Calgary marathon RR

Hey,

I had a great time hanging out with my buds Curtis and Cam. We missed Trevor though, hopefully next time he'll be in the grp too. Cam came out from Golden to stay at Hotel Vierling, we had a marathon pasta dinner there the night before. Then the next day I met up with them there again so we could all be dropped off by Curtis's wife. We got to the race site close to an hour before. It was chilly, maybe 3-4 degrees? The sun was starting to warm things up so that helped although it was still hard when it was time to discard the warm clothing and get over to the start area.

This is the first time I really drank coffee the morning of a race. It really helped to ummm finish ALL the pre race business. As Cam says "Clean the pipes", although it might have contributed to cramps later in the day. Cam and I ended up close in the start area, Curtis a bit further back. The first few miles I spent trying to relax, not go out too fast. Cam had bolted up ahead to get through people and I just ran on my own, although never more than 50m ahead. I wanted to be sure this was MY pace that I started at so I made no rush to run up to him, I kinda planned to run the first few miles on my own anyway. Then after that if he happens to be in the same area well then we could hook up.

Slowly the distance got cut down, I think it was about the fifth mile where I ended up right behind him, but I just stayed there. Finally he turned around and laughed, he says he knew I had to be there. ha ha so we ran side by side for the next hmmm 12 miles? During that time we ran up Shaganapi. Cam figured we ran it too hard and that it was my fault, ha ha. Then some stomach issues, but that for the most part calmed down. Through miles 13-16 we moved back and forth a bit. Somtimes it seemed Cam would pull away from me and I was sure I should let him go. Then other times he told me later that he was sure I would drop him. I guess that's the way it goes(we were less chatty by that time) sometimes you feel good, sometimes you don't.

So at about 18 miles we come up on a porta potty and Cam announces his need to stop. I thought he would make it quick so I promised him no accelerations(not like I could have anyways at that point). But that was the last I saw of him till the finish. He says he came out and I had about 200m on him. I think I felt pretty good coming up to the top of Shag. My calves were a problem though, the only real problem. They were starting to cramp. Like Ironman Canada 2009 deja vu. I made it onto memorial drive and shortly after 21 miles(I was still on pace for a sub 3:15) they really started cramping and I had to have my first walk break. Aughhh that was frustrating as I only had 5 miles to go and really the rest of me was doing pretty good. So I ran and walked the rest of the way in. I was waiting for Cam to pass me, but he took his sweet time. Then ended up catching me right on the finish line just shy of 3:20. Pretty good timing Cam. Curtis came in later, his knee had been bothering him at one point in training and that flared up in the race again. But we all finished, that's the important thing. Not a bad race, and the time is ok as this Calgary course is a toughy. I just wish I hadn't had to walk so much. I may have to take in more sodium during the race, to keep the cramps at bay. Dunno