Margreet Dietz was supposed to relax for a few months after a successful Vancouver Marathon in early May, but she decided to go ahead and break a course record instead.

Dietz, 38, finished the seventh annual North Olympic Discovery Marathon in Port Angeles, Washington with a time of three hours 10 minutes 38.9 seconds to edge out the previous female record by 10 seconds on Sunday (June 7).

She completed her 11th career 42-km race 15th overall just five weeks after placing second in her category and 100th overall amongst nearly 3,000 participants in Vancouver with a time of three hours 10 minutes 19 seconds.

She usually waits about six months for her body to recover in between races, but a triathlete friend convinced her that she could handle the grind. And so she embarked on an intense speed training regime two weeks prior to the marathon despite having done little more than walk her dog since the Vancouver Marathon.

With a personal best time of three hours seven minutes 10 seconds, Dietz said she knew she was capable of breaking the record. Still, she wasn’t sure how her body would respond to racing again so quickly, she said.

“I was a bit sceptical because conventional wisdoms are there for a reason. So on the one hand, sure, it’s fun to challenge yourself and break the rules but on the other I didn’t want to be, for lack of a better word, arrogant and be sure I was going to do it. So I treated it like a bonus race,” she said.

Preparatory speed training around Squamish was difficult, said Dietz. It was made easier, however, by her partner Tim Moore, who is training for the 2009 Ironman Canada, which takes place Aug. 30. Dietz and Moore work hard to support each other through those “lazy” days.

“It helps to know what it takes to improve and therefore it helps to motivate each other when we need that extra push,” said Moore, adding that Dietz had to contend with having the wear and tear from the Vancouver Marathon fresh in her mind.

“Most people don’t realize what it takes mentally to force yourself to keep moving when it hurts or to delete the negative messages that pop up in your mind and concentrate on feeling great even when you feel awful.”

Pain hit around the 32-km mark of the race when Dietz took on a steep hill. A racer ahead of her resorted to walking but she ignored the temptation and kept pounding the pavement. No matter how tired she got she always made sure she kept running.

“After that, I could feel my body stiffen up so I just went into survival mode, and you just have to tell yourself to keep running and run as fast as you can,” she said.

Dietz plans on taking some serious time off before her next marathon. Still, she’s planning on running the Squamish Days 10-km Run in August and has her sights set on the Victoria Marathon in October.

Despite the pain and hard training, Dietz said, her racing comes down to a love for running and pushing her physical and mental limits.

“You want to make sure, with any sport you do, at the end of the day you do it because it’s fun.”