RACE REVIEW:HARTFORD MARATHON #37

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."

~ Arnold Shawrzenegger

On Saturday I ran my 37th marathon in Hartford, CT.  My goal was to "crush it", as my friend, Halston suggested.  Ideally, I wanted to finish in under 3 hours but truly I just wanted to run strong and have fun.  I had a really solid training block for this one and after talking to my coach, I felt cautiously optimistic.  I was heading down to CT on Friday afternoon with my Whirlaway teammate Lauren and her sister Meghan and then the next morning we were meeting up with our other teammates, Allyson and Katy who were also racing.  So it was a run-family affair, which always makes these things more exciting.  Normally I like to arrive at a race with enough time to grab my number and then sit and relax a bit before turning in.  That was just not an option this time as I had XC practice before I left and really wanted to be there for that.  So, I ate dinner in the car and attempted to roll out my legs with a tennis ball as we sat in traffic.  We pulled into Hartford around 6:15pm.  When we arrived at the expo I was surprised to see a life sized poster of myself from last year's race.  They had not told me they were doing this and I was humbled if not a wee bit embarrassed.  But, also, it's kind of cool and Lauren insisted on the photo.  After we got our bibs and shirts we made our way up to our hotel rooms for the rest of the evening making plans to meet up in the morning to walk over to the start together.  

My race gear was out and ready to go.  I ran the same race last year and when we got started the temps were in the 30s so I brought throw away clothes and an old blanket to keep myself warm in case it was cold again this year.  Shivering before a race starts is no bueno.  I ate one more small meal and drank the rest of the Powerade that I'd bought earlier that afternoon as a way to get some more calories in later in the day.  More on this later.

I was in bed at 8:00pm and out by 8:30. Nothing new there.  The race was starting at 8:00am so I set my alarm for 5:00 so I could wake up, enjoy some coffee, eat some oatmeal and have time to relax and digest before making my way over.  It was a very easygoing morning for me and I was happy to be starting things off feeling pretty relaxed both physically and mentally.  I met Lauren and Meghan along with our friend Mary down in the lobby at 6:50 and the three of us walked over to meet up with Katy and Allyson. 

 

Pre-race with Mary, Lauren and Megan

The weather was pretty perfect.  It was in the 50s and cloudy.  I was very happy about this.  We found the tent and our friends, dropped our bags and spent some time getting organized and ready to walk over to the line.  So far, the day had been hassle free and I was really grateful for this as my nerves were now kicking into high gear.  Around 7:45 the race organizers gathered us up and led us over to the start corral.  Ready or not.  It was go time.

Calm before the storm

THE RACE:

Miles 1-5 (6:44, 6:51, 6:50, 6:39, 6:43, 6:43)

I was standing next to my teammate, Allyson, who was aiming to run the same time as I was as well as next to a lovely gal named Maria who told me she was also shooting for this pace.  It's always nice to have some people that share your goal to work with, at least for the start of the race.  At 8:00am the gun blew and we were rolling.  It's easy to start off too fast on this course because the beginning is downhill so it's key to reign yourself in and make sure you don't get too excited.  Very similar to Boston that way.  The three of us locked into step together and began cruising.  We checked in on our first couple miles and after finding a good rhythm we put ourselves into cruise control.  The pace felt good, my body was happy, my mind was sharp.  I was really good.  Like, better than usual.  We rolled through some water stops and passed cups back and forth without issue.  Things were right where I wanted them to be.

Miles 6-10 (6:43, 6:43, 6:42, 6:45, 6:50)

Still right on pace, I began to whisper some mantras to myself.  Breathe.  Stay calm.  Find your flow.  And so on.  Around mile 8 I felt like I needed to use the bathroom.  No big deal.  I've done this often mid-race and have figured out how to zip in and zip out in just seconds.  I wasn't worried, though I wasn't seeing a porto anywhere and started to get a little preoccupied with the situation.  At mile 10 I finally saw one and I let Allyson know my plan and wished her good luck.  Sucks to loose your pace buddy but sucks more to be uncomfortable.  So I dealt really fast, as planned, and hopped back in without losing much time.

Miles 11-21 (7:05, 6:53, 6:56, 7:05, 7:16, 7:16, 7:31, 7:29, 7:27, 7:37, 7:33)

For the first couple miles post-break I was fine.  But then, I wasn't.  It was my stomach.  I started to feel nauseous.  And with each mile, it got worse.  I'd taken two gels at this point and was going to need at least two more.  When I tried to take my third I gagged.  It was not going down.  Obviously, I was slowing.  I felt like the more I moved the worse it felt so I tried to ease up on pace and keep my motion to a minimum.  Now I was stressed.  It was a serious dilemma.  I needed the fuel.  But I could not take the fuel.  I was taking baby sips of water and trying to just eat the gel little bits at a time.  But the nausea was getting worse and now I was just wondering if I could hold on until the finish.  Around mile 19, a lovely gal, who I would later learn was named Colleen, pulled up next to me and asked how I was doing.  I told her I couldn't keep anything down and didn't know what to do.  She felt bad, asked if I needed elctrolytes or wanted to try one of her gels instead of what I had.  She talked to me for about 2 miles and told me not to freak out if I ended up having to puke and rally.  She tried to get me to keep up with her but I just kept feeling worse until she finally pulled ahead.  I might have cried a little here.  Happens.

Mile 22 - 26.2 (8:03, 7:54, 7:51, 8:03, 8:23, 7:32)

And then my stomach waved the white flag.  I had to pulled over to the side and everything came out.  I won't go into detail, but I did notice that it was orange which I thought was odd because I'd only been drinking clear liquid (water and UCan) on the course.  After that I took a second to reset and then started back up.  Honestly, I felt notably better.  But, I was now very dehydrated and scared to take in any more fluids or fuel.  My legs were fine.  My stomach was in knots and I had really bad cramping so I was running hunched over as this felt better than standing up straight.  Oh my, this last part was long.  Every minute felt like ten.  It's hard to do anything after throwing up but really hard to finish a marathon.  It was sheer will that got me to that line.  Somehow I managed to finish in 3 hours and 12 minutes despite the bathroom stop, the slow down and the vomit session.  Side note, if you're reading this and I was on your yard, I'm really sorry.  When I was done, I fell into Lauren's arms, literally and just stood there in total disbelief.  I'd done it.  It had been terrible.  But I'd done it.  

I sat and processed for a few minutes as I tried to put on my sweats.  I was obviously sad, angry, annoyed; all of it. This one was easily one of my hardest to get through both mentally and physically.  I kept replaying my days leading up to the race to try and figure out what could have possibly caused this situation.  And then, as we hobbled back to the hotel, I had a lightbulb moment.  You know how you always hear people say not to try anything new before or on race day? Well, for some reason, despite how many times I’ve heard this, I did it anyway. Yes. Stupid. I was so full from all the calories I was consuming during my carb load that I bought a large orange PowerAde and polished it off between Friday night and Saturday morning.  Normally I only drink water and NUUN so why I thought this was a good decision is anyone's guess.  Honestly, I don't know if this is what caused me to get sick.  I do know that this was the only thing I did differently the 24 hours before the race.  So, while I'll never be sure what made me sick, I am 100% sure I should have not thrown something different into the mix.  Rookie mistake.  Never again....said the 50 year old who's run 37 marathons.  Can you feel me rolling my eyes?  As we drove home, or Lauren drove us home (bless her), I got a text from my mother-in-law congratulating me on my age group win.  At first I thought she was looking at last year's results but, no, she was right.  I was the first 50 year old female across the line. 

"Rest, recover and feel proud," she said.  Some very wise words that I absolutely needed to hear.  The marathon is a beast. The training? Also a beast. I know this. You do, too. I’m proud, and I want more. I can be both. But no more orange Powerade. Ever. 

Listen to this:

No Pain by Modern Living with Sumner

Modern Living · No Pain (feat. Cosmo's Midnight)

STAY GOLD

“One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

I love the warm sunny days of summer.  And I loathe the cold, dark days of winter.  Why do I live in New England?  I honestly have no idea. But that’s a different story.  This past August I read Melissa Kirsch's article, Golden Hour , from the New York Times and it struck a nerve.  Despite the fact that it was Labor Day weekend, when most of us inevitably make the mental shift toward fall, she reminded readers that we still had 22 days left of summer.  She also suggested that we hold on just a little longer to that final stage of the season rather than prematurely shift gears into autumn.  She threw out the #equinoctialchallenge for those, like myself, who weren't quite ready to let go, in which we make a point to do one summery thing every day between Labor Day and the equinox on September 22nd.  I absolutely loved this idea and immediately jumped in. It was not hard to do.  Throw the flip flops on for walks with the dogs.  Easy.  Sit on the porch with friends for a sunset drink.  Please and thank you.  Grab the fresh tomatoes from the Saturday farmer's market for the caprese sandwiches.  Done and done.  And while fall is now officially here, I see no reason not to keep up with this challenge for as long as Mother Nature will allow me to.  Because yes, the equinox has come and gone.  But the veil of darkness, aka winter, has not yet begun to fall.  Therefore I have decided that I will continue to do these summery things for as long as possible and I will aim to tap into that easygoing, relaxed mindset whenever I get a chance.  Hell, maybe I’ll keep at it throughout the winter.  Roast s’mores in the fireplace.  Bundle up in layers and take the dogs to the beach.  Grill dinner outside on the porch as the snow falls.  Okay, these are a stretch, but still.  You get the point. Summer magic.  There is nothing like it.  And, a little bit of that gold sprinkled throughout the rest of the year sounds delightful to me.

EQUINOCTIAL CHALLENGE*: TOP PICKS (PICS)

*There's still time

DITCH THE SHIRT

MAKE THE ICED COFFEE 

(Drink it outside, obvs!)

PICKLE THE VEGETABLES

WEAR THE FLIP FLOPS

 (But, don't show the dogs!)

WORK OUTSIDE

GRILL THE BURGERS

TAKE THE DOGS TO THE BEACH

LISTEN TO THIS:

GOLD LUCK by SUPER DUPER

Super Duper · Gold Luck

SMM MUSIC, TIPS & TALES

A couple years ago I joined the Six Minute Mile team as a contributing deejay, if you will.  Every week I add new song to an ongoing playlist specially curated for the SMM audience.  Since then I have gotten a bit more involved with the newsletter.  It started with my quest to find the perfect pair of Bluetooth headphones for running.  I began testing various models and provided my thoughts and feedback on each pair after having used them for a few weeks of training.  You can check out all my reviews for those here.  If you click that link you'll also see that I have expanded my testing platform to include other products such as shoes and sports bras.  Not surprisingly, the more I got involved the more I wanted to....well, get involved.  Turns out, there are songs to share, products to review and stories to tell and I'm down for all of it.  Which leads me to this post.  Below you'll see some of my latest stories and reviews post to the SMM website.  Given that many of you are runners and/or active people, I'm guessing that a lot of these pieces will be worth your time.  Especially those of you who fall in my specific category of masters runners (40+) with wider feet.  Why am I telling you this?  Well, to be honest the RWM blog has taken a bit of a backseat to SMM for the past couple months.  And while I will continue to post race reviews, Runners Who Rock profiles and other random bits and pieces here on RWM, the majority of my brain power is going to be siphoned toward this new SMM outlet.  And because there is definitely crossover between the SMM and the RWM audience I feel it's important to share both with you.  Because sharing is caring.  And knowledge is power.  Or something like that.  In the future, perhaps these two sites will merge in some way, but for the time being, why not enjoy botH?  I will keep updating this specific page with links for new reviews and stories as they are posted over on SMM.  Then this fall I will be running the Hartford Marathon (my first as 50 year old) as well as New York City (as a guide), so those race reviews will be the next pieces here on RWM.  As always, thanks for following along in whatever way that you do.

SMM MUSIC, TIPS & TALES

And Now It's August. Can You Feel The Excitement?

Summer Racing: 16 Tips To Mix It Up And Beat The Heat

The Challenges Of Being A Runner With Wide Feet, And Tips On How To Find Shoes That Fit

An Ode To The Joy Of Masters Racing (+ 10 Tips To Run Fast As You Age)

5 New Sports Bras Put To The Test On The Run

& 

SMM PLAYLIST

RUNNING IN ST. REMY

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”

~ Vincent Van Gogh

St-Rémy-de-Province

My family just got home from a week and a half in France.  We're all still reeling, very tired and perhaps a bit sad but incredibly fulfilled.  The trip was a bit of a last hoorah if you will; some quality time for the four of us to be together before Rosie returns for her third year at Boulder and Grace leaves for her first year down in Ohio.  Both of them.  Gone.  Which means there will be no kids in our house this fall for the first time in 18 years.  Which I am not thrilled about.  But, I digress.  During college, Jeff studied and lived in France and then two of us went for a short trip together to celebrate our 20th anniversary but the girls had never been prior to this trip and, for obvious reasons, had always wanted to go.  We began planning our adventure about a year ago so to say they were excited is the understatement of the year.  We all were pretty giddy by the time June rolled around.  We flew to Paris and spent four days doing all the things.  Museums, tours, tuk tuk rides, boat rides, crepes, gelato.   Our days were packed and we soaked up every second.  Aside from the first morning, I ran every day before the girls woke up.  After months of running in Winchester, running along the Seine with the sun shining on the Eiffel Tower was pretty surreal.  Paris is definitely a hot spot for running.  People were going at all hours of the day, primarily in the morning, but I'd see them out there until dinner time.  It stays lighter much later which is weird for going to bed but not at all if you're running at 9pm.  The first time I headed out I waved or nodded at runners coming in the other direction, as I tend to do at home.  I quickly learned that this was not how it's done for most locals.  People were in their own worlds mentally; no waving or smiling.  All business. After that I just did my thing, absorbing the beauty of the city and trying to avoid tripping on the cobblestones.  After Paris we made our way down to St-Rémy-de-Province where we stayed for the rest of our time in France.  We rented a house and did lots of day trips to all the little towns in the area.  Again, I ran every morning before the girls woke up and every run was bliss.  These were not workouts, mind you.  None of that on vacation.  Just miles where I explored the town and beyond with no agenda other than to be in the moment.  Running in St-Rémy was a totally different experience compared to Paris.  Each day presented something new and different and, not to be cheesy but wonderful.  Easily some of my best runs of the year and, in my humble opinion, worth sharing.  Perhaps seeing and hearing more about it will inspire you to add it to your own list for visiting and/or running.  Or maybe you've been there as well and it will bring back pleasant memories.  And if neither of those are the case, well, I'm hoping you'll just enjoy the experience from my point of view.  Either way, St-Rémy is now officially my favorite place in the world to run. Here's why.

RUN ADVENTURES IN ST-REMY-DE-PROVINCE

~ The highs would be in the 90s and low 100s every day we were there.  But I was up around 6am every morning and the air was cool and dry.  Perfect for running.  It would be pretty hot by the time I was getting home but those first few miles were always so nice.

~ The landscape of St-Rémy is stunning; borderline surreal.  Fields of lavender and sunflowers, trails with rolling creeks alongside them.  Everywhere I went I was blown away.  I also found that a lot of the areas I explored looked the same so I got lost almost daily.  Which was totally fine.  I always found my way back.

Sunflowers

~ It’s quiet and peaceful but on a totally different level.  The town was almost asleep as I began with no one in sight.  I saw maybe a total of 10 runners during the week that I was there and most of them were my age or older  The young folk clearly had other priorities in the morning.  I would say they probably thought I was nuts but they were likely still asleep when I was out there so it didn't matter.

Quiet morning streets

~ There was all sorts of terrain to explore. I found a lot of trails; usually single track which is always a little tricky.  It just required me to slow down and respect the footing so I didn't face plant.  To the left of our house was straight up a mountain.  Literally.  I probably ran about 1.7 miles up before finally turning around as I saw no end in sight.  And then there were several bike paths from one town to the next.  These were my favorite as I'd be passing farms and animals for miles.  

~ Despite the fact that there are several crosswalks in town, no one seems to use them. I learned this very quickly.  That said, I didn’t get honked at once.  People were very polite as they slammed on their breaks to keep from hitting me.  After a couple days I felt safer stopping and letting traffic roll by rather than attempting to use them.

Van Gogh's Asylum

~ The town is so ridiculously rich with history.  Two steps to the left of our house was the path that lead to Van Gogh's asylum where he painted and spent the last years of his life.  Then one street over we could walk to authentic Roman ruins and envision the things that used to unfold.  Just mind blowing.

~ Dog owners very rarely use a leash.  I would be running on the bike paths and a dog would come barreling toward me with no owner behind it.  Always friendly, I found.  Then the owner would be casually strolling in, perhaps with a friend, not at all concerned about the dog and where he or she was.  Dogs have it good over there.  

~ The overall vibe was just much calmer and simpler.  And that made every run such a personal experience.  Just a very different way to look at running and all that it can provide.  Such a gift.

Listen to this:

"I Want to Remember it All" by Laura Stevenson

Laura Stevenson · I Want to Remember it All