Sunday’s plan:
- Up at 5am, oatmeal and tea by 5:30am.
- In the corral at Mel Lastman Square by 7:15am
- Off and running at 7:30am
- A GU gel every 40 minutes (4 in total) and water at every station.
- Use the downhills to get 2 minutes ahead of target pace by halfway
- Hold and fight the rest of the way to finish under 3h15 (my Boston-qualifying standard)
Sunday’s reality? Read all about it on Sunday!
And now, in chronological order, ten moments from four cold months of preparation.
- A dark December morning, at Burlington Central H.S. track. A test-run kilometre at marathon pace turns out to be way harder than expected. I guess I really will need all that training.
- A frigid January morning, at Port Credit H.S. track. On my hands and knees dry-heaving after the fourth of five 3-minute tempo pieces. I guess I really will need all that training. I get up and do the
My Boston-honouring running colours. Blue/black top, yellow shorts, white legs, black toenails.
fifth piece.
- A frigid January evening, in Port Credit. Training with a friend in a growing blizzard, we interrupt our run to help a family look for their lost Chihuahua, but don’t succeed alas.
- A sub-zero January Saturday workout including 12x100m strides. The wilier of my two training partners sandbags the first 11 sprints, then destroys us on the last one.
- A long, wind-chilled run along Lake Ontario leaves me with extravagant icicles on my beard. I buy a balaclava the next day.
- A drab February Saturday, on Lakeshore Road at Bronte Creek, Oakville. Bonking, hard, with 10 of 30 kilometres left to run.
- Under a steaming shower, February, Burlington. Looking down at my mangled toes. Contemplating lancing blood blisters and excising dead toenails.
- A tolerable March Sunday in Burlington, finishing the ninth of nine brain-numbing 4km loops, all without iPod. Proud of myself, but not exactly sure what for.
- A decent March Sunday, within sight of Copps Coliseum, Hamilton. Walking off a stitch in the last kilometre of the Around the Bay 30k. The shame.
- A sunny April morning, cruising down Mississauga Road with the wind at our backs, on the way to a strong 27k run ahead of target pace.
- (Bonus 1) A bewildering April afternoon’s news from the Boston Marathon. Qualifying just got harder, and more meaningful.
- (Bonus 2) Another sunny April morning, the same tempo workout we did in January hurts just as much, but we’re 15 sec/km faster now.
