Notes
I ran the Baystate Marathon on October 19th 2014. So I am recounting this two months later. This was my second Baystate in a row and those two races are my two best times.
Since this is my first RR I will try to be brief with background because I could go on and on about that. I quit smoking on September 20th, 2011. Shortly after that I started biking around my neighborhood. I wasn’t really into biking so I started running around my neighborhood. Then winter came and I joined the gym and started doing cardio 5 days a week and lifting 3 days a week. I lost about 30 pounds that winter. Due to time limits on cardio equipment I was able to build slowly to 6 miles by mid-March 2012. I went for a run outside on a nice day in mid-March I figured I would do about 6 but the loop I did turned out to be 9, which was the furthest I had ever run. I was sore but proud and a few days later I did the loop again. This time on purpose. But when I got to 9 I figured, if I can do 9, I can do 10. When I got to 10 I decided to keep going and see if I could do 13.1, so I did. So I signed up for a half marathon a few weeks later. Ran the half in 1:44:57, I was definitely proud of that, but hobbled around for about a week. My sister and her in-laws were signed up for relays for the 2012 VCM so I jumped onto one of the teams and ended up running the last 10.9 miles of the race. It was such a great experience that I decided to sign up for my own full marathon.
I trained all summer and ran the Wineglass Marathon in 3:32:32. I even negative split it. Seven weeks later I ran the Philly Marathon in 3:26:40, another negative split. I trained all winter long and ran VCM 2013 in 3:10:16. I was hoping for a 3:05 to BQ but I couldn’t be that disappointed with an over 16 minute PR. About 2 weeks later my first daughter was born so I didn’t run much in June and July, but at the end of July I got out kicked at a hot and hilly half, which really pissed me off so I got back on the training. (Thank god for jogging strollers!) I signed up for the GMAA half and decided to make that my goal race.
At some point over the summer I changed my mind and decided to sign up for Baystate. I had a great experience there and ran a 3:07:44 for my first BQ. Getting slightly faster but more importantly getting bumped up to the next age bracket got me over the hump.
So after my BQ I decided to focus on going sub-3. I trained all winter long for VCM 2014. Race day turned out to be hot and the race turned into a disaster. I started cramping around mile 15, I took my first ever walk break in a race around mile 23, blacked out around mile 24, and was stopped by medical staff around mile 26. I woke up in an ice bath, my temperature was over 107. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the ER.
Rather than deter me this gave me a burning fire to train harder and exceed my goals. I knew I had it in me I just didn’t do well in heat. So I trained my ass off all summer and set PRs at distances across the board and was ready to crush it at Baystate.
Baystate is a great race. It is well run, it is a fast course. It is an easy drive from VT. The entry fee is cheap, the hotels are cheap, and logistically it works very well for me. It will probably always be on my short list for fall marathons.
So on to race weekend.
Saturday morning I woke up early got in a 4 mile shakeout run. Came home, showered and got ready to hit the road. We dropped the baby off with my parents to make it easier on my wife to spectate, plus she was pretty nervous about me having a repeat of VCM and didn’t want to have to worry about both me and a 16 month old with no other support available. We hit the road and it was an easy drive. We went straight to Bertucci’s for lunch when we got to Lowell. I have had very good luck at races where I had the Bertucci’s lasagna for lunch the day before, so that’s what I ate. I like my big carb load meal to be at lunch so I have more time to digest. Then for dinner I like a good quality pizza.
Anyway after lunch we went to packet pickup. I saw Mikey there but he was handing out t-shirts to half marathoners and my wife was running a little late to meet a friend of hers that lived in the area for drinks, so we were in and out of the expo pretty quickly. We went to the hotel and checked in and my wife left to meet her friend while I went in and out of reading my book, watching college football, and napping for the afternoon. Once my wife was back we drove from the hotel to the Rourke Bridge so she would know how to get to where she was going to watch the race. Then we drove to the start line so she could have an idea of where to meet me. After that we went to a grocery store to get breakfast for both of us for the morning and went back to Bertucci’s to get a takeout pizza. I was pretty happy we got takeout since there was a decent wait to sit and eat. Back at the hotel we ate dinner and I fell asleep pretty early while watching Chopped.
I woke up early the next morning, even before my alarm went off. I drank a bunch of coffee, choked down my bagel with peanut butter and a couple bananas. I’m not much of a peanut butter fan and the bagel wasn’t very good so it took a while to eat but I got it all down eventually. I got dressed, taped my ankle and foot with KT tape since it was still a bit sore from my run in with a pot hole 10 days earlier, and headed to the lobby plenty early to catch the shuttle. I was the 4th or 5th person there so I waited around and made small talk with some of the other people. The shuttle ride was uneventful and we got to the start area plenty early.
The Tsongas center was busy but it was still pretty quiet outside so I sat on a bench between the parking garage and the port a potties right next to the start line. I definitely enjoyed the people watching as it got closer to race time. Eventually I walked down to bag check, ditched my warm clothes and checked my bag. I was wearing an old, huge Haight-Ashbury long sleeve t-shirt that I bought when I was a senior in college as my throw away shirt. I may be the only one that was amused by the fact that everyone was wearing running related shirts while I was wearing a hippy related shirt but it did amuse me.
I went for an easy jog to warm up the legs a bit, hit the tree line for a scenic urination station, jogged a little more then headed to the corral. The corral was already pretty full so I had to do a lot of, “excuse me, pardon me” to get to the front. I got a bunch of dirty looks while doing it but I knew I was headed for the right spot so screw those people. The national anthem was played. I said goodbye to my Haight-Ashbury shirt and the race started.
I had basically 4 goals going into this race. Goal 1 finish without ending up in the ER, Goal 2 secure a sub-3, goal 3 a 10 minute PR which would be a 2:57:44, and my shoot for the moon goal was 2:55. So I wore a 2:55 pace band.
As we take off I hear some of the half marathoners heckling one of the marathoners, saying things like, “Why do you hate your body?” Which kind of made me laugh, but not really since I was planning on doing a good amount of suffering over the next three hours. I did not have to worry about going out too fast because my legs felt tight and heavy, so I just tried to loosen up and get in a rhythm. First mile 6:43
The second mile didn’t feel great either, my legs were still pretty tight, and I was definitely feeling the foot/ankle so I was glad I taped it up. I got cut off and almost tripped trying not to run over the lady that cut me off. But I settled in behind her and told myself it was only the second mile and everyone was still figuring out their pace. 6:36
We pass the Rourke Bridge and the crowd support is great and I get to see my wife and wave to her so that was nice but I’m a little nervous that my legs still feel so tight and heavy. I try to tell myself not to worry about it and just run by feel and that I have plenty of time to make up for going out slow. 6:45
During the 4th mile I see Mikey and he offers words of encouragement which are appreciated and I just try to settle into a pace. 6:42
Miles 5-8 were some of my least favorite of the day. The headwind sucks and I get caught in no man’s land. The group ahead of me is too far ahead at this point to pick it up and try to catch them. I look directly over my shoulder and no one is right behind me and I don’t want to slow down any more than I am so I just trudge along fighting the wind by myself.
6:43
6:47
6:43
6:44
At the 8 mile mark I hit the Tyngsborough Bridge and thankfully the wind is now at my back. Shortly thereafter I get enveloped by a large group of guys. I pick up my pace to stick with them and soon we catch the group that I had decided not to catch going into the wind. There is a little bit of conversation here and there which is helpful to distract myself from my own inner monologue. The group is pacing well and calling out splits as we hit mile markers on our way back to the Rourke Bridge. During this section my legs loosen up and the miles go faster and easier than the first 8.
6:36
6:37
6:40
6:38
6:35
Just before the mid-point we hit the Rourke Bridge again, the crowd support is great, I wave to my wife, give her a thumbs up and tell her I’m feeling great. It’s also around this time that my foot/ankle actually stops hurting. I hit the mid-point at 1:27:43 so I am 13 seconds behind my A goal but am feeling a lot better and running well so I start to think a 2:55 might actually be possible. The group I am with starts to separate at this point so I make my way toward the front of the group.
Mile 14 is a 6:40
I’m really not looking forward to running into the wind again but at least I am with a group this time so I duck behind a guy much taller than me and tell myself to just stay on his heels and stick to him like glue no matter what pace he runs. Luckily he ran very even splits. It definitely helped to spend those miles drafting off of him. Conversation around me had stopped and my inner monologue went into overdrive through this section. This was my first marathon not wearing headphones so I couldn’t space out and escape into the music. I think it was around mile 17 that I actually told myself to shut up. Once we get back to the Tyngsboro Bridge and out of the wind the guy I am drafting off of takes off and I let him go, I feel like it is too early still for me to push that hard.
6:38
6:38
6:37
6:34
Shortly after the bridge one of the guys in the group I had been running with since mile 8 passes me and says “Good job.” I say to myself, “Screw that I’m not letting him make a definitive pass on me.” So I pick it up and run right behind him. He is setting a pretty solid pace and we click off miles pretty quickly and pass several people. The backside of the loop is fairly scenic so I focus on the foliage and keeping pace.
6:33
6:35
6:36
Miles 22 and 23 were my fastest of the day. I try to give words of encouragement to the people still on the first loop that I am passing, mostly just to take my mind off my own pain that is starting to creep in. Every once in a while I get up next to or just in front of the guy I am pacing off of to keep him pushing.
6:31
6:31
We pass the Rourke Bridge for the final time and I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I try to focus on the nice park and the river views and just keep pushing. This year I pass a lot more half marathoners than I did last year. One of the few draw backs of Baystate is this section of the course. You are dead tired, the road has a serious grade to it so you are running tilted and you have to negotiate your way around clumps of half marathoners which can be tricky when your legs and your mind are mush. I was really starting to suffer here and I just kept telling myself to hang on and that slowing down would make all the work I had put in until this point, both in training and during the race, a total waste.
6:35
6:40
Mile 26 I had a bit of a mental break. I lost contact with the guy I had been running with since the 30K mark then I got passed twice. I looked down at my watch at the half mile mark and realized I had slipped to a 7 minute pace. I curse myself and pick up the pace but the damage was done.
6:47
The last (by my GPS) .39 I’m just saying; “get to the finish and it will stop, get to the finish and it will stop, why are there so many damn turns, get to the finish and it will stop.” I hear them announce that we are coming up on 2:55 so I negotiate my way around more half marathoners and try to kick it in. I hear them announce my name and something about the Green Mountain state. I see the clock is past 2:55 but I am pumped at my time and that I can finally stop running.
I grab a bottle of water, get wrapped in a Mylar sheet, and shake hands with the guy I ran with for the last 8 miles and we thank each other for keeping us pushing through. I slowly head toward bag pickup. My wife finds me and gives me a huge hug and congratulates me. We are both ecstatic. I pick up my bag, drink more water, and go to check my official time. 2:55:04.8.
A 12:40 PR and serious redemption. I eat a ton of the best chicken noodle soup ever. Meet X and congratulate him on his first sub-3. Then take the long slow walk to the car to check out of the hotel and head home. We stop for lunch and I eat a huge bacon and blue cheese burger and have two beers while basking in the glow of the moment.