RACE REVIEW:HALF BY-THE-SEA

Last Sunday I went up to Manchester-by-the-Sea with Jeff and my good friend and coaching partner at LHS, Steve McKenna.  Both Jeff and Steve have been ramping up their miles over the past few months and were ready and psyched to race.  And Steve, who used to run competitively in college, has joined me for quite a bit of my Chicago marathon training so he was curious to see what he could do for 13.1, a distance he'd never raced before.  I was really fired up to have a couple wingmen for a change.  Before I start my breakdown, I have to throw in a humble brag for my Lex ladies who absolutely crushed it at the Highland Park Invitational the day before the race.

We ran three different teams (Freshman, Varsity A and Varsity B) and all three of them took the win.  It was totally unexpected and such a thrill for us.  It also happened to be about 85 degrees out and I ran around like a banshee from 9am until we left around two in the afternoon.  Both of these factors would have a significant impact on my race the next day, not that I cared or event thought about it at the time.  This group of ladies is so tight and works together so beautifully.  They are such a joy to coach.  Okay, sorry, just had to throw that in there.  Not really sorry, though.  By the time I got back to the house I was toast.  I did nothing but chill for the rest of the afternoon as I wanted to try and recover as much as possible before the next day.  As usual, I woke up stupidly early on Sunday.  I made coffee and went outside for a porch session with Clover.  Our new dog, Enzo, prefers to stay in bed a little longer than his sister.  

It was a gorgeous, crisp, cool morning.  I cried a little inside knowing that the temperature, which was in the fifties at the time, was going to get up to the eighties as it had the day before and that our race wasn't starting until 10:00am so we'd be finishing in that sweet heat.  Whatever.  My Chicago training has gone really, really well.  I've logged more miles than ever this time around.  I've hit most of my workouts.  I've stayed relatively injury-free aside from a pesky plantar fascia.  I've been super lucky.  I also feel stronger than I have at the end of past buildups, so I was expecting to run well on race day, and to possibly cross the line with a new PR.  My coach agreed that both a strong race and a PR were in the cards if things went well.  Once I learned how hot it was going to be, I knew the PR goal would be more challenging to achieve, though I still thought I had it in me and wasn't throwing it out the window quite yet.  I did come up with a B and C goal just so I didn't totally set up myself up for disappointment.  Steve came over around 8am and all three of us headed up to Manchester together.  It was a smooth and mellow trek and we parked easily and grabbed our numbers without any issues.  Jeff doesn't warmup and Steve was only doing a short one, so I took off on my own for a couple miles.  I was feeling heavy and tired and, naturally, this made me nervous but I tried ignore it and remind myself that I often feel this way and still manage to power through a hard workout.  

When I got back, I found Jeff stretching in the shade.  The heat was now in full force.  We knew it would be, but it was still a bummer to know we'd be battling it.  We made our way over to the line, Steve and I jumping in the front and Jeff settling in a little further back, wished each other good luck, and got ready to go.

THE RACE:

My race plan was to run right around 6:30/mile pace for the majority of it and then to pick it up at the end with whatever I had left in the tank.  I'd done a couple workouts in this pace range in the weeks leading up to it, so I felt confident that this was manageable.  Steve was along for the ride, hoping to work with me and follow the same strategy so he didn't go out too fast and bonk at the end.  He's more of a mid-distance kid and he's wicked fast on the track so starting out guns blazing was both likely to happen and not going to end well for him.  We hit our first mile right on pace in 6:32.  At mile 2, though, we'd slid back to 6:40.  My GPS was off so my pace was now inaccurate and Steve, having a good old fashioned timer going, called out our split.  I told myself not to panic, just to pick it up and find my groove again.  Steve, however, went right ahead and panicked and threw down a 5:55 for his 3rd mile.  Obviously, I did not go with him.  And that was it for our team strategy.  I was now on my own and he was flying solo ahead of me.  After his third mile, he reigned it back in, so I was able to keep him in sight for the next few miles, which was really helpful.  My watch was all over the place and I had no one with me, so I felt that if I could just hold on and keep him in sight I'd be okay.  I was taking water at every stop, sipping and then pouring the rest over my head.  The course was beautiful, some of it on a dirt path along the water with gorgeous views.  Once I'd settled in to what I thought was a decent pace, I was able to look around and enjoy myself.  There were long stretches with no one in sight, so when I did see people, particularly the young girls who were watching, I made an effort to wave or high-five to get an extra jolt of energy.  The course looped around and we ran back along the same stretch with the runners who were behind us now coming towards us on their way to the turn.  I saw Jeff and gave him a high five which I really needed because I could feel myself fading a little about 8 miles in.  I truly had no idea what pace I was running because my distance was off by 3/4 of a mile and my average pace was off because of that.  Around mile 10, Steve was no longer in site and I got passed by a couple guys who were smooth sailing to the finish.  One of them tried to get me to stay with him, pointing to the ground next to him and waving me along.  Yes, I thought, I do want to follow you.  But my legs are having their own party and neither of us are invited. It was good that he was there as I was now trying to keep the gap between the two of us as small as possible until the finish.  Finally, I made it to mile 11 and I was able to pick it up knowing that I was almost done.  I came around the bend and up the hill to finish in 1:27 and change.  

I did not hit my A (PR), B (1:25/26) or C (run hard and have fun) goal.  I mean, yes, I'd run hard and parts of it were fun, but the for majority of it, I'd felt sluggish and off and I did not have the drive that I had expected, so I was really bummed.  I found Steve, who'd crushed it with a 1:23, and sat down.  Nothing hurt.  I was just so, so tired.  Really psyched for him, though.  He was already talking marathon.  That was fast.  But I wasn't surprised at all.

Steve and I got a quick...or, not so quick actually, cool down mile in and then found Jeff who'd also done really well despite the heat.  Something must have clicked for Jeff, too because he was already talking about signing up for his next one before we got in the car to head home.  I love that. We stuck around for the awards because Steve and I had both taken second overall for men and women and they were giving out some sweet swag including Bombas socks and COFFEE FLAVORED energy squares.  What??!!  Sadly, the socks were too big for me, so Steve and I swapped my socks for his coffee squares as he doesn't do coffee.  All good.  More coffee for me.  

As we were waiting for the awards I texted my coach and we hashed it out.

Me:1:27. Not what I wanted.

Lowell: Too hot.

Me: Think that was it?

Lowell: Timing a race right now in Concord and it is toasty.

Me: Ok, I'll go with that. But I really thought I had more in my legs.

.... then a few hours later, after I'd had time to process the race a little more I texted again....

Me: Thinking more. Ran around in the heat yesterday for hours. Probably impacted me more than I realized.  Also logged 90 miles last week. So, between that and the the temp today, a PR was probably not realistic.  All that said, do you think my marathon goal is still within reach.  Yes, I'm overanalyzing. Can't help it.

Lowell: That is a bunch of things working against you today.  Your marathon goal is absolutely still within reach.

Me: Okay, I'm done. Thanks.

Lowell: If you were content easily you wouldn't be successful and you wouldn't be doing what you're doing.

Me: That's true.  Thanks again.

I can't lie. Even after this conversation and some words of encouragement from Steve and Jeff I was still disappointed.  I'm always telling my high school athletes that every race has a purpose.  That every race makes them stronger regardless of the outcome.  And if it doesn't happen to go the way they wanted, that they have to accept it and move on.  Because dwelling on it doesn't do anyone any good.  So, I'm working hard to practice what I preach and tell myself the same thing.  I put in a good effort with this half.  It was solid work.  Miles in the bank.  It's over.  Time to reset and focus on the big kahuna.  Chicago or bust.  

Listen to this:

It's Gettin' Hectic - Brand New Heavies

WEIRD & COOL

So, I ended up running a total of 1,037.5 miles between June and August.  I ran from home, from my parents' rental on Martha's Vineyard, from my in-laws house on the Cape (where I spent the majority of my summer), from a couple different spots in NH and probably a few other places that I can't remember at the moment.  Basically, I was on the road a lot.  I listened to audio books, podcasts and, of course, to music.  I did all types of workouts....tempo, track, long runs, recovery and doubles every week.  The majority of my miles, however, were just easy cruisers that I was adding to the bank in preparation for Chicago which is next month.  On the slower runs, particularly my second run of the day when I was often shuffling and perhaps a bit less enthusiastic about being out there, I wasn't afraid to stop and smell the proverbial roses if I wanted or needed a break and if something strange or cool caught my eye mid-route.  I won't lie.  I was easily distracted during many of those runs.  And my level of distraction had a direct correlation to my level of exhaustion.  Think of the tired, young toddler that sees a butterfly and wants to follow it.  That was me.  And yet, when I look back on all these funky things, I'm able to string together the narrative of my summer training, which in and of itself is pretty cool.  It's kind of an odd post, I'll admit.  But, I did have fun putting it together and thinking back on the moments when I happened to stumble on these items or, as in the last case, people.  You never know what will stop you in you tracks, right?  Here's a few that did.

WEIRD AND/OR COOL THINGS I SAW WHILE RUNNING OVER THE SUMMER

This peacock was the first odd thing I saw while I was running.  I assumed it was a kids' toy and that it had fallen out of a stroller or bag.  But, when I picked it up, it was pretty heavy and clearly very ornate.  I put it up on a rock wall in hopes that it would be easily found by it's owner, who, I'm guessing was missing it very much. 

I have no idea what this red, sparkly ball is.  I just remember that I spotted it as I was running on July 4th.  I also remember being very tired and thinking, hmmm, maybe I could put this in my hair and wear it for the fireworks.  Again, very tired.  As I got closer, I realized it was bigger and heavier than I'd expected so it probably wouldn't work as a hair accessory.  Which was a total bummer as it would have looked awesome.

Okay, so in addition to the legit TURTLE XING sign, someone took it up on themselves to add their own version right next to it.  At first I thought this was strange.  But as I got closer and saw the many flattened shells near the signs, I understood that one likely wasn't enough and whoever added the other sign wanted drivers to give these little creatures more time to get across the road.  That made me smile.

This was on the rail trail in Harwich, MA.  I thought it was such a cool chalk drawing.  There were tons of them including the one at the top that says NEVER GIVE UP which I took to heart many, many times as I slogged along this path over the summer.

Honestly, this kind of looks like a medieval toilet.  PEPPERMINT SPRING is carved along the top, so I'm guessing it does not, in fact, have anything to do with the bathroom.  But still, you see what I mean, right?  

Okay, this has to be one of the weirdest for a couple reasons.  First, why does someone have this stencil of Inigo Montoya and what made them want to paint it on a Yield sign along a bike path?  Second, on the same day that I saw this my friend, Beth Baker, tweeted this:

Now, I don't know if the stamp on the sign is actually Inigo Montoya but it was the first person that came to mind when I ran by it.  So, it was super weird to then get back and see Beth's Tweet because both the actor and the movie, The Princess Bride, were fresh on my mind.  Such a good flick.

This is just a super cool, funky rainbow colored house that I ran by in Lincoln, NH.  In addition to the house beeping painted in all the colors, there were things like life-sized fake pigs and birds in the yard, also multi-colored.  I wish I could have gotten a better shot but I didn't want them to think I was a total creep taking photos of their house.

Last and definitely the best of all summer was bumping into my friend Rebecca T-W on the Rail Trail in July.  That alone doesn't seem that weird.  But it was weird.  Because one year ago to the day I'd been doing a workout at Harwich High School and was cooling down on the bike path.  Rebecca lives on the Cape and I rarely see her so, naturally I was thrilled when I saw her biking towards me.  We stopped and chatted for a while and then said our goodbyes.  Remember, that was July of 2018.  This shot above was on the same exact day, one year later.  I had just finished my workout and - BOOM - there she was.  What?!?!  We were kind of speechless and giggly for minute before we got ourselves together.  We talked again and then agreed to meet up in 2020 at the same spot on the same day.  Kidding.  We didn't.  But, something tells me we will.

Listen to this:

Hallelujah - Oh Wonder