So it wasn't my worst marathon, that counts for something, right?

But I had a great time. The weather was nice enough that I have a bit of sunburn on my face today - I'm sure I'd be more burnt if not for my gloves, arm and calf sleeves.

To start at the beginning. I woke up at 5:30, had a nice breakfast of oatmeal, tea and a Clif bar and headed out to the bus stop around 6:30. I got to the start in time to watch the elite half marathoners take off, then the waiting...

I ran into a bunch of people from my clinic, and Torontonian James as well, as we were getting ready to run which helped to calm my nerves. Not helping though was the conspicuous absence of the 3:50 pace bunny. There was a volunteer holding a 3:50 sign, but he was obviously not the bunny (both the lack of ears and the fact that he was wearing jeans were dead give-aways).

I knew this would not bode well as I'm horrible at self-regulation when it comes to pacing.

I couldn't hear the anthem being sung, but did hear the gun. Once corral One had cleared the start we moved ahead to wait our turn. Soon the gun went off again and we were underway.

Pacing. As important as you think pacing is, it's even more important than that. I wish I could learn that lesson.

Sortly after starting I met up with Susan, Devin, Stephanie and Aleyna. They'd wanted to run with the 3:50 as well so were in the same boat as me. By the 8k point we'd caught up with the 3:45 pace bunnies. This was not looking good. Pretty soon we were on Camosun Hill and it was great to see a cheering Michael there, rooting us on. The 3:45 group started pulling ahead on the hill, and I had no problem seeing the back of them. They stayed in sight all up 16th, aruond UBC and down the hill to Spanish Banks. The half-way point ended up being a funny little loop in a parking lot, and I crossed the mat at 1:51, 8 minutes ahead of my Seattle time.

This was both good news and bad. Well no, it was nothing but bad. I should have only been 3-4 minutes ahead, at the most. I knew there was no way I would be able to make up for going out too strong and that I was going to pay for it by the time I got to Stanley Park. I took my time going through Kits but felt fairly strong heading over Burrard Bridge. Siobhan was waitng for me on the other side, and it was great to see her and have her cheer me on. And then I saw Jason, then Andrea. I cannot express how much having all these friends out helped.

Then the Seawall. I've run this loop so many times I'm sure I could do it with my eyes closed - and the route even took the long way around the 2nd Beach pool, as we always do - but this was the worst I've ever felt going around. I had to keep making little deals with myself. Run to the next aid station, then walk for a bit. Run to Siwash Rock, then walk for a bit. Run to the Lion's Gate Bridge, then walk a bit. It was during this push to the bridge that my calves first seized up with cramps. I stopped to stretch them and then forced myself to keep on running. By this time I knew I wasn't going to PB, and I doubted I would beat my previous Vancouver time. All I could hold onto was the hope that I'd beat Victoria, and that I wouldn't sink into a funk like I did that time. Finally the park was over and we were up onto Georgia Street. The crowds were getting pretty thick here, with people calling out constantly. Down onto Pender and it was pretty much a constant roar. I wish I'd paid more attention to what streets were before Burrard because every time I crossed one, I was sure that Burrard was next. And it wasn't.

But then it was, and I rounded the corner, and rounded the corner and there it was. The same view I'd seen just 48 hours earlier, but all the more glorious. Because I was done.

Siobhan was waiting at the finish for me with a gear bag. She left soon after I got there and I hung out for a while welcoming others from my clinic as they crossed the finish line. And wow, what a great feeling that was. When they were all safely in, I headed home to refuel.

All in all, I was disappointed not to get the time I wanted, but not once did I feel anything even remotely like the depression that washed over me after Victoria, so I'm going to chalk this one up in the "Win" column.

Now to get ready for my next clinic, which starts June 7th, and to psych myself up for Iron Knee, in less than 3 weeks.

And, of course, many thanks to my sponsour for this race, the fine folks at Powered By Chocolate Milk!

Overall results: 4:12:19 (chip time); 1982nd out of 4233 (5251 registered); 195 out of 318 in my AG; 1328 out of 2396 men.

It's been so long since I last wrote a race report, I had to go back and read a few from last year to remind me what to say.

But I need to start this one by thanking the fine folks at Powered By Chocolate Milk. They have generously sponsored my entry in the entire 5 Peaks series, as well as the Vancouver Marathon and Iron Knee (both of which are just around the corner! Eeep!)

Saturday was a beautiful day for a trail race. We'd had some rain the past few days which promised nice muddy trails - plus it was a clear sunny morning. Mud and sun make for the best trail races.

I picked up Karl at the Skytrain station and we headed out to Maple Ridge, soon after we were pulling into Golden Ears Provincial Park. We had a good 45 minutes until the race, so plenty of time for package pickup and to get psyched up for the race.

To help alleviate the crowding on the single track on these races, the start is staggered. But even so, there was a bottleneck at the first stream crossing. Past that though, things opened up and we were all flying down the trails. About 4k in and we were running up the access road soon afterwards it was the dreaded Incline Trail, which means it's time to hike.

Once we reached the peak it was time for the first of the pell-mell dashes down. This descent lead back to the access road and then to our second steep climb. Less walking on this one but it was still a slog. And another steep descent.

Finally we were back on the forest floor, with just over 2k remaining. This is one of my favourite parts of the race, beautiful forest trails with sunlight streaming in and a mad dash to the finish line.

It was a fantastic day for a race and I had a great time.

Official results: 1:31:42; 121st out of 168; 85th our of 122 men and 16th out of 28 in my AG. I was about 5 minutes slower than last year, but I also wasn't pushing as hard as last year. What with a marathon two weeks later and all.

It was a light turn out on Thursday night, no doubt due to the near-torrential rain that was coming down. We had a fun talk with Angela Mackenzie talk about the benefits of massage, both post-marathon and as regular therapy. After her talk, we went out to the Crescent. They ran fartleks while I wandered around blowing a whistle every once in a while. A good and hard, but short, workout in the rain.

Sunday took us out to the trails, roaming through Pacific Spirit Park for most of the 23k we ran - it was a beautiful day a little warm but mostly cloudy.

On Wednesday we took our last trip to the top of Queen E Park - it rained during the day so we had wet conditions, but it was a very nice, warm evening for a run.

Our final week without a speaker - we had 4 miles of track work on the schedule, so it would be best to get out as early as possible. To mix things up a bit, I had them run a pyramid - 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400. While I try to encourage consistency, that last 400 was WAY faster than the first (not that I was surprised.)

Sunday was our final 32k run. Because Michael was in Boston (where he ran a 3:01 in over-heated conditions!) a bunch of people from the Cambie store came out to join us. It was a great day for a run, mostly overcast with cool temperatures. We ran a fair chunk of the Marathon Route, going up Cambie past the start, all of 49th & Camosun hill and all around UBC. We didn't run the bump out to Kits Point to make sure we didn't cross paths with the Sun Run.

The week ended up with the King Ed route - which means another nice climb or two. Never get too many hills.

Eric Hamber track in the rain!

Week 13 started off with a soggy track session. We met Shelley Adam at the Eric Hamber track. After a brief intro, we divided up into two groups, one to get their gait analyzed by Shelley and the other to run their first rep (4x1000 was on the menu). After everyone was analyzed, they ran the last 3 reps as a group. Did I mention it was pouring rain all this time? I think the only thing worse than running reps in the rain is just standing there with a stopwatch calling out splits.

Sunday we ran up, and down, the Spanish Banks / UBC hill. Coming down that hill is part of the Marathon, so it's good to get practice on it whenever we can. Running downhill is a skill set unto itself, and the only way to improve a skill is practice, practice, practice.

We rounded out the week with the Seawall. A nice run around False Creek in the sun was ideal.

We were very happy to get Jordan Meyers come talk to the clinic to start week 14. As the Race Director for the Vancouver Marathon, he was a wealth of insider information. And it's always thrilling to have a speaker as passionate and enthused as Jordan is. After his talk we ran up to the fancy track, Point Grey Secondary, for some straight forward 3x1600s.

Are you ready for some pancakes? Sunday was the annual Pancake Run, coordinated by the Denman Running Room. We had a great 29k run, involving lots of the Marathon course, with runners coming in from all over the lower-mainland to join in.

Wednesday the rains came back as we did the 2nd Beach Pool out-and-back (that's 2 weeks in a row with pretty much stoplight-less routes), it was wet and windy but a good night's run.