Two BQ's in O-Town!!!

This past Saturday Simon & I ventured East to Ottawa to run the Ottawa Marathon! This would be Simon's second time running it, & my first. It was also Simon's big goal race for the spring, as changes to the Boston Marathon qualification process means he needs to qualify earlier than previous years.

His current qualifying time (all based on age-group) is the fastest qual time for Boston: 3:10. I knew Simon had it in him, but after some spotty training before last year's Scotiabank Marathon- he had the speed, but lacked the endurance & bonked at the 33km mark. This year, he set out to train harder, and make a serious attempt at qualifying. He did the work, and BLAZED to a 3:08 finish! I couldn't be happier for him!! :) The best part is... he knows what else he can do to get faster, so I think he is going to pick a late summer marathon to try and squeak below the 3:05 mark- which guarantee's early registration for Boston.

After September of this year, all the BQ times drop 5 minutes, AND this year they are starting a new registration system: 5 minutes or faster than your BQ mark allows you to register in week 1. 4 minutes and to the BQ mark, means you have to wait until week two & its a selection process.. meaning even if you quality- you may not get to race. Not wanting to take chances, I think Simon may elect to do the late summer race & get under the 5 minute mark!


My race was anything but pretty. I knew going in to this, that my lack of long runs & sheer amount of traveling for work would make this puppy hurt. My endurance wasn't going to be there- so this would be a sheer 'finish' race strategy. It would also help jump start my summer training block in preparation for Kona. Let's be honest, with the winter lasting up here as long as it does- its not really feasible to get out and do much IM training before May. So... now that I have officially started my training, here's to the next 5 months!

I started out with a group of runners holding a pace much faster than I should have started out at (given my lack of endurance training) but what can I say- I am a gluten for punishment & all those years of chlorine to the brain has done a number on me! So holding the nice 3:20 pace felt fine until about the 18-19km mark... as I knew I was reaching my threshold of long run training... sooooo at round about 23km I hit the 'bonk wall'. Normally in a marathon I have heard people discuss the 33-35km bonk wall... where you legs just seize up & its hard to place 1 foot in front of the other... yeah- 23km for me buddy! I knew going out too aggressive for my training would come back to bite me- buuuut I just slowed it up a bit... ok, a lot... and tried to not quit the next 19km. I also knew that the 32km mark was ACROSS THE STREET from our hotel, & it took every ounce of my mental strength to not dip out, go to the hotel & take a nice bath. As I watched the people pass me, I kept trying to hang on to someone- but the legs just weren't going to help me today. Today it was going to hurt... baaaaaaad. Crossed the line 10 minutes off my PR, but still under the BQ mark for my AG, so it wasn't a complete disaster, in fact, I was expecting another 20 minutes added to my time- so I guess I came out better than I thought! :)

I guess for me it came down to this: First or last, fast or slow, I am doing something that not many people can physically do. There are people that for whatever medical reason cannot, even if they wanted to, go out and do a marathon. For that reason- there is absolutely no reason for me to quit a race, ever. Even if I walk across the finish line, even if I add copious amounts of time to my PR, at this point in my life the pressure to perform at a certain level- retired with my collegiate life. I do this, because I can- for those that cant.