RACE REVIEW:NEW BOSTON 13.1

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

~ Winston Churchill

This past Sunday I ran the New Boston half marathon up in NH.  It was my third in-person race of the year and easily the one I was most excited about.  As of race day, I was five weeks post-marathon and felt fully recovered.  I was also itching to compete again and chomping at the bit to run fast.  I'd run well at the Cheap Marathon but, if I'm being honest, I felt I had more in me so I wanted to see if I could bring that out.  My goal for race day was to send it.  That's it.  I wanted to give it everything I had, to take a risk and get a little gritty.  I knew I was lining up with a fast field of women ahead of time which totally fueled my fire.  But then, the only person I was racing was myself.  And I was ready to fight.  My older daughter and I were home solo Saturday night before the race so we had a mellow evening together and I went to bed....wait for it....early.  I know.  Crazy.  I laid out all my gear and...yada, yada...same routine, different day.  I'm wondering if these posts might be getting a little too predictable by now.  Whatever.

The drive to New Boston was about an hour so I set my alarm for 5:00am which sounds early.  I mean, it is early.  But, for some reason, for the past 12 days (yes, I've been counting) I have woken up on my own at 4:30 and, despite a solid effort every single morning, have not been able to fall back asleep.  Getting older is super fun.  Needless to say, I had no reason to set my alarm as I was up at 3:45 and out of bed by 4:20 on race day. 

Hello coffee, my old friend.  I put some tunes on and sat and drank in the dark, slowly waking up as the sun came up outside.  It was very peaceful.  Ridiculously early, but peaceful.  I left the house a little after five and had an easy trip out to New Boston.  Parking for the race was at the Hillsboro County fairgrounds and then it was about a half mile, uphill trek to the start.  I could have paid for VIP parking and avoided this walk to and from my car pre-race but what would have been the fun in that?  Note the hill that winds up to the left of the cones.  I did have a little panic moment that this would be our finish which would undoubtedly be ugly.  I debated whether to ask about it and ultimately decided it would be better not to know.

I picked up my number and shirt and said a quick hello to the fabulous Ali Feller, of the podcast 'Ali On The Run', who I met back at my first Millennium race and have now seen at all three events as she usually works at them as an announcer.  Always nice to see a smiling face early in the morning when the nerves are in high gear.  And she is always smiling.  Bless her.  I ran back to my car and through the fairgrounds a bit for a warmup.  By the time I was done it was notably warm out; hovering around 60 with full sun.  It felt good at the moment but I had a feeling it was going to get hot fast and could potentially become an issue.  Not that there was anything I could do about it but worry.  Which I did.  Around 7:20 I made my way over to the start and lined up next to cone #27.  As we've done at our past two races, we would be taking off in a staggered start and leaving in 10 second intervals.  Which obviously makes sense given the Covid situation but also messes with the head a little bit as the solo takeoff is definitely a bit odd.  My friend and former teammate Kelli, tapped me on the shoulder just as we were about to launch.  She was in town from CA running her first race since having her daughter.  We hugged and wished each other good luck.  She's a big smiler, too and her positive, bubbly presence gave me a much needed jolt of energy.  Finally a little after 7:30, we were off.  

THE RACE:

My A goal for this race was to run a personal best.  My B goal was to run smart and hard.  My C goal was to not die.  Seriously, though, I truly believed I had a good time in me and based on my workouts leading up to the start I was ready to give it a shot.  My previous half PR was 1:25:37 so I was hoping to best this by running between 6:25 and 6:30 pace for the majority of the race.  Based on the course profile, I knew the first half of the race would be faster than the second so I decided to use what is typically not the smartest strategy and bank some faster miles in the beginning.  My first mile was a 6:24 so pretty close to right on target.  There were some gentle rollers over the next few miles and my pace fell back to 6:31 and 6:32 despite my effort to hold steady.  Once I got to mile four I was in a really solid groove.  These miles flew by, 6:25, 6:24, 6:22, 6:26.  I ran most of this stretch with Paul Crochiere, who I met after the race.  Not the guy I'm with in the photo below.  Not sure who that is.

Turns out Paul is a 60 something year old phenom who qualified for worlds in London this fall.  Very impressive.  At mile 9 we slogged uphill but I got back on track for mile 10.  At that point, all I needed to do was hang on and hold steady and I'd be coming in right where I wanted.  I was psyched.  But, I was also really tired.  I could feel those faster miles in my breathing.  It was hot.  And I was by myself at this point.  Which is a very dangerous combo.  Maybe if I close my eyes it will be better.  Maybe not.

I kept telling myself to dig in and was doing everything I could to stay focused.  Our final push was uphill which was rough.  I managed to find one more gear and threw myself across the finish with every once of energy that I had left.  According to my watch, my time was 1:25:17.  

But that was for a total distance of 13.2 miles so I knew that my official time would be a little different.  Regardless, I was pumped.  Clearly.  As you can see by my literal fist pump.  I'd run my brains out and was pretty sure I'd gotten that PR, if only just a small one.  

I wandered around post-race catching up with run friends from near and far.  Some of them, like Nora and Heather, I see often but others, like Kelli, I haven't seen in years and since all of us were vaccinated we got to actually hug it out and spend some quality time together.  That was awesome.  I didn't know my actual time for a while and was riding on the high of knowing I'd left it all out there and probably achieved my A goal.  Oh wait, I could check Strava.  According to that data, I'd set a half marathon PR of 1:24:43 (6:28 per mile).  What the what???  Could that possibly have happened?  I didn't get too excited because while many of us believe Strava is the end all be all, it's really not.  The actual result could and likely would be totally different and I didn't want to make any assumptions.  We didn't get our finish times for a few hours because the race had gone off in multiple heats and they wanted to make sure the majority of runners were in before sharing them.  As predicted, my final official time was different.  Stupid Strava.  Kidding.  Kind of.

I won't lie and say I wasn't a little disappointed.  That 1:24 had been a mean tease.  Plus, I'd run the exact pace I'd wanted to.  I just hadn't run the tangents well and had put a tad too much extra mileage in.  Something new to work on, I suppose.  Still, I was the 6th woman across the line and the first Master (40+) so I had to be happy with that.  Forgive the humble brag here.  I guess I'm writing it down so I force myself to say it out loud and to believe it.  Be happy, Rebecca.  Keep working.  But be proud.  At 46, I keep wondering if my window for improving is almost closed.  But, after a race like this one I'm able to hold on to the hope that I do have more to give and while it might not be much, it's enough for me to stay after it.  Cheers to that.

Listen to this:

Get Ready by Night Panda feat. BEGINNERS

Night Panda · Get Ready - Night Panda ft BEGINNERS

RWR:MEET MARK REMY, WRITER & RUNNER

"There is beauty in every run, if you take the time to look. Music, too, if you listen for it."

~Mark Remy

Today I am really excited to introduce you to Mark Remy (aka Dumb Runner).  Years ago I used to read and really enjoy Mark's column, Remy's World, in Runner's World Magazine.  While he wrote for the publication he was also an executive editor of the website and played a big role in leading the site to its overall awesomeness that continues to prevail today.  Mark is now focused on his personal site, Dumb Runner, which as described in his own words "is an online destination for runners who enjoy laughter and pie."  In addition to his role as a writer, Mark is a big time runner who has completed 28 marathons and holds a 2:46 PR which is from....well....some time ago.  Still, fast is fast.  Mark also guided a blind runner as a member of Team With A Vision for two years at Boston.  I, too, was on this team and did not make the connection at the time, which is a bummer for me as it would have been nice to meet and chat with him pre-race while we waited with our TWAV teammates.  I'm guessing he would have made us laugh and significantly less nervous.  Mark has written four books about running along with his "dumb training journal" which is worth picking up if you like to run and you want to log your training info while while finding the humor in the process along the way.  He's also a die hard music fan.  And while he has at least thirty 'favorite albums' his favorite all time band is the Pixies and he has the freshly inked tattoo on his arm to prove it.  You can find Mark on over on Twitter and I highly recommend giving him a follow as he makes me laugh out loud every single day.  And who doesn't want that?  Okay, enough from me, let's meet Mark, a runner who rocks.

RWR:MEET MARK REMY

Name: Mark Remy
Where you're from: Ohio
Where you reside now: Portland, Oregon
Age: 51
Occupation: writer
Blog/website: DumbRunner.com

ON RUNNING & MUSIC:
What do you love most about running?

I love running for a bunch of reasons, so it's hard to choose just one. Very near the top of the list, though, would be its reliability. Running delivers positive results, for me anyway, just about every time I do it. I honestly can't remember the last time I finished a run NOT feeling better than when I started. How many things can you say that about?

What do you love most about music? 

For me, music has always represented a wonderful paradox. On one hand, creating and enjoying music is one of the most human things humans can do, I think—it's elemental, cross-cultural, innate. It hits us on a gut level. On the other hand, it can somehow seem so surprising and improbable, the way people through the ages have continually come together to make and share music in all of its evolving forms.
Also, music just makes me feel good. 

FAVORITES:
Band (current, all time or both): Pixies (the only band represented on my body via tattoo) (so far)
Album (current, all time or both): Part of me wants to say, "I truly don't have one favorite album, it's more like a 30-way tie for first place." But another, more expedient part of me will just say, Mass Romantic by The New Pornographers.
Race venue: The Boston Marathon
Music venue: With maybe two or three exceptions, I haven't been to a live show in... Holy cow, like, 10 years. Maybe more. But I covered entertainment for men's magazines in NYC, circa 1999-2005, and used to go to tons of shows. My favorite venue there was probably the Mercury Lounge, a tiny place on the Lower East Side. (I just Googled it, and was happy to see it's still around.)
Race distance: Half-marathon
Show you've seen live: Arcade Fire, Bowery Ballroom, New York City, circa 2004
Ice cream flavor: Oregon Dark Cherry, by an Oregon company called Tillamook

THIS OR THAT:

Sweet or salty? Salty

Live or recorded? Live
Coffee or tea? Coffee
Summer or winter? Fall

MORE MUSIC INFO:
Which band or artist would you go see tonight if you could? Neko Case
Which band or artist (wait...but no longer alive or playing together) would you go see tonight if you could? Velocity Girl, opening for ELO
Which band or artist would you like to have dinner with tonight if you could? David Byrne
Which band or artist would you like to be playing alongside you during your next race (or long run)? Foo Fighters

The Pixies, disbanded in 1993 & reunited in 2004

LAST ONE:
Today, I feel like ... (fill in the blank):

I can see clearly now. (The rain is gone.)  

Top 5 Songs for running, dancing or both?

First, a note:
I don't really "dance," per se. And I never ever run with music. Unless it's on a treadmill.*
* I never ever run on a treadmill.
1. Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen
2. The Rat - The Walkmen
3. Rock Lobster - The B-52's
4. Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
5. 1 2 3 4 - Feist (My wife and I used to dance to this with our kids, in the kitchen.)

Last 5 Songs you listened to today?
1. Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
2. Houses in Motion -Talking Heads
3. Seen and Not Seen - Talking Heads
4. Listening Wind - Talking Heads
5. The Overload - Talking Heads
(Boring, yes. I'm listening to the album.)

Listen to this:

Hear Me Out - Pixies

PIXIES · Hear Me Out

RACE REVIEW:CHEAP MARATHON

"Move and shake, do whatever it takes 

you've gotta be good, good, good to yourself"

~ 'Good 2 Yourself' by Life in Sweatpants

Okay, so after I got home and let the dust settle from the Shamrock half I quickly realized that my goal race, the Greenstride Cheap Marathon, was actually only two weeks away, not three which is what I'd been thinking all along.  Well shit, I thought, I don't have as much time as planned, which is both good and bad.  Good because I don't have to stress for three more weeks, bad because it's one less week to train and taper.  And, of course, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it so I just focused on what I could control which was getting the most out of those final two weeks.  One long run and a couple quality workouts later and it was basically go time.  Which brings us to this past Saturday.  Marathon #26.  Here we go.  It was a pretty standard pre-race day consisting of a morning track practice over in Lexington, lunch with Jeff on the porch, a lot of stretching and rolling, a fair amount of reading, plenty of eating and drinking and not much else.  I laid out my gear around 5:00pm and put on a movie in an attempt to settle my nerves which were slowly building.

Grace had a friend spending the night so I made them dinner and said goodnight at 8:15.  I can only imagine what her friend thought about the fact that I was going to bed that early.  I did a little more reading and then dozed off easily.  I was up and, despite trying, unable to fall back asleep at 4:00am.  Guess I was a little more nervous than I'd realized.  My dogs, who usually keep me company during the early hours of a race day, were up in NH with Jeff so my morning love and attention was channeled toward my coffee maker instead.

This was the most time I've ever had before a race in the morning and I took full advantage of it.  I sat and enjoyed my coffee, did some stretching, ate breakfast sitting down (instead of in my car on the way),  checked email.  I mean, I had two full hours before I needed to leave.  By 5:30 I was starting to get ants in my pants.  Too much time can start to work against you.  Fortunately, my dear friend Anoush had offered to swing by and drive me to the race.  Let it be known that other than my husband, no one has ever done this for me.  And for good reason.  Driving a friend to a marathon and waiting around as they run for multiple hours is not what most people consider a good time.  But, first, Anoush is a runner so she gets it. Second, she's one of my running partners and has trained with me through this marathon cycle so she's invested.  And third, and most importantly, she just a really good person.  She told me she was in it for the whole day and that she was ready and willing to help with whatever I needed (parking the car, taking my clothes, handing me fluids) so I could focus on myself and eliminate all the guess work.  Rock star, wingman, run angel, call it what you want; they all apply.  We left Winchester at 6:00am and got to Derry, NH easily about thirty minutes later.  Gotta love the races close to home.  Anoush grabbed a coffee and then we made our way over the race tent to grab my bib.  The weather was pretty perfect; light breeze, 50s and overcast.  At the time I was chilly but I knew I'd warm up quickly once I got going because the humidity was high so I was okay with the cold.  There wasn't much time for me to putz around as I needed to be at the start at 7:15 so I dropped my layers off at the car, pinned on my number, Anoush took a few pics of me trying to look super excited despite how nervous I was and then walked back over to the start.  

We met up with our friend Steve who had come to watch both me and his friend Courtney, who he'd gone to college with, and was also running the full.  Courtney and I have gotten to know each other these past few months and I was thrilled have a buddy doing the race with me.  She would be ahead of me because she's a fastie, but the course was looped so I would get to see her a few times mid-race which I knew would be a nice boost.  There was no fanfare to this start.  We lined up at our individual cones and the race director sent us on our way starting at 7:30 in ten second increments.  Charlie here looks ready to rock.  Me?  I'm smiling at my friends like a dummy.  So much for getting in the zone.  

THE RACE:

Miles 1-6

Ready or not.  Go! the guy in the yellow jacket shouted at me.  I turned on my music and accidentally skipped the first song.  No biggie.  I pushed my Jaybird earbud three times quickly to go back.  No dice.  Skipped another song.  Hmmm.  I tried again.  Skipped again.  I created my playlist with just enough songs to cover my goal time with a little cushion, but not much.  So, now I was worried I'd run out of music toward the end of the race which could, no would be a major disaster.  I tried not to panic and decided it was worth taking my phone out of the Koala Clip from my back and starting the playlist over from the beginning.  I did all of this while running which was super awkward and made for a shitty start as my heart was racing from stress but it had to be done.  I got back on the right track, no pun intended, put the phone back in it's pouch, replaced it back in my sports bra and took a deep breath in attempt to reset myself.  In and out, Rebecca.  Let's try this again.  My goal pace was between 6:45 and 6:50 so I worked to find it while also trying to relax a bit to get my heart rate back down.  The first few miles went by smoothly after that.  I was running comfortably in the the 6:45 range, give or take a few seconds and felt strong and rhythmic.  I just kept saying to myself....calm down, the race hasn't started yet.  Settle in.  We're just warming up.  I saw Courtney coming toward me during my 5th mile so I knew I was almost at the turnaround point which was at mile 6.  I pointed at her and gave her the thumbs up.  She was looking rock solid and I knew she was going to have a good day.

Miles 6-12

For these miles, I teamed up with a gentleman named Roy (Boston Buddies singlet) who let me know he was shooting for 2:55-3:00.  He was running super smooth and steady and right at my goal pace so I worked with him closely for this section.  We hit each mile right on pace until we got to 13 which was uphill.  I made a mental note that I would be doing this hill again at mile 26 which I was not thrilled about.  The marathoners were being directed off to the right as the half marathoners, who had just started, were coming at us from the other direction.  But, Anoush was standing at the turn with a water bottle and I felt like I needed it.  So I debated for about a second and then decided it was worth going the wrong way for some fluids.  

Fortunately, our handoff was a success.  That said, all the runners I was with thought I was going the wrong way and yelled for me to go right instead of straight, including the course worker.  The whole scene was made even more chaotic due to the fact that Roy was, in fact, going straight by mistake and needed to be redirected.  We got it figured out and I did appreciate the fact that the runners I was with were looking out for me.  Though, I felt a little bad as I'd stirred things up a bit and hadn't meant to.  

Miles 12-19

As we turned the corner into the halfway point I saw Anoush and Steve.  I considered getting water again because the stops along the course were few and far between and it was getting hot.  But I opted out and kept going if only to maintain my flow.  Roy was no longer with our crew at this point.  I'd seen him put his water bottle down and assumed he'd jump back in but after a few minutes I no longer had him in sight so I buckled down on my own.  I was feeling strong as I knocked off these miles.  I knew I'd be getting to the turnaround point again right around mile 18 which gave me something to focus on.  I also knew that I'd see Courtney again which I was really psyched about, if only for the mental boost.  As she rolled toward me, I put my hand out for a much needed high five.  We nailed it.  That was awesome.  I took the turn myself and made my way to the finish.  Here's where the race begins, I told myself.  Now it's time to dig in and hold on.  

Miles 20-26

I checked my pace at mile 20.  7:01.  Uh oh.  I said it out loud.  I had a little buffer in the bank because my first 10 miles had been a little fast but I knew I could not keep running 7 minute miles and finish under 3 hours, which is what I was aiming for.  I willed myself to pick it up.  Despite this, miles 21-24 were still right at 7.  WTF???!!! I'm trying so hard.  Why am I not going faster.  It's funny what we say to ourselves mid-race when we're hurting and totally unable to control the situation, isn't it?  I managed to get back on pace for mile 25 but it was too late.  Mile 26 was uphill and while I gave everything I had, my legs were like....mmmm, no, we're kind of done now, no sprinting uphill for us.  Damn them.  

The photo above was taken at 10:33am.  Exactly 3 hours from the time I started.  I was at mile 26 and change.  I could see the finish line.  I knew I wasn't going to come in under 3 hours.  I was both relieved and annoyed, happy and sad.  And so freaking ready to be done.  I had nothing left in the tank.  I couldn't pick it up.  I just finished and that was that.  Three hours and 31 seconds.  Yet another 3:00:xx marathon.  But, this one was different.  First, I'd run sub-3 in 2018.  I had that feather in my cap.  So, while I hadn't gotten it again I was not as devastated as I'd been in the past when I'd been so close.  Second, it was three years later.  I am now 46 years old and I almost ran a personal best.  F*** YES to that.  Third, I haven't done any racing other than last month's half since Covid.  Sure, I'm in good shape.  But perhaps not my sharpest if only because I haven't been able to line up and challenge myself for so long.  I will admit, I didn't say all these things to myself at the time.  But Anoush did.  And my coach, Lowell, also did.  And slowly but surely I came around to believing them.  To being proud.  And, yes, to be ridiculously excited to start over and try again.  Because that, my friends, is how the cookie crumbles.  Running being the cookie.  And I do love cookies.

Listen to this:

Good to Yourself - Life in Sweatpants

Life In Sweatpants · Good 2 Yourself

RACE REVIEW:SHAMROCK 13.1

On Saturday I lined up for the Shamrock Half Marathon in Manchester, NH.  It was my first non-virtual road race in over a year.  I still can't believe it actually happened to be honest.  I know other races have been taking place but I've held out for obvious reasons.  I work with high school students so last week I was able to get the vaccine.  Praise be.  Not that it means I'll be running around like a mad woman without a mask on.  I just feel better about taking part in a big-ish event now that I've got some invisible armor, if you will.  I ran a bunch of ultras last year and by December I was physically and mentally toast.  Early this year, my coach, Lowell, and I discussed a game plan for 2021.  Both of us were cautiously optimistic that things would loosen up and marathons would be back on the table.  And I was ready for a change and itching to run "shorter" distances again. So, with that, we went back to our regularly scheduled program and I started training for 26.2 miles in hopes that I could find one nearby in April.  On account of the heavier mileage I did last year, I already had a significant base at the start of this training cycle, so the notable changes as far as workouts were more speed work and double sessions twice a week.  Both, I was reminded, take a massive toll on my energy level, which was quite an adjustment.  It always is.  Yet, still, I was game.  And it was my choice, so the added exhaustion and the pressure from that was my own.  Last month, I learned that I got off the waitlist for the Cheap marathon which is happening on April 11th and excitedly reported to Lowell that I now had an official marathon entry.  This was happening.  Prior to this April date we'd talked about running the Shamrock half simply because I could get in, it was nearby and I was eager to race in person.  In hindsight, it really didn't make sense to run this race just two weeks before my scheduled marathon.  I'd be in my peak week of training and I wouldn't be able to start my taper as it was too close to the main event.  On the Monday before the half I did my last long run.  24 miles.  Every step hurt.  No joke.  It was brutal.  Tuesday I ran 8.  Let me rephrase.  Tuesday I slogged through 8.  Still hurting.  Wednesday I pushed through a short tempo workout that felt monumentally harder than a tempo effort should feel.  Long story short, by Thursday I texted Lowell because I was worried that I had nothing to give for Saturday and it would be a bust.  He told me to relax, that another 48 hours would help a lot.  This is why I have a coach because mentally I was ready to call it that day.  And he was right.  My Friday run was a little better and I was feeling significantly less worried.  Not that I was foot loose and fancy free.  My legs were still heavy and had very little pep.  "I would be shocked if you feel fresh and springy," Lowell said, "but we just need you fit enough to push through and feel solid.  You won't be sharp, but you're strong right now and should be able to grind out a solid race."  Grind being the key word here.  Okay, enough set up.  Let's get to the show.  

I got a little giddy as I laid out my gear the night before.  I decided to wear a LEX singlet as coaching the Lexington cross country and track teams has kept me somewhat grounded over this past year and I wanted to honor that.  Due to Covid, the race director had runners taking off two at a time in a staggered start based on our predicted race time.  My start time was 7:33am.  Which meant I'd be getting up at 5:00am as Manchester is an hour drive for me.  Not the earliest I've ever gotten up for a race.  But close.  I had a very restless sleep primarily due to the wind which was whipping like nobody's business and thus instilling some pre-race panic as I worried that I'd be dealing with it a few short hours later.  When my alarm finally went off, I felt like I'd gotten about 30 minutes of sleep.  

Not the case for my dogs.  Both got up with me and were totally ready to rock.  Even Enzo, who normally eats and then goes back to bed, was downstairs with Clover bugging me to go out.  They joined me for coffee and then I had to let them down gently, basically telling them that I had to go while closing the door in their faces.  Confusing, I'm sure.  It was chilly out but not freezing and, of course, still dark as I set off.  It's a straight shot up to NH and I arrived in Manchester, found the race tents and parked without any issues.  It sounds silly but this is something I never take for granted.  Especially on this day when I hadn't raced in forever and didn't need any unplanned stress beyond the race itself.

The sun was rising as I got everything together and I took a moment to just soak it all in.  I'm not going to lie, the whole thing felt pretty weird given how long it has been since my last rodeo.  As if on cue, the wind picked up.  Wouldn't be a March day in New England without the wind.  I had secretly hoped it wouldn't be an issue but deep down I knew we'd be dealing with it so I wasn't too shocked as it began to blow steadily.  I walked down to the tent to grab my bib and shirt and noticed a cold brew coffee tent by the registration table.  For about a half second I forgot about the race because....free coffee.  I told myself to focus that I could get it afterwards.  Yes, I have a problem.

I went back to my car, dropped my stuff and took off for my warmup.  It was still a little chilly but the sun was coming up and I could feel it on my face so that was lovely.  The wind was continuing to make itself known and would be for the rest of the day.  I tried not to think about it.  I didn't have much time to putz around as they had us lining up about fifteen minutes before the race was to begin.  So, at 7:10 I went over to the start and found my #42 cone which was set up safely six feet between the other two runners before and after me.  We were all masked as we stood in line.  The race crew was not messing around when it came to safety and I had a lot of respect for that.  Finally, it was go time.  Holy shit, this was happening.  

As you can see in the photo, I took off with one other guy next to me which felt really strange.  But, hey, there is a first time for everything.  I'd been warned that Manchester was hilly, so I was expecting hills.  Maybe not as many as we got, but at least I knew they were coming.  They started at mile two and never really stopped after that.  I was aiming to run a 6:35 average and my splits ended up ranging from 6:50 to 6:15 depending on whether I was going up or down.  I think I had maybe three miles right at goal pace.  Because of this and the fact that it was windy I made a conscious decision to run by effort and stopped looking at my watch.  Around mile three I was running with a woman who was easily one of the smoothest runners I have ever seen.  She was literally gliding.  I stayed with her a for a while but then felt like I couldn't hold on and realized she was cruising steadily at 6:15 so I pulled back and let her do her thing.  At mile four, we came up a hill with the sun in our face so I totally missed the cones and ended up going straight for a few feet before realizing I was supposed to turn.  Someone from the race crew noticed what happened and ran down to guide me back up but it was still a bummer.  I got passed by another woman here as I retraced my steps and got a little anxious as I'd lost my momentum but I just worked to settle down and find my groove again.

Miles 5 through 9 were uneventful.  The course was looped and we often saw the runners who were finishing a section as we were starting it.  That was pretty cool as everyone cheered for each other or gave a fist pump as they ran by.  Gotta love runners.  Almost always supporting each other even when they are literally racing against each other.  Okay, now, see that hill at mile 11?  It just about killed me.  The wind was in our face and I was so tired that I had almost nothing to give.  It was ugly and by far my slowest mile.  

Thankfully, I knew I could manage for two more and while I did get passed by a guy here, I tried hard to keep his blue shirt in site for those last couple miles.  That was super helpful.  Just don't loose blue shirt guy, I kept telling myself.  And then finally I could see the finish.  I rolled across the line in 1:27:06, a time I was pretty satisfied with given the conditions that I'd fought through.  According to Strava, I'd actually done 13.27 miles so my average pace with that distance was 6:34.  Not that I'm claiming that as my time.  I was just psyched to realize that I had made a pretty solid guess about what kind of shape I was in before the race.  I also managed to finish with my fastest mile which tells me I have more in the tank for marathon day.  So, all in, I was pleased.  Though, that said, I don't know that I would ever do this race again.  No offense, Manchester.

Right after I finished I met and chatted with a woman named Christin.  We both live in the Boston area and after a few minutes decided to cool down together.  She is such a cool gal and I hope I run into her again in the near future.  We didn't take a photo together but we did connect on Instagram. Obvs.  When I got back to the tent I found my friend Nicole and we shot the shit for a while, laughing and crying about racing and getting older which be both find challenging and incredibly humbling.  We are giving the bird to old age in the photo above.

I left Nicole to get a coffee but first I made a quick stop by the announcer's tent as I knew the gal on the microphone was Ali Feller, of the podcast Ali On the Run, and we have a mutual friend in common so I decided to just go over and introduce myself.  She was fabulous and couldn't have been nicer, which is no surprise if you listen to her show, but she was also very busy calling out runner's names as they crossed the finish so I let her work and continued on to get some breakfast.  

I ended up getting a coffee and an egg sandwich from Cafe La Reine which I highly recommend.  Both were delicious.  Then reached out to my good bud, Dave Ames, who is a run coach and was in town from CA because several of his athletes had raced.  I haven't seen him in forever so it was super fun to catch up with him.

After that I just sat in my car and enjoyed my coffee for a few minutes.  The sun was shining, my body felt good, I'd gotten to race, I'd gotten to see old friends and meet new ones.  Not to sound cheesy, but I was just so incredibly grateful for everything.  I had a new appreciation for racing and why I do it.  The race itself is a big part of it, yes.  But the run community and the excitement wrapped up around the whole event is what I live for.  I had a stupid grin on my face the whole ride home.  And it had nothing to do with my time or place.  And everything to do with the people and my love for the entire race experience.  As you can imagine, I can not wait to get after it again.  Two weeks, my friends.  Stay tuned.

Listen to this:

You Can Get It by Arkells feat. K. Flay

Arkells · You Can Get It