Penguin World Conference IV
Toronto, Canada
May 24 to 27, 2002The first international Penguin encounter and the first encounter outside of the United States
Race Report from Maureen Pecknold of Toronto...
Date: Mon May 27, 2002
Subject: Re: [tprc] Race Report PWC4
After having run my second marathon, I get the distinct impression that you can never REALLY know (I mean deep down know) you have trained enough to successfully complete 42.2K. That is, not until you actually go out and do it. Three weeks after my daughter was born (on September 11, 2001) I tentatively set out on my first run. It was painful, but slowly I worked myself up to a fairly comfortable 5K. In January 2002 I decided it was time to stop dawdling and start training in earnest for what would be my second marathon. In peak weeks I was running from 60 to 70 km, which was more than I had ever run before, and my times kept improving from event to event as I got closer to the Penguin conference.
The last 3 weeks leading up to Burlington I kept second guessing myself. Had I done enough long runs? Would I be able to set and follow a reasonable pace? The temptation to just go out and RUN was almost unbearable!!! But I stuck to the plan and survived the taper period.
Starting out on Sunday the pace seemed so easy. It was hard not to push! I knew by the time 30K had rolled around I would no longer feel that way, so I forced myself to be conservative. After the halfway mark, I couldn't believe how well things were going. I was on pace for a 4:45 marathon, 40 minutes faster than the last one! As before, the rough spot hit from about 28-32K, when I knew I had gone too far to quit, but the end seemed nowhere in sight. Thank goodness for the Penguin water station, which was an UNBELIEVABLE picker upper at 39K!!!
The last 3K were a bit of a slog, but I felt pretty darn good as I crossed the finish line at 4:45:37. My pace was more than a minute faster than it had been at CIM 1998 for my first marathon. If having my first baby took 40 minutes off my marathon time, I should be well on track for a 4 hour marathon next time!!!!
Thanks for all your support, my fellow flightless fowl and wonderful winged wonders. I could never get through all those long runs without you. My one 32K run on the treadmill has taught me beyond any doubts how wonderful it is to have all of you to train with!
Mau
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