See Sarah Run

I generally don’t like to run for about a week after a marathon. The old rule of thumb is a day off for every mile raced, but that doesn’t mean no running. It just means, take it easy. But I like a whole week off from running and that’s mostly what I did this time around too. Except, May 31^st is my “runniversary” – the anniversary of the day I started running. In 2009, May 31^st was my day one, week one of the Couch to 5K program and of course, I like to celebrate that with a run. In this case, a run of one fairly slow, fairly creaky, mile. But a run nonetheless!

I was really happy to take the rest of the week off and just walk with friends and do some yoga or even, gasp, do nothing at all. I also got a massage.  And I ATE! It’s 11 days after the race and I feel like I’m still hungry.

On the Sunday a week after the race, I went for a quick run with a Sub 30 buddy who was in town for his daughter’s swim meet. Four creaky miles. But the last one felt better than the first one at least.

Then Tuesday, a sweaty and disgusting five miler with Snarky Girl and Wednesday, a three and a half mile jaunt with Rooster. My legs still felt pretty dead and mostly I was wondering when these runs would be over with already.

Thursday I met with Tough Guy Trainer. Part of me was dreading going because, ugh, so hard and he’ll ask me to do chin-ups and what if he wants me to do squats? But I’m a creature of habit and anyway, my week-of-nothing was over, so back to the gym.

I’m so glad I went and I just want to give a big shout-out to Tough Guy Trainer! Of course, it was fun to go over the race with him. And, of course, we did do chin-ups, which were fine, actually. I didn’t lose nearly as much ground on those as I did last training cycle. Then during the rest of the workout, he made three adjustments that just show how personal personal training can be. First, we did do squats, but with only 12.5 pound dumbbells. The most I’ve done is 75 pounds with the bar and I thought, is he going to want me to do that? But of course, he didn’t and he could tell that even the 12.5 pound dumbbells were plenty on my weary legs. I don’t know if lunges had originally been on the menu, but if so, he dropped them after seeing those squats.

I also did some rows with the cable machine. He threw quite a bit of weight on there and I was struggling, but, being me, when he asked, I claimed I was just fine. He didn’t say a word. Just took some of the weight off for the next set. On the other hand, my triceps were not apparently terribly involved in the race so when the tricep pull-downs were too easy, he added more weight and in fact, then we also did a round of dips on the bench. I love how he adjusts on the fly and I felt great after this workout. Full of energy for the first time since the marathon!

Today is 12 days post-race and right on schedule, I finally started to feel some pep in my legs. SUCH a difference! I’ll still take it easy for a couple more weeks, but it’s awesome to start to feel like myself again.

I woke up race morning and got ready. The kids were zonked from being up late the night before, but they got going. Aidan even came and had breakfast with me. The hotel started their breakfast early on race day. So nice!

We decided to all try to get on the shuttle to race even though maybe spectators weren’t allowed yet, but they let everyone go. It was chaotic getting ready with the kids, but fun too. I went over everything in my mind a thousand times so I wouldn’t forget anything. We had also brought a small cooler and the Incredible Mervus filled it with ice to deliver to me in route. Meanwhile, at her hotel, North Shore Strider put ice in sandwich bags, and filled a backpack with these little life-saving packets.

The shuttle was great and we were the first ones in our group to the start. North Shore Strider got there pretty quickly, but Running Munchkin was trying to park and got stuck in traffic. Her husband texted that he was dropping her off and she would try to find me. We had decided to start together after discovering at dinner that our planned paces were closer than expected. I used the porta-potty and then used it again. I was trying to drink a lot! I also put ice in my water bottle, though it melted pretty quick. It was already warm, 73 at the start.

Family at the start

Me and North Shore Strider at the start

Soon enough it was time to line up and I headed to the starting line. I didn’t find Running Munchkin, but it was ok. I wasn’t too nervous, just ready to get the show on the road. It was a lot of work training for this race and I didn’t know what the day would hold. Time to find out! Bang and we’re off!

Running Munchkin did find me then after just a few minutes of running. We ran along together for a bit, chatting. She said she was really excited. I said how pretty Burlington was. We noted that it was pretty warm. I was happy for her company. We’ve run together before while at conferences, but we’ve never raced together. The Vermont City course is a sort of distorted cloverleaf so the race is naturally broken into four chunks. The first chunk is about three miles around downtown Burlington. Very pretty. We ran right past a café, right past people having breakfast. I could have grabbed pancakes from their plates!  The first three miles passed pretty well. The first one was slower than planned because the course was pretty crowded, but the next couple were close to the planned race pace of 8:55 and felt ok. At three miles I saw North Shore Strider and she waved and got a great picture. My family was supposed to be there somewhere, but I couldn’t figure out the spot and didn’t see them. Turns out the course map was wrong or they changed the course or something. Onward.

Hi there!

Downtown Burlington

With Running Munchkin

Even though I was running with a friend, I did start listening to music at mile 4. It was already getting warm and I wanted the distraction. Plus, I had been looking forward to hearing “Beautiful Day” since that night I heard it at the kids’ dance rehearsal and it was a great way to start the race.

Life is a journey,
Not a destination,
There are no mistakes,
Just chances we’ve taken
Lay down your regrets cause all we have is now

Life is a challenge not a competition
You can still smell the roses and be on a mission
Just take a moment to get in touch with your heart
Sometimes you feel like you’ve got something to prove
Remind yourself that there’s only one you
Just take a moment to give thanks of who you are

Great words for the start of a tough race.

The second section of the cloverleaf is a long out and back, miles 3 through 9 or so. It’s along a highway that the course map calls the Northern Connector a.k.a. Highway 127. Locals apparently call it the Highway to Nowhere because whatever it was supposed to connect with didn’t work out. It’s pretty bleak and there’s no shade. The first table at the water stop at mile 5 or so was already out of water. Not good. The second table had water, but I’ve heard that later in the race, they ran out. I was so happy on this part of the course that I had my handheld. They needed more water stops here and they should already have been bringing us ice.

It was a lot of miles of this.

At around 5.5 miles, I heard the 4:00 hour pace group behind me. Uh oh. I had lined up a little in front of them and had been fine so far. But they were going to pass me. I made a trial effort at staying with them to see how it went. But now my head started to feel like it was swelling up and was going to explode. That’s a feeling I’ve had before when running when it’s too hot and I knew I could not run 20 more miles like that. No way. So I made a choice that probably saved my race and slowed down. A lot. My pace drops from 9 minute miles to closer to 9:30 and then sometimes more like 9:50 or even slower. This was a surprisingly easy decision to make. That head-exploding feeling is very bad and not something to mess with so I backed way off. Running Munchkin kept going, I think, and I lost her. Ok, I said, you knew you might run this thing alone and that’s ok. You can do that.

Vermont CourseMap_2016_8.5×118

As a side note, the course map is color coded for different sections on the relay and this section is red. I guess this is hell leg???

The rest of the out and back was just a slog. I hadn’t studied the course the way I usually do because I had been so focused on the heat so I had no idea how long we had to run before the turnaround. It felt like forever. At mile 6.5, I crossed the first timing mat and thought, well, that is going to look a whole lot better than things actually are. It’s funny – I have wondered if I would feel pressure knowing that people are tracking me. Thanks to the Sub 30 group, perhaps quite a few people. But it turns out I usually don’t. Instead, the timing mats give me a huge jolt of energy. I know my friends and family and Coach Cowboy are getting the information and it’s like a momentary connection with them that feels really good and empowering. But I was chuckling a bit at this one because I knew I had 3-4 good miles on there but I wasn’t going to see anymore sub 9 miles that day.

The next spot for family and friends was mile 9 and I just wanted that damn out-and-back to end already and to get the hell off that highway. It felt like Lawrence of Arabia out there. Finally, we were back in town and we had something to look at and a little shade. I found the Incredible Mervus and the kids easily this time and I was so happy to see them. They gave me some much needed ice, down my front, down my back, in the water bottle. This was a really quick stop and on my way. Just a block or so later and I saw North Shore Strider, who also had ice. I took a couple of bags and held them in my hands. As the ice melted, I bit a tiny hole in the bag and got a few cubes in my mouth and put cold water down my back. Ahhhh.

The next loop was miles 9 through 15 and honestly, I’m not sure what it looked like. I suspect this was running through neighborhoods. The map says this loop goes south so I suppose it did. It says we ran briefly along the lake and I think I kind of remember that. I tend to zone out a bit for this section of the race and after miles 5-9 going so so slowly, I am happy to report that almost all I can remember from 9 to 15 is that I had my Gu at 12, as planned. I’m starting to be comfortable with marathon fueling, which feels good. I fuel half marathons almost exactly the same way every time: Gu at miles 4, 7 and 10 or 11. Marathons have felt trickier, especially after mile 15, and I’ve sometimes cajoled family into bringing me a banana. But I ran with only Gu in Philadelphia and that was fine. I’ve also spaced the Gu out to every 4 miles and that seems fine. I took a couple of salt pills at the start of Vermont and had a couple in my little waist belt as well. One melted all over my phone, but I had the other one, probably around mile 17. It’s not necessarily simple to figure out how to fuel a marathon, but I start to think I’ve got a system that is working.

Possibly first-ever race picture of me, mostly airborne. Note ice bag in my hand!

So miles 9 to 15 didn’t exactly whiz by, but they passed. I thought of Tiny Dynamo’s advice to make the first half of the marathon the happiest half you’ve ever run. Well, that wasn’t happening. This race was already more about survival and just finishing. I crossed a 10 mile timing mat and one at the halfway mark. My watch said 2:07 exactly at halfway but Coach Cowboy said the tracker had me at 2:08. They apparently lost power for the tracking at one point? Anyway, the 2:07 at the half told me everything I needed to know. Definitely no sub 4 today and also no PR because I sure wasn’t going to negative split this race. Furthermore, even 4:15 was probably out of reach. I decided to do my best to run faster than 4:30, another good decision that kept me going and had consequences later.

Vermont City has a famous hill on the course at mile 15. As I approached the hill, I saw Running Munchkin. She was off the course with her bib in her hands. Oh no! I called out to her as I ran past and she assured me she was fine, it wasn’t her day, and I should keep going. I saw her husband with the spectators so I knew she would be ok. I thought how incredibly kind and generous she is to be cheering me on and encouraging me even as her own race was ending. It did feel a bit like that Agatha Christie book Ten Little Indians, a.k.a., And Then There Were None. In that story a bunch of people are brought to an island and they get killed off, one by one. First North Shore Strider. Then Teacher Runner. Now Running Munchkin. Down to me to finish the race. Dramatic much?

They have a lot of Taiko drummers at the base of that famous hill. I saw North Shore Strider partway up the hill with her blessed ice backpack. And I said, hey, meet me at the top of the hill! Ha ha! I should have given her a break and not made her run up it! Then I found the Incredible Mervus and the kids partway up and I did stop because they were obviously not running up the hill. Rose had the remains of some kind of blue drink from Dunkin Donuts. Unlike lots of New Englanders, we don’t frequent Dunkin Donuts and we don’t consume a lot of blue food. But that icy blue sugar drink sure hit the spot! She didn’t even protest as I sucked down most of what was left. I told them I was incredibly happy to see them and thank you so much for coming to the race. I loaded up with ice again and ran up the hill. It’s a decent sized hill for the middle of a marathon, but with the drummers and the crowds and Coach Cowboy’s famous hill run, it was no big deal. At the top of the hill, I touched base with North Shore Strider again and got more ice bags to carry. She was going to run on ahead and meet me at mile 20. Thank goodness. By this point in the race, I knew the ice was keeping me on the course.

Airborne again! Worst weather, but great pictures!

The last loop is mile 15 through 26.2. Long. Other than the out-and-back from hell, miles 15 to 18 were the hardest of the race for me. The back of my legs really started to hurt. I remembered Hartford, where the cramping started at mile 9. I was still coherent enough to subtract 26-9=17 miles run with terrible cramps at Hartford. 26-17=9 miles to go at Vermont. I was not coherent enough to recognize that that’s a “fact family” or whatever they call it so I struggled through the arithmetic twice. I had a Gu at 16 miles and realized one Gu had fallen out of my belt. By then I was at 17 miles. So 26-17 is still 9. 9 miles left. Divided by 2=4.5 so I should have remaining Gu at about 21-22 miles. I think I was really hoping the math would just keep my mind busy. At around 17 miles things got very dark. I just hurt and there was still a long way to go and even North Shore Strider was still three miles off. During this whole stretch of the race, I was pretty ok as long as I was packed in ice. Whenever the ice melted, I started to feel the dark thoughts coming and my pace slipping. With ice, I could run along at 9:45-9:50. Without ice, it was more like 10:15 or even quite a bit slower. The tiny hill at mile 18 felt more like a mountain, but at the top I rallied and said, ok, c’mon, let’s go [yes, out loud] and ran again. “Telling the World” came on my iPod and that’s Rose’s song and I said [yes, out loud], this is for you baby girl, and just ran some more. I really wanted to walk. But I knew that would just make the whole thing last longer so I kept running.

Started out on track. Then slowed down and slowed down some more. Struggled the most at mile 18. Picked it up at the very end though!

Then, as sometimes happens in marathons, things got better instead of worse. North Shore Strider popped up again around mile 19 with that wonderful ice backpack. More ice down the bra, down my back, down the shorts. Bags for my hands. Wonderful. I was a little confused because it wasn’t mile 20 but whatever she said made sense and I just kept going. Someone ran by and said “That’s a good friend.” I just said “The very best.” I am not sure I could have finished without that ice. I think not.

I had been dreading this section of the course because it weaves back and forth on some residential street so you are not making any headway in a sense. Just zigging and zagging. But this ended up being one of my favorite parts. The course goes through a neighborhood and they turn the race into a huge block party. Every house had people in front of it. Kids had made signs. They had watermelon, pretzels, even maple syrup shots at one house! And ice pops! Yeah! I have tried maple syrup for running and don’t like it but that ice pop was great. And my fueling-obsessed mind thought, well, Rose’s blue drink plus ice pop – that might make up for the missing Gu calories. They also had golf carts with ice in this neighborhood. Wonderful! Plus, now it was mile 21. At mile 22 the course turns from north to south and heads back to the finish. On a bike path with shade. Hallelujah. On a better day, this would be a great course – except for that anvil of the sun bit along miles 3-9. I never want to see that stretch of road again. Ever.

But now I was running in the right direction and in the shade and I was well packed with ice. I kept trying to pick up the pace a little bit. I could see that I was between a 4:20 and 4:30 finish time and really wanted to be under 4:30. The last part of Coach Cowboy’s famous hill repeat workout is to run back to the start as fast as you can after the hill repeats. Yes, we do the hill repeats and then race back to the car. It’s 3.3 miles and we did this nearly every week of training. So at 23 miles I thought, it’s the end of the hill run. You’ve done this so many times. Yes, your legs are really tired and they really hurt but that is how this always feels so get a move on. And I sort of did. I wish I could say the last three miles I picked up the pace, but I didn’t.

Gratuitous picture of me looking badass. I want the Vermont photographer at every subsequent race.

Around mile 23, things got complicated. First I heard two guys talking to each other. One asked the other “What did that guy say about timing?” “I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound good”. Then at the next aid station, the volunteers announced that they had called the race off. They were shutting the course down and we should please walk. I did walk a little. But then I thought, fuck this, I am less than three miles from the finish line and I am completely fine. All that ice meant that I felt really totally fine. Sure, I was running much slower than I wanted, but I was nowhere near heat stroke or heat exhaustion or anything other than just being too damn hot. It was really confusing. Some people were running. Some were walking. Some volunteers were asking us to walk it in. Other volunteers were cheering us on. They still had water stops open and yeah, more ice! This part of the course is just straight on the bike path pretty much to the finish line and I thought, well, I don’t think I will get lost. If they’ve turned off the timing mats, I can use my Garmin time and at least know how I did. They are going to have buckets of medals leftover and it’s unlikely that they will refuse to give us medals that we want and that are otherwise useless. So probably I can at least get a watch time and I probably won’t get lost and probably someone will give me a medal – I decided to go for it. I’m pretty sure if a police officer had told me to stop, I would have, but otherwise, I was going to finish the damn race.

Looking very happy at mile 25! North Shore Strider had run back along the course to find me and there she is in the background with her pink Sub 30 shirt. Be Epic And Strong Together! She ran 9 miles that day to get ice to me all over the course. What a hero! Also, feet off the ground, again!

I knew I had a few new songs left at the back end of this play list and “Gonna Shine” finally came on, suggested by Coach Principal:

Gonna shine and make the moment mine
Now my time has arrived
Gonna shine so bright
The sun will run and hide
And I’ll be the only star that lights the sky
I’m gonna shine

Then one of my other new favorites “Work That Body” that I like so much I had it at spot two, but also here at the back end and there it was, finally. After that came “Uptown Funk” and perfect, ‘cause:

I’m too hot (hot damn)
Call the po-lice and the fireman
I’m too hot (hot damn)
Make a dragon wanna retire, man

I just alternated “Work that Body and “Uptown Funk” on my iPod from there on out. I didn’t let myself count until mile 24, but then I counted pretty much of the rest of the race. At mile 25 I started counting up to 145 because I could see my watch would read something like 26:45 at the end. Over and over, up to 145, until it’s done.

I have no idea who my twin is here, but I can see she also has ice down her shirt.

Then I came to race officials telling us, keep going, the finish line is just around the corner, so I thought, who knows what is happening, but I am not lost and there’s the finish at last, at last! Is the clock is still running? Who knows? My watch said 4:27:40. Hooray!

Done at last!

I got my medal. I got some water. They had lots and lots of medical personnel at the finish line and they were checking every person. Are you ok? What do you need? I was actually fine and just wanted water and to find my family and to get a massage because my legs were a wreck. I got my picture taken and then I found North Shore Strider’s husband and had him take it again. Ha ha! Always remember the pictures!

North Shore Strider’s husband walked me to the family reunion area and my gang was there and I was so glad to see them. They looked pretty wilted from a long day in the heat, but we had hugs and pictures all around.

Then North Shore Strider showed up for more hugs and pictures and I was so so so happy to be done. Cell reception was nearly completely absent so I was able to text Coach Cowboy my time and one text from him went through so I knew he had gotten it. I tried to post to Facebook so everyone would know I was fine, but it wouldn’t post.

Saying good bye to North Shore Strider. Thank you!

My family was super patient while I got my massage and got some food.

I ran into Spencer Mom in the food line.

It turns out they called off the race right around noon, four hours into it. Anyone who finished in under 4:30 counts as official. They have my gun time (chip time is AWOL for some reason) as 4:29:12. 48 seconds to spare. Only 11 people after me got counted as official finishers. They pulled Spencer Mom from the course and she had to wait for an hour for a bus back to the start. Awful. I feel so sad for the people who didn’t finish and I overheard lots of conversations between runners who just weren’t quite sure what to make of a race that ended that way. At the same time, I’m thrilled that I did finish. I saw a lot of signs during the race with one of Coach Cowboy’s favorite sayings, “Never Give Up” and I never did. I’m damn proud of that. And sub 4 hour marathon and BQ – I’m still coming for you.

Wow, what to say about this one? It was a hot time, in the old town tonight! Clichéd but true.

To re-cap, last fall I ran the Philadelphia marathon in 4:09:03. When deciding on a spring marathon, I picked Vermont City mostly because Fast Friend had been after me to do this race for about two years. We almost ran it in 2014, but did Providence instead. She told me I wasn’t allowed to run it without her when she was newly-postpartum in 2015. This year, we thought we could run it together at last. However, as things started to shake out in January, she just wasn’t ready to train for 26.2 with a toddler. Very good choice, I might add.

So I was left looking for a training partner for Vermont. Teacher Runner wasn’t ready to commit. She is eyeing a longer triathlon and thought she might do that instead. But North Shore Strider, a new friend from Sub 30, said she was interested and we could be virtual training partners. North Shore Strider ran Philly but I didn’t end up meeting her there because she was in and out of the city so quickly. We had hit it off through texting and this sounded like the best option so I said yes. She also signed on to work with Coach Cowboy. Not long after, Teacher Runner also committed to Vermont. Yeah!

I had initially been nervous about staking out sub 4:00 hour as a goal for Vermont, but things went well. Very well. Teacher Runner and I had a near perfect training cycle. We ran track. We did hill repeats in unbelievably crappy weather. Why did the rain and the wind and the snow always arrive on Wednesday afternoon? We did long runs, tempo runs, basically whatever Coach Cowboy threw at us. North Shore Strider, meanwhile, got injured early on. When she got better, she managed to roll her ankle while warming up! She was never able to get her mileage up and missed a lot of races this spring, including the Middletown half, which we were supposed to do together. She did do Broad Street, where we finally met in person.

By late April, Teacher Runner and I were zeroing in on not just a sub 4:00 hour marathon, but maybe pretty close to 3:55 on a good day. It still wouldn’t be good enough to run Boston even if I ended up qualifying, but 3:55 would have been spectacular. Teacher Runner got faster than me this cycle – I’d like to point out that she is ten years younger!! But she said she wanted to run Vermont together anyway. I tried to get her to run her own race, but also, I was thrilled we would do another marathon together.

Then, a week out from the race, things started to shake out differently than expected. Teacher Runner pulled something when she stood up after sitting with her daughter in her lap. She had to decide to pull out of the race, which was awful. And the forecast for Vermont became clear and it was pretty awful too. The predicted temperature on race day just kept climbing until it was in the mid-80s. Ugh. That is not PR weather, no matter how you slice it. At least not for me.

I did some serious expectation management in the week before the race. I do a lot of visualization and I didn’t know whether to visualize Teacher Runner next to me or not. I wasn’t quite sure what to visualize about the heat except being miserable. I’ve run a couple of half marathons in that kind of weather and it was awful. I just kept imagining that clock, though I had been seeing it read 3:54:20 and now it often read 3:58. Sometimes much slower numbers crept into my imagination. I listened to an MTA podcast on hot weather and what to do. Mostly, they recommended slowing down and not being afraid to drop out if necessary.

I talked to Coach Cowboy a few times in the week leading up to the race. I thought he would be his usual badass tough-talking self: Go get it, don’t let a little heat slow you down, you’re trained, you’re ready, etc. But he wasn’t at all. Instead he said I’d have to manage it and be careful. I needed to slow down, if necessary, possibly a lot. He never said 3:55 is not happening, but he helped me see that being careful was more important than being fast on a day like that. We also decided I would carry my hand held water bottle. I carry it a lot during training, but I’d never raced with it before. Fly Girl had had hers at RWF though and I’d seen the advantages of having your own water with you.

On the road

We drove up to Burlington on Saturday and went straight to the expo because I was getting antsy and needed to have the bib in my hands. We ran into North Shore Strider and her family, killing time waiting for their room to be ready. This is the first expo I’ve ever been to that had both beer and spirits sampling. What a good idea!

Got my bib!

Got my shirt!

After the expo, we checked in to the hotel. No time for a swim, much to Rose’s disappointment. But we met everyone at Pulcinella’s for a great dinner. In addition to North Shore Strider and her family, we also met up with Munchkin Runner, a fellow political scientist, who also works on German politics. Munchkin Runner and I have had some great adventures in the past and I was excited to do a race with her.

Me, North Shore Strider, Munchkin Runner, and Rose, of course.

After dinner, the Incredible Mervus took the kids to the pool, giving me time for final preparations and laying out my stuff. Early to bed to be ready for the big day.

I just finished my last training run for the Vermont City Marathon! 3.65 miles cruising around the neighborhood, two miles at race pace, because, sheesh, I couldn’t help it. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything here and I’m behind two race reports, Middletown Half and Broad Street. Three if you count the lead-up to the postponed Middletown race. But, I have been busy reading 3 dissertations for prizes, 54 job applications, and countless student papers. Now the semester is finally behind me and it’s almost marathon day. Two days until Vermont City!

Heading out on the last run!

Fate has thrown two big wrinkles at me this week. After a fantastic training cycle, my partner-in-crime, Teacher Runner, came down with an injury just 10 days ahead of race day. As of this morning, the decision is final. She’s not going to Vermont. We ran every step of the Philadelphia Marathon side-by-side last fall and we’ve done nearly every training run together. To say I will miss her would be an understatement. It’s not like leaving my legs behind, but maybe a big chunk of my heart. But I would miss her much more if she ran and made things worse and had to sit out the whole summer. I’m so glad she’s playing it smart and sitting this one out.

Running through the winter

Showing up in matching shirts (unplanned)

Middletown Half Marathon – We both PR’d that day!

I love running with this woman so damn much. She got faster than me this training cycle and she deserves to go kick ass in Vermont. But marathoning is a little like gambling and you never quite know what is coming.

The second wrinkle is the weather. After an unseasonably cool spring, the weather has suddenly turned unreasonably hot. Race day temperatures are expected to be warmer than ideal. The marathon organizers are providing extra water stops and ice and we runners are going to have to do our best to run smart and stay safe.

Without Teacher Runner I will probably listen to music for most of the race. I thought I would be the kind of runner who talks to people during races, but it turns out, I’m not. I like company and I love running next to friends, but when I’m racing, I’m pretty focused and not much interested in conversation. I’m working on a marathon play list and during this last training run, I was listening to some of it and a sort of race mantra or theme came to me. Power and Joy. Joy and Power. Powerful Joy. Joyful Power. That’s what I’m looking for Sunday morning in Burlington. Here are the songs so far:

Vermont City Marathon Play List

A Beautiful Day – India.Arie: The final number in the kids’ dance recital this year. Performed by the top high school dancers at the studio, this song took my breath away and I knew I wanted it first on my play list immediately.

Work This Body – Walk the Moon: I found this through Rock My Run a few months ago and then forgot about it.

“And I will work this body I will burn this flame
Oh in the dead of night, and in the pouring rain”

Yeah. What runner can’t relate to that, right?

It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls: An oldie but goody. Suggested by a few people in the Sub 30 Club, this song always reminds me of my mom, for some reason. Can’t be sad when it’s raining men!

What Does the Fox Say? – Ylvis: Ok, everyone knows this song, but only the brilliant Therese would think to run to it. So much yes.

Crazy Bitch – Buckcherry: A couple of the women in my group “Fast Women Running Spring Marathons” came up with this selection. This one’s all yours, crazy bitches.

Let It Grow (Celebrate the World ) – Esther Dean: Rose’s class sang this for the spring concert and again I knew immediately I had to run to it. She caught me crying “tears of joy” but she knows those tears are good, not bad.

There are more songs on the list, but still lots of race prep to do so going to leave it that for now. How do you use music in your running? Do you ever give a race a theme? What songs bring you joyful power or powerful joy?

Sweaty me, ready for Vermont!

On February 27, 2016, I ran the Colchester Half Marathon. I ran Colchester two years ago as the first half marathon I did after dramatically stepping up my training. In Connecticut, this is known as one of the most difficult half marathons on offer. It takes place on the last Saturday in February so not only is the weather on race day very hit or miss, but you have to be prepared to train through winter’s crap if you want to do well. Then there’s the matter of those hills. The race website says something like 1100 feet. My Garmin data says only about 700, but either way, that’s a lot of climbing. In exchange for the crazy course and crazy weather, you get: no t-shirt and no medal and no beer, but views of cows and barns, the most out-going race director I’ve ever encountered, a professionally managed race, and lots of tasty food at the post-race carb re-load lunch. Also, a really fast field because this isn’t a race to tackle on a lark.

When I ran Colchester in 2014, I experienced some of the most exhilarating racing I’ve ever had in my life. This race had intimidated me. For a couple of years, I didn’t sign up because I was afraid of the hills and the weather. But in 2014 Fast Friend and Snarky Girl and I committed to running Colchester and we did almost all our long runs out at the orchard with lots of hills. Colchester 2014 was also my first half marathon after joining Innovative Fitness and Wellness and adding strength training to my routine. I remember feeling like I was flying. I wrote in the blog that I passed more people in that race than in all other races I had done up to that point collectively and that might be true. I also got a PR of over two minutes, running it in 2:04:33. I put together a half marathon race play list for Colchester 2014 that I still use so obviously, this was a break through race for me. What would 2016 hold?

I felt good in the week leading up to the race and the weather looked good. In the mid-30s, which is a tad on the cold side, but dry at least with no ice on the roads. Training for Vermont City has been going really well. My new chiropractor seems to have figured out how to eliminate the hip/back issue I have been dealing with. We’d done at least a couple of training runs at the orchards and of course, many hill repeats. Plus, Tough Guy trainer has me doing serious Big Girl Squats, producing hopefully strong legs. I don’t remember where I heard this but a voice in the back of my head kept saying, there’s never a guarantee that you’ll get to the starting line healthy. The weather is always a crap shoot. If things come together and you get a chance, you should go for it.
Coach Cowboy said when we planned out the race schedule that he hoped for sub 2 at Colchester. Instead of responding “Sub 2 on that course? Are you crazy?” somehow I thought, yeah, sub 2 is do-able. I want to note some kind of Level Up Option going on here. I generally have goals for particular races, but I have bigger, longer-term goals too. One of those goals has been to run a sub 2 half marathon on a regular basis. Not just on a flat course with perfect weather and the planets aligning. But to be the kind of runner who can run sub 2 on a tough course or in bad weather or whatever. I don’t want to miss this because suddenly I was pretty confident I could run sub 2 at Colchester on that beast of a course. I’ve run that fast three times before, but once at Middletown, which is at least flatter than Colchester and twice at Surftown, which is pretty much a pancake for races in this area. Feeling confident about sub 2 at Colchester? LEVEL UP, BABY! Ok, my kids play too many video games….

So, how fast should I go? I’m a brainy runner. I do better with an explicit time goal. Tough Guy trainer was saying, you are working hard and doing well and you need to go for it. Coach Cowboy and I set up a three-tiered goal. First, run sub 2. Second, get a PR (that’s 1:57:07). Third, aim for 1:55. 1:55? Gulp. They say you need a goal big enough to scare you and with 1:55, I reached it. That’s fast. On those hills? Yikes, but ok.

The day before the race, I re-read my race report from Colchester 2014. These little write-ups are darn useful! My primary memory of that race is some of the most deeply-rooted joy I have ever felt in my life. Also, I remember a stunning red barn against a field of white snow and running up an icy dirt road, but that was about it. The race report contained lots more details, including the brutal hills in miles 11 and 12. Nice, right? I also re-read my race report from Surftown 2015. I spent probably too much time with the pace calculator. That report reminded me how well checkpoints have been working for me. The Colchester course is more or less a big square so I picked out times to meet at the corners. This turns out to be a great strategy for a hilly course because your splits for particular miles are probably going to vary a lot. Finally, early to bed, with a Tylenol PM to ensure some good sleep.

Race morning dawned clear and cold, as expected, but not too much wind at least. I got ready. Had my oatmeal. Made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to eat in the car. I even packed a protein shake for after the race. Good grief, who am I? Teacher Runner and I were both racing, but driving separately because she had to take off right afterwards to deal with kid stuff. I met her in the parking lot – she arrived first, of course. Got my bib, used the bathroom – no porta-potties at this race! It’s based at the local high school. Found Fast Friend and said hi to Early Bird. Colchester is a big runner social event! Before too long, it was time to line up.

Teacher Runner and I with one of her school buddies

Teacher Runner and I didn’t have a plan about running this together or not together. We’ve raced together plenty of times, but the Philadelphia Marathon was the only time we stuck together start to finish. I really didn’t know what we would do, but I had my checkpoint times and Coach Cowboy (she’s working with him too now!) had told her “Run your own race.” I said, let me translate for you: Don’t wait for Sarah. Ha ha! She said anything can happen, which is also true. Before we were done joking around at the start, the air horn sounded and off we went!

Now, I had planned on sub 9 miles the whole race, aiming for 8:40-8:50. A 1:55 half is an average of 8:45 minutes per mile. But you sometimes learn a lot about how you’re going to feel in the first mile of a race and I felt good. Even though the race starts uphill. Huh. Ok, let’s see where this goes. Teacher Runner obviously also felt good because she was up and at ‘em. I’ve confronted the choice of whether to try to hang with Teacher Runner or let her go many times in races and training and I expect to be facing that choice a bunch more in the future. I’m usually happier when I go ahead and chase after this speedy gazelle, so I stuck with her. Good lord, first split of 8:19. I hope you know what the hell you’re doing, Teacher Runner. Second split of 8:35 and third on one of those hills at 8:57. That’s about when she ran on ahead of me and this time, I let her go. I thought a 1:55 was within my reach, but nothing much faster than that, and I needed to run my own race as well. My first checkpoint was 5 miles with a time goal of 43:50 and I cruised past the five mile mark more than a minute ahead of schedule.

The course starts at the bottom of the square and goes clockwise so five miles is the upper left-hand corner. Imagining myself running across the top of the square was weirdly helpful, but also, I felt really strong during this race. I ran pretty well at Surftown last fall, but it felt like a lot of work. This was different. It wasn’t quite the unfettered joy of Colchester 2014, but it wasn’t a slog either. This was a quieter, more focused kind of joy. If it wasn’t quite flying, it was still moving pretty damn fast. The downhills at this race are a blast if you aren’t afraid of them and I just focused on keeping my turnover high and not falling down. Soon enough, I came around the corner with that beautiful barn, this time against a grey-greenish field just coming out of winter. This has to be one of the most beautiful scenes in all Connecticut races.

This picture doesn’t do it justice!

Then down and up some more. Gu at miles 4 and 7 and 10 as usual. Water at the water stations. Through the halfway mark in 56:20. What? My math skills while running are not great, but 56:20 at 6.55 miles is way faster than 1:55. Ok, whatever, biggest hill was yet to come. I walked one tiny stretch on the worst of that hill around mile 8 when the person next to me slowed to a walk. Man, is it hard to keep running when someone does that! But I rallied and ran up the rest of that thing, thinking 1:55 isn’t for walkers, Coach Cowboy said be tough, c’mon, get after it. Suddenly I was on top of the hill, sooner than I expected, and here was mile 9 which I was supposed to reach in 1:19. Time on the watch? Just under 1:18.

Ok, down the right-hand side of the square, things were getting harder. Four miles to go, three miles to go. This is work now, though still not a slog. I was supposed to reach mile 11 at 1:36:30 and I was still ahead of the clock, but by less than a minute now. Suddenly I spotted Teacher Runner! She had taken off her jacket so she looked different. Had she been so close the whole time? I was going to catch up to her! Hooray! Wait, I was passing her. What? That was a surprise. I spent the next mile or so thinking it was her shadow at my shoulder and wondering if she was okay. It turned out she had some stomach issues that slowed her down so she’ll have to wait until another day to show what’s she’s got.

Now the last two miles, rolling hills that look so small on the course map and feel so huge by this point in the race. People on bicycles kept passing me. A race volunteer. Would he notice if I grabbed the bike seat and let him pull me up the hill? Would that work? A couple of down-and-out types out collecting cans on their bikes and cheering on the runners. Or was this just one cyclist who kept passing me over and over again? I had no idea and how could they stick this hill HERE at this point of the race?
I started counting to 100 over and over again for the last mile. After each 100 count, I would glance at my watch. I was .18 further. I was .17 further. Pace sitting steadily around 9:20, yuck. If I could just keep running and counting, this race really would end at some point. It was inevitable. It had to be. Here’s the race director at 13 miles yelling “Only .1 miles to go!” He apparently has no idea how far that is. Then suddenly a woman next to me yells “C’mon, let’s finish together! Let’s finish strong!” and unbelievably my legs start moving faster and the damn hill is over and the damn race is over, thank goodness! I can stop! And look at that clock! 1:55 something! YES! Almost immediately Coach Cowboy calls with a tracker update. Gun time 1:55:39, later updated to chip time 1:55:29! YES! My head is still spinning and I can hardly believe it.

Teacher Runner came in just a minute or two later and she’s ok, just stomach troubles. Fast Friend arrived quickly afterwards despite predicting a much slower finishing time. We celebrated and commiserated at the finish and then headed inside where the culinary students had prepared some truly delicious food, as promised. Two years ago, this was about as big as I could dream in terms of running. Now I’m waiting to see what Middletown and Vermont City have in store.

Fast Friend, Me, and Teacher Runner

Fast Friend and Hubby – they left Adorable Baby at home!

When the winter that wasn’t turns into the winter that was after all and it feels like you’ve spent five days battling the snow already and your schedule has you doing hill repeats alone in the snow (of course) and you’ve already reached out for moral support in every direction you can think of  and when your legs feel like lead and you promise yourself that instead of a race back to the car, you can just get the miles in and when the only reason you are out here at all is seriously because your coach told you “you’re the kind of person who gets it done” and you are trying so desperately to believe that. When it’s the second to last hill repeat and you think of your new friend whose son died five years ago today and your old friends who check on you every day and the snow stings your cheeks and you wonder what the hell you’re doing out here. But then on the last time down the hill, when you remember that you really do want to qualify for Boston and this particular piece of insanity is apparently part of your pathway there and then when on the way up the hill for the last time, the theme from Rocky comes on your iPod shuffle? When that happens, then you hit repeat, repeat, repeat all the way back to the car and suddenly this part of the run is not perfunctory at all because you’re gonna fly now and you are trying to negative split this bad boy and you are moving those feet, get that fast turnover, like a cat walking fast, go, go go go GO! When that happens? You’re smiling at the end at last and you love running again and you love Philadelphia, home of your marathon PR and you love Sylvester Stallone and the whole wide world and everything is good again. Yeah, when that happens.

Where to start? This was my goal race of the year. I ran it Sunday, November 22. I blew it out of the water. I’m still so happy. My heart is full of running joy.

Having missed running a spring marathon because of a hip/back injury, I was especially excited for a fall race. I don’t remember anymore how we concocted the Philly plan. I had a lot friends do it last year and they loved the race. Nicole and Chris, my sub 30 buddies, both thought they could make it, though Chris’s race schedule ultimately took a different direction. Our local crew came together over the summer with me, Snarky Girl, Teacher Runner, and Swifty all planning to race in Philly. We also added a new member to the crew, Rooster, who, like Early Bird, wants to run at or before dawn. Swifty, unfortunately, got hit with a stress fracture over the summer, so we became a gang of four.

Our weeks took on a pattern over the course of the training cycle. Long runs usually Sunday because Teacher Runner’s husband worked Saturday. Monday switched around between circuits, easy running or rest. Tuesday was always track day. Wednesday sometimes hills or later in the cycle, a tempo run. Thursday train with Tough Guy. Friday was our girlfriend run, sometimes fancified by Coach Cowboy. Saturday circuits at the gym. This training schedule felt really good for me. Teacher Runner and Rooster almost always joined me for track days. Teacher Runner and Snarky Girl were near constants on Fridays. We all found a rhythm that worked for our individual schedules, but also intersected with everyone else on a regular basis. Running is an individual sport, but having a crew is almost like having a team and this group was awesome.

The Saturday before the race, Snarky Girl, Teacher Runner and I loaded up an incredible amount of stuff and headed to Philly.

I am not actually moving to Philadelphia – it just looks that way.

Rooster was already there, having headed down a day early with her family. The drive down felt slow. There was traffic. We stopped at Panera. We drove some more. Finally we got there.

Philadelphia, here we come!

The hotel was expensive, but fantastic. We had a suite, lots of space, a view of the starting line and a prime location. Snarky Girl checks out the lay of the land.

We got settled in Saturday afternoon and headed to the expo with Nicole and her BRF#1.

The expo was big! Not as big as New York, but we didn’t have a lot of time. We picked up our bibs, swapped the shirts for bigger sizes and got Teacher Runner switched to a faster corral. I had so been hoping to buy an official jacket because I missed out at NYC, but they were sold out! When will I learn? Order ahead! However, I picked up a nice hoodie and frankly, found plenty of Philly merch to buy.

I ran into Night Muffin at the expo!

There was also a booth where if you posed for a picture with their background and posted it to social media, they basically threw free shirts at you. I got 6 free shirts! Four of them were tiny, but I think Rose and her buddies will get a kick out of them. I had hoped to see some other sub 30 folks, but we were pretty rushed about getting to dinner. Snarky Girl bought new shoes that she ran in the next day because that is just how she rolls.

I would LOVE to come run this race!

Nicole had made reservations at the Marathon Grill. We had a great dinner and it was so wonderful not to have to worry about where to go.

Somehow Snarky Girl got the small glass of wine

It turned out that another sub 30 group was at the table right next to us so we got to hang out some and take a picture with the flag. Very fun. We had a really nice meal, relaxed, and talked about plans for the race.

Sub 30 rocks the Marathon Grill!

Back at the hotel room, we got ready for bed. We flipped around on the TV a bit and laid out clothes for the morning. Rooster arrived around 9pm and we started to wind things down. Lights were out by 10pm or so. I took a Tylenol PM and slept great.

Flat Sarah, ready to go!

I slept a little too great. I was the only one who set an alarm and I set it for 5:45 instead of 4:45. OOPS! Thank goodness I woke up at 5:15, as usual, and jumped out of bed! Morning time preparations were, shall we say, more “focused” than they might have been otherwise. Luckily, we really were ready to go. We had time for oatmeal and coffee. We put on our ridiculous throw-away wardrobes and were out the door by 5:55am or so. Stepped out the door and pretty much right into the HUGE security line.

Waiting in line in our lovely outfits!

This was a total bog down. I don’t know if it’s because we were a few minutes later than we had intended or if they increased security because of the Paris attacks, but we waited forever in line to get into the race area. We had met up with Nicole and her BRF#1 and we took turns going to the bathroom in the hotel because we were still right outside the door. There was a huge truck that said something like “Homeland Security – Special Unit” so I think this was a response to Paris. Once we finally cleared security, it was really time to pee. Teacher Runner and Rooster and I wanted to go to the first porta-pottys we spotted so we said good bye and good luck to the rest of the crew and got in line. And waited and waited again. Nicole was right – it would have been better to walk for a bit and then go, but once in line, we didn’t want to give up our spots. It was getting later and later and people were getting antsy. There were still people in the security lines and many many people waiting to pee. We finally finished around 6:52 for a 7am start. Yikes!

Rooster, me and Teacher Runner – success at the porta-potty!

Luckily we knew that with a wave start, we wouldn’t be moving right away anyway so we started a slow jog to our purple corral. I really didn’t want to get worked up about this so I kept telling Teacher Runner and Rooster to stay calm. I think the big surge of adrenaline when I panicked at the start of the Hartford marathon in 2013 messed up my race and I didn’t want to repeat that. In any case, we jogged along until we found the purple corral and even found BRF#1 waiting in it! Despite Teacher Runner’s misgivings (“I’m not that kind of person!!”) we jumped the fence and joined BRF#1 in the corral. We had plenty of time because the race started late anyway.

Ready to run at last!

They were playing music and we danced a little in honor of Chris. Shook off some nervous energy. Teacher Runner and I reviewed the race plan again. Finally we started moving and inched our way to the start. They got everyone in purple lined up and then we had a real start of some kind and off we went! Four months of hard work about to be put to the test! The weather was in the mid-40s and cloudy – good for racing!

Teacher Runner and I lost BRF#1 and Rooster pretty much instantly, but that was fine. We had thought we might stick together for a mile or so, but they planned to start faster than we did. The first mile was really congested. So many people! The whole operation was nothing like as crowded as New York though. It’s a whole different league from Hartford, but it still felt like 1/10^th the crowds of New York City. And unlike my experience in NYC, we were in the right place, so even though it was crowded, everyone was running close to our pace.

The overall plan was drop dead simple. Run as close to a 9:30 pace as possible for the entire race. No pace adjustments unless feeling smashingly good at mile 20, then speed up a bit. Otherwise 9:30 all the way through. Of course, that is NOT enough to think about, so Coach Cowboy and I had worked out some other ways to break things up. The first five miles were all about staying under control. You should feel good for the first five miles of a marathon and it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement. Our first five splits are 9:26; 9:53; 9:29; 9:38; 9:38. Right on plan. We heard the Rocky theme for the first time. Saw lots of cool buildings. Ran by the Constitution Center. Generally, we felt very good. Teacher Runner and I didn’t talk a lot, but we commented on interesting signs and reminded each other to stay in control. I saw Therese from Sub 30 out on the course somewhere in the first five miles in her bright yellow hoodie, yelling my name. That was really fabulous!

I had figured out what a 9:30 pace would be at the three timing mat locations in the race and we crossed the 10K mark at 59:20 or so, nearly perfectly at our 9:30 pace. I had decided that miles 5-13 were about enjoying the city. Remembering to look around and there was lots to look at! This section of the race goes down Chestnut St. and that is where the crowds were. This was the one place where the energy of Philadelphia approaches that of NYC. Chestnut was full of people and the energy level went way up. It was hard not to get swept up in that and I kept telling Teacher Runner (and myself), keep it easy. Stick to 9:30. Still, we had our fastest split of the race on that stretch of road. Splits for this section were: 9:21; 9:04; 9:57; 9:11; 9:41; 9:11; 9:19; 9:27. The 9:57 is one of the hills. I suppose the 9:41 is probably the second hill, with the splits following those climbs being the faster downhills. We run a LOT of hills in Middletown and these Philly hills were really not a big deal for us. Noticeable, but unproblematic.

The final couple of miles out by the river were pretty lonely and even though she didn’t see me, I was happy to see Linda from Sub 30 out there cheering! I was also incredibly ready to get rid of the half marathoners. Lots of people had talked about the split on the Philly course. Half marathoners and marathoners are together until almost mile 13 when the half marathon runners head to the start/finish area and the marathoners head out along the river. The half marathon runners all seemed to think we would feel so sad not to be turning right with them. Instead, I was so happy to see them go. I was honestly ready to get rid of them by mile 7 or so. I didn’t feel quite as strongly about it as my friend the Bearded One, who claims he wanted to throat punch all the half marathoners, but I can understand his perspective. It was nice to have a clearer course and to get down to the business of the second half.

We hit the half mile split at 2:06, which was a minute or two behind schedule. At that point I thought, ok, sub 4:10 is probably out of reach. You are not likely to negative split this thing. But I had said right along that 4:10 was my dream goal but I wouldn’t be unhappy with a few minutes to either side of that. It was still going to be a huge PR. I also told myself, ok, if no sub 4:10, let’s at least hang tough for sub 4:15. I think being able to click to that secondary goal in an instant was probably mentally important. I didn’t spend time or energy mourning sub 4:10 – just adopted 4:15 and thought how sweet that would be.

Coach Cowboy and I had broken the second half of the course into four sections. The second half is an out and back, with one deviation where runners cross a bridge around mile 17. The four segments were from the halfway mark to the bridge. Bridge to the turnaround. Turnaround back to the bridge. Bridge to the finish line. Kelly knew the plan and she recited it just as we crossed the halfway mark. I realized I hadn’t told her that we would actually run across the bridge, but my desire to talk had decreased by now so I thought she’d figure it out. I also put my music on at the halfway mark. We weren’t talking much anyway and I know music helps me run and stay strong. The run to the bridge was okay. It was all starting to be work, for sure, and by now we had picked up a lovely headwind. I thought of running the last 6 miles of the Providence marathon into a much worse headwind and just said, yup, you can do this, but I was sure grateful when it let up.

On the far side of the bridge is an out and back that just seemed gratuitously long. And the segment from the bridge to the turnaround, which is about 2.5 miles, seemed about a hundred miles long. Strangely, in here somewhere, Teacher Runner asked how I was feeling and I know I said “fantastic!” Which is also true. I felt simultaneously great and also like I couldn’t wait for this ridiculous race to be over with.

During this part of the race, I felt furious at the race director folks. In addition to the lovely beautiful much-longed-for mile markers, someone had added “medical markers”. The “medical markers” I’m sure are to help medical personnel locate people on the course who need help and they are clearly totally reasonable, but I just felt personally offended by them because I didn’t want to see “Medical Marker 16” or whatever, I just wanted to see Mile 18. This was the darkest portion of the race for me. The best part (only good part?) of this section was at some point, there was a beer aid station. What I loved was not the beer, but the fact that there were big warning signs BEER ONLY before the beer station so that no one made a mistake. This struck me as hilarious, but I may have been getting a little punchy.

We crossed the 30K timing mat, right on schedule at 2:57 hours into the race. I had a feeling that was a good thing, but I also couldn’t remember if we were supposed to cross 30K at 2:57 or 3:57 and I was definitely starting to lose track of where we were on the course. The same thing happened during the NYC marathon, when I actually asked at the 19 mile water station where we were because I could no longer figure it out. Ah, the mind does strange things over long distances.

Why couldn’t I just look at my watch to check my mileage, you might ask? Normally, I am a pretty Garmin-reliant runner. I have a Garmin Forerunner 220 watch and I love it. I love it because it’s purple and looks really cool, but I also love it because it helps me stay on pace and I look at it a lot. During this section of the race along the river, however, my watch kept losing its satellite signal. I have no idea why because there were no sky scrapers here or any other structures to mess up reception, but I knew I had lost signal enough that my mileage was pretty far off. I was hoping the stopwatch part of the watch had remained functional, in which case we were right on target with 30K at 2:57. I think my brain just sort of said at that point, 2:57, 3:57, what’s the difference, just keep running.

Once we reached the turnaround, it was time to boogie back to the finish line. Yes, we had to pass the bridge, or on this side of the road, the section where out and back courses were temporarily not together. But mostly we had to finish this thing. Past the beer aid station. Finally to mile marker 20. One little 10K to go.

The last 6.2 miles were glorious and horrific. Now, a few days later, mostly I remember the glorious. Running with Teacher Runner at my shoulder is some version of heaven for me. By now we had run 20 miles together. We were pretty much done talking. At some point she said “train” and pointed to what was indeed a train. I think I said “urg”. That was the level of conversation. I lifted my arm to wipe away some sweat or snot and realized how incredibly tired and sore my arms were. Thank goodness, I could not really feel my legs. But running with this woman at my side might be the closest I’ve ever felt to flying without an airplane. Simultaneously completely euphoric and totally terrifying. My biggest fear the last six miles was that she would run away from me. She’s done it before, at both the Citizens 5K and the Surftown half marathon, and I didn’t know if she had it in her to speed ahead or if she would do it, if she could. I knew I would be crushed if she left me and also that I might walk, which would be a blessed relief and also a huge defeat. She told me afterwards that she was wishing so hard we could walk, but that she would never have said that and that she was also worried I would run away from her. I will hold the magic of these six miles in my heart forever and they make this entire journey worthwhile.

We started to tick down the distance until the end. 21 miles – 5 to go. 22 miles – 4 to go. By now my watch was a full half mile off in terms of mileage, which was actually ok. It meant that something “happened” every half mile. We either crossed a physical mile marker or my watch gave me a split. I was so deep inside myself now that I didn’t feel the watch vibrate, but I started calculating splits based on what time we passed the mile markers. 3:19:00 to 3:28:30, so still on 9:30 pace. 3:28:30-3:38:00, still good, etc. The final miles of a marathon can take on a sort of unearthly quality. For me at least, time becomes fluid, passing both more slowly and more quickly than normal. I try to imagine my eyes as a camera, capture the image, remember what this is like. You will want to remember. Look, there’s a bridge, and then also a rock arch right behind it. How cool. Look, there is the skyline, still kind of far away. Even though I try to do this, I often can’t fully remember what the end of the race was like.

I do know that during this six mile run back, I saw three members of my sub 30 running group. First up was Kim (running with Adrian, who I didn’t see – sorry!). This was Kim’s first marathon and she was injured just three weeks prior to the start. I saw her when she was around mile 17 or so, smiling! A big bright smile and a yell for me! I smiled and waved back, so very happy she was that far along. I knew she’d finish and I figured I had better stick with it too. I saw a sub 30 shirt I didn’t recognize, who yelled for me! Now I know it was Alison and her presence reminded me that sub 30 gives me friends in unexpected places, just where you might need them. Near the end I saw Therese again, jumping up and down and cheering like crazy in her yellow hoodie and her crazy energy helped push me along. It’s pretty much impossible to overstate how great this group is and how much support they offer.

As we approached the finish line, I knew there was something I wanted, but I still couldn’t really speak. I had run 26 miles with a close friend and training partner. Finally with about 20 feet to go, I was able to gasp out “Hands” and reach for Teacher Runner. Luckily, she knew just what I meant and reached back. Yes, we crossed the finish line hand in hand. We had not necessarily said we would run this whole race together, but we trained together, we ran together, we finished together. It was nothing less than spectacular. We hugged, we high fived, we got medals and blankets. Finally we checked our time: 4:09:03. Sub-4:10!!!!!

The rest of the day was delightful. I think I was positively vibrating with happiness. We got through the finishers chute and found the Bearded One. Snarky Girl and Rooster found us. Lots of hugs and congratulations all around. It turns out, my entire crew PR’d, as did the Bearded One. I was able to buy a marathon jacket (finally!) on the way back to the hotel.

Triumphant Philadelphia Crew!

We chilled at the hotel for a bit and then met Nicole and some other sub 30 folks for drinks and grub at the Tap House.

Sub 30 celebrates in style!

Best pancakes ever!

The Tap House also had: the best hard cider ever! the best scrambled eggs ever! The best water ever! Ok, I may have just been super super happy. It was wonderful to celebrate! When it was finally time to head back to Connecticut, our gang took one last ramble around Philadelphia’s German Christmas market, which was really lovely. Then coffee, candy, and on the road home.

I spent the weekend of October 16-18 at a running festival in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. When people ask, “Do you know anyone else there?”  I try to explain, well, I’m in this group on FaceBook, the Sub 30 Club. Ted Spiker started it – he writes for Runner’s World. It’s really fun! We all support each other! These folks are my friends! But, it is a little hard for other folks to understand. I try again: See, we made all these jokes about clowns? And then Roger shows up in a clown suit! And then, Ted himself shows up on the course in the middle of the trail run! I can see why this is hard to get.

Fun? Or Terror on the Trail!

But in fact, for this one weekend, it feels like Bethlehem has been transformed into a town where I know everyone. Every store and restaurant I go into has Sub 30 people already there.

Unplanned lunch date!

The first race was the Friday afternoon trail run. It was awesome lining up with TJ (aka Night Muffin, ha!) and Richie (aka The Leprechaun) and a bunch of the rest of the gang. We had been told that the trail was technical and difficult and yikes, they weren’t kidding. It started rocky and hilly and continued like that for basically the whole race. I don’t mind hills, but rocks under leaves scare me. I liked that the trail doubled back on itself all the time because we were frequently passing people going the other direction and could cheer them on. I loved the surprise of seeing Laurie (Mama Canning) and Ted (the Godfather) on the course. To my great astonishment, I came in second in my age group for the trail race. This keeps alive my record of only placing in races that do not have awards for age groups. To my still greater astonishment, I beat Coach Cowboy at this race! No, he is never going to hear the end of that and yes, he beat me in all three subsequent races.

Big guys from Texas getting ready for the trails

Meeting friends for the first time in person!

Sub 30 finishing strong!

After the race, I headed over to the expo with Coach Cowboy.

They decided we were so cool, that they put us on an upcoming cover! [Um, not really….]

I also ran into some of my virtual training partners!

Friday night we gathered at the Steel Works, the pub adjacent to the Steel Stacks area where the races were staged. This is where I first understood both how big the group has become and also that it isn’t going to matter. As the room filled with Sub 30 shirts, I was thrilled to see “old friends” (people I met last year) and “new friends” (people I had not met yet, but who seemed nice on FaceBook), but it was also fantastic to meet so many “unknown friends” (people I actually didn’t recognize, but who ALL turned out to be incredibly nice). Something about this group is just magic.

The Steel Stacks at night!

Saturday dawned bright and cold as we took our now traditional pre-race picture.

Last year I had run all three races “comfortably hard” without real time goals and that had been just fine. This year, I kept changing my mind about what I wanted to do. I had made a plan to run the 10K with Hippie Runner and Fly Girl, hoping for a sub-55 finish, but I also really wanted to PR the 5K. Coach Cowboy told me he thought I could run sub-25 and to line up by the 8 minute per mile pacers. What? I did NOT feel AT ALL like I belonged up there.

Sub 30 Speedsters! What am I doing in this group???

The gun went off and we started and I can only remember a very small number of things about that race:

1. First time I checked my watch it said something like 7:20 pace and I felt comfortable. WHAT?
2. We definitely run over that damn bridge in all of these races.
3. An absolutely clear promise to myself that if I can PR the 5K, I do not have to go for sub-55 in the 10K. I can walk the 10K. I can skip the 10K. I can drink beer during the whole entire 10K. It really doesn’t matter, just survive the damn 5K.
4. This business of running around the stacks at the end seems to go on forever and then they freaking fool you because there is a big cool arch of FIRE at the end of the race except, THAT IS NOT THE END! You have to keep running to the finish line!
5. Finish time is 25:23, PR of 51 seconds! WOOT!

After the 5K, I had a banana, I got a clean shirt, I cheered for some people, I got cold, I went pee. Before too long, it was time to line up for the 10K. I had planned to line up with Hippie Runner and Fly Girl, but I couldn’t find them and anyway, I was off the hook for sub-55. I lined up with Coach Cowboy instead and ran a mile or so with him before he took off to chase down Hippie Runner. The first two miles or so felt pretty bad, but then I started to get warmed up. I passed Fly Girl. Shockingly, I passed TJ, who was having some bad cramping issues, apparently due to only having three safety pins for his bib? Who knew safety pins could cause such problems! Halfway through the race, I started to feel pretty good and found myself picking up the pace. With a mile and a half to go I thought, oh, get this damn thing over with. Finish time: 55:10! WOOT!

Not looking brilliant!

Saturday afternoon I got to hear one of my running heroes, Deena Kastor, be interviewed by David Willey, editor-in-chief of Runner’s World magazine. Pretty much running-nerd-girl heaven. Deena was amazing. She talked about how positive thinking helped her overcome training obstacles in the lead-up to her master’s record at the Chicago marathon the weekend before. She told us she once held her breath during a race to freak out her competition (it worked!). And, she doesn’t like bananas, but she has one on race mornings because that’s what runners eat! One of my big regrets for the weekend is that I didn’t get a picture with her, but I had no idea she would be so down-to-earth and it didn’t occur to me to ask.

Saturday evening the Sub-30 Club pretty much took over the dinner with the editors of Runner’s World with our fearless leader as the speaker. His tales of adventures and misadventures had us laughing and crying from the start, but most impressively, he came up with a spectacular new Sub 30 slogan:

Runner’s World editors dinner – my tablemates!

The next morning we all got ready to run the half marathon.

Larry (a.k.a. Kilted Jesus) seemed especially ready to run!

One of the fun aspects of the Sub 30 Club is that you can “follow” other runners the way some people follow professional athletes. Kind of like fantasy football except with amateur non-celebrity runners. Fly Girl is one of the people I love to follow. She is a super cool pilot who loves dogs and lives in the Midwest. She started running after she turned 50 and in her first year at the sport, she won her age group in something like 10 of the 12 5Ks she entered! Her race times for the 5K are well below 30 minutes, but she thought she “wasn’t cut out for” longer distances. I knew that was baloney, but when Fly Girl’s first half marathon didn’t go as planned, her confidence in her distance running took another hit.

I still really wanted to run a race with Fly Girl and when the 10K didn’t work out, I decided to help her meet her goal of a 2:10 half marathon (she ran her first half in 2:22). I forgot that the half marathon starts up on the highway so I got to the start late and Fly Girl had already found the 2:10 pacer, Ingrid. We got off to a good start and Ingrid was marvelous. She was full of information about Bethlehem and let us know our time for each mile, as well as how close to 2:10 we were running. It was super relaxed running with her and I really enjoyed the early miles.

By mile four, Fly Girl and I started to pull away gradually. I knew she was good for faster than 2:10 and she didn’t seem to be working too hard so I kind of just let that happen. Every now and then she asked where Ingrid was and I assured her that she was just a bit behind us. By mile 7, we were well ahead of Ingrid and as we passed the 7-mile marker, Fly Girl said “only two 5Ks to go!” I could see when she teared up that that was the moment SHE knew she was going to make her goal. By mile 10 I was telling her to plan her finish line picture for her big PR because she was going to blow 2:10 out of the water. By mile 11 I could tell she was fine so I picked up the pace. When we were running 8:15 at mile 12 she said “hey, this is pretty fast! Is this ok? What if I blow up?” I eased off a little but also said, “One mile to go? You are NOT going to blow up!” In fact, when we saw the finish line, she blew right by me and rocketed through to the end! She finished in 2:06:32 with a huge smile on her face and the confidence to know that a sub 2 half marathon is within reach. We’re planning to run that together next year at RWF, unless she’s too fast for me by then.

I loved running with Fly Girl!

Some of my favorite Sub 30 girls!

After the half, everyone got cleaned up and headed over to BrewWorks once again, for food, drink and celebration. I’m already looking forward to next year!

On September 13, I ran the Surftown half marathon in Westerly, Rhode Island. Since then I’ve been busy writing stuff for work so I’m only now getting around to finishing this race report. If anyone wants to read about theories of comparison or the 25th anniversary of German unfication, let me know, but I thought I’d keep the blog focused mostly on running.

I ran Surftown last year and I got a PR, but I ended up annoyed and not sure how to talk about that. It was my second sub-2 hour half marathon, so how could I be pissed off? This is how: I finished in 1:59:09, which was a PR of 6 seconds over my old time, after expecting to be able to run faster. My hips cramped up badly around mile 8 and the second half of the race was a suffer-fest. It wasn’t the outcome I had hoped for even though it was a pretty good race. So last year was pretty frustrating.

Surftown is one of my favorite races though. It has a beautiful flat course along the beach. The weather has always been great for running. Lots of friends run this race and it’s easy to convince family to come along because it’s at the beach! So, of course I wanted to do it again. The only half I’ve run so far this year is Mystic, which I ran in 2:07 with only one 10 mile training run as my longest run. Three and a half months later, things look very different. I’m knee deep in marathon training for Philadelphia and I felt ready for Surftown.

We decided to head to Westerly on Saturday for some beach time. Everyone had a great time playing in the waves and building sand castles. I love these pictures of Rose enjoying the beach. This is her happy place.

Aidan kept busy too.

Then we went to the Malted Barley (thanks to Nicole for the great tip!) for a dinner of beer and pretzels. Talk about your carb loading! Then back to the motel for an early bedtime.

Sunday I woke up around 5:15am. Ouch. I made my oatmeal in the motel room microwave and totally melted the Styrofoam bowl. Oops. Early Bird and Teacher Runner picked me up at 6am. We drove to the start and picked up our packets. The race organizers were announcing lots of water on the course from the rain the day before. They were even offering deferments! Early Bird, Teacher Runner, and Me

I was excited for the chance to meet Hippy Runner, another friend from Sub 30. I saw her right before we lined up. Incredible Mervus and the kids came to the start to send me off, a real treat!

The race plan involved these fundamentals. Run an even paced race. If at any time, I saw a 7:xx pace on my watch, then I needed to slow down. If I saw a 9:xx, I needed to speed up. I was planning to keep a 8:40-8:50 pace, but I was not supposed to panic at 8:30s or even 8:15. Coach Cowboy told me not to be afraid, but just to let it happen and that became the race motto: Let It Happen.

So, bang! The gun went off. I instantly lost track of both Early Bird and Teacher Runner and didn’t see them again until near the end. I did see Hippy Runner and we joked that we each planned to hang right behind the other. After a bit, though, I pulled ahead and didn’t see her again. The first two miles of Surftown are a straightaway down a causeway. It’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement at the start that I thought I might see that 7:xx on the watch when I first looked down, but instead it said 9:20. Shit. That was the sign of a possible long morning to come. I was able to pick it up though and got down the straightaway and around the loop keeping the pace around 8:40-8:50. In previous years I have always seen the leaders coming back on the straightaway as I went out it and I did not see them this year. I think means I was a little faster?

The first six miles of this race are supposed to be easy. The course is flat. The ocean views are lovely. It’s just get out there and run. It wasn’t hard exactly, but it wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. I just kept that 8:40-8:50 pace as best I could.

Surftown doesn’t have mile markers at every mile, but they have one at the five-mile mark. The first time I ever ran five miles in under 50 minutes was right past that sign. This year I figured that an 8:50 pace is pretty close to 44:00 for five miles so that was the plan. I crossed the five-mile mark at 43:45. On track!

Also at around 5 miles, I finally caught up with the 2 hour pacer. As I passed him, I heard the pace group leader announce that he was on target for a 1:58 finish. I asked if that was his planned finishing time and he said no, he planned to finish in 2 hours, but he knew he would lose time on the hill coming up. I got crazy cocky and called out “I’m from Middletown! I’m going to run that sucker!”

I had assumed that the Incredible Mervus and the kids would not see me on the course and would just be at the finish line so I wasn’t counting on seeing them again. But, the course does loop back past the start so there was a chance and indeed, there they were! They even got a picture!

Looking pretty happy just about halfway through

The halfway mark was my next check point and I had planned to get there in 58:00. I crossed in 57:43. Yes! Right on target.

Mile 7 is the biggest hill on the course, but you can hardly see it when you’re running. It’s a sneaky hill. It’s there, though, and it makes everything seem harder. Miles 7 through 10 is where things fell apart last year and when things got slower at mile 7 I had a little panic. What if I slowed down? I had forgotten my salt tabs. What if my hips cramped up again? But I did twelve million clamshells to prepare for this so surely they wouldn’t? And they didn’t. YEAH!

The rest of the race was just straight up work, as I knew it would be. Mostly I could keep my pace below 9 minutes. If it went above 9, I tried to speed up just a bit. If I saw 8:30, I remembered what I had written on my hand: “Let it happen.” I thought of what Coach Cowboy had said: Don’t be afraid of it. He said he thought I could run this race at an 8:15 pace if I could get my head around that idea. I DO NOT think that is true, but I figured if he thought that, I could at least handle 8:45 or so with little stretches of 8:30 thrown in now and then.

By mile 10, I was passing people. Quite a lot of people. I kept saying, let it happen. Don’t be afraid of it. This is ok. I am ok at this pace. In the middle of mile 11 or so, someone came up beside me. This person was kind of looking at me. She was very close to me. She was almost touching me. What the hell?? I finally looked. Teacher Runner! Turns out she had been tailing me for quite awhile and finally caught up to me! I waved and she waved and she kept on going. Man, I would have loved to go with her, but that just wasn’t happening. She sped on past me.

Then finally it was mile 12 and things just get grim by mile 12. I was pouring it on, as much as I could. No reason to hold back now. I started counting soon after Teacher Runner passed me and just kept at it. Five counts to 100 and you’ll be done. Just count to 50 three more times and you be at mile 13. I glanced at my watch from time to time, but I don’t even know why because I was going as fast as I could, so any information from the watch was irrelevant. Finally, feeling like I was crawling through mud, I got to the 13 mile marker. Then at last, the finish line! Arms up! Get a good picture! Um, maybe not so much. I mostly look pissed off.

But, despite looking like I’m about to chew somone out, this year, I ran a 2 minute 2 second PR! Yes! 1:57:07 and I feel great about that.

If I had to pick one word to describe my approach to this race it would be “intellectual”. I studied the course. I planned my pace. I planned arrival times at various checkpoints and hit them within seconds of my plan. I have run Surftown like this before and I wonder if the course lends itself to that approach? It’s one of the few flat courses in this area and you can really spread yourself out over the race. But I ran like this at the Middletown 5K too and that also worked, so maybe it’s a good strategy. For me, picking a goal pace for a race like this is critical, though this time around it was also key to not be afraid of running faster than goal pace. To believe that I could let it happen. Crazily, Coach Cowboy must have had some idea of this because he wrote down a predicted finish time on a piece of paper before the race: 1:57:00, off by only 7 seconds.

At the end of the race, it was fantastic to have the Incredible Mervus and the kids to greet me. Teacher Runner was there too, having beat me by less than a minute. Hippy Runner arrived a couple of minutes later, also sub 2 and with an enormous PR. Congrats to Hippy Runner! I only remember snippets of the rest of the finish line scene because I was so tired and happy: Calling Coach Cowboy and hearing his prediction (He asked if I couldn’t have found an extra 7 seconds somewhere out there!). Sitting on the curb, drinking lots of water. Seeing Early Bird cross the finish line. The Incredible Mervus telling me that Rose had had ice cream for breakfast. Just walking side-by-side with Aidan.

Me and Teacher Runner and Rose doing her usual post-race photo bomb

I finally got to meet Hippie Runner!

Somehow we all made it back to the car and over to our brunch destination, Mia’s Prime Time Cafe. Nicole had arranged for a bunch of us to meet up at a local restaurant for some post-race food and mimosas. We piled in there and loaded up on delicious breakfast goodies. It is so fun to meet up like this after a race and get to re-hash everything. Next race up is Hartford so I guess I’d better start looking for a brunch place that sells mimosas!