Official Photos from the Toronto Waterfront Marathon

A chronological look at my race as it unfolded. No pictures of me clutching at my hamstring unfortunately, but the resignation near the end is evident, as is the relief in having made it to the end. Enjoy!



Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2010 Race Report

Ahhh. Where to begin? Well, how about I just briefly recount the pre-race stuff and then get right into the run itself since that is what I will want to read about a year from now when I am about to try running it for a second time (all things falling into place as they should to allow me to do this, of course).

I had a good sleep the night of the race and woke up on my own (prior to the alarm going off) at about 4:30am feeling quite good and not very nervous. Having been sick in bed Monday through Wednesday leading up to this race left me a little bit shaken in the confidence department, and coupled with my right heal still giving me problems I was not sure what was going to happen once I started running. I thought that my heal would give me trouble as the race progressed and felt confident that I could run through the pain without slowing down too much. I was also buoyed by the fantastic weather forecast that would make the conditions for running absolutely perfect.

I set off on my bike at 6am to catch a streetcar from Broadview Station at 6:10am and everything was smooth as silk. Easy bike ride took 5 minutes, locked up the bike, and waited a few minutes for the streetcar. The ride to Dundas and University, near the start line and my office, was fast since there was no traffic at that time of day.

I made it up to my office at 6:35am and set about getting prepared for the race. It was great to not have to use the porta-potties and stand around in the cold, that's for sure! I could see the start line and corrals from my office window and watched as the crowds grew bigger while the Sun slowly brightened the sky. A couple of visits to the washroom and double checks that I had everything I needed and I was off at 7:15am for the 7:30am start.

I walked the short distance to the Yellow Corral (marked by a big ring of balloons over the street) and mixed with the other runners. This race had both marathoners and half-marathoners starting at the same time and it was quite crowded, but I must commend the traffic control volunteers who ensured that people were lining up in their designated corrals. After a short time it was time to get going as the horn went off and I walked toward the timing mats. Reaching them I said good luck to my neighbours and hit start on the Garmin. I was off!

The beginning of the race was a dream. Everything felt awesome and I was really having fun realizing that I was actually running something for which I'd been training since November of 2009! In a sense I had already won. Given my running history it was a real accomplishment to just be able to start, and here I was not only at the Start Line, but also feeling good. At that moment I knew, just absolutely knew, that I would make it to the finish. I wasn't foolish enough to estimate how it would happen, but I was filled with confidence that on this day I would become a marathoner.

And so I ran. With a big smile on my face I simply ran. I took an occasional look at my Garmin to make sure that I wasn't getting too excited and, therefore, increasing my pace uncontrollably, but everything was going so well that I didn't really have to do that as often as I did. The splits bear this out as my pace was rock solid and steady for a long long time.

The run meandered through downtown and then we headed West along Lakeshore Blvd. toward the turnaround point at about the 12km mark. I saw the elite runners go by on their way back East when I was around the 8km mark and they were flying. It was magical to see these athletes glide effortlessly and all of the runners around seem to have had the same feeling as I did because we all cheered them on loudly.

At about 10km I opened a Clif Shot and slowly ate it while I ran. I had been walking through every water station grabbing one cup of Gatorade and at least one cup of water and after having the Clif Shot I only took water at the next station. Next thing I remember is hearing Monica and the boys call out my name at the 15km mark. They were standing on a pedestrian overpass and I couldn't see them since the Sun was right in my face low on the Eastern sky, with me running straight at it at this point. As usual seeing/hearing my family was a real boost and my pace picked up as a result ever so slightly for that split. The weather was sunny, very little wind, no humidity, and the temperature was perfectly cool. I still had that smile on my face as things could not have been going any better for me.

The kilometres kept flying by and I continued to run at my goal pace with little effort. As I rounded the Cherry Beach turnaround and ran back North I saw a friend running the other direction and we high-fived each other. She seemed to be running very strongly and I could tell she was having a great time. This was at about the halfway mark in the race, and my splits continued to be rock solid. I felt awesome.

Not much to report over the next number of kilometres, though I did cross the 21.1km mark at exactly the right split (which was 1:45:27 and made me happy) and then at around the 24km mark water station I took a bit of extra time to drink lots of water as I had eaten my second Clif Shot and wanted to make sure I was properly hydrated. I think I had three cups of water and walked the entire time to make sure all of it went into me and not onto me. I got right back into my groove at that point and ran strongly until I started to feel a little bit fatigued at about the 28km mark. This was nothing bad, and not unexpected, so I was still confident that I would be able to hold a steady pace for the rest of the race even if I started to slip a bit. The splits bear this out as my times crept up by a few seconds per kilometre for the next few clicks.

And then, the dreaded WALL! If that's what it was I hit it head on and it was invisible. There was no warning. I had crossed the 30km mark right on target at 2h30m30s and continued on my merry way. We were now in the Beaches on Queen Street West where I ran so many of my morning training runs throughout the Summer. And then, just past the 31km mark, BAM! Right hamstring seized up with the start of a cramp. I stopped running right away to make sure it didn't take hold. I immediately knew my day was done as far as goal times went. From now on it would be a struggle to stay healthy, not tear any muscles, and try and get across the Finish Line in one piece. The next 10km was comprised completely of walking and jogging, and as I got closer to the end I walked more than jogged. Every time I felt something start to cramp I would walk. When the sensation went away I tentatively jogged. My family saw me at this point and my Dad snapped some photos as I went by (I kind of wish I had some photos from earlier in the race when I was feeling really good and flying along. Perhaps the official photos, once available, will catch some of my enthusiasm before the breakdown.):

The boys came out and walked with me for a short distance. I love these guys! Owen kept saying, "You can make it, Dad! I know you can!" I really needed to hear that at this point, and coming from my boys it was a really moving and special moment for me.

I then started jogging/walking again and left them behind. I would give myself targets to run to before I would allow myself to walk again, but I must admit that most of the time the cramps would take hold too early and I would fail in my quest. This didn't bother me too much at this point, but I was starting to wonder why exactly I was putting myself through this thing by then.

At about 40km my friend (who I had high-fived earlier) went past me and encouraged me to finish strong. I tried; I really did, but she left me in the dust and would finish a full three minutes ahead. My jogging sections became shorter and shorter. My Mom and Sister saw me right at that point too and it was really helpful that they biked beside me for a bit yelling out encouragement. This definitely helped get me to the end.

Then it was just a matter of Finishing as the markers started to show hundreds of metres left before the end. I made a pact at the 500m mark that I would jog the rest of the way, but alas I could not and was forced to walk several more times. A stranger ran past and grabbed my hand as she went past to try and get me going at one point, but I couldn't. At least I did manage to jog across the Finish line and saw that I had come in right at 4 hours on the Gun Time Clock. It was over and I was DONE!

What an experience. I did not meet my time goals, but I did finish under four hours, coming in at 3:57:40.3 on the Chip Time and 3:59:59.3 on the Gun Time. I was the last runner under four hours of all participants on Gun Time! I think that's pretty cool.

After the race I met up with my Family and my Dad snapped a few more photos:

That banana felt pretty heavy (hahaha). Even my biceps were cramping in the last five kilometres, so that was almost not a joke.

And my biggest fans made everything seem less painful. I love these kids so much!

Here is the graph showing the splits for each kilometre of my race, which clearly shows what I described above:

My splits, from Garmin, definitely bear out the gory details. I am still impressed with how steady my pace was for the first 31km! I really had it going there...

My pace per kilomtre for each kilometre of the race, including the last .67km that Garmin said I ran:

1    5:11
2    5:00
3    4:52
4    4:55
5    4:50
6    4:59
7    4:56
8    4:52
9    5:02
10  4:53
11  4:48
12  4:59
13  4:55
14  5:00
15  4:55
16  4:43
17  4:57
18  4:50
19  4:46
20  4:51
21  5:00
22  4:57
23  4:55
24  5:05
25  4:59
26  4:47
27  5:07
28  5:00
29  5:02
30  5:03
31  5:11
32  5:57
33  6:09
34  6:09
35  8:43
36  7:38
37  7:02
38  6:49
39  7:56
40  7:37
41  8:17
42  5:50
.67 8:51

The official stats are included in my last post so I won't bother retyping them here. It was definitely a nice even race until the cramps and I truly believe that if I hadn't gotten sick then I might never had hit that wall with cramps. I might have slowed down a bit, but I would not have been forced to walk. Looking forward to choosing my next attempt, but first I will take some rest. Until then I might give this blog a break as well. Congrats to all who ran marathons this weekend! For better or worse I have joined your ranks.

Hit and Miss - Preliminary Race Report from the Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Well, I am a marathoner at least! Although I am a bit disappointed with what happened today I can't be too upset because I DID finish. My body (likely due to the illness that had me confined to my bed for three days earlier this week with absolutely no appetite) let me down in the latter stages of the race, but it was my first marathon experience and that is worth a lot. I am too sore and tired to give a complete rundown, so here are the stats at least:

• Overall Place: 1083/2713
• Category Place: 139/281
• Gender Place: 811/1680
• Gun Time: 3:59:59.3 (pace 5:42/km)
• Chip Time: 3:57:40.3 (pace 5:39/km)
• 10K: 50:38 (pace 5:04/km overall)
• 21.1K: 1:45:27 (pace 5:00/km overall)
• 30K: 2:30:30 (pace 5:01/km overall)
• 35K: 3:04:18 (pace 5:16/km overall)
• 40K: 3:41:27 (pace 5:32/km overall)

Later I will tell you just why I died in the last ten kilometres...

It All Comes Down To This

And so the training that started way back in November of 2009 has come to a close. It all comes down to this: MARATHON TIME!

This morning I went out for the last training run before my race and although it was not particularly confidence inducing I am still happy with the fact that I made it this far. When I was forced to stop training for this very marathon last year due to a myriad of injuries, not the least of which was a calf muscle strain, I vowed to take things more slowly and conservatively on my next attempt. In short, mission accomplished.

Not only did I build my mileage slowly throughout the year I also managed to set some major training milestones. All that is nice, but the thing I am most proud of is the fact that I WILL be at the starting line and I DID NOT miss significant time due to any injuries. Sure, I had to take a few runs off here and there, and I definitely needed a break as September came about, but never did I go a whole week without putting some training runs into my log. Since the beginning of January I have completed 1727.5km (1073 miles) and that almost doubles all of last year's mileage. Additionally, in the eighteen weeks leading up to this race I ran 961.85km, just about the same as my total 2009 mileage and it doesn't include the race yet! Suffice it to say that I am very pleased with this progress and am already looking forward to turning this base into more speed next year.

I truly believe that the conservative (read: slow) approach coupled with a solid weight training foundation are the reason behind me being here. My legs are still weak, but that runner's knee on the right side that I lived with for two years has finally gone away. I have a long way to go as far as leg strength goes, but I know now that I will be able to make it to the point where I can start training not only for distance but also for speed (ie. BQ!).

Anyway, this morning I ran 8km and it was OK at best. I still feel lethargic and my legs feel very heavy, but I'm guessing this is expected because of the virus that put me on my back for three days at the beginning of this week. I hope that two more good sleeps will allow me to run with a little less effort come Sunday morning. Although I have little hope of running anywhere near 3h30m for the marathon, I still believe I have a shot at coming in around 3h35m. The weather forecast right now for marathon morning is looking absolutely perfect: low of 9C, high of 14C, winds from the West at 5km/h, and no humidity! I just hope the weather people got it right for once.

Next time I post I should be able to call myself a marathoner. Can't wait!

It's Getting Better All The Time?

Yesterday morning I was still feeling like crap, but felt like I had to try and do some running no matter what. Even a little bit would be better than sitting on my ass for another day. I thought that maybe I could shake whatever has been ailing me with some exercise and so I headed out for an early morning run of 5km just to see how things would feel.

The answer? Not good. My chest was full of goo and I had trouble breathing, my right heal still hurts despite the time off since Sunday, and both my Achilles tendons felt like they would snap at any moment. All creaky. At least the last kilometre felt better than the first, though it couldn't have felt much worse.

At the moment, now just three days away from the marathon, I am simply hoping for the best. I have been unable to eat much of anything of substance over the past few days and that may be the biggest problem come race day. I am back at work at least and will try to go for another short run tomorrow morning. It's disappointing, but there is nothing I can do about it now. It's almost go time, and everything I've done leading up to this point should get me to the finish line.

And I received my Bib# by email last night! 2922! Hope it's a lucky number. It's also cool that there will be splits at the 10km, 21.1km, and 30km marks. Those are meaningful distances, unlike the 8.6km split that they had at the half marathon I ran back in Ottawa at the end of May.

Good Timing or Bad Timing?

I have been training since last November for the privilege of testing myself against the marathon distance on this coming Sunday. In that span I can't remember more than once being sick, and so this makes it twice. A remarkable span of good health for me, but the timing is more than a little disappointing. I suppose it's better that I caught this cold the weekend before the race and not the weekend of, but I do feel like my body has let me down somewhat. I am very weak and have been confined to staying at home for two days. Breathing is tough, throat hurts, trouble sleeping, and blacking out just walking up the stairs. How on earth am I supposed to run 42.2km?!

This past Sunday, the day after I started feeling "off", I ran my last long training run prior to the race. It wasn't exactly long or anything, but it was to be a bit of a test of marathon pace. Instead it became a test of will. If anything it left me a bit skeptical as to the pace that I could possibly sustain for the race and has me revising my goals somewhat. The 14km was not altogether slow, but my heart rate was very elevated and everything felt laboured; not fun.

If I don't regain my strength in the next day or so and get in one more decent run before Sunday I may just go into the race with a shuffle.

How Hard Can It Be?

As I headed out this morning for another 10km run I found myself accompanied by a little bit of self-doubt, which has been creeping in during the last couple of weeks. Can I finish the marathon? The answer is clearly "yes". But can I run the marathon strong and finish just as strong as I started? That's where the doubt arises. The longest training run I have ever done is still 7.2km shy of the marathon distance, and although that in and of itself is nothing as far as distances go doing it after having been running for three or more hours is something I've never experienced.

Anyway, I ran this morning as per usual, staring nice and slow and then picking up the pace without really trying. This tells me that my taper is going well, although my legs are still not as "fresh" as I hope they will be by the time I am at the starting line. Next week is a real down week and I will not be doing any leg weights from here on out and I think that will have me bouncing off the walls by the time I go the the Race Expo and pick up my bib and timing chip.

After my run I spent a bit of time reading about Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope since this has made the headlines given that the annual Terry Fox Run is taking place this coming Sunday. I watched some CBC archived footage and listened to radio interviews that he did during his journey from St. John's NFLD until he was forced to end his run in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I was a little kid at the time and my family moved to Canada during the Summer when Terry Fox was running, but I don't remember anything from that time. I wish I had been made aware of it at the time, but I suppose learning to speak English and adapting to a whole new country and culture was completely consuming for me and my family. I don't even think we had a television for quite a while and I wonder if my parents were interested in what was happening. He would have been passing through Ontario at the time when we arrived and so our paths in Ottawa almost crossed. It was big news by the time he made it to our Nation's Capital, but I have no idea if it even registered on our radar.

However, after watching the footage available through the above link I was left with the question that is the title of this post: How hard can it be? What he did on one good leg, with an artificial leg of antiquated technology that was not designed for running and created all sorts of problems both physical and mechanical, makes my pathetic attempt to run a marathon pale in comparison. I know it will be tough, but it is a joke to even try and compare it to what Terry Fox accomplished. That, perhaps more than even looking back at my training for reassurance, gives me confidence. I hope that in the latter stages of the race, when I am in pain and probably wondering if quitting is not a bad option after all, keeps me going and pushes me to the finish line.

Two More Runs - Trying To Stay Sane

This week is going by pretty quick, but on the running front it's all about maintaining sanity while waiting for marathon day to finally arrive. Although it is tough waking up in the pitch black of morning when throughout the Summer it was light out by 5:30am. However, I have tried my best to stick to my usual running routine while reducing the mileage a bit. I've also decided that I would do weights all this week and then back off next week, although I think Thursday's leg session might get axed if I am still feeling stiff and sore. I think next week I will do a couple upper body workouts and leave the legs completely alone.

But enough about that! Tuesday morning I woke up and had my now typical trouble getting out of bed, but once up and ready to go I had a fairly decent slow run. I think I was still feeling some lingering effects from Sunday's 24km effort and Monday's leg weights and so the pace was really nothing to write home about. Best thing about this run was that I felt better at the end than I did at the beginning. The total was 7.8km as I had to cut things just a little bit short because I was late getting out the door and the mornings are pretty rushed these days since Owen has started running cross-country and we have to get him to school a half-hour earlier for training.

This morning was another tough getting out of bed sort of thing on account of our late dinner the night before to celebrate Malcolm's 6th Birthday. My diet was pretty crappy and there were lots of sugary treats consumed and this definitely affected how my run went. I started off a bit stiff and sore, but loosened up faster than normal. By the second kilometre I felt pretty normal. Halfway through the run my gut was starting to feel that uncomfortable tension and I began to look around for a washroom "just in case". In any case I made it home without incident, though the discomfort only got worse. My pace quickened as well and I was pleased to run the last three kilometres at 5:00/km (8:03/mile) pace without too much effort. The heart rate remained pretty steady in the high 140s bpm during this stretch, only trickling up into the low 150s toward the end when I had to run the last kilometre at a slight incline toward home. I managed a decent 10.2km despite the fact that much of the route was along streets that had garbage out for collection and, as a result, made things very stinky.

The heal still feels stiff, especially in the morning, but by the end of the day I can't even feel that there is a problem. Clearly something is still inflamed down there, but I figure by the time of the marathon things will (should) be 100% and I will be able to run without worry. Here's hoping anyway!

Last of the Long-ish Runs, and Marathon Goal Setting

Two weeks left (well, less as I am typing this because by 6:10pm of two Sundays from now I plan to have already celebrated the end of my first marathon with frosty beverages and copious amounts of empty calories of the sweet but useless variety) until I try and run, stagger, stagger, crawl, stagger, roll, roll, stagger through my first marathon. And so today I ran my last long-ish type training run, and it was good.

Good to have run a distance that once seemed impossible.

Good to have run a distance that once seemed impossible and do it without bottles full of sugary drinks.

Good to have run a distance that once seemed impossible and treat like any other training run; a rather ho-hum pedestrian event.

Despite the fact that my groin is sore as heck from that one session of leg weights I managed last week (still can't get over how two weeks of vacation and out of the weight room makes me feel like a weakling loser upon returning and leaves me hobbled like it was my first time after years of inactivity) I set off in the late morning and felt pretty good. I had golfed all day yesterday and, uhhmm, my "diet" was not all the "good". Didn't bother setting my alarm, woke up and watched the Djokovic-Federer match that I'd recorded the day before (dumbass Federer), and then loped around the house trying to find socks.

Once out the door I had a pretty good time of it. I ran my familiar route down to the Beaches and out along the boardwalk, but on the way back I decided to run the section of the marathon course that goes down to Cherry Beach along Commissioners. It was good to have checked out this part as I noticed that at the roundabout at the end of Cherry Street there was a massive puddle left over from the rain that fell last night. If marathon day is wet I will have to remember to take an inside line around the circle of be forced to run through a foot of water.

After this I ran back along Commissioners to the Don Roadway and hit the Don Valley trails back home. I walked up Pottery Road to save the right heal (still an issue, but I'm conveniently ignoring it while running, icing it while resting). At the top of the hill I started up again and ran the rest of the way home to complete a good 24km in 2:09:22 of total running (ie. not counting the walking). That amounts to a pace of 5:23/km (8:40/mile) and would put me on track for about a 3:46-ish marathon.

Looking forward I think that running somewhere around 3:45 is a totally achievable goal, and so here are my first impression goals for the race:

1. Shitty Day: >4hrs (5:42/km, 9:10/mile)
2. Decent but somewhat crappy day: sneak under 4hrs (ditto)
3. Realistic Day: 3hr45min (5:20/km, 8:36/mile)
4. Optimistic Day: 3:38:25 (5:11/km, 8:21/mile) (that's exactly one second faster than my Around the Bay 30k of 2009 where I ran on one good hip)
5. Dreamy and Sparkly Day Where Even I Question If I Was Doping: under 3hr30min (4:59/km, 8:01/mile)

So, two weeks of low mileage and intensity that will likely drive me nuts and leave me somewhat under-confident with my training. Reminder to self: verify the mileage completed during this training cycle to calm jangled nerves and (hopefully) bolster fragile belief in ability to run the whole distance.

Crunch Time

I'm pretty sore from my first week of weight training in about two-and-a-half weeks, and that surprises me because I really thought that the lay off would have me feeling re-energized and pushing more weight with the same amount of effort as before. Instead, it has been a week of lower weight, less energy, and sore muscles.

I managed a leg weight workout yesterday and kept it super light. Despite my care in saving the legs I woke up this morning with tight quads and sore groin muscles. It didn't stop me from running though, but I still seem to be having issues with waking up and getting going in the morning.

Once again I didn't hit the streets until 6am and, therefore, was limited to only 10.5km. I had been hoping to run at least one 15km distance this week, but it was not meant to be. I'll have to be satisfied with the fact that I managed three 10k's and that my heal, although still bugging me, has allowed to me run at all. This weekend I will be spending all of Saturday playing in a golf tournament (the one in which I won the closest to the pin contest last year as well as the overall trophy with a partner), and then on Sunday I will venture out for my last 20k+ run before the marathon.

Two weeks from this Sunday I will be cruising along towards becoming a marathoner. It's crunch time!

Mirror Image

This morning was pretty much exactly the same as yesterday morning: I had trouble getting out of bed, I made it outside right at 6am, and then I ran a nice 10km that got faster as I went along. The only difference was that I went in the exact opposite direction! The map of my two runs look almost like a mirror image. (Well, not exactly, but both were an out-and-back with a loop at the far end.)

Anyway, things are slowly getting back to normal and I am almost optimistic that I will arrive at the starting line on September 26th free of pain and ready to run a full 42.2km without anxiety.

I am also mulling my goals for the race. The first and foremost goal is to finish and have fun. But a secondary goal that has been running through my mind is that it would be nice for me to run faster over the marathon distance than I did at the Around the Bay 30k back in March of 2009. I think I have a legit shot at 3:38:26, no?

Square One?

This morning I had real trouble dragging my butt out of bed for my first run of the week. It has been two weeks of vacation and a mostly sleeping in to whatever time we felt like. Today is not only the first day of school for the boys, but also my first day back at work. Let's just say we all had trouble waking up, but yours truly at least did manage to run.

I started off at 6:02am even though I laid in bed for a full twenty minutes after my alarm went off at 5:30. Here's to getting ready pretty quick! The first bit of the run was stiff and slow, but I loosened up as the thing went on and in the end I was running each split faster than the previous one toward the end of the run. The 10km was not speedy or anything, but I'll take it. The heal is still a bother, though I am less worried about it. Besides, with less than three weeks to go for my first marathon attempt there is not much I can do anyway.

This afternoon found me back in the gym for my usual lunch time weight training session. Boy did I feel weak! It felt like I was totally back at square one as far as strength goes, and even ab work was a struggle. I'm guessing it's just rust, but it sure was a suprise. Two weeks off after eight straight months and I'm feeling like a weakling with no energy whatsoever?! Weird... It was an upper body workout as I am leaving my legs alone still. I'll likely do some leg weight on Thursday and a couple of times each week leading up to the race, but I will be keeping it extra easy.

Almost Normal

Just a quick note to comment that I ran 16km today and it felt almost normal. My right heal is not 100% yet, but as long as I pay attention to icing and stretching I can see it getting there pretty soon. The rest of my legs still feel stiff and have not yet recovered from August, but at least I was able to hold a slightly more encouraging pace during today's effort, averaging out at 5:36/km. I even had three splits in a row exactly the same at 5:24/km during stretch from 10 to 12km. Neat. Although this weak has been my lowest mileage week since January at 25km I'm fine with that. Three weeks left to go until the marathon, and it's all about getting healthy and rested. I will have to improve my nutrition big time as the vacation has put a major dent in that and not in a good way.

Also, I have now crossed 1000 miles for the year! That's more in miles than I thought I would do, and it's a nice milestone.

Trying to Get Back

I've been off for a bit after last week's running in the Gaspe, Quebec for a couple of reasons. The first is the right heal is just not feeling very good and I've decided to take this week to get it as healthy as possible. Another is that my legs are definitely feeling the effects of all that August running. It was by far the biggest month of running in my life, and reflecting on it I find that I ran more than a quarter of all my 2009 mileage in those 31 days of August. No wonder I am feeling a bit sore! And the last reason is that we were traveling back home and did a lot of driving.

Anyway, tonight I decided to try things out and ran a slow 9km through familiar territory now that we are home. The heal was a bit sore in the first couple of kilometres, but it really didn't bother me that much throughout the run. My legs just felt dead and I am a bit concerned that I will not recover in time for the marathon, but I also realize that I have a full three weeks from the Sunday and should be fine as long as I can get healthy. The base is there, or at least there is nothing more I can do about it at this point. The goal has always been to make it to the starting line healthy, and that is the focus for the month of September. I have no mileage goal for this month as a result and, therefore, no guilt for this "off" week.

On a last note, I am now at 1602km for mileage during 2010, which is less than 10km from the 1000 mile mark! A new milestone is on the horizon.