Edmonton Marathon August 19, 2018


After an extremely smokey Saturday (10+ on the AQHI) we are happy to see a clear beautiful morning unfold in Edmonton on Sunday.  Excellent timing!

The marathon start is perfect, at 7 am it is light and cool and with the other distances having staggered start times, gear check and bathrooms are quiet.  It's stress free, except wait I'm running an entire marathon, that's scary.


Training was a wreck for this race, after losing my Dad 2 months ago my resilience and ability to push through hard runs just went, and all my runs were so hard. My longest training distance was 25k and that was in May. I chose not to drop as finishing this marathon was so important to me, I needed to do it for myself.

First 1/4

Standing on the start line at the very back of the pack I find myself wondering if I even know how to run.  BUT here I am on the start line of a marathon, that's a pretty cool thing.  I've done this before, I'm with my people, I belong here.

It's awfully beautiful running toward the sunrise along the edge of the river valley. And I am, I'm doing it, I'm running.  I'm so happy, it's the best feeling in the world.


MOOSE!

I get to 10k in 1:14.  Huge win.  The next goal is to make the 2:55 halfway cutoff time.

To halfway

The turnaround means we are 1/4 into the race.  I love the layout in Edmonton where you do two out and backs from the start/finish line.  It feels very neat and tidy somehow.  Running is much harder now physically, which does not surprise me.  I delve into my first chocolate mini log, heaven.  My fueling is a little bit different today, basically chocolate logs and mini cheddars.  No sports gels. File under "food I love".

I make the halfway point at 2:48 exactly, I am seconds off my time from 2017 which is great.  Stopping here does not even cross my mind.  It's a party now!

To 3/4

There's a huge field of Halfers coming at me from the other direction, it's a fantastic distraction from the remaining distance.  I forget all about pace and spot 3 friends passing, including this one....see how happy (crazy) running makes you?


The signs always make me laugh.


At 27k I realize there's only 15k or so left, how awesome is that?  As I'm tweeting this epiphany my other half appears from the opposite direction and lands a large beardy kiss in my face.  That was unexpected.  

I hit 30k at almost the same time as last year - 4.04.  

Final 1/4


And then it is tough.  This is where my time slips.  With 10k remaining I figure out the required pace to come in under 6 hours, then I figure it out again at 7k, then at 5k.  I'm just trying to hit that pace with a combination of running/walking in each km.  That's it.  The last quarter brings some bonus knee pain.

At no point am I alone.  Once again the volunteers and police out on the course are lovely and enthusiastic especially for us stragglers.  Near 40k I enter a wall of bubbles from one of the cheer stations.  Then off to the side I spot a gorgeous little black kitty being taken home by her owner, I am incapable of photography at this point but seeing that cute little face is so good.  Kitty marathon streak = a thing.

As I finally close in on the finish line I check my watch and see a 6.  What?  I have to walk to figure out how this can be but does it really matter in the end?  No, it doesn't.  Marathon 11 finished in 6:00:48.


I am so incredibly tired and so incredibly happy.  This feeling is why I run.

Hello brunch.


And hello shiny new friend.


Do you remember Roger from last year?  He was running his 100th marathon at age 79.  This year I had the pleasure of running with him again, I'm not sure which marathon this was for him but I can tell you he's looking good and going strong at 80.  Oh, and he beat me...again.

*I am an ambassador for the 2018 Edmonton Marathon however all thoughts, opinions, miles, and general euphoria are 100% my own.

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