Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon: A Retrospective Race Report, by Dylan Gant
On July 4th of this year, I tentatively began training for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. I say “tentatively” as I was fairly certain that I would end up injured, sick, or struck down by some other malady long before reaching the start line on October 16th. Yet 15 weeks after that first training session I found myself climbing aboard a dingy old school bus at 7am, to be transported to the starting area of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
Despite the fact that in just two hours I would be running my first marathon, I was no more nervous than normal. My training had gone well: I was healthy, fit, and confident in my fuelling and race plan. These positive feelings were the result of completely giving myself over to my coach’s plan, and following it (almost) to the letter. All the major workouts had been successfully completed: 15km, 20km, 25km, and 30km tempo runs, 8 x 1 mile on the track, 9 x 1km Ins/Outs, and one particularly uncomfortable 40+km steady long run in the rain.
Despite feeling good about my preparation and my taper, race day threatened to be less than ideal weather-wise. Fortunately, the rain that had been called for never materialized, leaving us with just the wind to battle. From about 3km to 12km and from 34km to the finish the route ran straight into a fairly stiff wind. For a rookie marathoner, I knew those last 5 or 6 miles were going to be tough regardless; the addition of a steady headwind turned them into a death march.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Below is what I wrote in my training log the day after the race. For those among you who relish in the obsessive-compulsive aspect of running, I have included my 5km splits. So here we go:
5km: 16:51 Feeling good, smooth and relaxed.
10km: 34:09 (17:18) Into the wind from ~3km-12km, still feel good.
15km: 51:16 (17:07) Feel alright, not great.
20km: 1hr08:23 (17:07) Still alright, running with two guys, good company.
25km: 1hr25:33 (17:10) Feeling strong, dropped the guys I was with.
30km: 1hr42:26 (16:52) Feeling good, feeling strong.
35km: 1hr59:22 (16:56) Still good, thinking a 2hr24:xx is in the cards.
40km: 2hr17:24 (18:02) BOOM. Implosion. Want to lie down in a gutter.
42.2km: 2hr25:30 (8:02) Thank God it’s over. Get me to a bed.
Over the next five hours, I probably consumed enough food to feed a family of four for a day. Training for and racing the marathon was a great experience, and while the pain and utter despair I went through over the final 5km was unlike anything I have ever felt during an athletic event, I know that some day in the future I will once again toe the line at a marathon. I can only hope it goes as well as my first.