RACE REVIEW:MILL CITIES RELAY

"Old age is no place for sissies." 

~ Bette Davis

Last Sunday I ran the Mill Cities Relay with my Whirlaway teammates, a fierce and fabulous group of Masters women ages 40 to 55.  The relay is a 27 mile race that starts in Nashua, NH and ends in Lawrence, MA and is broken up into five legs.  Aside from the half I did over Thanksgiving down in Atlanta, which was more for fun than anything, this would be my first legitimately hard effort since Boston back in October.  Between that and the fact that my leg would only be 4.75 miles, which might as well be a 100m dash in my world, I was pretty nervous.  Excited.  But more nervous.  If I'm being honest, I've had a tough time bouncing back since Boston.  My body really took a beating after that one, more likely from the training than the race itself.  And while I haven't been doing much hard work as far as training goes since then, my legs just haven't been feeling great and I've had more bad runs than good over the past few weeks.  It's incredibly frustrating.  But I'm trying just embrace the fact that this is a down phase for me and to take the time I need to ease back in while having a little patience.  Trying hard.  Anyway, the race.  A few months ago, my fellow older Whirlaway teammates threw it out there as an option and I jumped on the opportunity thinking it would be a cool way to get back into race mode but perhaps without as much pressure since we'd be doing it as a team.  Race day was Sunday, the 5th and it crept up on me quickly, as everything in life seems to be doing lately.  So, here we go.  

I woke up before my alarm, around 5:30am.  Happens more often than not lately which I suppose is a good thing.  I got some coffee, took the dogs out for a quick walk and then hopped in my car as the drive up to Lawrence was about thirty minutes and I needed to be there at 7:15.  The sun came up as I drove North and it was looking like it would be a beautiful morning.  Cold.  But clear and still.  I'll always take that.  I met up with Lauren, Tina and Amy at the Claddagh Pub which is where the race would be ending and we got in Lauren's car, our main race vehicle for the rest of the day.  We drove over to the start of Zone 2 where Amy would be receiving the baton from Christen, our first runner who had driven up and started on her own.  It was now around 8:00am and in the twenties.  Amy got out to warm up and the rest of us stayed bundled in the car with the heat on full blast.

Part of me was envious that she was getting her leg in early.  The other part of me was grateful that I had a little more time for the sun to work it's magic.  We wished Amy good luck and took off for the next transition zone.  We parked and hopped out to use the bathroom noting that it was already was feeling a little bit warmer which we were very happy about.  This was Tina's leg which was just under three miles.  So the plan was for her to warmup around the handoff area, for Lauren to run from zone three to zone four since it was a good warmup distance for her and for me to drive Lauren's car solo to meet up with both of them at the zone 4 handoff.  Side note, it's a brand new car, like literally three days old, so I was more nervous about driving the car than the race itself.  I suppose it was a good distraction at the moment as I could not focus on my leg until the car was parked safely at the next zone.  Lauren took off and I wished Tina good luck and then I very gingerly drove out of the parking lot.

I made it safely to the boat house and quickly found Lauren to let her know that the car had arrived and that I had nothing to report about the 2.75 mile trek.  My driving duties were now over which I was very relieved about.  It was now around 9:20 and Lauren was getting ready to tackle the fourth leg which was also the longest around nine miles.  Part of me wished I'd had this leg as shorter stuff is so hard for me.  But the other part of me didn't have the mental capacity for such a trek and was glad Lauren, aka the speed goat, was tackling this one.  Tina flew in around 9:25 and Lauren took off like a bat out of hell.  For the record, when I'd asked Tina, who is 55 years young, what she thought she'd be running at for her pace she guessed around 6:45.  Her actual pace?  6:23.  Holy hell this woman is fast.  I was floored.  I think she was, too.  But I could also see a little smile on her face as my guess is it felt damn good to know she can still tap into lightening fast mode when she needs it.

So, finally, we're on the fourth of five legs.  Lauren, who absolutely slayed at Boston back in October, was looking fresh and chipper despite the fact that she was still in recovery mode.  Lauren and I have been doing a lot of training together lately.  I've learned that she has two speeds.  Fast and faster.  And she always makes it look easy, even when she's struggling.  It totally blows my mind.  Don't get me wrong, she works her ass off and has put in a lot of time to get to this level but she is currently on fire and I am more than happy to ride her coat tails as I train for my next marathon.  Back to the race.  Lauren is obviously running fast so I get Amy and Tina and we head over to the last transition zone so I can get a warmup in.  It was now a little before ten and I didn't have much a window to get moving so I cut it a little short and did some dynamics instead of adding on the extra mileage.  Normally this would stress me out as I need more time to warmup these days but I was already so revved up about taking us home that I had plenty of pep in the tank, both mentally and physically.  I took the baton at 10:23am and flew out of the transition zone at a sub-6 minute pace which I had no business being in.  I eased back a bit and tried to settle into a more manageable pace.  But keep in mind, I was only running 4.75 miles so, unlike with the marathon, there's not a lot time to "settle in" and find you goal pace.  I rolled through the first mile in 6:08 and told myself to just try and keep that effort without looking at the watch.  This strategy has been working well for me lately, running by feel that is.  Amy had warned me about the hill that started at mile two which was good as it was a doozy.  "It's like a sombrero, Rebecca.  It's steep, then it levels off a bit, then it's home free from there."  And she was spot on, clearly.  

I'm not gonna lie, the hill hurt.  A lot.  But I knew I was almost done once I got over it and held onto that in my head as I fought my way up.  Breathing was hard at this point.  I was digging deeper than I have in quite some time.  Around mile 4.5 I could see one of my male Whirlaway teammates cheering at the turn to the finish line.  I have no idea if he was cheering for me as we had several teams out there but I went ahead and assumed he was and dug just a little more to get myself to the line.  

I ended up running an average pace of 6:14 which I was incredibly pleased with given the hill, which just about killed me, and how shitty I've been feeling since Boston in general.  The well runs deep, my friends.  Always remember this.  Our team also won in both the Masters Women's Division and the Overall Women's division.  Not too shabby for a group of older women.  Not going to lie, we were pretty pleased with ourselves.  After the finish, we grabbed a quick team pic and then everyone headed into the pub for the post-race celebration.  This was a lot of fun as we caught up with all our other teammates as well as a bunch of other runners and teams, many of whom we know through the run world which is pretty small.  People ate and drank beers and we sat and waited for the awards.  If you've been reading this blog for a while or you know me at all you know that I had one thing and one thing only on my mind and it wasn't beer.  I had to scoot before the awards were given out because my dogs were home solo I could feel their whining from afar.  Plus, yes, I really wanted a coffee.  So, I said my goodbyes and headed out.  To get coffee.  And then home. 

Spend a few hours in a van with people and you get to know them pretty well, pretty fast.  And I learned some valuable things about my teammates during this window.  Amy is prepared for ANYTHING.  She is both a mom and a high school track coach so no surprise.  But, if you need it, she has it.  Extra clothes, band-aids, food, water and most importantly, toilet paper.  She brings it with her everywhere she goes.  Tina is super chill but once she starts running she goes into beast mode.  Do not get in her way.  She will take you down.  Lauren is always smiling and ready to go.  Like, she makes everything looks "super fun".  And, as I said before, stupid easy.  Even when she's working her ass off.  Which she always is.  Damn her.  I didn't spend time with Christen so I'll have to get back to you on her superpower, though I'm sure she has one.  Everyone on this team does.  Relays are a great reminder of why I love to run.  Yes, we want to run fast and do well but there's so much more to it.  The run community is so awesome; typically big, warm and friendly. My run family is even more awesome.  Loving, supportive and always making me laugh.  And running with and for a team just spices things up in a way that lining up solo never can.  I guess what it comes down to, at least for me, is running with friends makes it better.  So, thanks ladies!

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Fine & Peachy by Eliza Shaddad

Eliza Shaddad · Fine & Peachy