Ottawa Race Weekend.

Hi there,

Sorry I haven't been posting of late - been travelling and had a few other life elements interfere. Still kept running, though.

OK. So. Ottawa Marathon. Been there, run that.

It was sublime and I loved it. Everyone kept saying, "Paul, this is your first. Just enjoy it" and I did. From the time that I got I'm on my way by Uni and her Ukulele followed by our song of the run Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by George Harrison (also played on Uke), I had a smile and just felt like a million dollars. There were people lining the streets, starting at 7:00 AM just to cheer us on. I must have high fived more kids yesterday than I have ever done before and I thanked every volunteer that I interacted with - they were great.

OK, so the run itself. The first part was around some residential parts of Ottawa and then out to Gatinueau which, is hilly and had some construction going on (but the crowds were there and great too!) and then over onto Sussex Drive and around in a loop out to the Rideau Canal where we linked up with the 1/2 Marathoners who started about 2 hours after us. We then separated from them and carried further down the canal, crossed it and came back to the finish line.

In terms of my performance. I had no idea what to expect and was hoping just to finish. My expected best case time was around 5:40 minutes or "four hours, one hundred minutes" and I was doing very well for the first 26 km - 10:1 all the way, coming in at the half Marathon point with a time of 2:23, which isn't bad for me. At 26 km, I had to walk for a couple of km but then started up with a run/walk strategy of 7:4 and continued that past 30 km (with a time which beat my Around the Bay performance by 10 minutes) and then onto 40 km which happened at just under 4 hours. I then was pretty spent and walked the next 1.5 km starting to run again at the 750 m point, finishing, I think, strongly, with an unexpectedly good time of 5:19:20.

OK - some people to mention.

This race is dedicated to my best friend, mentor and older brother, Harvey Day. It was Harvey who got me into running back in 1997 and I have never looked back since. China - thanks for everything!

I really want to thank Barbara, James and Andrew for coming to Ottawa with me and getting up early to cheer me on. They are always there for me and I want to tell them how much I love and appreciate them.

I want to thank all of my friends who have been cheering me on Inge, Jan, Arne and Anniken (the BSC crowd), Dieter and Erika (the Neuss Crowd), Anne and Karen (the Coehill Crowd), Jamie, Jade Jo Laura and Scot (the Hamilton Crowd), the folks at eSCRIBE and MGCG, and finally my mum.

I also want to say that part of this race should be assigned, with great honour to Agnes, my sons' grandmother. She is fighting a much more difficult battle than a Marathon right now and is on a journey that only ends one way. Bon Voyage, Agnes. I also want to send my best wishes to her three children, Margaret, Dorothy and Tom, and her five grandsons in what is, I know, a difficult time.

Well, all that said, there is the lingering question - will I do another Marathon? It is very training intensive and finding the time is difficult. I know I will continue to run 1/2 Marathons but another full? If you would have asked me on Saturday I probably would have said no but my experience was so great I am not so sure. I plan to think it over and may try to run Ottawa again next year - we will see.

So, couple of weeks off then I am teaching the Beaches Running Room 1/2 Marathon course with a target race of the Scotia 1/2 Marathon on October 16. I will be running that day but I personally will be running in Cardiff at the Lloyd's Cardiff 1/2 Marathon.

Stay tuned and thanks for following my blog!

Paul