My second marathon is in the books! Lisa and I ran it in 4:10:37, a 14 minute PB for me! WOOHOO!!! Read on for all the mind-numbing details, aka my stream of consciousness.

About 5 weeks before…

I had this idea of getting matching t-shirts made for Lisa and I to run her first marathon. So I asked Parm to help me design something. He agreed right away without knowing what he was getting into!! Thanks Parm for your willingness to do anything for your running moms! 😂

I had a rough idea of what I wanted: something with a Bible verse, something with #solemates, and something with our IG handles. The entire creative process was done over FB Messenger. Parm was very patient with me as I gave him an endless amount of feedback until I was happy with the final design. At the same time, he also spent time visiting t-shirt printers for me to see where we could print the shirts.

One week before the race, we still weren’t able to find a printer who could source and print the design on a technical shirt so I decided to just print the design on a regular cotton shirt. Probably a good idea since the weather kept changing and I had no idea what we needed to wear on the day of. Despite not being able to wear it for the race, the shirts turned out great – I love them!

The week before…

We were fully tapering and even skipped our Thursday night run. It felt so weird to not run that night. I followed my own advice and had oatmeal every morning (to stay regular), lots of water (to stay hydrated), and tried to sleep as best as I could (to stay rested). I started getting excited about the race!

The day before…

Jim organized a 4km shakeout run followed by a potluck brunch. I’ve never ran such a short distance before with Jim and I was so confused/amused when we started turning back at 2km. It’s shorter than some of our warm up runs!

When we got back to the store, it was carb heaven! It was so great to fill up with all kinds of carbs: muffins, pies, waffles (aka pancakes with abs according to Jim🤣), fruit, ham and cheese roll thingies, cinnamon buns, juice, more muffins… There was so much food left over!

After the brunch, a bunch of us carpooled to the Expo to pick up our race kits. Lisa and I wore our matching shirts for the photo-ops. It’s all about the photo-ops!

After the Expo, I went home, gathered my stuff and posted my #flatrunner on Instagram. I love this part of the race routine!

Three hours before...

I woke up at 5:40am and did my morning routine and had my pre-race breakfast of PB&J. It was still pitch black out when I caught the bus to our meet-up point and we carpooled downtown to the start of the race. Thanks to our carpool drivers, we got there super early so we had lots of time to get organized. I love that we were not rushed. We checked our bags and stayed warm inside City Hall as more Ninjas joined us.

15 minutes to go…

We started walking to the start line and it was COLD! Lisa and I had agreed to wear a matching long sleeve top but based on the forecast being 2C (feels like -3C), I decided I also needed to wear a throwaway top and a garbage bag until the start of the race to stay warm. Thank goodness I had those layers.

We had told Haysook that we would be at the back of the blue (sub-4) corral but for some reason, I accidentally went to the green (4-4:15) corral instead. We saw the 4:10 pacer and I thought, “Oh he’s in the wrong corral!” but then Lisa told me that he was in the right corral. Turns out we were in the wrong corral. 😔Oh well. Everything happens for a reason. At least I got a picture with @that.runner_brian. Check out my garbage bag and flannel shirt look!

0-5km

There were a lot of people which forced us not to go out too fast. This was part of our plan. I tossed my garbage bag and flannel shirt around the 2k mark. The first 5k was a blur. We were just slightly faster than our target pace at the 5k mark. So far so good!

5-10km

We saw Amy and Sandra cheering us at about 7km. We also saw Gary and Jim run toward us on the other side at about 8-9k. It was so great to be able to see them pass by. I also saw Matt but, in a moment of runner’s brain (or lack thereof), I totally forgot his name! Missed opportunity to cheer for him. Sorry Matt!!!

10k – 21k

We saw Parm, Bridget, Melody, Tracey, and Luis while running this stretch which was a welcome distraction. I still had energy to chat with each of them which was a good sign.

It was cool that Melody met Lisa for the first time while running.

Unfortunately, we also ran past a girl who was off to the side, doubled over, and hurling 🤮.

I took a photo of Lisa as we passed the CN Tower because…priorities. 🤣🤣🤣

At about the 20km mark, I saw @jeffaran waving at us. Even though we have never met in real life before, I recognized him almost immediately. It’s so surreal to meet someone for the first time but feel like we kind of already know each other.

Around this time, my ankles started to hurt… 😭😭😭

21-25k

I continued to pay attention to my ankle hoping the pain would go away. It didn’t. 😩😩😩

We saw Ravi and Matt (I remembered his name this time! 😉) in this stretch which was another welcome distraction.

Lisa was starting to run ahead of me at this point so I knew I was slowing down because of my ankle. I finally told her that my ankles were hurting and to go ahead if she wanted to but of course she stayed with me. Thanks for staying with me even though you could have run faster! You are the best #solemate!! 😭😭😭

26-33k

Where the @#$% is the turnaround point???? I kept on thinking they must have changed the route because when we came down on Thanksgiving Monday to do the 2nd half of this route, I didn’t think we were that far from the turnaround point.

At this stretch, we saw Jim (for the 2nd time), Benson, Nivia, and my friend Jane with her boys. Again, all good distractions because my ankles were quite angry by this point…

I was worried that my ankles were going to give out completely. What if I can’t finish? What if I get injured like what happened after San Francisco? What if I get permanently injured and can’t run again ever? So many irrational thoughts…must have been because all the blood was going to my ankles and not my brain! 😅

We also saw way more race photographers in the 2nd half when the crowds thinned out. Of course, despite my pain, we took the opportunity to pose whenever we saw a photographer. I can still smile through the pain!

33-40k

We finally made it to the turn around point!! We saw my friend Jane and her sons again on our way back and got some much needed high-five energy from them.

Luis passed us during this stretch. He still looked strong while I looked like this…🤣🤣🤣

At 38km, my colleague Catherine took this video. I was very focused (on my ankles) until I heard her say my name. Another much needed boost of energy!

A few more poses for the photographers. Look at the poor guy behind us.

Heart didn’t show up with my gloves. #heartfailure

Tried to do the ninja gang sign but my pinky wasn’t cooperating.

40k to Finish Line

This was where we were expecting to see the Ninja Cheersquad. And right on cue, they were waiting for us at Wellington and Bay. They had the best high-five line set up just waiting to give us that last push to the finish.

It was so great to see them. They definitely helped me forget my ankle pain (at least for a bit) as I high-fived them all.

The last km seemed so long. They had markers every 100m starting at 500m. For some reason, I started to think how fast Usain Bolt would be able to do these 100m stretches and question why I was so much slower than him. I know…I was completely delusional and delirious at this point.

Somehow we got to the finish and even managed a small jump at the end.

It was awesome to finish with Lisa. I could not have kept this pace if she wasn’t pushing me for the 2nd half of the race! Thanks again for staying with me!!

Through the chute…

After this, we got our medals, foil blankets, and took lots of photos.

This whole crew finished at about the same gun time.

When we exited the chute, it looked like the arrival area at the airport. Lisa and I started joking that there’s never anyone waiting for us at the airport, so we didn’t expect to see anyone waiting for us. But to our surprise, we saw Jim, Gillian, and @jeffaran waiting for us! 😍😍😍

Jim was like a proud coach. He has been such a big part of our journey – I was so happy to see him there. Gillian has the biggest heart out of all the Ninjas, always there to cheer everyone on. And @jeffaran, a complete stranger but not really, was also there waiting for us to finish! I feel so loved by our running family!

Post-race photos

Of course, we had to take advantage of various photo opportunities in the finish area. Despite the cold, we lined up to take these shots.

We met @reinyroo in the line-up. Another fellow instarunner! So glad she said hi.

Last but not least, here’s the money shot.

Post-race lunch

After all the photos, we went inside to warm up and checked in to see where everyone else was. They decided to meet at Marche which normally isn’t a far walk but it probably took me 15 minutes to hobble there because my hips were seizing in the cold. I have never felt that pain before. Luckily, as soon as we got inside and warmed up, the pain went away.

Marche was the worst restaurant choice ever because we had to walk around to get our food. Who’s brilliant idea was that?? 😂😂😂 At least the food was good!

Here’s the crew that stuck around. I love this Ninja family!!! 😘😘😘

Nutrition log:

• Pre-run: PB&J 2 hours before
• Mid-run: half a pack of Gu Chews, 4 Endurance Taps, Nuun, Water
• Post-run: Greek yogurt, Granola bar, banana
• Post-post run: lamb kabobs, mashed potatoes, asparagus, green smoothie

2 days after…

Ankles and hips feel better. Yay! The only thing still sore are my quads, especially going down stairs and sitting down (on the potty). Totally normal.

Epilogue

So glad I did this with Lisa and she did it with me. Can’t believe I did 2 marathons this year. Looking forward to many more!

As a bonus for reading to the end, here’s a joke courtesy of Lisa:

Q: Why can’t runaddicts go to rehab?

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A: Because they would run away.

Thanks for reading to the end!!