Baystate Long Run

Not much to say about this one. I was ready. I was rested. I had some nice races leading up to it that convinced me I was on track for a PR. My plan was simple. It was either going to be a goal race or it was going to be a 3+hr long run. I went with plan B. For whatever reason it wasn't going to happen yesterday. I knew it early on but pushed ahead as long as I could. Baystate broke my goal but not my spirits!

Mile 26 - photo credit Scott Mason

I was VERY thankful to all the Gate City Striders out there cheering us on and offering words of encouragement. They were everywhere! They helped me keep a positive attitude throughout the entire race and even have a little fun (I tagged off to the next runner at the Gate City Tent (Lowell Boat House) hoping this was Mill City Relays but no one took off so I had to finish the last 3 miles instead). Scotty "you will soon be an Ironman" Graham was everywhere as well, shadowing me on his bike on my second loop for a while. I was going so slow at that point that he was having a hard time staying upright on his bike. I think he said it looked like I was carrying a piano on my back....only 6 more miles to go! Gee, thanks Scott!

I won't bore you with my splits. I will say I was running fairly consistent 6:40's right through mile 14. Five miles later I was running 8:15's, all the way to the finish. It wasn't a death march and I didn't cramp up, I just couldn't run any faster. I finished in 3:10:44.

Surprisingly my legs feel pretty good today. Maybe it's because I run my long runs faster. Glad it's over. Now I can get back to running and not training!

Baystate Marathon Race Report

I don't run marathons that often. In fact this was only my 4th one and my 1st in nearly 5 years. I was blessed to have run a BQ on my very first marathon attempt in 2002 at the Vermont City Marathon (3:12). My two follow up attempts have pretty much sucked and I easily changed my mindset to "I hate the marathon". I don't even think it's the distance. I think it has more to do with the specialized training with so much focus on miles and of course the taper. Any other time of the year I just run. I don't specifically 'train' for anything. I enjoy running. But a marathon changes that. It seems every run you do has a purpose and everything is about training. I no longer just 'run', I train. Screw that. Hence my dislike for the marathon.

So what the heck am I doing signing up for another one you ask? Easy. It's all about goals. I always thought I was capable of running a sub 3hr marathon given the right conditions. Well the planets aligned this year. I've had a great running season, been injury free and I always wanted to run a fall marathon (better weather conditions for me). So Baystate was the obvious choice. It is only about 1/2 hr from home, fairly inexpensive and probably most important, flat.

Finally, the report:
Sunday was a beautiful day, sunny but a little on the cold side. Temps at the start were near 30 and I doubt it ever got much above 40 throughout the race. That's ok by me since I much prefer cold temps to warm temps any day. The wind is the biggest x factor on a course like Baystate though. Running up and down both sides of the Merrimack River doesn't provide a lot of shelter from the wind. This proved more than true later in the race.
I parked right at the start in the garage which was nice. I stayed nice and warm (and relaxed) in my car right up to the start of the race. No warm up for me either. I figured the pace would be easy enough (initially) that it probably wasn't required. The early miles would get my legs warmed up.
My strategy was as simple as it gets. In order to run a sub 3hr marathon I'd have to average 6:52 min/mile and since the course was relatively flat I figured a consistent pace was at least doable.
For the first 1/2 of the marathon I ran with various runners with similar goals (3:00 to 3:05 goal). We did a decent job of sticking to the pace and racked up one 6:52 after another. If we had a 'fast' mile we'd scale it back on the next. If we had a 'slow' mile we'd pick it up on the next. It was a very comfortable pace and I was feeling pretty good. Deb and the kids were at mile 8ish on the first loop and at mile 17 on the second loop. I'm glad they came out to watch. I took off my long sleeve shirt on the first loop and stuck with the tank top for the rest of the way.
Although I was running with a pack I never let them dictate the pace (at least not my pace). I stuck to my plan running consistent miles and let a few runners go who would pick up the pace. I would reel them in later. I also started to drop a few. By mile 15 I was pretty much running alone and that was unfortunate. The wind was picking up and I had no one to shelter some of the wind. It was a screwy wind too. It 'seemed' to be a headwind on BOTH sides of the Merrimack. Definitely stronger on the East side heading back towards Lowell. It was brutal during the last 4-5 miles and was really depressing. No shelter, legs are tired and a stupid headwind to beat you down. I did not let up though and continued to at least try to maintain the pace. The effort increased dramatically but I knew I was on pace or better for most of the race. I never assumed it was in the bag though, not even with 1 mile to go. My calves were sore and cramps were still a real possibility but I continued to push the pace. In fact the last mile was my fastest of the day (6:31 pace).
It was an awesome feeling entering the stadium, knowing I was well within my 3hr goal. I crossed the line at 2:58:34 (gun time) for a 2:58:29 net time. I was tired but all things considered I felt great! I spotted Deb and the kids in the stands and they were very excited I had met my goal as well. This was the best I've ever felt after a marathon. I could not have scripted this any better (other than the friggin wind at the end). Everything went exactly as planned. A near perfect race.

My spits: (with 5 mile times as well)

mile 1 6:46
mile 2 6:38
mile 3 6:53
mile 4 6:52
mile 5 6:52 (34:01 5-mile )

mile 6 6:54
mile 7 6:53
mile 8 6:46
mile 9 6:52
mile 10 6:51 (34:16 5-mile)

mile 11 6:49
mile 12 6:44
mile 13 6:52
mile 14 6:33
mile 15 6:57 (34:54 5-mile)

mile 16 6:43
mile 17 6:57
mile 18 6:39
mile 19 6:47
mile 20 6:49 (33:54 5-mile)

mile 21 6:52
mile 22 6:56
mile 23 6:49
mile 24 6:57
mile 25 6:56 (34:29 5-mile)

mile 26 6:31
mile .2 1:23

FINISH: 2:58:29
1st half: 1:29:24
2nd half: 1:29:05

Complete results can be found here -->Baystate Marathon Results

Baystate Marathon 2:58.29!!!

Just a quick note about my marathon this morning. Everything went PERFECT!. My average pace never changed by more than 2 seconds throughout the entire race. Just a really consistent effort so I was VERY pleased.

1st half: 1:29:24
2nd half: 1:29:05

The weather was pretty good but we had a horrible headwind during the last 4-5 miles of the race. Other than that, no complaints about the day.

More later...

11 Days Until Baystate Marathon

These last few weeks before the marathon are killing me. I just want to get out there and run. Actually, I just want to get out there and finish so I can move on. So much effort and focus goes into one race. That's the problem I have with marathons, all my training revolves around this one race. I can't be spontaneous. It seems every run has to have a purpose. What fun is that? :-)

I like to run when I feel good, rest when I'm tired and most importantly wait until the last second before signing up for a race. All that is on hold, at least for 11 more days.

Not Exactly What I Planned for 2008

First off let me say that I started this year with a goal to stay healthy and avoid running injuries and have a good time. As of today, mission accomplished! I give a lot of the credit to snow shoeing early in the season and my focus on trail running in the spring. My weekly mileage has been manageable and more importantly consistent.

So where do I go from here? Well I love to challenge myself. My challenge last week was to see if I could beat my PR in the 1/2 marathon, which I set in 2005 at the exact same course (Swanzey Covered Bridges 1/2 Marathon). I've been waffling on whether to run a fall marathon so I figured I needed a physical test to help convince me one way or the other. The challenge was if I PR'd I'd commit to a fall marathon.

Well I didn't PR....but. I was very pleased with my results. It turned out to be much warmer than I expected AND I made no attempt to taper leading up to this race. I trained just like an other week leading up to it. So with all that I managed to run just 30 seconds off my PR finishing in 1:24:50 and I ran the 2nd half over a minute faster than the first half.

So I've decided to run a fall marathon. Specifically I've decided to run the Baystate Marathon. I didn't run my 1st marathon until 2002 and I was fortunate enough to qualify for Boston on my first attempt. Since then I've run two more and each has been slower than the last. My last attempt was over 5 years ago. So my goal this time is not just to finish a marathon, my goal is at the very least to PR (<3:12) and ultimately to break 3hrs. I'm not sure if it's realistic or not but I'm going to try this one time.

In the meantime I need to get ready for Reach the Beach next week!