Usually I like to capture my thoughts on a race as soon as possible, but I'm glad I waited a day or two this time to give me a chance to get a little more perspective on my experience (although I'm sure many of the details have already started to slip away).
Despite walking away with the first place "Gold" medal in my age category, I wasn't feeling very positive about my performance on Saturday and was experiencing a great deal of what Jen describes as "Negative Self Talk" at crucial times in the duration of the race. This is very unusual for me given the fact that I always tell myself that I will continue to race inline as long as it's a fun experience for me. Some of that could be attributed to the rain, which was the most Rainiest I've experienced, but it's not like I haven't skated many events in rainy conditions at this point.
It was most definitely the heaviest rain conditions I have ever skated in, with the rain and the wind pelting at us as my pack skated through puddles that felt like they were the size of the Great Lakes.
With the weather forecast calling for rain all weekend, we all arrived with the expectation of skating in the rain. As Peter pointed out after the race, it was generally a very positive experience before the race started since everyone who showed up knew they had traveled this distance and reconciled that it would be a rain skate before they left home. So there was generally a very good attitude of acceptance and not too much complaining prior to the start.
A few of the Toronto area inline skaters were waffling as we were planning out ride-share/acomodations during the week before the race this weekend, and a handful opted out as I departed with Morgan and Sarah on Friday night. We got a few hours sleep at a hotel in Windsor just down the street from the border and headed across in the morning. Despite getting a chatty customs official, we arrived about an hour prior and had time to park, register and gear up. I was really happy to see quite a few Toronto Skaters had come out to this event after all... Peter, Herb, Munro, Stephen, Ed Duncan, and Richard were all there. It's always nice to be surrounded by your friends and team-mates at an event like this away from home. Particularly with Jen running in Ottawa this weekend.
Looking out the hotel window first thing in the morning, it was gray outside, but dry so we did allow ourselves some hope that we could beat the rain. No such luck as soon as we arrived and registered, the sky opened up and it began raining hard. It looked like no one was really warming up by skating in the rain, but I noticed Peter, Morgan and Sarah jogging with knees high around the sheltered areas outside the "Casino" building where we registered. So I did a few laps myself and a bit of stretching before I bladed up and headed out into the wet for the start line.
I pretty much determined that I would treat this like another training skate and see how my endurance held up given the conditions and the fact that I still haven't built up my "base" yet. My goal was to hang in the "chase" pack until the end. I didn't tear out of the starting gate, but was surprised to see the front pack was taking it easy, so I decided to sit in at the back as I caught up to it. It was a pretty easy start for everyone it appeared, and it didn't look like anyone was going too crazy as the first lap seemed to be a warm-up lap as folks tested out their "rain legs".
Sure enough, with the first surge half of the pack broke away and the rest of us regrouped, first as a smaller five or six person group before reeling in a few others and settling into a pack of about ten which lasted more or less for the duration of the race. The front pack had broken into what appeared to be two smaller packs, and the remaining packs seemed pretty far behind us as we spotted them on each of the turnarounds. So it was very important for me to hang in with this pack for the duration of the race.
After the first couple of laps I quickly assessed myself and realized that my problem areas after the Cincinatti Flying Pig Running Marathon seemed to be recurring as my shin/ankle/calf started bothering me. I was probably way too tense from trying to keep focused, stay in the pack and not falling in the rain, and I was also letting my technique fall apart whenever I hit the "panic" button. I kept telling myself to try and relax and just trust in the fact that I did have a better stride than most people in the pack and that I didn't need to panic when the gap opened up with surges depending on who was off the front. My muscles were starting to feel the strain, particularly after I pulled and had to fight to stay in the pack after I took my turn at the front. At this point my A-goal was to stay in this pack, particularly when we were fighting into the wind.
The next few laps weren't too bad, I made sure to eat a couple of Cliff Blocks and chase it with Gatorade. Skating in the rain, it's easy to forget to drink and get dehydrated. I tried to ignore the pain and cramping muscles as best I could and tried to keep my spirits up by cheering on my Team-mates and Friends from Toronto, and other skaters as they passed us going the other way.
I really started to get into trouble with two laps to go, I felt like I had hit "the wall", and struggled to keep it together and really could no longer keep the internal negative voices at bay. Gaps would open up and I was having more and more trouble closing them by getting lower and using my arms as I normally do. The humming bird leg speed that a few of the other skaters used to stay in the pack began to get a bit maddening for me as I struggled and tried to find positions in the pack behind someone with better technique than me.
Luckily it was a good sized pack, so I finally opted to try and hang on off the back after I realized that I would get dropped if had to take another pull. Of course the back of the pack also proved strenuous and problematic as the front of the pack as there were individuals who were hanging on using the "accordian" technique... allowing the gap to open up, surging to catch up and then running into the person in front. There was also the surges coming out of the turns where the front of the pack would open it up as soon as the rounded the corner and the back would have to cover that spread after every turnaround. All of this resulted in a great deal of wasted energy that I would need later to stay in.
I managed to coax myself and find strategic places in the pack until we hit the final turn before last half lap to finish line. Disaster struck and I felt the betrayal of my body. As we rounded the corner into the last straightaway there was another surge and I just couldn't move my legs in the manner that I needed to stay in. The Gap opened up and I watched it increase as the wind hit me like a wall and I slowed to a crawl as the pack started to get further away from me.
Since we had just came around the final turnaround, I knew that there was no packs behind me that I could catch a ride on, so I accepted the fact that I would have to slough it out solo through the final stretch. The wind and the rain had picked up again and a quick check of my Garmin showed that I was only averaging about 20km/hr at that point, which I managed to pick up a bit as I reeled in a gentleman who had still one lap to go, and invited him to hop into my draft. As I spotted the finish line, my companion rounded the turnaround to finish his last lap and I sprinted towards the finish shoot straight ahead of me. At least able to show a strong finish. What a relief it was to get over the finish line. I actually didn't feel too badly after stopping a moment to catch my breath and decided to go back and see if I could skate some of my teammates and friends in.
After getting dropped by my pack and basically staggering in at a crawl solo with the wind and rain against me, imagine my shock when I learned that I won my age category given the fact that it is generally filled with really fast people. In fact I was busy buying neoprene skate booties and bearings from Glenn at the BONT table when Morgan prodded me that they had called my name. Why would they call me? It was probably Ed Duncan they were looking for in his age category.
After the woman assured me that the medal was mine, I was still pretty confused at how I could have possible won the first place medal until Morgan pointed out that the packs that I skate with are all "Pro" category inline racers. So basically I won because I didn't check off a box in the entry form! I guess I can take comfort in the fact that I still don't skate like a "Pro" and I'm still wearing my old falling apart Roller Blade Lightning "Rec" skates and a camelback drink pouch (I finally managed to figure out how to pull off the "beak" of my helmet a few months back). Once I get my new Custom Racing boots, I guess I'll have to starting racing "Pro".
What made me feel better about my "win" was actually the very awkward incidence of having that win contested. A half hour after I got my medal, the woman who had awarded it to me called me over to the computer and informed me that I was not in fact that first place winner and that I would have to give the medal back. What an awful feeling!!! Particularly when you've been handed it in front of all your friends and peers in the first place. Part of me was thinking that I knew it was too good to be true and that I shouldn't have allowed myself to feel the pride I was feeling at wearing that medal around my neck like the pretender that I was. "You got caught for doping!" joked the guy who claimed to be the actual winner.
So I pulled the medal off and sheepishly gave it back. The woman asked me if I wanted to contest it, but I told her "nah"... why make this any more awkward than it already was? Another woman started fishing through her plastic baggie for the smaller "Silver" medal to give to me.
Luckily, my friend Stephen Fisher was standing there observing what had happened and cleared things up for us. He stepped in and pointed out that the "first place" gentleman had finished the race around the same time Stephen did... three minutes after I had already finished! I realized that he was contesting my "win" because he believed that he came in ahead of me because he thought he saw me "finish" behind him when I went back to cheer and skate Stephen and Ed Duncan in for their finish.
So they ended up giving the medal back to me and my "win" was confirmed. I also noted that he was wearing race boots and a skinsuit, so I reconciled the fact that I wasn't taking this medal away from a more deserving "Rec" Skater. At the end of the day however, since we had a mass start with everyone, and they didn't do separate starts for "Pro" and "Open" like in Duluth, it's all academic at best to try and make those kind of distinctions.
All in all, I felt pretty positive from this Detroit Marathon, and looking foward to coming back and doing it when it's dry. It's an excellent course and the folks are incredibly friendly. It was a great learning experience as the first marathon of the season.
Labels: Detroit Inline Marathon
