Tochi's Hut

This past Sunday was the 2009 Ottawa Marathon.  I would have preferred if this post was going to describe a heart warming accomplishment worthy of publication in a Running Room magazine, but alas…

I headed to Ottawa with MrMonk’s family on Saturday to pick up our race kits from the expo.  After stuffing ourselves at dinner in Chinatown, we retired for the night around 10pm.  The wake up call was scheduled for 5 am on race morning.  We arrived at the starting area in front of Ottawa's City Hall at 6:15am.  During registration, MrMonk and I estimated our finish time to be between 3:30 to 4:00 hours.  As such, we got slotted into the yellow corral.  I expected to be quite nervous at race start, but I did not really feel nervous at all.  It felt more like the calm before the storm.  Just have to go out and execute. 

MrMonk pointed out the pace rabbits.  These are professional runners who wear hats with rabbit ears and would run the course in a target time.  I’d never participated in a race with pace rabbits before.  MrMonk planned to follow the 3:50 pacer and described how much they helped him in his previous races.  I had my reservations about following the 3:50 rabbit, because if you slow down at all, there isn't much leeway to our goal of 4:00.  I was not sure if I wanted someone else dictating my pace either.  However, deferring to experience, I will try to follow the 3:45 rabbit.

The race gun went off and the mass exodus from the starting line began.  I lost track of the rabbits in the sea of runners, so I decided to stick with my original race strategy.  The plan was fairly simple.   I needed to get into my comfortable pace and rhythm, where I can run forever and not feel tired.  For me, the hardest part would be the first 5km and the last 10km.  The start was something I had focused and worked hard on during training.  Essentially my task was to ease myself into that long distance tempo in the first few kilometres of the race.  Starting out too fast meant I would drain myself too early.  Starting too slow would compromise my time unnecessarily.  The last 10km… well, anything can happen.

The start of a marathon was not at all like my previous 10km race, where people were sprinting right off the bat.  With a marathon, people did not really rush at the beginning.  Perhaps everyone was conscious of the need to conserve energy and realistically speaking, a few seconds do not matter in a marathon unless you are an elite athlete.  This more moderated start actually worked in my favour.  Everyone around me in the corral had similar timing targets, so I did not have any difficulties easing into my pace speed.

During training, I had developed a routine where at each kilometre marker (every 5-6 minutes) I would qualify my previous kilometre and my present condition with either a Very Good, Good and Sucky.  The idea is to force me to consciously consider the various signs of my body (energy, muscles, state of mind, etc) instead of my actual pace.  I would then adjust my pace according based on this qualification for the next kilometre.

The first section passed by Parliament Hill and the new War Museum before crossing over into the Gatineau - the Quebec (French) side.  We had drove through the area on Saturday, so I knew what to expect - some light rolling hills through Gatineau streets before we turned around, passed by the Civilization Museum and across Alexandra Bridge into Ottawa.  I felt really sorry for this Shell gas station that would not be getting any business due to the road closures.  Marathon runners do not need their type of gas.  My favourite aspects of this first 10km were the dam just past Philemon Island and all the spectators cheering in French!!  For some reason, I was so encouraged when I heard those Bravo's and Allez's. 

Throughout the entire first 10km, my Tochi readings were all Very Good’s.  I had managed to ease into my comfortable race pace and felt really strong heading into the next 10km.  My split time at 10km was 51:55, averaging 5:09 min/km.  Compared to my 10km run from last year, I had completed the same distance 5 minutes slower.  However, I did not have another 32km to run last year!!  The pace was comfortable - that was what’s most important.

The second section travels along Sussex Dr, where the homes of the Prime Minister and many foreign ambassadors reside.  The course would be a slow incline up before looping around a park and returning to Sussex Dr through some residential neighbourhoods.  During the run, I was on the lookout for Harper’s house.  I must have passed it without knowing or the course took a detour and skipped his house all together.  I did not see it at all.

This part of the course was special because many of the families living along the route had came out to cheer.  There were a lot of high-fives with little kids along the way.  The most special moment was one of the home owners offering a quick spray for passing runners with his garden hose.  The first of the four runners with whom I was pacing during this section let out a loud WOOHOO!! as he passed under the water.  Each of us did the same thing as we followed.  All of us, including the home owner, broke out into laughter and huge grins.  This wonderful bond between fellow runners and the crowd was truly special – something I’ll always remember from this marathon.

The second section returns to Sussex Dr, where a timing arch was set up at the 21.1 km mark for the half marathon distance.  The banner at the top said HALFWAY HOME!!!  My split time at the half was 1:50:27, averaging 5:14 min/km.  I had one GOOD rated kilometre, my first of the race, where I felt my energy levels were dipping into warning levels a little.  However, that particular stretch was right before a water station where I took another GU gel.  Once the gel kicked in, I was back to VERY GOOD ratings.  I was quite surprised with myself how great I was feeling heading into the second half of the race.

The final section of the race was along the Rideau Canal.  In my visit to Ottawa two years ago, I took the cruise along the canal and remembered it being fairly long.  Essentially, the course would go 10km along the east side of the canal, uphill climb to cross a bridge, before returning down the west side of the canal to the finish line.  At one point, I looked over to the opposite side of the canal and spotted a few of the elite runners close to finishing the race.  It is really mind boggling how fast these guys can run.

The canal section can be described in one word… LONG.  It just kept going and going.  I kept on hoping to see the bridge we would be crossing and it never showed up.   That is probably why it is recommend that you know the key landmarks along the course.  I was actually happy to see the slow incline up towards Hog’s Back, because I knew the turn towards the bridge would be near.

During this part of my race, I made one significant adjustment to my running that turned out to be really useful.  My arms were getting tired out and felt rubbery when I drank water at the stations.  Sooner or later, my shoulders would tighten up, as they always did during my long distance training.  My mind then made the connection with something my Tai Chi master mentioned last week.  My shoulders were always too tight and I needed to relax them.  I consciously relaxed my shoulder and began swinging my arms in the way of Tai Chi, using minimal energy and highly focused positioning.  I felt immediate relief in my arms and realized, to my surprise and horror, how much energy I had be wasting all this time just swinging my arms!!!  Why didn’t I make this connection earlier?!?!   This was a major self enlightenment moment for me, the first time I have ever had cross-pollination of techniques between wildly different disciplines.  I also felt I was a step closer to the 四兩撥千斤境界!!

While on this topic, one thing that continued to surprise me during the training leading up to the marathon is how running is so technical.  Before I started this running craze, I thought that everyone grew up learning how to run, how hard can running be?  Well, in all the months of training, I spent perhaps more time tweaking my running techniques than I did building up the endurance required for a marathon.   Tweaks such as rotating my right knee further outwards in each step, focusing on my hip movement in maximizing my stride, or correcting my breathing patterns.  These tweaks, as minor as some of them were, took quite a long time to incorporate into my normal running style, so that I could perform them subconsciously in my runs.   I wish I had videos of me running before and after.  It would have been quite cool to see how my running posture has transformed over these five months.  That being said, because of the time I spent honing leading up to the race, I was quite worried that I did not do enough long distance runs to build up my endurance.  Hearing MrMonk speak of his hardcore training runs made me even more worried!  lol

Another quick aside, we got these pace wrist bands for 3:50 and 4:00 finishes which tells you the times at certain kilometre intervals in order to finish in the respective target times.  These wrist bands were so useless.  The few times I wondered about my current pace, I checked the bands only to find that they did not list the times for my current kilometre marker.  WTF.  The other issue is that I was actually going at 3:45 pace unintentionally.  I had not been tracking my times at all during the run, mainly just going at what my comfortable pace.  So when I did find a time on one of the two bands, I could not really figure out how much I was ahead by.  :|

Back to the canal.  The 30km mark approached just before Hog’s Back incline.  I clocked a 30km time of 2:39:00, averaging 5:18 min/km.  It is surprising even to me how consistent my timings were over the first 30km.  At the 30km mark, my rating was still VERY GOOD. The canal run was very nice and flat, despite being a bit windy.  However, the incline up to Hog’s Back began to take its toll on me mentally.  The 3:45 pace rabbit and the train of people that followed caught up to me at this point.  It made me think whether I had been losing pace.  Also, I did not remember having to do such a big loop (probably 1.5 km) around the far side of the bridge in the course map.  I decided to just follow the rabbit at this point.  My ratings had turned to GOOD due to my mental degradation.

The bridge section was the worst part of the entire course.  You effectively take a big uphill climb around the far loop, only to have to go down one side of the road, under the bridge, and up to the other side of the road, before u-turning back to cross over the mainly uphill bridge.  At 33km mark in the course, these uphill inclines were definitely not welcomed.  I cut my pace down, got into hill mode and shortened my steps.  To my surprise, with the exception of the portion on the actual bridge, the loops in and around the bridge were not as bad as I expected.  There were some funny signs posted too.  “This bridge totally SUCKS.  Go Kick its ASS!”  By the time I got over and past the bridge, I was so relieved. I survived!!!

After the 35 km mark, my rating was still GOOD, which I was quite happy with given this stage in the race.  I even felt triumphant because I’d never ran further than 35km before and this was uncharted territory.  I had gotten through the toughest part of the course and it was only downhill and flat portions from here.  My muscles felt really great - not too much pain, no cramping.  Energy wise, I felt quite good (no symptoms of the wall!).  I was well on track for a 3:45-3:50 finish. 

A few minutes after that, I felt light headed all of a sudden.  I had no idea where it came from, but when it arrived, I felt like I just got ran over by a freight train.  I slowed down to a walk, my first time walking during the entire race.  I saw the 36km marker sign.  However, when I could not even walk in a straight line, I knew something was horribly wrong.  This cannot be happening.  I spotted two medics on the side of the course, and made my way towards them.  20-30 steps maybe.  Ended up collapsing into their arms.

I had never felt so dizzy in my life.  My pulse was overclocked and pushing into the high 160 bpm range.  They laid me down and grabbed me drinks and a sponge immediately.  Water cooling definitely beats air cooling.  My collapse without a cool down wrecked havoc to my body and heart.  I probably just shortened my lifespan by 10 years and increased my chances of a heart attack by tenfold.  Oh well, what’s done is done.

The two medics, Chris and Jill of team Q moved me under a tree for me to get away from the sun.  They said I looked like I was dying from the heat and probably collapsed from heat exhaustion.  I totally thought I would have to go to the hospital and that was my race.  My main concern at the time was how to contact MrMonk and his family, who would be waiting at the end.  After a while of slow breathing, my pulse dropped back down to a better 120 bpm and my head started clearing up.  Under the tree, I was feeling cold being exposed to the strong wind, so I was wrapped in a solar blanket.  My hands were freezing as well and neither Chris nor Jill could feel my radial pulse.  The low blood pressure must be part of the symptoms of my body going into shock and deciding to sacrifice my extremities! 

Despite given the chance to slow down, my heart felt like it wanted to come out.  I had never had such an unnerving experience.  It was literally pounding against my rib cage.  After maybe 15-20 minutes of sitting under that tree, my head cleared enough and I regained senses in all parts of my body.

However, the long rest meant my legs were shot.  I felt the full impact of the lactic acid built-up.  My knees would no longer bend and the legs felt laden with led.  The medics gave me the option to continue or get shuttled back to the finish.  I could tell from the concern in their voices that I really should get shuttled back.  Heck, my body seemed to be telling me to quit too.

But that was it.  I did not want to quit.  Not when I was this close.  There was only 6 km left (3.8 miles).  6km was not short, but it really was not long either, especially considering I’d just ran 36km!  6km on any other day would have been a piece of cake – a nice 30-40 minute jog.  For all the different reasons that went through my mind, it really boiled down to a matter of personal pride.  Did I want a blemish on my record by logging a DNF on my first marathon?  While I knew that there would be no “loss in honour” if I terminated my race, can I live with myself for not finishing when I had a remote chance?

Weighting against that was the fact that my body did something I never experienced before, and that something was definitely not good.  I really felt that this experience was the closest I have ever come to death (No, I didn’t get close enough to see the tunnel nor the light).

In one of the most serious decisions in my life, I ended up doing what I tend to do with tough dilemmas.  Just make up my damn mind and stick with it.  So in this turning point moment, I wanted to try to walk to the end and promised to stop if my body feels even the slightest bit wrong.  Then the little devil in me realized, once I start, I knew I wasn’t going to stop.

Well, with the decision made, I tried to stand up.  Jill quickly exclaimed, “Woah, you’re not getting up yourself!  Hold on, I’ll help you.”  Good thing she did too, because my legs took about 30 seconds to regain enough composure to handle my body weight.

Thus, the most gruelling 6km journey of my life began…

A small step for man, another small step and another and another.  Holy crap.  6km is going to take me forever.  I felt sorry for Jill who was following me on her bike.  She ditched me after a while and came back to check on me every 5 to 10 minutes.  She made sure I knew how far the medic stations were too.

The 4:15 pace rabbit passed me soon after and I then realized I’d lost 30 minutes!!  It was totally deflating, but I’d have to settle with just finishing the race now.  The first kilometre and a half were brutal.  There really was no other way to describe it.  I really need to revise the Tochi rating system to add a new level below SUCKY.  After 20-30 steps of so, I’d have to stop to let my pounding heart rest.  I could still feel it pounding against chest. 

By the time I got to the aid station, I had the nurse check my pulse.  About 128bpm and I was offered the choice again.  I wanted to continue, so I grabbed a bottle of water and began my hobble again.  I never realized how long a kilometre can be until now.  I tried to calculate my pace… 2-3 steps per metre.  About 2 seconds per metre.   Rough calculations put me at 15-20 minutes per kilometre!  Screw the time now, I kept telling myself.

It was depressing seeing other runners pass me.  These were runners targeting for 4 hours plus, and what I would not have given to be able to jog at their pace now.  Every medic I ran into checked up on me to see if I was okay.  That reflective solar turkey wrapping does stick me out like a sore thumb on the course.  Although because of the blanket I got more than my normal share of encouragement from the crowd.  A fellow runner asked me whether I was protecting myself from the aliens. 

I have never been so happy to pass a kilometre marker.  Slowly but surely.  I was walking a lot better in the last few kilometres.  The steps were just as small, but I only had to stop to stretch my leg muscles.  With about two kilometres to go, I saw I had 15 minutes before the 5 hour limit.  I decided to give jogging a little a try to see if I could make it under 5 hours.  After 20 seconds or so, my breathing just was not there.  For the sake of my heart, I decided to leave the jogging till the last 500m.  

Around came the finish line.  There were markers every 100m starting from 500m leading into the cheering section.  Before the race, I had once envisioned at this point, I would have conserve enough energy in the last 2 km to sprint to the end with the wild crowd cheering.  The crowd thinned out by now (though there were still quite a few spectators).  I knew the official photographers and videographers were on hand to capture the finishing moment.  I converted my blanket into a cape, and broke into a light jog towards the line.  The jog was so slow still (since my gearbox broke and I was stuck in first gear), but I couldn’t have been happier when crossing that finish line. 

Official Time: 5:08:37.5 (Chip: 5:07:03.9), averaging  7:19 min/km.

Position: 3045    
Official Time: 5:08:37.5    
Official Pace: 7:19min/km
Chip Time: 5:07:03.9
Bib Number: 1712
Gender: 2013/2234
Gender/Age Results: 186/201
10k Split Time: 51:55
Half Marathon Split Time: 1:50:27
30k Split Time: 2:39:00

Well, there you have it.  The story of my race.

This post is already a lot longer than I expected, so I’ll wrap up with my feelings for the race in point form:

• I executed my race strategy to near perfection.
• My first 35km pace and timings were exceptional for me.
• The results were a let-down unfortunately.  The finishing time was quite horrible.
• Ironically, I did not feel like I ran a marathon at all.  I ran 36km and crawled 6km, not a full 42.2km.
• The finishers Medal is quite cool.  Two outer rings with a spinning maple leaf.
• My most happy take-away from this experience is that I am quite confident I can run a 4 hour marathon, even if I failed this time.  Realistically speaking, 3:45 seems doable.
• 3:10 Boston Marathon qualifying time is pretty much impossible.  Where am I going to find another 40 seconds / km? :(

So the two questions I’m asked most often.

1. What caused the heat exhaustion?  I’m not sure.  One thing I did not do at all was pour water on myself enough.  I probably did not drink enough fluids.  I did not have a hat.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  A combination of all of these, I guess.  I now know better though.
2. Will I run another marathon?  If I am medically cleared, I will run the Toronto Marathon in October.  I want a chance to redeem myself.

Well, I will end off with a bunch of thank you and miscellaneous notes that didn’t fit into the race recap.  First and foremost, thanks to MrMonk for researching and convincing me to run this race, and also all the motivation and sharing of hardships during the training months.  It was an experience I’ll never forget, for better or worse.  Thanks to his dad and sister too for their support and great hospitality.  Special thanks to my mom for putting up with my training routines, and ensuring I had the proper diets to support my running.  Thanks to all the friends and coworkers who showered me with words, acts of encouragement and food over these months.  And thanks to all the singers (Eason, Janice, Michael, etc) whose songs kept me company during all those long and boring runs!!

Miscellaneous notes

• It was only after my collapse that I thought about Formula 1, which was surprising in retrospect because the all important MONACO Grand Prix was happening during the marathon.  And yet, my first thought was that I now know how horrible Massa must have felt when he was having the most perfect race in Hungary last year until he was forced to park his car on the home straight with 3 laps to go.  His engine failed him and so did mine!!  Then I wondered how McLaren was doing in Monaco.  Why was I running this marathon again instead of sitting at home watching F1?
• I would have received a free running hat had I joined a Running Room event back in last December, and would have probably worn it during the race.  I was all up for signing up until I saw that it was a GREEN cap.  There was no way I was going to wear a green cap.  Ironic that I paid a heavy price several months later at the marathon.  However, it is probably better to die than to wear a green hat.
• IB, JZ and AA walked 2km from Finch to Steeles in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and told me afterwards that they had dedicated their walk as a “tribute to Tochi”. lol.. so touched.
• I heard some of the radio transmissions while being attended by the medics.  Some guy had collapsed at the 33km mark and was unconscious.  Another was vomiting uncontrollably.  It made me realize it could have been worse for me.
• During my long runs, because of the crappy weather we’ve had in Toronto, I realized I never did a 3 hour long training run in sunny warm weather.  Ever.  I was a total newb running in these “perfect” conditions.
• After reading up on heat exhaustion and heat stroke, I’m terribly fortunate that I ran into the medics at the onset of my symptoms and got out from under the sun.  That probably saved quite a bit of stress on my body.  Let’s just say some of the potential outcomes if I did not get treated are not very pleasant.
• My sister’s first reaction was “What the heck happened?!?!” when she saw my time on the website.  After I suggested she check the split times for 10k, half and 30k, she realized those times were amazing.  I’d only screwed up the end. sigh.