Niagra Fallsview Casino Marathon report

[The Moose]

After what seemed like 15 minutes of sleep (actually 7 full hours) I awoke with a start.  I knew things could only go up when I found that my last pair of contacts had a tear in them.  Oh well, in they went, no pain, things are already looking up.  Off to the Hortons for food and coffee, then on the bus to Buffalo.  30 minutes at the border because asking 3 times for ID before we left isn't enough for everybody, then to the Art gallery for a little over an hour.  Culture and racing?????
The rain started in earnest just 10 minutes before the starters gun, then, soaked, off we went.  A quick loop up the street then back then up again (totalled a mile) and through the nicest part of Buffalo I've ever seen (not saying much, but it was beautiful).
Mile 5 saw the Peace Bridge, the last uphill I would enjoy in this run, I'd rather run up here all day then the little rolls of the Niagara Parkway.  Miles 6 and 7 saw the rain and wind pick up appreciably and I stopped cursing my choice of long sleeves, I actually started thinking about asking Damon for my gloves back for a few minutes.  All in all, these first 8 miles may have been my undoing, because life suddenly got worse.
Although the wind and rain had dropped to a breeze and drizzle, the sharp pain in my left knee gave me a much darker outlook on my race day.  The 7:30 - 8:20 pace of the first 7 miles had suddenly dropped to well above 9 minutes, and climbing.  By mile 16 Damon thought I was catching a bus, and left to pursue his own demons, while I struggled on.  Trying my best to keep moving, and keep the smile planted on my face, I dreamed of letting the current of the Niagara float me to the finish.  I met lots of interesting people, including Paul from Barrie who was running his first, struggling to show his new family how strong he was by finishing his first marathon.  Paul and I talked for several miles until he needed to take a break that I couldn't allow myself, walking breaks are habit forming, especially when your battered body is begging you to do the sensible thing...stop.
By mile 20 my walk breaks had doubled from once every 2 miles, to every mile, and sometimes more depending on the terrain, and the rain came back so cold it felt like hail (that's hail with an "a").
Mile 24 may be the longest mile on the planet, I was even struggling to walk at this point, yet I forced myself to continue, managing about 50 meters at a time, smiling.  By mile 25 I could see the Skylon tower, the hotels, and the spray from the Falls, I even got a glimpse of Table Rock and knew I was close.  The road suddenly started dipping down, and I bit my tongue to distract myself from the pain in my legs.  With 1km to go I promised myself I wouldn't stop again until the finish, the promptly proved myself a liar.  I nearly quit right there, until some nice lady grabbed my arm and said, "you've got less than 1km to go, and we're going to finish this together."  So off I went again.  I've never experienced such pain (and no, I have no plans to give birth ladies), yet with her encouragement I managed to keep moving.  With about 200 meters to go the finish was in plain sight, Paul caught up and I said one last "Thank You" to both of them before I said "there's the finish, come on, lets see what you've got".  I honestly thought the two of them would blow right past me at that point, but as I came into the last 15 meters I turned my head to find myself...alone.  I've never had a more painful race that I finished running.  I'd even go so far as to say that my 5 hour adventure at PEC was a less painful experience, and I couldn't take a running step at the end of that race.

After all that griping and groaning, a hard day, but a good one.  My chip time was just under 4 hours (3:59:46.1).  My splits 1:48:07 and 2:12:10.  Far from my worst times, and only a little way from my best.

So, thanks to Damon and Paul, and the mystery woman, and to the old Greek guy.  Without all your help I think that hard day could have easily been a bad day.

Lessons learned:
1. It rains alot at this race (3 years in a row)
2. The Niagara Parkway is not flat or all downhill.
3. I still haven't reached my limit for pain.  Just when I thought I couldn't possibly go another step, I picked up speed.
4. No more marathons 4 weeks apart.
5. 7:50/mile pace isn't much faster than 8min mile, unless its at the beginning of a marathon that you hope to maintain an 8 min mile in, then it's way too fast.
6. The people you meet are half the fun of going.  (That was for the benefit of the heaphoners.)
7. Raisin Bran is still not my friend (No Raisin Bran, no problems.)
8. Parking in Niagara Falls is criminally expensive unless you're a gambler.
9. It must be great fun to hang around at the finish of a marathon and watch all the people shuffle along because they can't lift their legs.
10. Buffalo is still Buffalo.

[Sandy]

Great report Mike.  I too have met some of the most interesting people at the Niagara marathon and I have to say I agree whole heartedly with points 1, 2, 6 and 10.  Love the race but wish it was earlier in the month.  My fav race there was my first when it was a loop from the casino.

Well congrats on sticking it out when you would have rather jumped over the falls.  Time to recover and take care of what sounds like (?) ITBS.

[Jane]

Mike, you still finished in just under four hours with all that pain???  Wow.  I expected that you were going to say it took you 5-1/2 hrs.  You must have been walking with aggression.  It is obvious from your splits that something did force you to slow down in the last half.  But still a VERY respectable marathon time in my books.  And especially four weeks after another marathon!  That's amazing in itself!

You learn something at every race, don't you?  You learned 10 things!!  One for every 4K! 

How did Damon do?

[The Moose]

Damon got a 3:45:01 out of it.  His personal best for this course.

The walking wasn't so much with aggression, I just tried to keep a clock on my walking time and keep them as short as possible.

As for the knees, lots of ice and Motrin.  I'll be at the Fat Ass...

Thanks for all the support.

Mike

[Derek]

After what seemed like 15 minutes of sleep (actually 7 full hours) I awoke with a start.  I knew things could only go up when I found that my last pair of contacts had a tear in them.  Oh well, in they went, no pain, things are already looking up.  Off to the Hortons for food and coffee, then on the bus to Buffalo.  30 minutes at the border because asking 3 times for ID before we left isn't enough for everybody, then to the Art gallery for a little over an hour.  Culture and racing?????
The rain started in earnest just 10 minutes before the starters gun, then, soaked, off we went.  A quick loop up the street then back then up again (totalled a mile) and through the nicest part of Buffalo I've ever seen (not saying much, but it was beautiful).
Mile 5 saw the Peace Bridge, the last uphill I would enjoy in this run, I'd rather run up here all day then the little rolls of the Niagara Parkway.  Miles 6 and 7 saw the rain and wind pick up appreciably and I stopped cursing my choice of long sleeves, I actually started thinking about asking Damon for my gloves back for a few minutes.  All in all, these first 8 miles may have been my undoing, because life suddenly got worse.
Although the wind and rain had dropped to a breeze and drizzle, the sharp pain in my left knee gave me a much darker outlook on my race day.  The 7:30 - 8:20 pace of the first 7 miles had suddenly dropped to well above 9 minutes, and climbing.  By mile 16 Damon thought I was catching a bus, and left to pursue his own demons, while I struggled on.  Trying my best to keep moving, and keep the smile planted on my face, I dreamed of letting the current of the Niagara float me to the finish.  I met lots of interesting people, including Paul from Barrie who was running his first, struggling to show his new family how strong he was by finishing his first marathon.  Paul and I talked for several miles until he needed to take a break that I couldn't allow myself, walking breaks are habit forming, especially when your battered body is begging you to do the sensible thing...stop.
By mile 20 my walk breaks had doubled from once every 2 miles, to every mile, and sometimes more depending on the terrain, and the rain came back so cold it felt like hail (that's hail with an "a").
Mile 24 may be the longest mile on the planet, I was even struggling to walk at this point, yet I forced myself to continue, managing about 50 meters at a time, smiling.  By mile 25 I could see the Skylon tower, the hotels, and the spray from the Falls, I even got a glimpse of Table Rock and knew I was close.  The road suddenly started dipping down, and I bit my tongue to distract myself from the pain in my legs.  With 1km to go I promised myself I wouldn't stop again until the finish, the promptly proved myself a liar.  I nearly quit right there, until some nice lady grabbed my arm and said, "you've got less than 1km to go, and we're going to finish this together."  So off I went again.  I've never experienced such pain (and no, I have no plans to give birth ladies), yet with her encouragement I managed to keep moving.  With about 200 meters to go the finish was in plain sight, Paul caught up and I said one last "Thank You" to both of them before I said "there's the finish, come on, lets see what you've got".  I honestly thought the two of them would blow right past me at that point, but as I came into the last 15 meters I turned my head to find myself...alone.  I've never had a more painful race that I finished running.  I'd even go so far as to say that my 5 hour adventure at PEC was a less painful experience, and I couldn't take a running step at the end of that race.

After all that griping and groaning, a hard day, but a good one.  My chip time was just under 4 hours (3:59:46.1).  My splits 1:48:07 and 2:12:10.  Far from my worst times, and only a little way from my best.

So, thanks to Damon and Paul, and the mystery woman, and to the old Greek guy.  Without all your help I think that hard day could have easily been a bad day.

Lessons learned:
1. It rains alot at this race (3 years in a row)
2. The Niagara Parkway is not flat or all downhill.
3. I still haven't reached my limit for pain.  Just when I thought I couldn't possibly go another step, I picked up speed.
4. No more marathons 4 weeks apart.
5. 7:50/mile pace isn't much faster than 8min mile, unless its at the beginning of a marathon that you hope to maintain an 8 min mile in, then it's way too fast.
6. The people you meet are half the fun of going.  (That was for the benefit of the heaphoners.)
7. Raisin Bran is still not my friend (No Raisin Bran, no problems.)
8. Parking in Niagara Falls is criminally expensive unless you're a gambler.
9. It must be great fun to hang around at the finish of a marathon and watch all the people shuffle along because they can't lift their legs.
10. Buffalo is still Buffalo.

Great report Mike. I think that was a good time with an injury. That sucks with three years in a roll with rain. Yes thank god for friends that pull you through a tough and not a  good day. And for Damon WTG for your new crouse time. Bye for now see you at the fatass i'm going into the 25k.  WTG Mike.

[Janet]

Hey Moose,
  Great race report!  Sorry the race wasn't such a great race, but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger right?  So, the lesson I learned from all of this is don't do a marathon 4 weeks after a previous marathon , and always take the time to talk to others during a race, they may be just the inspiration/motivation you need to get through.  Don't know how you finished with knee pain since the early beginnings of the race, think I might have hung my head, jumped on a bus, and gambled my sorrows away in the nice dry warm casino. . So I enjoyed the report, don't know if this would be a race I would think about doing( 3years of rain, must be due for some sunshine soon right?), but will keep it in mind. 
 So Moose, are you planning on volunteering at the fat ass, or running some crazy amount like 25km ?

Janet

[patti]

The weather at that race always seems to be so rainy and cold.  I have done that race three times and only once did the sun shine....ten minutes before I crossed the finish line.
Well done Mike.
patti

[Petra]

That was a great report.  Congratulations on finishing despite all the pain.  And I'm with Jane, that time is nothing to sneeze at.
I ran the 5k there 2 years ago, I think that was about the only time it didn't rain for half an hour or so.
But I remember thinking how awesome it would be to be able to run a Marathon, starting in the States, into Canada.
It sounds like you got a lot out of it, despite everything.