Around the Bay – 30K
Race Report
Executive Summary
It is done. 30 down. System Check
- Bones OK
- Muscles OK
- Smiles BIG
- Dhanya 2:51
- Satvinder 2:55
DetailsMarch 31, 2008; 8:00AM.Mona and I showed up in Hamilton, and courtesy of Afshan, found a great parking spot. Right next to the start line. It is funny. After training for several 100’s of kilometers, the last thing you want to do is walk a few meters more than necessary to get to, or from that start line. The weather was much chillier than the normals of the year. There was a brisk SE wind of around 40KMPH driving a cold 1 deg C down to -10 or so. Thanks to those great telco guys, Dhanya and I were able to establish contact in the massive Copps Colliseum of Hamilton in no time. Dhanya briefed me that the colliseum is going to be the finish point of the race. Copps Colliseum is to Hamilton, what Scotia Bank Place is to Ottawa. So needless to say, this was a great place to be before or after the race.We still had over 1 hour to kill before the start of the race. So what do you do for a whole long hour? Well, you find the toilets, and join the line up. What do you do after you are done doing whatever it is that you had to do? If you have time, you join the line again. Once you are all out of time, you rush over to the start line.Off we went to the race start line.
Race Strategy
Dhanya and I had tried to figure out a strategy for this race. As you guys are aware that both of us are really training for the marathon during the National Capital Marathon in Ottawa. We had both run 30K distances during training already. We were both confused as to what speed to run this 30K at. There was the concern of not getting injured during the run by going too fast. There was also the desire to make the run somewhat meaningful. We were settling around the goal of maintaining a 10KMPH for the first 10K, going a little faster in the second 10K, and then letting the situation dictate the next steps. Both of us are capable of running faster 10K paces. So we had decided to be careful to not get carried away at the start. I was especially determined to watch the start pace as I have repeatedly made the mistake of fast starts, followed by agonizing finishes.
The Race
As I joined the start line, I had already lost track of Dhanya. Furthermore, since I was fairly late coming to the start line, I had practically stumbled right to the front of the pack. This in general was not good for my race strategy. Lining up with the front pack is one guaranteed way to get a fast start. That would be contrary to my desire of a slow start. With 1 minute to the start time there was nothing that could be done at this time.
There were around 6000 people at the start line. A few camera crews were in attendance. A bunch of police pilot motor cycles were there to lead the crowd. And believe it or not, there was even a chopper hovering overhead for good measure.
0-10K
The lead pack starting
Satvinder Starting
Dhanya Starting
As the race started, I had to try to get to one side of the crowd to allow the speedsters to pass by. This required some extraordinary discipline.
I was happy when the first 1K sign rolled up, and I was able to verify that I had managed to keep my pace around 5:45. After that pace check, I suspect that I allowed myself to drift along with the crowd to some extent which was still moving faster than my pace, and ended up running a faster 5:30 2K.
The run as such was down Wilson Street/Cannon Street. This was a pretty lousy part of the city. Full of pot holes. Sort of like the bad sections of Gatineau for the Ottawa Marathon. The wind was also coming straight head on. Anyways, the adrenaline level of the start was high enough that the only problem that I was busy fighting was to keep myself from speeding up.
Around the 8K point, I saw Dhanya for the first time. He was taking one of his walk breaks. This basically implied to me that in general, he was ahead of me by about 100m or so, and generally speaking, we were running at the same pace. The walk breaks have a nice way of injecting leap frogs in closely matched pace runs.
As I approached the 10K point, I had settled into a nice desirable pace of around 5:45 or so. By this time, I was in my usual meditative state of running. Chugging along oblivious to the world. I was jolted out of this meditation by some really really bad BO. I discovered that I was passing the Hamilton water works on my right side. And the SE wind had ensured that the presence of the water works be known to one and all participants. At the same time, I also noticed that the first 10K split was done in around 57:30 for me. This was good, and more or less in line with the run strategy.
10K-20K
I had secured a buffer of 2 min 30s over the 3:00 pace in the first 10K. I was now hoping to secure another 2 min 30 s buffer for the second 10K split. This would allow for a slow down of 45 seconds per km in the last 10K. So I gave myself the goal of getting the next 10K done in 57:30 again.
The around the bay run is basically a triangular run. A good chunk of the 10-20K split runs in towards NW direction. As I had said, there was a very strong wind of around 40KMPH on this day from SE. We had been fighting this wind in the first 10K. And now it was pay back time. This strong wind was squarely on our backs. Needless to say, this split was going to be easier than the first 10K.
As I was chugging along at a slightly faster pace of around 5:30, I noticed that the pace 2:50 bunny overtook me. And right behind the bunny is our very own Dhanya Jee. Dhanya Jee was doing well following the bunny, and dully notified me of that fact. Go Dhanya Go.
At this time, I was running by my old stomping grounds. This section of the race passes on the western most edge of the Lake Ontario. The very strong winds on the lake were whipping up quite a remarkable distribution of white caps.
Sort of took me back to my days of working as a student on fractal patterns of white caps just a stone’s throw from the 16K point of the race. There is also a lift bridge around this point of the race. Just before the race I had joked to Mona that I will have to take a 30 minute break if they raise the bridge to let in a ship.
Just out of curiousity, I looked eastwards and what do I see in the horizon; A massive laker ship was approaching the lift bridge. A ship passing by my office always used to make me feel good. I would stop working and run out to catch the ship, or watch the water in the tumbler on my desk ripple. Anyways, there wasn’t going to be any stopping today. As I arrived on the bridge, the ship was a good 20K out still.
Looking to the left, I could see my old office on the right side. I could also see the farther side of the Hamilton Harbour. There was quite a bit of distance still left in this race. That harbour is big.
BTW, Dhanya Jee was still chasing the bunny.
Dhanya Jee, I had to find Dhanya Jee again. I allowed my speed to drift up in search of Dhanya. I also figured that I had to notify MBC of the situation, and promptly relayed a live report to the bureau. I found Dhanya Jee in the middle of the chase about 1K further down, and ended up leap frogging him.
I rounded the second vertex of the triangle around the 18K. Dhanya and I were continuing to leap frog each other. However, I had run this segment of the run far too fast, and I knew that I had to taper my speed down again. Around the 20K, Dhanya Jee overtook me. He was still hanging on to the 2:50 pace bunny. I did another mental cheer for him. Go D Go. I did not see him during the race after this point.
I had arrived at the 20K point way too fast. The time split for the second 10K was around 54:00. This was much too fast for me. My goal was to have arrived at 20 in 1:55. I was a full 2 minutes ahead.
20K-30K
This segment of the race was expected to be difficult. What I didn’t know was that I will be fighting terrain on top of fatigue. This section launched with a continuous sequence of ascent and descent of hills. Around this time I passed the half marathon distance point, and I noticed that the half marathon split was around 1:59.
Anyways, for me things were getting bad. Around 23K I realized that I was feeling a certain element of dehydration. I could also feel the onset of cramps. From past experiences I knew that this was the time to slow the pace a fair bit down, and focus on simply closing the run now. The hilly section went up to the top of a ridge at 24K. At this point we went into a long and somewhat steep decent of about 1K to 25K point. While the ascent of a hill can be difficult on speed, the descents do not help the cause either. Especially steep descents. The fatigue ensures that you cannot really go downhill fast. Also, downhill stretches can be bad for the feet as this is when you get busted nails. I had to give one up; the right foot’s index nail.
The descent brought us right down to the water line of Lake Ontario. And then we were launched into an equally steep uphill ascent to 26K point. A full 1K long very steep ascent. Once at the top of the climb, we were at the head end of a nice stretch for the final 3.5K or so. I was still maintaining my speed below the cramping zone. In spite of my speed losses, I knew that I will be finishing ahead of my time target. I simply focussed on enjoying the finishing lap of the run.
This BTW is also the most beautiful segment of the run. It provides quite a breathtaking view of the Hamilton Harbour.
Around the 28K mark, a fellow dressed as the grim reaper was busy discouraging everybody by chanting “You can’t do it. You are about to drop. Don’t worry you will R.I.P. And so on….” And his chant was having quite an effect on all the runners, who were all speeding up. I was amongst those speeders. I was also entering the zone were I knew that I no longer had to manage the cramp zone, and I allowed my speed to drift up a fair bit at this point. I was happy about the fact that I could consider speeding up at this stage of the race.
Along came 29K, and then the turn off into the stadium. This was the moment. My moment. I had paid my dues. The accomplishment was there just ahead. Time to flash the V. Put the best foot forward. Put the best smile on the face. Those cameras should get a nice snap.
I do this to get a nice picture at the finish line. Yep.
The Top Runners Finishing in 1:32
Dhanya Finishing in 2:51
Satvinder Finishing in 2:55
