 9
So for any of you who have
experienced marathon set backs and difficulty, and began to wonder if the
marathon is for you, and if all the struggle, disappointment and frustration
along the way is worth it...I'm hear to proclaim, loudly, proudly,
emphatically....YES IT IS! If the desire to run a
marathon, or simply to run any distance, stay with it...be resourceful,
flexible, adaptable, humble, optimistic and determined as hell....Together, we
can find a way to make it happen!
I'll save the race day
play by play for my individual chats/discussions/email follow up with any of you
who are interested (it's a doozy of a tale, rest assured!), but let's just
say it was one heck of an emotional ride!
I spent yesterday and most of today
following up with and catching up on the absolutely incredible results that our
Marathon Dynamics clients had this past weekend--mainly at the Missisauga
5K/10K/Half and Full, but also in the London (Ontario) races too, and I'll have
a detailed report out soon, but for now, just a quick, very heartfelt and richly
deserved
C O N G R A T U L A
T I O N S T O Y O U A L L
!
We did great! (though it was
a touch breezy down there at the Missy Marathon Sunday morn,
wouldn't you say?....ha!)
We'll have an e-newsletter or
bulletin out very, very soon with the deets on our upcoming MDI Summer Fall 2006
Campaign - Customized Plans, Coaching Groups, etc, so watch for that...we start
up formally the first week of June (with an early bird "1 mile trial date" or
two thrown in in the last week of May for you "keeners"!)
And a reminder about the season
end/season start running parties we're hosting on Thursday June 1st in
Oakville (7pm at O'Finns) and Friday June 2nd (7pm at the Granite
Brewery...we'll put a dedicated email invite out shortly, but feel free to
confirm your attendance early...space is limited at both affairs (25 at
Oakville, 50 at Toronto)
Cheers for now, gotta run (well,
hobble!)
Coach Kev (aka "Marathon
Man"...ha, ha)
PS - thanks big time to
Laura McIntyre, my "physiotherapist sent from above" of
Urban Athlete (and herself the owner of a 2:52 marathon
PB...kindred spirits we are now!) for managing against all odds to get
me back on track time and time again, by working her magic on my "Ferrari engine
clamped on a Chevette chassis" of a body (as it's been
described)
PSS - also big thanks to
Darren Weldrick, MD Coach extraordinaire, for his help in joining
me at the 32km mark and running me in against
that already legendary 35-40kph headwind we had to face for the final
17+km, while getting "inside my head" to keep me on task and on track to to
help "bring me home". Withouth his help I think I might still be
out there on the course. Man, if anyone ever doubted the value of "race day
coaching" over the close of a marathon--please take my word for it--it is
indispensible!
