Royal Victoria Marathon

Our weekend started at 5am Saturday when we left our house to drive to Port Angeles to catch the 8:20am ferry to Victoria. There was frost on the windshield (the first we’ve seen this year) when we left. Hmmmm, did I pack enough cold-weather running gear? We made the obligatory stop at Starbucks on the way and then continued the two-and-a-half hour drive. We arrived at the dock, waited briefly in the car line, and loaded right on time. The crossing takes 90 minutes so we arrived in Victoria and were through customs by a little after 10am. We parked and went straight to the expo. I got my running packet, looked for Hammer-Gel (my running friends had convinced me the night before that I needed to try it), and just generally perused the displays. I didn’t see any Hammer-Gel at the expo so we asked someone who pointed us in the direction of Running Room, a local running store. Two blocks and several minutes later I was loaded up with gel. We continued shopping until we came to the Bank and Bard Pub where we stopped for food and drink. Delicious food and a gorgeous pub that was just recently refurbished. It also has live music every night - I’d highly recommend it! After lunch we proceeded to the Ashcroft House Bed and Breakfast. We stayed in the beautiful Sheldon room. Everything seemed perfect there. After we took a little nap at the B&B we decided to drive up the coast a bit and just wander about in general. It was a fun, relaxed afternoon. We had 8:30pm reservations at Il Terrazzo where we had a wonderful pre-race meal. I decided to have wine with dinner - the food was just too good to ignore the bottle my husband, Larry, had ordered. Then it was back to the inn and a good night’s sleep.

I awoke at 6:30am. I always like to allow plenty of time to drink my coffee and eat my breakfast (a few pieces of banana-nut bread that the innkeeper had made for me) before my race. I also made last-minute decisions on what to wear. I decided against my new skirt and chose instead to stick with the tried-and-true; my usual black shorts and Maniac singlet. I decided to put a white singlet under the Maniac one for added warmth (I could always remove it later I decided). I wore a long-sleeved marathon shirt to the start line but knew I’d hand it to my husband before the start. Oh, I wore my gloves too. Old ones, so I could ditch them if I chose.

Our inn was just a half mile or so from the start so we walked. It was a beautiful morning - slightly overcast but felt like it was nearing 50 degrees and even looked like the sun might pop out. This was a good sign, I love running in cool but sunny weather. As soon as we arrived at the start we were greeted by fellow club members Monica and Linda and their spouses Mike and Rich. Within minutes up walked MaryLou - an on-line friend (and fellow Maniac), and Jill, another Maniac whom I met at previous races. I knew Monica wanted to race at a slower pace than I had planned, and Linda - who has been racing nearly every weekend -generally prefers to run alone, so I had planned on running alone too. I had even worn my iPod in case I needed the company. I stated that I planned on running a 4:15 and if they wanted to join me I’d welcome the company. Well, MaryLou, Jill, and Linda all three said they would be interested in aiming for a 4:15 and would at least start at that pace and see if they could hold it. All three of them have been racing a lot this year and sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don’t. We would all start together and just see how it went - no hurt feelings if someone fell back. Last-minute kisses to the spouses and we were off.

The first few miles wind through town and even though we planned on running, not talking, MaryLou and I started conversing none-the-less. Before we knew it we were with the 4:00 pace group let by a young man in bunny ears. I told MaryLou that my goal was to not pass the 4:00-hour bunny. The back of his shirt said he was doing a 10/1 run/walk. The pace seemed comfortable, the crowd around him friendly, and he had the nicest calves ever - yes, we could follow him. The course narrows and circles around an in-town park between miles 3 and 5 or so. Somewhere in there I heard my husband call my name, but he was on the opposite side from me and the crowd was too thick to move over in time. All I could do was wave. I felt bad but sometimes those things happen. Our bunny was doing a great job of keeping the pace and sticking to his 10/1 schedule. His schedule did not line up with the water stops though and at the second one MaryLou and I slowed a bit too much and by the time we looked up, our bunny and the group were far ahead. We had to hurry to catch up. After that I started to run through the water stops and I gelled enroute. At one point I needed to take an s-cap but had no water. MaryLou thought I should try just swallowing it dry so I did. No, it wouldn’t go down and wasn’t dissolving well. I noticed the man in front of me was wearing a belt with bottles, plus he was carrying a full bottle of Gatorade. I asked him for a swig. I’ve never done that before in a race. He seemed more than happy to help. Good - S-Cap down with no problem. By now we were running along the waterfront, past the golf course and through some neighborhoods. The course has gently rolling hills and we were enjoying the run but had quit talking and were just working. Around mile 12 or 13 I looked behind me and didn’t see MaryLou anymore. Should I slow and wait for her or go on and try to stick with the group? I decided to go on. She had already said several times to go ahead - it’s just hard moving on sometimes, I felt a sense of loss, but I did have my bunny and pace group yet. I hit the halfway point at 2:01:something. Good, right where I wanted to be. I started to fall behind the pace group right before the turnaround which is about a klick past the halfway point. At the turnaround though I saw they were less than a minute in front of me. Good. I switched to my own 10/1 with the water stops being my walk zone. I decided I could hold on to a slightly slower pace but still keep a good tempo this way. I saw Larry, Mike, and Rich somewhere in the teens - I can’t remember now. I know I didn’t slow my pace but I threw my gloves to Larry. Larry said something about me running a good time. Seeing them boosted my energy. The next time I saw them was around mile 20. It was during one of my walk breaks and I motioned to Larry to walk with me. He had water for me and I drank it while I walked. Rich was snapping pictures. Again, it was a shot of energy. Soon after I ran off I decided to turn on my iPod. I knew I wouldn’t see a familiar face again until the finish and I needed a little distraction. The course had thinned out enough that I felt I could plug in and tune out without harm to anyone. The music was a motivator but I still had to remember to keep up my pace. It was too easy to fall into my tired-runner slow pace. I kept imagining catching up to the 4:00 pace group even though I knew I probably couldn’t at this point. From 37k to 39k is a hill. I ran halfway up before it was time for a walk break. I had been hoping to just pick up the pace the last three or four miles and run it in like I did in Tacoma. Had I been able to do that I would have knocked three or four minutes off my time. Dang! I just didn’t have the mojo. I knew I’d hit my mark of under-4:15 but by the end I had been hoping for even more. I came in at 4:10:37. I was tired and happy and I heard Mike shout my name as I approached the line and there they were - the three Muskateers shouting my name. Yes! I had not only met my goal, but I had surpassed it and I knew that a sub-4 was an absolute possibility for me. Yippee!!