Race Report: 2023 Mill Town Marathon

On October 29, I ran the Mill Town Marathon in Dundas, MN.  This is a small marathon that’s only been held once before.  The race was first held in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.  At the time, larger races were all being cancelled, so a group of runners created their own route, got the course certified, and organized their own race.  They had to keep it small, so it was limited to 25 runners in the marathon and 25 runners in the half marathon.

I first heard about the race while I was doing the Running Ragged 20 in 20 Series.  On one of the last days of the series, another runner form Minnesota asked me if I was doing Dundas.  I didn’t know at first what he was talking about.  I try to do every Minnesota marathon at least once, so I normally would’ve been interested.  Unfortunately, I had accumulated enough aches and pain while running 20 marathons in 20 days, that I needed to take a break.

I couldn’t remember the name of the race, and I never heard of it again until this year.  After the Twin Cities Marathon was cancelled, the same runners who organized this race in 2020 decided to hold it again.  It’s still a relatively small race, but this year they were able to accommodate 100 total runners between the marathon and the half marathon.

As luck would have it, the race fell on one of the few weekends that I didn’t already have a race scheduled.  I had three reasons for wanting to do this race.  First, I do every Minnesota marathon, and this was one I had never done.  Second, I was hoping to run my 500th marathon or ultra at the Route 66 Marathon in November.  To make that possible, I squeezed three additional races into a schedule that was already busy.  When the Twin Cities Marathon was cancelled, I was no longer on schedule to reach that milestone in November.  This race allowed me to get back on schedule.  Finally, I’m hoping to do my 100th Minnesota marathon or ultra sometime next year.  When the Twin Cities Marathon was cancelled, I lost a Minnesota race.  This race made up for it.

Lately, I’ve been pushing myself pretty hard in my races.  To recover from races quickly enough to race on consecutive weekends, I typically have to hold back a little.  In all of my recent races, I’ve pushed right to my limit.  For this race, I decided to stay closer to my comfort zone.

When I signed up for this race, I had no idea how cold it would be.  Overnight, the temperature dropped into the mid-20s.  We were expecting a small amount of snow overnight, but thankfully the snow stayed farther south.  We had dry roads for the drive to Dundas and a dry course for the race.

I’ve done training runs in colder conditions, but this was one of the coldest marathons I’ve done.  Figuring out what to wear is tricky when you’re going to be running in cold temperatures for four hours.  If you’re even slightly underdressed, you’ll get progressively colder during the race.  If you’re even slightly overdressed, you’ll start to get hot and sweaty.

I typically wear tights in cold conditions, but today I wore a pair of tight-fitting sweatpants that are easily twice as warm.  On top, I wore three layers.  My outer layer was a Tyvek jacket that I kept unzipped, so it wouldn’t cover the race bib pinned to the shirt underneath.  I also wore two layers on my hands, a winter hat, and ski goggles.

Deb and I drove to Dundas together, arriving about an hour before the race started.  Deb volunteered to fill in wherever they needed help.  She started out by helping with runner check-in.  Later, she helped with post-race food and door prizes.  In between, she tended the bonfire in the start/finish area.

After picking up my race bib, I waited in the car until it was time to make a port-o-potty stop.  I got there just before it got busy.  Then I did my best to keep warm near the bonfire during pre-race announcements.

The course was a 6.55 mile loop that we ran four times.  We started at Memorial Park in Dundas, ran along the east bank of the Cannon River, crossed the river in Northfield, and then come back on the west side of the river before crossing the river again in Dundas.

When the race started, I was surprised how cold my legs were.  I had to go slow at first, because my legs just wouldn’t respond.  After the first turn, I forced myself into a rapid stride to try to warm up my legs.

We were on city streets for about four blocks.  Then we turned onto a paved trail for the next three miles.

My goggles kept the top half of my face warm, but they limited my peripheral vision.  I was running alongside the river for almost a mile before I noticed how close it was.

We didn’t have any snow, but there were lots of fallen leaves.  Most of the trail was visible, but there were a few spots where the leaves had settled, and we had to crunch through about two inches of dry leaves.

For the first two miles, I was averaging about 8:50 per mile.  That’s faster than I intended to start, but that was just to get my legs warmed up.  Starting with the third mile, I was warming up enough that I could ease up a bit.  I was still running faster than I do in most of my training runs, but it was significantly slower than the pace of my last few marathons.  I wanted to run fast enough to stay warm, but not so fast that the effort would leave me drained.

I started to drift back from the pack of runners I had been following earlier.  Now, other runners were gradually passing me.

There were four aid stations per lap, including the one in the start/finish area.  The first time I reached an aid station, I decided to skip it.  My goggles covered the top of my face, but my mouth and cheeks were cold.  I couldn’t imagine trying to drink.  I wasn’t sweating yet, so I could afford to wait.

As we reached the northern end of the loop, we crossed the river on a pedestrian bridge that had a smooth concrete surface.  Then we got back onto city streets and ran past a Kwik Trip convenience store.  Outside the store, there was another aid station.

I knew I had to drink at some of the aid stations, so this time I stopped to grab a cup of Gatorade.  I was expecting it to be ice cold, but it was room temperature.  That was a pleasant surprise.  Other runners enjoyed that too.  Nobody wanted to drink anything too cold at this point in the race.

I settled into a pattern of drinking at every other aid station.  I needed to take in some fluids, but I didn’t need as much as I would in warmer conditions.  Drinking twice per lap seemed about right.

Coming back on the west side of the river, we were initially on a sidewalk, as we ran through the southern edge of Northfield.  Ahead of me, I could see a factory for Post cereal.  I look at the smokestacks at the top of the building to see which way the wind was blowing.  It was blowing toward me.  It wasn’t a strong wind, but I knew I wasn’t likely to warm up on this side of the river.

When the sidewalk ended, we moved to the shoulder of a highway.  This highway was busy, but we had a nice wide shoulder.

Next, we turned onto a road that wasn’t as busy, but it also didn’t have much of a shoulder.  Here, there were traffic cones near the edge of the road.  Some of the cones were only a foot from the edge of the pavement, so we had to run right on the white line.  It was awkward at times.

We eventually turned off the road and onto a paved trail that ran parallel to the road.  We were still going into the wind, but we had more room to run without having to worry about traffic.

I didn’t notice what my pace was in miles four and five, but by the fifth mile I had settled into a pace between 9:30 and 9:45.  I would stay in that range for most of the race.

My favorite part of the course was where we turned to cross some railroad tracks and then ran through some woods.  On this section, we were sheltered from the wind.

Before getting back to Memorial Park, we had to run a few blocks on city streets in Dundas.  We had to cross one somewhat busy street, but there were course marshals to help us get across safely.

Across the river from Memorial Park, there’s another small park called Mill Park.  We ran through Mill Park and then crossed another pedestrian bridge over the Cannon River to get back into Memorial Park.

The surface of this bridge was wood, but some of the wood planks had a glittery appearance.  There was frost on the bridge, and the morning sun was at a low enough angle that it reflected off the ice crystals.

As I finished my first lap, Deb was right there.  I drank a cup of Gatorade, told Deb I was doing OK, and started my second lap.

I knew by now that I would have the wind at my back in the first half of each lap, but I would have to run into it in the second half.  For the next three miles, I felt fairly comfortable, with one exception.  I felt like I was going to need a bathroom stop.

There’s a building with bathrooms in Memorial Park, but the water was shut off for the season, so pipes wouldn’t freeze.  There were port-o-potties in the park, but they were a distance away from the course.  The Kwik Trip next to the second aid station has bathrooms, but going into the building would also be out of the way.

I was almost to the north end of the loop when I noticed a port-o-potty in a small park next to the course.  I was considering stopping there when the runner in front of me left the trail to head to the port-o-potty.  There was only one, and I wasn’t inclined to wait, so I held on for another lap.

After passing the aid station by Kwik Trip, I started to notice an aroma like someone was baking cookies.  I didn’t think much of it at the time.  I just kept running.

By now, we were getting spread out enough on the course that I couldn’t always see the next runner in front of me.  Instead of just following the crowd, I had to pay attention to where the turns were.  That turned out to be pretty easy.  There weren’t many turns, and they were well-marked with red chalk arrows.  I was looking for the arrows during my first lap, even though I didn’t need to.  This time around, I already knew the turns, but I still looked for the arrows.

At halfway, I was on pace to finish in 4:10.  I didn’t have a time goal in mind, but that seemed reasonable.

Some of the runners were doing a half marathon, so they were done after the second lap.  I wondered if the field would thin out as I started my third lap.  It thinned out a little, but not that much.  More often than not, I could still see at least one runner ahead of me.

I was planning to stop when I got back to the port-o-potty that was right next to the course.  In anticipation, I started to speed up when I was still almost two miles away.  During those two miles, I passed two runners.

When I emerged from the port-o-potty, I saw a runner coming.  I initially assumed this was simply one of the runners behind me, and he caught up while I was in the port-o-potty.  Then I saw there was a volunteer leading him on a bicycle.  This was the lead runner.  I was still in my third lap, but he was in his final lap.

I had expected to slow down after my bathroom stop, because it took me out of my rhythm.  Ordinarily, after stopping for a minute or two, I settle into a slower pace.  Instead, following a faster runner caused to me go a little faster than before.

After crossing the pedestrian bridge in Northfield, I gradually settled back into my previous pace.  I stopped to drink at the aid station near the Kwik Trip.  Then I noticed the cookie aroma again.  It was stronger now, and it seemed more like brownies.

I always noticed this aroma when I was downwind from the Post cereal factory.  They must have been making a chocolate flavored cereal.  I made a mental note that I would need to have a brownie after the race.  In the meantime, I still had to run about 10 miles.

The two runners I passed earlier in this lap were now ahead of me again.  They passed me while I was in the port-o-potty.  By the end of this lap, I passed them both again.  Then, as I was running through Mill Park, a runner passed me.

As she went by, she said something to encourage me.  She was going fast, and I wondered if she was finishing the half marathon.  Then I realized that anyone doing the half marathon would’ve been done by now.  By the time I got to the bridge, I heard them announcing her finish.  It was the lead woman in the marathon, and she was already finishing her last lap.  She set a new course record.

When I crossed the bridge, I could still see frost, but it no longer had a glittery appearance.  The sun was higher in the sky now.

As I finished my third lap, I noticed my time.  My time for the third lap was about the same as my time for the second lap, even though I had a bathroom stop.

Deb saw me finish that lap and asked me if I was OK.  I told her I was, but I realized I was starting to get warm.  I knew I would feel much warmer in the first half of my last lap.  Instead of having a headwind, I would have a tailwind.  If I kept my jacket on, I would have to slow way down to keep from getting too hot.

I decided to take off my jacket and tie it around my wait as I started my last lap.  Normally, I can do that without slowing down.  With gloves and shell mittens on my hands, it wasn’t as easy.  It was tough to get one sleeve off.  The other sleeve came off easier, but I accidentally turned it inside out.  To fix my sleeve and tie my jacket around my waist, I had to briefly slow to a walk.  Then I noticed that my watch band was coming loose.  That was also tough to fix with mittens.  I had to slow down again to fix my watch.

There was one intersection on this side of the river where they had course marshals.  When I got there, I already had my jacket tied around my waist, but I was still trying to tuck one of the sleeves to make sure it wouldn’t be flopping around loose.

One of the volunteers asked me if I wanted to drop my jacket there.  Before the race, we were told we could drop off clothes after any lap, and they would keep them at the finish line for us.  I have no doubt this volunteer would’ve brought my jacket back to the finish line, but I opted to keep it with me.

Once I had my jacket squared away, I picked up my pace.  For now, I was warm enough, but I had the wind at my back.  Later, I would have a headwind again.  I had to commit to running a fast enough pace to stay warm without the jacket.

I started to see more runners ahead of me.  I was catching up to people.  The first person I passed in that lap wasn’t going very fast.  Then it occurred to me that this was still her third lap.  I was starting to catch up to people who were at the back of the race.

I passed several people on that lap, including a couple of local runners I know.  Some were still on their third lap, but others were harder to catch, so I knew they were runners who were on the same lap as me.

A couple miles into the lap, I reached an aid station that I had previously gone by without stopping.  On this lap, I slowed down long enough to take a drink.  It was several degrees warmer than it was at the start of the race, so I started drinking at all the aid stations.

When I reached the second half of the loop, I noticed the brownie smell again.  I also noticed the wind.  I wondered if I could run negative splits if I pushed hard for the last few miles.  My second and third laps were each a few minutes slower than my first lap.  To run negative splits, this lap would have to be faster than my first lap.

I wasn’t paying attention to my recent mile times, so I didn’t know how fast I started this lap.  I only knew that the first mile was slow because I was struggling to get my jacket and watch squared away.

I picked up my effort as much as I could, but the wind was stronger now.  For the next two miles, I was looking forward to the place where I would enter the woods and get out of the wind.

The last time I looked at my watch, I was already past 23 miles.  I thought I must be getting close to 24, so I looked at my watch again.  It was already reading 24.11.  Somehow, I never noticed when my watch recorded a split for 24.

I kept running.  When I thought I was getting close to 25 miles, I looked at my watch again.  I was already at 25.07.  I missed another split.  Grr.

I had no idea if I was on pace for negative splits, but I committed to that as a goal.  I was trying to take the rest of this lap as fast as I could.

I finally reached the section of trail that was sheltered from the wind.  My recollection was that it was about a mile long, but I realized now that it couldn’t be more than a half mile.  I enjoyed it while I could.

After that, I just had a few blocks on city streets, then through Mill Park and across the bridge for the last time.

I crossed the bridge and ran to the balloons surrounding the finish line.  I got there in 4:08:39.  I ran negative splits by roughly a minute.

This was a small race that was organized quickly, so I expected it to be low frills.  I wasn’t expecting a finisher medal, but they had them.

They also had many of the other things you would expect from a larger race, including chip timing, and post-race snacks.  The results were available online before we drove home.  They had enough volunteers for aid stations and traffic control.  Also, the bonfire in the start/finish area was nice.

I hope this race becomes an annual event.  It’s a nice little race.  Talking to Deb after the race, I learned that many of the other runners felt the same way.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:08:39

Average Pace:  9:29 per mile

First Half:  2:04:49

Second Half:  2:03:50

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  498

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  95

Race Report: 2023 Mankato Marathon

On October 21, I ran the Mankato Marathon.  I’ve done this race before, but not since they redesigned the course.  The old course started near the university and finished downtown.  It was net downhill, but there were some tough hills in the first half of the race.

The new course is a loop that starts and finishes downtown.  There’s no longer any net elevation loss, but it’s also less hilly overall.  I was cautiously optimistic that I could run a fast time on this course.  After qualifying for Boston in my last four marathons, I wanted to see if I could keep that streak going.

Mankato is about 75 miles from where I live.  I was originally planning to get up early and drive to Mankato on the day of the race, but I was able to get a room at the last minute at a downtown hotel.

My friend Cade flew into town for the race, so I picked him up at the airport and we drove down together.

The expo was in the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, which was only one block away from my hotel.  Cade and I picked up our race packets, and we met Cade’s friend Todd, who gave Cade a ride to their hotel.

After unpacking and getting my clothes organized for the race, I went out to see the start of the 5K race.

Then I had dinner with Cade and Todd at one of the downtown restaurants.

I didn’t sleep great, but I didn’t have to get up early, so I rested in bed until it was time to get up.  I felt like I got enough sleep to get by.

The temperature at the start was about 50 degrees with a cold breeze in the river valley.  I expected it to warm into the mid-50s during the race, but no warmer.  I wore tights, because I would rather risk being too warm than too cold.

The start was less than half a mile from my hotel, so I didn’t leave until 20 minutes before the race.  They had a gear check, but I didn’t bother to check a bag.  Instead, I wore a Tyvek jacket to the start and tied it around my waist before I started running.

The race had pace groups, and one of the groups was pacing for a 3:50 finish.  That’s the pace I need for a Boston qualifier, so I started the race with the 3:50 pace group.  My last race gave me confidence that I could run that pace, but it wasn’t going to be easy.  Each of my recent races have been all-out efforts.  It’s tough to do that every weekend.

I was starting at the same pace as my last race, but this time it wasn’t as tiring.  Instead of starting with three uphill miles, we started with four mostly flat miles.

After leaving the downtown area, we ran a loop through the neighborhood immediately west of downtown.  The old course ran through this neighborhood at the end of the race, so I was familiar with the streets.  I wasn’t used to running through this neighborhood at the beginning of the race, and we were running some of these streets in the opposite direction.

The early miles were mostly flat, but not completely flat.  On the occasional small hill, I found I had to work much harder to keep up with the pace group.  Running downhill, I would get ahead of them.

In my last race, I could run in front of the pace group, but I would still hear them.  It was a large group with multiple pacers, and one of the pacers was always talking to the group.  In this race, it was a much smaller group, there was only one pacer, and he didn’t talk much.  Consequently, I couldn’t tell if they were right behind me or if I was pulling away.

In the fourth mile, I inadvertently started pulling away from the group.  I didn’t realize it until I saw my time for that mile.  I ran that mile about 10 seconds too fast.  I knew the next mile was uphill, so I wasn’t too concerned.  I tend to run faster than most people going downhill and slower than most people going uphill.  I knew the group would catch up to me on the big hill that was coming up.

Going through aid stations, I usually slowed down for a few seconds while taking a drink of Gatorade.  I started mile five with a small lead over the pace group, but my lead evaporated at an aid station.  By the time we reached the base of the hill, the group was right behind me.

This was by far the toughest hill in the race.  It was a rise of 224 feet.  I lifted my effort as much as I could, but I still couldn’t keep up with the group.  The best I could do was to keep from falling too far behind.

The five mile mark came just before the end of the hill.  I ran that mile in 9:22.  That was 36 seconds slower than the pace I needed to average to break 3:50.  Overall, I was off the pace by 20 seconds, but I knew the next several miles would be relatively flat.

As I crested the hill, I was about 50 feet behind the pace group.  Now that the course was leveling off, I was able to put in the additional effort to catch up to them.

Staying with the group was easier now, but not as easy as I expected.  The group sped up to 8:30 in the next mile.  That was 16 seconds faster than our target pace of 8:46.  By the end of the seventh mile, we had already made up the time we lost on the long hill.  It was nice to know we were back on pace, but the faster miles forced me to work harder.  I was able to keep up with the group, but I felt like I never got a chance to recover from the hill.

This section of the course had numerous turns, as we snaked through residential neighborhoods.  Our pacer reminded us to run the tangents.  I was already doing that.  Each time I came out of a turn, I looked ahead to the next one and took the most direct line to the next corner.

The next two miles weren’t as fast, but I still felt like I was running pretty close to my limit.  A week ago, I was 10 miles into the race when I started to question whether I could sustain my effort for the whole race.  This time, I was only nine miles into the race when I started to doubt whether my effort was sustainable.

After about 10 miles, we turned onto the sidewalk of a busy street that runs through the university campus.  Before, we were either on paved trails or residential streets that weren’t busy.  Here, there was enough traffic that we had to stay on the sidewalk.

We ran right past the parking lot where the race used to start.  We went a little farther east and then turned right to begin a long section running south.  This section was similar to the early miles of the old course.

I often found it easier to run in front of the group than to run behind them.  I had been running just in front of the group for at least a mile when I started to follow two runners who were running together in front of me.  They were going a little faster than the pace group.  I didn’t realize I was speeding up until I reached the 11 mile sign and saw that I ran that mile in 8:24.  That was 22 seconds too fast.

I eased up a little in the next mile, but it was also a little fast.  I didn’t know how far back the group was, but I assumed I was about 30 seconds ahead of them.

We were far enough south to be out of the city.  Now, we were surrounded by farmland.  I started to notice the wind pushing on my back.  The tailwind might have explained why I sped up so much in the previous two miles.

It was an unusually windy day.  I first noticed that when I was walking from my hotel to the start.  Early in the race, we never ran in the same direction for very long, so the wind wasn’t a big factor, other than feeling cold.  Now, we were surrounded by open fields, so we were more exposed to the wind.  We also weren’t turning as frequently.

Just before the 13 mile mark, we turned right.  Now I really felt the wind.  It was a cross wind, but it was so strong that it was still tiring.  It felt like a headwind.

I was disappointed to see that I slowed down to 8:57 in that mile.  I gave back some of the time I gained in my previous two miles.  I may have started getting lazy when I realized I had a tailwind.

At the halfway mark, I was almost a minute ahead of schedule.  That should’ve been encouraging, but I also noticed that the 3:50 group was right behind me.

This part of the course was familiar to me, because it was also part of the old course.  The wind was tiring, and it knew we would be completely exposed to it for the next mile or two.  In the distance, I could see some trees, but they were still far away.  I knew we would eventually begin descending and we would start to get cover from the trees.  I couldn’t wait to get there, but it would take a while.

In the meantime, I picked up my effort enough to get ahead of the pace group again.  Following them always seemed to take more effort than running in front of them.  I knew that was psychological, but that didn’t make it any less real.

I always run races much faster than I run my training runs.  I do that even though I’m running more than twice as far.  To do that, I have to coax myself to run at a pace that’s just barely sustainable.  Continuing to pour it on when you’re tired has a huge psychological component.  Realizing that I seemed to struggle any time the pacer got ahead of me, I worked hard to keep that from happening.

After about a mile, the road began bending slightly to the right.  We were on the right shoulder of a highway.  On the other side of the highway, there were trees.  On my right, it was open farmland.  The wind was coming from my right, so I was still completely exposed to it.  As we turned slightly to our right, the wind became more of a headwind.

About half a mile after the 14 sign, I saw another banner that looked like a mile marker.  It was much too soon to be the 15 sign.  It was a mile marker, but it wasn’t one of ours.  It was the 8 mile sign for the half marathon course, which had recently merged with the marathon route.

The road started to turn downhill.  That helped, but running downhill with such a strong wind was still tiring.  What I really needed was to get out of that wind.

Eventually, we left the highway to turn onto a paved trail that followed the road.  It was still downhill, but now we had trees on our right, which gave us some relief from the wind.

When I saw the 9 mile sign for the half marathon, I started to look for the 16 mile mark of the marathon.  Before I got there, we reached the point where the marathon and half marathon routes diverged again.  The half marathon route went straight, but we needed to turn left and go through a tunnel under the highway.  I was disappointed that we weren’t going straight.  I was familiar with that section of trail.  It was part of the old marathon route, so I knew it had a downhill trend.

Miles 15 and 16 were both a little fast, but only because they were downhill.  I sped up, but the 3:50 group also sped up.  They were right behind me as I reached the 16 mile mark.

I started hearing other runners talking about an uphill section coming up.  Starting at 17 miles, we would begin a long uphill stretch, but it would be gradual.  That was still a mile away.  In the meantime, it was flat.

We were running on a trail though the forest.  This was among the most scenic parts of the course, but I was struggling to keep up with the 3:50 group.

We crossed a long wooden bridge over the Blue Earth River, which meets the Minnesota River on the west side of Mankato.  Crossing the bridge, I watched my footing carefully.  In the past, I’ve been known to catch my shoe on a gap between the boards.  I breathed a sigh of relief after getting across the bridge safely.

At 17 miles, we began running uphill.  It was so gradual that you could barely see that it was uphill.  I knew it was uphill only because I could feel the difference in my effort.  We were going the same pace, but it was even more difficult to keep up with the group.

In the 19th mile, I finally put in the extra effort to get out in front of the group again.  About halfway through that mile, we finally reached the top of the gradual uphill section, and we turned onto a road.  I slowed down to drink at an aid station, and just like that the group caught up to me again.

Our next turn brought us onto a road that had traffic.  There were traffic cones between the driving lane and the shoulder, and we needed to stay on the shoulder.  It was a narrow shoulder, so it was tough to get around slower runners.

I put in some extra effort to get around a few runners, so I had daylight in front of me.  As result, I also got out in front of the pace group again.  I managed to stay ahead of them for the next mile, but I never knew if they were right behind me.  At 19 miles, I knew I only had seven miles to go, but I questioned whether I could keep up my effort for that many miles without running out of gas.

I turned a corner just before the 20 mile mark, and a volunteer said it was all downhill from here.  Then a runner behind me said, “except for the hill at Mount Kato.”  Having looked at the elevation profile, I already knew there was at least one more hill, but from what I knew of the area, it seemed likely that it was mostly downhill.  Already, I could see the beginning of a downhill section that started a short distance after the mile marker.

In contrast to the long gradual uphill section we ran earlier, this section had a noticeable grade.  Here, I was able to speed up, and it was downhill all the way to the 21 mile sign.  I ran that mile in 8:16, which was 30 seconds faster than my target pace.  It’s possible the 3:50 group also sped up here, but I suspected I had put some distance between us.

The next mile wasn’t as sharply downhill.  The road briefly turned uphill in one spot, and other sections were level, but into the wind.  I felt myself slowing down at times.

After crossing another bridge over the river, we came back onto a section of trail we were running earlier, but now we were going in the opposite direction.  We were almost to the end of a six mile loop.  Volunteers at an aid station said we were almost to 22.  I saw a banner, but it wasn’t 22.  It was 16.  We had seen this mile marker right after going through the tunnel.  Now, we were about to go back through the same tunnel.

After the tunnel, we turned left.  Earlier, I was disappointed that we weren’t going to run the same section of trail as the half marathon.  Now, six miles later, we were.

This trail has a downhill trend, but it’s not all downhill.  Just before the 22 mile sign, I had to go up a short but tiring hill.  I remembered seeing a 50 foot hill on the elevation profile.  Was this it?  If so, was this the last hill?

I took the hill at the best pace I could and then endeavored to pick up the pace again when the trail turned downhill again.  I once again questioned how much longer I could keep up this effort.  It helped to know that I was still in front of the 3:50 group.

We eventually came alongside the highway, and I saw a billboard for Mount Kato, which is a ski area.  We began climbing another short hill.  As I reached the top of this hill, I crossed a driveway and looked to my right.  I saw ski lifts and a hill that was definitely steep enough for ski runs.  It just needed snow.

I had just over three miles to go, but I was fading.  After running mile 22 in 8:54, I ran mile 23 in 8:51.  I was no longer keeping up the same pace.  I built a nice cushion in mile 21, but I was slowly giving it back.  I wondered if I was subconsciously giving myself permission to slow down, knowing I was still ahead of the 3:50 group.

Mile 24 was also a bit slow.  I ran that one in 8:57.  The next mile was mostly downhill, and I picked up my effort to make sure I would stay ahead of the group.  If they caught me in the last mile, I would have enough fight in me to stay with them to the finish.  If they caught me now, I might not.  Staying in front of them seemed easier than staying with them.

I ran mile 25 in 8:44.  I had mixed feelings about that.  On one hand, it was reassuring to know that I had brought my pace back down to my target pace.  On the other hand, I only beat that pace by two seconds in a mile that was mostly downhill.   I should’ve been able to run faster in a downhill mile.

It was during that mile that I recognized a stadium with a track on my right.  I didn’t know what school this was, but we had run past the same track early in the race.  Now I had a good feel for where I was in relationship to where we would finish.

When I reached the 12 mile sign for the half marathon, I looked at my watch.  If I could run the last 1.1 miles in 11:06, I would break 3:50.  That’s more time than I had at the same point in the Baltimore Marathon.  It’s worth noting, however, that the last mile of that race was sharply downhill, and I expected the last mile of this race to be mostly flat.  Still, I only needed to average 10 minutes per mile.  I had yet to run a mile slower than 9:22.

I crossed a street and turned left.  Immediately, I felt a strong headwind.  It was slowing me down, but I only needed to run into that wind for one block.  Then I turned and ran up a short hill.

I turned again and ran downhill for one block.  Then I had another right turn and another left turn.  All of this was unfamiliar.  I knew I was close to the downtown streets, but I had never come from this direction before.

Ahead of me, I saw a right turn onto Front Street.  I knew we finished on Front Street, so this was the last turn.  After the turn, I could see the 26 sign.  The street bent slightly to the left before the finish, so I couldn’t see the finish line yet.

When the finish line was finally in sight, I did my best to keep up my effort all the way to the line.  I had been running on empty for a long time, but I finished the race in 3:48:28.  The second half of the race was difficult, but I came close to running even splits.  I only slowed down by 16 seconds.

I felt completely spent, but I needed to keep moving.  I stopped just long enough to get my finisher medal and pick up a few post-race snacks.  Then I kept walking until I reached my hotel.

The hotel had given me a 12:30 checkout, but I knew every room was booked for Saturday night, so I did my best to be out by noon if I could.  That would make it easier for housekeeping to have the room ready for the next guest.

After a quick shower, I got dressed and finished packing.  I was out of the room and down to the lobby by noon.

After checking out, I drove to Cade’s hotel.  He was ready by the time I got there, and we left for the airport.

After dropping off Cade, I was tempted to go somewhere for pizza.  I decided to get home quickly instead.

I’ve qualified for Boston in my last five marathons, including three straight weekends.  Each one has been more difficult than the previous one.  I have another race next weekend, but I don’t think I have another BQ in me right now.  I’ll probably stay in my comfort zone next week and save my energy for the next one.  Still, it’s been four years since I last qualified on back-to-back-to-back weekends, and I’m pretty happy about that.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:48:28

Average Pace:  8:43

First Half:  1:54:06

Second Half:  1:54:22

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  497

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  94

Boston Qualifiers:  157

Race Report: Baltimore Marathon

After our trip to Cape Cod, Deb and I flew directly from Boston to Baltimore, where I ran the Baltimore Marathon on October 14.

We were originally scheduled to arrive in Baltimore at 2:15 on Friday, but Delta changed their flight schedule.  Our revised arrival time was 3:07, which didn’t give us as much time as we were originally expecting to have.  I would’ve been nervous about that, but the expo went until 8:00 PM.

We stayed in a downtown hotel that was right next to Camden Yards, where the race started.  It’s a shame the Baltimore Orioles lost in the American League Divisional Series.  Had they advanced to the championship series, they would’ve had a home game on Saturday.  Our hotel was so close to the stadium that we had this view from our hotel room.

We were also just a couple of blocks from the convention center, where the expo was held.  We didn’t get to our hotel until 4:15, but I was back from the expo by 5:00.

After organizing my clothes for the race, I had dinner with my friend Aaron at a Detroit-style pizza place near the waterfront.  On my way to dinner, I walked right past the finish area for the marathon.  Most of the barriers were already in place.

I got to bed early, slept well all night, and woke up about 30 minutes before my alarm would’ve gone off.  The race didn’t start until 8:00 AM, so I didn’t need to be up too early.

The temperature was in the 50s, but I didn’t know when the rain would start.  For most of the morning, there was about a 50% chance of rain.  There was no question it would rain in the afternoon, but I didn’t know how much of the race would be in the rain.  I was only expecting intermittent showers, but to hedge my bets I wore tights.  I had a Tyvek jacket that I wore to the start.  In case of heavy rain, I kept a plastic rain poncho folded up in my fanny pack.

The starting line was close enough to my hotel that I could wait until 20 minutes before the race before going outside.  I was able to use the bathroom in my hotel room, so I didn’t need to allow time to wait in port-o-potty lines in the start area.

I neglected to pack the charger cable for my GPS watch.  After using it for the Cape Cod Marathon and two shorter runs, I didn’t know for sure if I had enough battery life for another marathon.  I left that watch at the hotel and used my older Timex, which is just a plain stopwatch.  I’ve grown accustomed to my watch giving me splits, but I had to go back to my old practice of just reading my watch at each mile marker and doing the arithmetic in my head.

I ran Boston qualifying times in my last three marathons, but those were all on fast courses.  One was sharply downhill, one was slightly downhill, and the other was mostly flat.  This race was hilly, so I went in with lower expectations.  I needed to wait and see how I felt after the first few miles.

When I got to the start area, I saw there was a 3:50 pace group.  I lined up with them and decided to run at that pace long enough to evaluate whether the pace would be sustainable on this course.

Besides having a view into the stadium, our hotel room also had a view of the starting line.  Deb was taking pictures before the race started.

About 10 minutes before the race started, it started to rain.  It was only sprinkling, but I decided to keep my jacket on, instead of tying it around my waist.

Starting with the 3:50 pace group took all the guesswork about how fast to start.  I followed the pacers, and I didn’t look at my watch for the first half of the race.  The first few miles had a gradual uphill trend.  Running uphill, I found the pace to be tiring, but I knew it would eventually get easier.  I forced myself to keep up with the group, even though it seemed like I was working way too hard.

The first song I heard during the race was Fallin’ by Alicia Keys.  That was a reminder that I fell during my last race, and I should pay attention to my footing.  In the downtown area, the pavement had cracks in a few places.  Also, the pavement was slippery from the rain.

About halfway through the second mile, I started to feel hot.  I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist.  After taking off my jacket, I realized there weren’t any drops hitting my arms.  Because the pavement was wet, I didn’t notice that the rain had stopped.

Shortly before the three mile mark, we entered Druid Hill Park.  As we crested a hill, one of the pacers told us this was the highest point on the course.  There would be other hills, but from here, it was more downhill than uphill.

As we continued through the park, we entered the Maryland Zoo.  The zoo has African penguins, and two of the zookeepers brought one of the penguins outside to watch the race.  We all got to see the penguin as we ran by.

Where we entered the zoo, it was the beginning of a downhill section.  The leaders of our pace group were running the whole race at a consistent pace.  They ran uphill at the same pace that they ran downhill.  For most of the runners in the group, the downhill sections were a chance to rest and recover from the uphill sections.  I’m used to speeding up going downhill, so I took the downhill sections at my own pace.  I often got ahead of the pace group, but they would catch up to me again on the next uphill section.

Shortly after leaving the zoo, we reached a spot where we had a good view of the downtown area to our right.  One of the pacers told us when this view was coming up.  In general, they gave us lots of useful information throughout the race.

Between six and seven miles, we turned and started running back toward the downtown area.  The next two and a half miles had a gradual downhill trend.  One of the pacers told us to pay attention to how this section of the course felt, because the section from 24 to 26 would be similar.

I continued to speed ahead on the downhill sections, but I was never too far ahead of the group.  They were always talking, and I could hear them right behind me.

At nine miles, we passed close to where we would eventually finish.  Then we started an out-and-back section along the west side of the inner harbor.  When I got to the 10 mile mark, I asked myself how I felt.  I was getting tired.  It didn’t seem like my effort would be sustainable for 16 more miles, but I decided to stay with the pace group until the halfway mark and then re-evaluate.

By now, it was raining again, and I also felt more wind near the inner harbor.  Earlier, I had been hot going up hills, so the colder conditions initially felt good.  I knew I’d get cold if it rained for the rest of the race, but my more immediate concern was the condition of the streets.  They were getting slick again.

I could see faster runners coming back on the other side of the street.  When I saw the 3:40 group coming back, I knew we were only a couple minutes away from the turnaround.

Somewhere between 12 and 13 miles, we reached the end of the out-and-back section, and we started heading east.  The next few miles were along the other side of the inner harbor.

By now, the rain had stopped again.  I questioned whether I could keep up with the group, but I was afraid to drop back.  I was afraid that if I unhitched myself from the group, I would keep slowing down until my pace felt comfortable.  There’s a big disparity between my all-out race pace and the pace I find comfortable.  If I started running by myself, I could easily slow down by a minute per mile.  If I did that now, I could easily give up so much time that I wouldn’t even break four hours.  For that reason, I wanted to keep up with the group until I had no more than 10 miles to go.

I was so determined to keep up with the group for a while longer, that I sped up and ran in front of them.  I could still hear them, so I knew I was never too far ahead of them.  Somehow, it felt easier to stay ahead of them than to follow them.

When I reached the halfway mark, I looked at my watch.  I was more than a minute ahead of schedule foe a 3:50 finish.  Then meant I had a little bit of room to slow down later in the race.

Suddenly, the pace no longer felt difficult.  Maybe it was just psychological, but I easily stayed ahead of the group for the next few miles.

By the beginning of the 15th mile, it was starting to rain again.  Now I had an extra incentive to keep up my current pace.  If I slowed down, I was more apt to get cold.  I would also be out in the wet conditions for that much longer.

While each additional mile I finished, staying on my current pace for the rest of the race seemed more feasible.  In my previous two races, I managed to dig deep and pick up my effort in the late miles.  I was feeling tired earlier in this race, but I wasn’t trying for as fast of a time.

As I got close to 16 miles, I could hear one of the pacers talking to the group, but I couldn’t hear everything she said.  I heard “Don’t panic” and “you can see the merge.”  I looked ahead and saw a huge pack of runners coming from the left and turning onto the same street we were on.  It was about a block and a half ahead of me.  This was the point where the half marathon merged with the marathon.  For the next 10 miles, we would all be running together.

I didn’t know if these runners would be going at a faster or slower pace.  They outnumbered us by about 20 to 1, so if they were slower, it would be difficult to keep up a consistent pace.

As I reached the merge point, it quickly became apparent that the runners merging in with us weren’t going as fast.  I look around to see which runners I recognized as marathon runners.  There were two runners in front of me who I had consistently seen in front of me for the last mile or two.  One was a guy in a red T-shirt.  The other was a woman wearing a clear plastic rain poncho.  I followed them through the crowd of slower runners.

It wasn’t long before I passed the guy in the red shirt.  Then I could only follow the woman in the rain poncho.  She was weaving through the crowd aggressively.  It took a lot of effort to keep up with her, but I was afraid that if I didn’t I would start running at the pace of the runners around me.

I suspected I had sped up since the merge.  I wasn’t looking at my watch, so I didn’t actually know how fast I was going.  It just felt faster.  I could no longer hear the pace group behind me.  I didn’t know if I was getting way ahead of them or if they were no longer audible over all the other runners.  The street was incredibly crowded now.

We turned a corner and started up a hill.  Going up the hill, I couldn’t keep up with the woman in the rain poncho, but I tried to stay close enough that I could still see her.  I got hot running up this hill.  That’s when I realized the rain had stopped again.

This hill was long and tiring.  I realized here that the “don’t panic” comment wasn’t in reference to the merge.  The pacer who said that probably told the group about this hill and told them not to panic, because there would be downhill sections later.

I never saw the 16 mile mark.  When I saw the 4 mile sign for the half marathon, I realized I had also missed the 17 mile sign.

As I continued up a long hill, I started to lose contact with the runner I was trying to follow.  As I neared the top of the hill, I didn’t care as much if there were slower runners in my way.  I was slowing down anyway.

We turned another corner and started a long downhill section.  Now I cared.  I can speed up on the downhills, so I didn’t want to be bottled up behind a wall of slower runners.  I found a gap and raced down the hill.  By the time I reached the bottom, I caught up to the woman in the rain poncho.  Then we started up another hill, and I fell behind again.

By the time I reached the 19 mile mark, I was getting really tired, but I didn’t have much more than seven miles to go.  I was sure I could hang in there for seven miles.

Next, we began another out-and-back section along one side of a lake.  I didn’t know how long it would be, so I started looking for pace groups coming back.  I saw a pace group, but I couldn’t see their sign, so I didn’t know which group it was.  Then I recognized Aaron.  I knew he started with the 3:40 group, so I assumed he was seven or eight minutes ahead of me by now.  That meant I was within four minutes of reaching the turnaround.

By now, I had lost sight of the woman in the rain poncho.  I had been moving through the crowd of half marathoners for the last four miles, so the people around me weren’t that much slower than my own pace.  It would have been easy to just run with the crowd.  At times I did, but then I’d remind myself to keep passing people.  It wasn’t as easy when I didn’t have someone else setting the pace for me.

If I was alert, I would’ve started looking for the 3:50 group as soon as I made the turn.  By the time I thought of it, I had already missed them.  For the past few miles, I thought I was way ahead of them.  Now I realized they must be pretty close to me.

There was one more out-and-back section.  This one was much shorter.  Going out, it started out downhill, but the last part before the hill was uphill.  Going downhill, I spotted the woman in the rain poncho.  She was only half a block ahead of me now.  I was gaining ground, but only until I started uphill.  Then I lost ground again.

This time, I looked for the 3:50 group as soon as I made the turn.  They were right behind me.  After the turn, we briefly rain downhill, but then turn uphill again.  By the time I reached the next turn, they had caught up to me.

After the group caught me, I really struggled to keep up with them.  I thought they would drop me.  Then we hit another uphill section, and it got even harder.  After falling behind, I dug deep and summoned up the effort to catch up to them again.  It was raining again, and trying to accelerate on slick pavement made it even harder.

I got alongside of one of the pacers and asked her when we would crest the hill.  She said it would be like this for another mile.  She asked me if I remembered what she said earlier as we started the stretch from seven to nine, which was mostly downhill.  I did.  Then she said after this uphill section, we would get to that same downhill section.

She yelled to the entire group that she needed everyone to put on their big boy or big girl pants.  This was the last really tough section of the course.  It wasn’t easy, but I gave it everything I had for the next mile.

The spectators in the late miles were great.  One of them told us we had two more minutes of climbing, and then it would be downhill.  That information really helped.

After cresting that hill, I saw the 23 sign.  It was still another mile before the section of the course I was anticipating.  Fortunately, this mile was also downhill.

At first, I needed to use the downhill to recover, while staying with the group.  After a few blocks of running downhill, I was able to speed up and get a little bit ahead of the group.

Between 23 and 24 miles, I turned a corner to start the last long section running back into the downtown area.  We weren’t on the same street as before, but this street ran parallel to that one, and it had the same gentle downhill trend.

The section from seven to nine had a short uphill section, so I assumed this street would too.  I could see it from a distance, but I felt it when I got there.  It was tough, but the spectators were encouraging.  When I got to the top, a woman said, “Just one more hill.”  I didn’t know there would be another hill, but I appreciated the advance warning.

When I reached the 25 mile sign, I didn’t think to look at my watch.  Instead, I looked when I saw the 12 mile sign for the half marathon.  It was the first time I looked at my watch since the halfway mark.  To break 3:50, I needed to run the last 1.1 miles in 9:40.  At my current pace, I would do it, but I was hoping for more of a cushion.

The last 1.1 miles were mostly downhill, and I really worked the hill.  As I moved through the crowd of runners, I caught sight of the woman in the rain poncho.  It had been three or four miles since I last saw her.  I worked hard to close the gap, but the closest I came was half a block.

The last hill was steep, but it was also short.  I shortened my stride and pushed hard to keep up my pace.  After cresting the hill, I worked the last downhill as much as I could.

When I made the final turn onto Pratt Street, I knew I was only a few blocks from the finish.  Looking ahead, I could see the finish.  It was comparable to making the turn onto Boylston Street at the end of the Boston Marathon.

I finished the race in 3:47:58.  It was the third time in 21 days that I qualified for Boston.  The last time I did that was four years ago.  This one wasn’t as fast as the last two, but it was a tougher course.  I no longer need a fast course to qualify.

The second half of the race wasn’t quite as fast as the first half, but it was close.  I slowed down by less than a minute.

The finisher medal is in the shape of a crab, and the shell opens to reveal the image of the Constellation, which is docked in the Baltimore harbor.

I had been drinking at every aid station, so I didn’t need to drink anything in the finish area.  My clothes were wet, and I was cold, so I didn’t hang around for long.  I picked up some post-race food and walked back to my hotel as quickly as I could.  I ate while I was walking.

One of my cousins lives in the Baltimore area.  Deb and I went to his house for dinner later in the day.

Saturday wasn’t a good day for sightseeing, because it rained all afternoon.  Sunday morning, Deb and I walked down to the harbor to see the Constellation.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:47:58

Average Pace:  8:42

First Half:  1:53:38

Second Half:  1:54:20

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  496

Maryland Marathons:  5

Boston Qualifiers:  156

Race Report: Cape Cod Marathon

On October 8, I ran the Cape Cod Marathon.  Deb has always wanted to visit Cape Cod, and I had never run this marathon before.  Deb was also interested in visiting Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Plymouth.  Since these places are all close to each other, we decided to spend a week in the area.

Saturday, October 7

We flew to Boston and drove from there to Falmouth.  I had received emails from the race organizers warning us that construction on the Bourne Bridge was reducing traffic to one lane, causing significant delays.  With that in mind, we took a route that avoided this bridge.  It was a longer route, but the drive time was more predictable.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Philippe was making its way up toward Maine.  The storm wasn’t hitting Massachusetts directly, but it brought rain to the region.  We encountered some rain on our drive to Falmouth, but it was winding down by the time we arrived.

Packet pickup for the marathon was at Mullen-Hall School.  Packet pickup on Saturday was only available until 3:00 PM.  To make sure we got there in time, we went there first, before going to our hotel.

After checking into our room, we did some shopping along Main Street.  Then we went for a scenic drive, stopping at Nobska Lighthouse.

We returned to Main Street for dinner, where I was able to get a pizza with scallops and bacon.

Sunday, October 8

Sunday was race day.  The race didn’t start until 8:00, so I was able to grab a quick bite to eat before we left the hotel.  Deb dropped me off at Mullen-Hall School, where the race started.  We were able to come into the building to stay warm until the race started.  They had a gear check, so I could wear extra layers to the start and have them available later when I finished.

This is a relatively flat course.  There are few hills, but they’re not that big, and they’re mostly in the early miles.  In the last year, I’ve qualified for Boston four times, but all four of those races were on downhill courses.  One of my goals has been to get back into good enough shape that I can qualify on a course that doesn’t have any net descent.  This was the right course, but with the weather was challenging.  The temperature was in a comfortable range, but we had winds averaging about 20 MPH.

Without the wind, I would’ve committed to goal of breaking 3:50, which is what I need to qualify for Boston.  Because of the strong winds, I didn’t think that would be feasible.  I decided to see how the first few miles went before committing to any goals.

When the race started, I almost instinctive began running with a short stride and a rapid cadence.  That’s how I run in downhill races.  Three of my last four marathons had downhill starts, so I started running that way without even thinking.

As I realized how rapid my cadence was, I paid more attention to how I felt.  I wouldn’t have a good feel for my pace until I finished the first mile.  In the meantime, I tried to establish a good pace, while not working too hard.  That’s always easier said than done.

For most of the first mile, we were running straight toward the coast.  There were enough runners around me that I wasn’t noticing the wind too much.  When we reached the coast, we turned and started following the coast.  Now, we were going straight into the wind, and it was strong.  I was worried my hat would blow off, so I pulled it on as tight as I could, and I tilted my head down.

I reached the first mile marker in 8:25.  I knew that pace wouldn’t be sustainable, particularly now that I was fighting the wind.  I eased up a bit, so I wouldn’t wear myself out.

Early in the second mile, we turned and ran away from the coast.  Now we weren’t going into the wind, so it was a little easier to gauge whether my effort was sustainable.

I reached an aid station much earlier than I expected.  I didn’t feel like I needed to drink yet, and I didn’t want to disrupt my rhythm, so I skipped that one.  There were plenty of aid stations.  I drank Gatorade or water at all of the others.

Mile two wasn’t quite as fast as the mile one, but it was still easily fast enough for a Boston qualifier.

Next, we turned onto a paved bike path that eventually brought us back to the coast.  We were surrounded by trees, so we were sheltered from the wind.  That mile was slightly faster than my first one, so I had to back off again.

When we got back to the coast, we turned back onto the same road we were on earlier.  At first, I could feel the headwind.  Then we road moved away from the coast, and we had shelter from trees on both sides.  That helped a lot.  It took most of the sting off of a section of the course where we were going into the wind.

This was the only part of the course that could be called hilly.  Miles four through six were rolling.  The hills weren’t all that big, but it was enough to affect my pace.  I slowed down a little going uphill and then picked up my pace going downhill.  Mile four was the first one to be slower than 8:40, but I was still going at a Boston qualifying pace.  With each mile, I got more serious about that goal.

At the five mile mark, we ran past Nobska Lighthouse.  Coming up to the lighthouse, we had to climb a hill.  Just as I crested the hill, I felt the full force of the wind.  There was no shelter now.  After the lighthouse, it was briefly downhill, but the wind resistance was crazy.  We ran past a beach, and I saw big waves crashing on the beach.

My time for mile six was 8:48.  That was my slowest mile so far, and it was the first one that wasn’t on a Boston-qualifying pace.  I knew, however, that we were reaching the westernmost point on the course.  After that, I could enjoy several miles with the wind at my back.

Right at 10K, we turned onto another paved bike path.  The next several miles were flat, and the wind was mostly at our backs.  At first, I could actually feel the tailwind.  Then, as we were more sheltered by trees, I didn’t feel the wind at all.  The important thing was that I no longer felt any resistance from the wind.

For the next few miles, my pace was in the low 8:30s.  I questioned whether I should be running that fast.  On one hand, it’s faster than I needed for a Boston qualifier.  On the other hand, I knew that later in the race, I would have to run into the wind again.  I expected the late miles to be much slower, so I wanted to get in some faster miles while it was easier.

After about nine miles, I started to feel warm.  I could feel the inside of my shirt getting sweaty.  I had been wearing gloves since the beginning of the race, but I didn’t feel like I needed them anymore.  I took them off and stuffed them in my fanny pack.  I knew I’d have to run into the wind later, but I also expected it to warm up a few degrees by then.

By now, we were back on that same coastal road, but we were going in the opposite direction.  Looking out at the waves, I could see that the wind was coming from the southwest.  It wasn’t directly at our backs, but it would feel like a tailwind whenever we were going east (along the coast) or north (away from the coast).

We turned onto the same street we started on, but after a few blocks, we turned and continued east until we reached the inner harbor.  Then we ran around the harbor.

Mile 10, shouldn’t have been any more difficult than the previous three miles, but I slowed down by about 10 seconds.  It’s possible I just got relaxed a bit in that mile, but I started to second guess whether I had been running too fast.  Was I starting to get tired already?  I continually asked myself the same questions.  Was I working to keep up my fast pace?  Yes.  Was I working so hard that I would run out of gas later?  Maybe.  I wasn’t sure, but I was committed to breaking 3:50 if I could.

I saw a mile marker up ahead, but I knew it was much too soon to by coming up on 11 miles.  It was the 25 mile sign.  Later in the race, we would come back this same way.  From here on out, every easy mile with a tailwind would be balanced by a mile with a headwind.  The tougher miles would all come at the end, when I might be running out of gas.

I sped up to 8:32 in mile 11.  Then I slowed to 8:42 in mile 12.  In mile 13, I tried to pick up my pace again.  I apparently overdid it.  I ran that mile in 8:17.  That was my fastest mile of the race.  I’m still not sure how that happened.  I know I was picking up my effort in that mile, but I didn’t think I picked it up that much.  Maybe we had a stronger tailwind in that mile.

Between miles 11 and 12, I saw the 24 mile sign for when I’d be coming back.  I never saw 23 or 22.  Then, just before the 13 mile mark, I saw the 21 sign.  When I looked at a map of the course before the race, I noticed a couple loops that we would run on the way back, but not on the way out.  The 22 and 23 mile marks, were apparently on one of those loops.

At the halfway mark, I was almost on pace for 3:45.  Knowing I would have to come back into the wind, I didn’t expect to run as fast in the second half.  I was cautiously optimistic that I could break 3:50, but I just didn’t know much I would slow down going into the wind.

In the 14th mile, we turned and crossed a long bridge over one of the many inlets.  I started to see faster runners coming back.  As they came back over the bridge, they turned to begin a loop that we wouldn’t run until later.  The fastest men had already gone by, but I saw a few of the elite women coming back across the bridge.

In the next mile, we turned and ran away from the coast.  Before I got to 15, I saw the 17 mile sign for the runners coming back.  That told me I had less than a mile before turning around to come back.  When I eventually saw the 16 sign for the runners coming back, I knew I was almost to the turnaround.  I had mixed feelings about that.  On one hand, it always feels better psychologically to know you’re on your way back toward the eventual finish.  On the other hand, it would get tougher physically.  I still had the wind mostly at my back, but after the turn the wind would be against me.

As I started coming back toward the coast, I could feel the wind resistance.  I picked up my effort to compensate.  Some runners were slowing down, so I made a point of going past them.  I saw one runner who wasn’t slowing down.  She seemed to be maintaining a consistent pace, so I tried to keep up with her.  At first, it took effort just to keep from falling farther behind her.  I continued to pick up my effort until I was gaining ground.  When I finished the 17th mile, I saw I actually sped up to 8:23 in that mile.  I didn’t expect to go that fast with wind resistance, but I was working harder now.

Soon we turned and headed back toward that long bridge.  Here, we were going more directly into the wind.  Suddenly, I caught up to the woman I had been chasing.  She must have slowed down going into the stronger wind.  I didn’t want to slow down, so I went past her.

At times, I was tempted to tuck in behind another runner, so they could block the wind for me.  Doing that might mean slowing down to their pace when I could go faster.  I kept going around people, even though it meant fighting the wind myself.

After the bridge, I turned and started one of those loops.  I liked the loops.  On these sections, we felt the wind from different directions, instead of just going straight into it.  Also, these sections took us farther form the coast, where we were more sheltered from the wind.

As soon as I turned the corner to start this loop, I saw the 18 mile sign.  I knew 19 and 20 were also on this loop, because I never saw them before.  My time for mile 18 was also in the 8:20s, despite the wind resistance.  I didn’t expect to actually speed up when I started running into the wind, but it gave me a lot of confidence.

In my next mile, I didn’t have to fight the wind, but I also didn’t have anyone to chase.  Several of the runners ahead of me were either walking or slowing down.  I tried to keep up the same pace, but I must have let up a little.  This mile wasn’t as fast as the previous two.

Before I finished that loop, the woman I had worked so hard to catch before passed me.  Now I had someone to chase again.  That helped me pick up my pace, but only until I passed her again.

I reached the 21 mile mark just as I was getting back to the coast.  In miles 19 and 20, I slowed to roughly 8:30, but in mile 21, I sped up to 8:21.  Then I turned the corner and felt the full force of the wind.  Along the coast, there was no shelter from it, and I was now going directly into it.

I fought like mad to keep from slowing down too much.  At times, I wondered if this would wear me out too much for the remaining miles.  It reminded me of last January’s Las Cruces Marathon.  After maintaining a good pace for 21 miles, I turned into a strong headwind.  I wasn’t able to keep up the same pace running into that wind, and I used so much energy, that even after turning out of the wind, I kept slowing down.

I had to fight the wind for almost a mile, before we turned to begin the last loop.  As I turned the corner, I told the runner next to me that it was nice to get out of that wind.  He agreed.

Right after the turn, I saw the 22 mile mark.  I slowed a little in that mile, but not as much as I thought.  I slowed to 8:35, but I was pretty happy with that.

On the loop, a volunteer said to watch for the turns.  This course has a lot of turns, but they’re all marked well.  In addition, there were volunteers at every turn to make sure you knew which way to go.  I give this race high marks for that.  You won’t miss a turn and get lost on this course.

I sped up to 8:24 in mile 23, but then I had to run along the coast again.  When I turned into the wind, I didn’t remember how far it was to the next turn.  Ahead of me, I could see a hill.  I didn’t want to have to run up that hill going into the wind, so I was hoping we would turn before the hill.  At first, I didn’t see any runners on the hill, but as I kept looking ahead of me, the runners reaching the hill continued going straight.  Getting up the hill was tough.  After the hill, I still couldn’t see the next turn until I got around a bend.  When I got close enough, I recognized the turn.

We were starting to go around the inner harbor again.  I could remember where I had seen the 24 mile sign before.  When I saw it, I kept running hard until I got there.  I was no longer running into the wind, yet I was just as tired.  I was still putting in just as much effort.

I ran that mile in 8:25, even though it was mostly into the wind and there was a hill.  If I was happy about running mile 22 in 8:35, I was ecstatic about running mile 24 ten seconds faster.

Our race bibs had our names printed on them, so I heard a lot of spectators cheering for me by name.  As I was making my way around the inner harbor, I heard two women yell, “Go David” and “Keep it up, David.”  Just as I was passing them, one said in a softer voice, “He looks tired.”

I knew how tired I felt, but hearing someone say that made me acknowledge it more completely.  That could’ve taken the wind out of my sails, but then I looked down the street and saw the 25 mile sign in the distance.  I focused on getting there.  I ran mile 25 in 8:24.  After so many recent miles in the 8:20s, I realized I might actually be running the second half faster than the first half.  By now, I was confident I had already done everything I needed to do to break 3:50.  That was in the bank.  My goal now was to run negative splits.  I might even break 3:45.

There was a brief downhill section right at the 25 sign.  I used that to keep up my pace as I headed into the second-to-last turn.  After the turn, I knew it was only about half a mile to the last turn.  I was going into the wind, but not for that much longer.

About a block before the last turn, I saw a course marshal guiding us to turn right at the next corner.  As I made the turn, I caught up to a runner who looked like he was struggling to keep moving.  I said, “We’re done with the wind.  Just run to the school.”  I don’t know if it helped him to hear that, but it’s what I would’ve wanted to hear.

With about half a mile to go, I kept up my effort.  Then my watch recorded my split for mile 26.  It was 8:21.  My watch sometimes recorded splits before I got to the mile marker, so I looked at my watch again when I reached the 26 sign.  My time so far was 3:42:06.  I wanted to know if I would break 3:45.  I had almost three minutes to get there.  It was in the bank.

As I looked at my watch, I briefly took my attention away from the road.  There was a small pothole.  It was only about five inches in diameter, but my toe caught it, and I went down.  I slammed into the pavement so hard that my fanny pack came off.  I got to my feet as quickly as I could.  The runner closest to me stopped to make sure I was alright.  When he saw me pick up my fanny pack, he resumed running.

For the record, I don’t remember seeing other potholes on this course.  Most of the pavement was in excellent condition.  I just picked the worst possible time to take my eyes off the road.

I didn’t take the time to put my fanny pack on before I started running again.  It was awkward to run while carrying it, so I had to put it on while running.

I didn’t have far to go, but that fall took a lot out of me.  I wasn’t running nearly as fast now, but I just needed to keep moving.  I’d get there in time.

I felt like I scraped my hands, but when I looked at them, there were no visible scrapes.  I also felt like I skinned my knee, but I was wearing tights.  I’d have to wait until after the race to see if there was a hole or tear in my tights.

I was just starting to pick up my pace again when I heard a runner approaching from behind.  It was the same woman I had passed in mile 14 and again in mile 21.  Apparently, she was never that far behind me.  After we went through the final intersection, she passed me like I was standing still.

At this point, I was only competing with the clock.  I could see that I would easily get there before 3:45.  I crossed the line and stopped my watch, but I didn’t look at my time yet.

As I moved through the finish area, I drank a cup of Gatorade, and then I got my finisher medal.  I don’t need to bother taking a picture of my T-shirt.  The finisher medal depicts the T-shirt design.  It’s a nice shirt.

I saw Deb waiting for me at the exit from the finisher chute.  She was tracking me online and was able to show me my official time.  It was 3:44:04.  Despite falling, I ran negative splits by more than a minute.

I really don’t know how I did that.  With the wind, the second half was much tougher than the first half.  Also, this course, while mostly flat, is nowhere near as easy as the Clarance DeMar Marathon, yet I ran faster here than I did at that race.   I don’t know where that came from.  This was my second consecutive BQ, but this time I did it on a course with no net elevation change.  I also did it with more than five minutes to spare.

I stopped in the food tent long enough to get a donut, a can of NA beer, and a bag of potato chips.  Then I went inside to retrieve my gear bag, and we drove back to the hotel.

Deb dropped me off, and then she went shopping while I got cleaned up.  When I took off my tights, I saw multiple cuts and scrapes on my right knee.  The tights didn’t seem to be damaged at all, but my knee was bleeding.

I also banged my right elbow when I fell.  By chance, I already had a band-aid on that elbow from a previous scrape.  I could’ve taken that band-aid off a couple days ago, but I kept forgetting.  I banged my elbow exactly where the band-aid was, so it kept me from scraping the same spot even worse.  I didn’t realize it yet, but the band-aid was also providing compression.

When I took off the band-aid, my elbow looked no worse for wear.  Thirty minute later, I look at my elbow, and there was swelling about an inch thick.  I had never seen swelling like that.  It didn’t happen until after I took the band-aid off.

I also started to notice some mild soreness on the right side of my rib cage.  I don’t think I broke anything.  It didn’t hurt that much.

When Deb got back, we went back into town together to have ice cream at one of the shops on Main Street.  Then we had dinner at an Irish pub.

By the end of the day, the swelling on my elbow was only half as thick.  By the next morning, the swelling had gone down completely.

Monday, October 9

We left Falmouth right after breakfast to drive to Hyannis, where we dropped off our rental car and boarded a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard.  The ferry trip took an hour.  When we arrived in Oak Bluffs, we only had to walk about two blocks to get to the inn where we were staying.

When we arrived, it was too early to check into our room, so we stored our luggage and started sightseeing.  We did a little window shopping, ate a lunch, and walked around the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, to see all the colorful homes.

When we were done with sightseeing in Oak Bluffs, we checked into our room.  Then we took a bus to Edgartown to do some sightseeing there.  We started by walking to the Edgartown lighthouse.

On our way back into the downtown area, we stopped by the waterfront.

The homes in Edgartown are all white with black shutters, so it wasn’t as colorful as Oak Bluffs.  Some of them, however, had flowers and interesting decorations.

On our way back to the bus stop, we saw the Old Whaling Church.

When we got back to Oak Bluffs, Deb went back to the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, while I went back to the inn to do a workout.  Some of the exercises I do require putting weight on my elbows.  That was difficult with the scrapes on my right elbow.  I also started to notice that the right side of my ribcage was more painful when I took a deep breath.  It’s possible I bruised a rib when I fell.

For dinner, we went to restaurant that’s known for having the best lobster rolls on the island.  It was certainly the best lobster roll I’ve ever had.

Tuesday, October 10

After getting up early to eat a light breakfast, I went out for an early morning run through Oak Bluffs.  My route took me past the East Chop Lighthouse, and I was out early enough to see the sunrise.

While I was running, Deb watched the sunrise from the pier.

After waiting for a brief rain shower to pass, we went out and explored another neighborhood in Oak Bluffs.

We were originally planning to take a ferry to Nantucket in the morning, but it was late in the season, and Hy-Line Ferries trimmed their schedule back to just one ferry per day from Martha’s Vineyard to Nantucket.  Instead of leaving at 9:05 AM, we didn’t leave until 12:55 PM.  That gave us time to have lunch before leaving, but we didn’t have as much time on Nantucket.

We arrived in Nantucket at 2:15.  As we entered the harbor, we had a good view of the Brant Point Lighthouse.

As we walked to our hotel, we noticed all of the streets in the city center were cobblestone.  This is Main Street.

We spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the streets around our hotel, which is the oldest part of Nantucket Town.  Most of the buildings have weathered cedar siding, so they tend to look alike.

We also walked to the Old Mill.  The blades of the windmill had been taken down, presumably for winter.

We got tired quickly after doing so much walking on brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets.  We had dinner at a restaurant that was near our hotel, and we didn’t venture out again until morning.

Wednesday, October 11

We had a couple hours in the morning to continue exploring Nantucket Town.  Then we boarded another ferry to take us back to Hyannis.  After picking up a rental car at the ferry terminal, we checked into a hotel in Yarmouth and then returned to Hyannis to do a little sightseeing.

We stopped at the Veterans Memorial Park to see the JFK Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

Since we were already there, we also walked down to Veterans Memorial Beach, which is almost empty at this time of year.

We stopped at the hotel long enough for me to go for a short run.  Then we went back into Hyannis to walk up and down Main Street and check out the shops.  Then we had dinner at an Italian restaurant near our hotel.

Thursday, October 12

We needed to drive back to Boston, but we had most of the day to get there.  That gave us time to spend half of the day in Plymouth.

Our first stop in Plymouth was Plymouth Rock, which may or may not have been the site at which the settlers of Plymouth Colony came ashore.

Next, we toured the Mayflower II, which is a replica of the original Mayflower.

This is the deck where 102 passengers and their animals all lived for 66 days.

We also went to the Plimoth Patuxet Museum.  This is an open-air museum which recreates the type of homes found in the abandoned Wampanoeg settlement of Patuxet, which is where the Plymouth Colony was founded.

There’s also a recreation of a 17th century English village, populated by actors in period costumes, going about their daily tasks.

When we were done in Plymouth, we continued to Boston, where we checked into a hotel near the airport.  Our flight wasn’t until Friday, so we were able to spend the late afternoon and evening in Boston.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:44:04

Average Pace:  8:33

First Half:  1:52:41

Second Half:  1:51:23

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  495

Boston Qualifiers:  155