Continuing my journey

The Slow group at the halfway mark :)

Yesterday was another milestone for this Marathoner-in-Training. I ran 29km in 3 hours 20 minutes. Yes that long and that far. I couldn't believe that me, little ol' me who 5 years ago wouldn't have dreamed of running, did it and felt relatively well the day after!

It was a little intimidating I admit. My friend/neighbour couldn't run that day so I was on my own. Weather forecast was calling for mixed precipitations and mixed bag we got! Cold, wind, rain, snow, hail even. And to make things THAT more interesting, a little bit of sunshine. Enough to think that this wasn't that bad after all :)

Corner of Jarvis/Esplanade

When I got ready that morning, I discovered that my Garmin went to 96% within 10 minutes of being taken off the charge. Huh-oh... that's not good. I'm hoping it will last. I also noticed the bezel is extremely sensitive to any touch. So I set up my workout to simple, plug in the distance (adding a little more in case the route turns out to be longer than 29km) and lock the bezel. GPS doesn't kick in quickly, in fact, it didn't kick in for at least 1km. This proved to be good for my mental state as I always added 1km to the distance lol

I ran again with the slower pace group. I'm rebuilding mileage, not running a race. And this is totally unchartered territory, I've never run this long. I have done enough training/races to know that I have to conserve energy if I want to last. At least I'm not THAT green...  I've learned the hard way that it's better to be more conservative during training so the recuperation is faster. Last week I noticed that a guy likes to take pictures during the run. We since became friends on Facebook so I am prepared with my best smile! We chat in French a bit for a while, he's from Quebec City and has been in Toronto since 1988. You can tell he's a good runner, he has the fluidity that I'm aiming for.

It's sunny but temps are cool. I take off my gloves and unzip my jacket. I briefly consider taking it off but decide that it's too much trouble and keep it on. I will eventually be VERY happy with this decision. We are running on a trail by the river. I know we're going to climb stairs and I AM a bit worried that they will be flying up those stairs. But I happily notice that they climb them slowly. Nice... I like the route, it's varied, with not too many hills. There are some inclines but they are totally manageable. Pace is good, the pace leader is very set in "keeping the pace" and for that, I'm feeling totally confident that I will be able to do the run.

I couldn't stop laughing!

As we go up Broadview, rain starts then moves on to snow. Big fat snowflakes. Wind too. What a mix. I quickly put gloves back on and zip up my jacket. Everyone groans as we have to fight the winds and the rain/snow. I laugh and laugh... we finally arrive at Danforth and turn right to go east. A woman crosses our path at a traffic light and say "you guys are hardcore" and I chuckle to myself. Hardcore? That's nothing!

The wind!!!

Pace is still good, the group is very compact. I like that. Nothing worse than being on your own. Pace leader is doing her job well. We finally reach DA point in the run where we're about to enter a park with no water, no bathrooms, no traffic lights. I'm happy because there is nothing worse for your training than to have to stop at every single traffic lights. You need to get used to do the complete 10 minutes without stopping.

Didn't quite like the bridge...

Legs started to feel the workout halfway through the park. I'm starting to think... what if I cut it short? what if I turned around and go home? I could... easy...  I simply couldn't do this. As much as it was tiring and I enjoyed the, too brief, walking breaks, it felt good to start running again. So I decided to use this run as a mental preparation for what's in store for me over the summer.

Some of the funny signs :)

Finally we complete the loop, turn around and make our way to exit the park. Close to the exit, I start to calculate how much further we have to go. I know that we have only 9 kms left. I start to panic, will I be ok? what if I get injured? Then I slap myself... 9km! you can do it! You do it all the time! Break it down into chunks. That's what you always say to people. So 9km is 3 chunks of 3. See? easy... by the time I finished thinking about all this, it was already down to 8km. The group is silent, people don't chat as much. I see some are getting tired. In some strange way, it makes me feel better as I realize that I'm not the only one feeling this way.

Soon we're at the bike trail. And that's when the hail started. The wind is very strong and the hail stings the face. Ouch! We soldier on... but really, what choice do we have? walking? you're still going to be in that shit. Might as well get it over with.

ARGH!!!!! it stings!!!

For some reason I thought we were going to a certain street but no, we're turning north a few blocks before. yay! Bonus! We turn north on Bay Street and that's when the enormity of it all hit me... I've done 29k. I've run 3 hours, 20 minutes. I've done it. I've done it!!!

I mention it to the group and congrats, high fives abound. Runners really are a good bunch. The good ones, the ones who don't feel it's a pissing contest or compare themselves to others. That's the group I'm in. I feel welcome, I feel like I belong.

We get back to the store and I have some left in me to do my little sprint towards the store. Not speed, just a sprint. I feel amazing. I go for brunch with the group, again, feeling accepted and welcomed. Picked up a few good tips on upcoming training and reassurance that I will be ok.

In the brief moment of sunshine!

I did it... another milestone on my way to become a marathoner.