Today was day two of the Mainly Marathons New England Series. Today’s race was in Greenfield, NH. Tomorrow, I’ll be doing a marathon in
Nashua. That race is part of a different
series called the New England Challenge.
It’s a bit confusing that there are two series of marathon in the New
England states at the same time.
After not sleeping at all Saturday night and then getting so
cold during yesterday’s race, I was worried about getting sick. After dinner, I felt like I could go to sleep
right away, so I did.
I’m a light sleeper, so I usually wake up about once an hour.
That’s not a problem as long as I get back to sleep. Last night, I slept for four hours before waking
up. When I woke up, I had a sore
throat. I think my throat got dry
because I was sleeping with my mouth open and went so long without waking
up. I had a small drink of water and
went back to bed. After that, I woke up
every two hours or so. Each time, I had
another small drink of water.
I slept for nine and a half hours. By morning, the sore throat was gone, and I
felt no worse than I did before the weekend.
My only new complaint was a tight Achilles tendon in my left ankle. I did some extra stretching, and it wasn’t a
problem.
I didn’t have anything to eat for breakfast. When I’m doing races on consecutive days, I’ll
usually stop at a grocery store to pick up food for my pre-race breakfasts. I went to Whole Foods yesterday, but left
without buying anything. I was
overwhelmed by the number of things that looked tempting, so I couldn’t make up
my mind. I saw a blueberry pie that
looked good, but I thought that was too much food for two breakfasts. I forgot that I would also need post-race
snacks.
I’m staying in Nashua, so I had to drive about 30 miles to
get to Greenfield. I had to get up early
to allow time for the drive, but I already had my race packet. When you do one of these series, you wear the
same race bib every day.
The drive to Greenfield took about 45 minutes. It was a nice scenic drive through the hills
of southern New Hampshire. The race
venue was a campground in Greenfield State Park. The campground is closed at this time of
year, so there wasn’t any traffic where we were running.
The weather at the start of today’s race was similar to
yesterday. It was in the 40s with light
rain. There was also some wind. I was optimistic that conditions would get
better during the race. Unlike
yesterday, when it rained all day, today we were just supposed to have
intermittent showers. I was also
expecting the temperature to rise by a few degrees during the race.
My running clothes were similar to yesterday, but I made two
changes. First, I wore a pair of
Gore-Tex mittens over my gloves. I was
skeptical that they were waterproof, but it gave me an extra layer on my hands. I replaced the jacket I wore yesterday with a
plastic rain poncho. The jacket wasn’t waterproof. The poncho was. It also covered more of my body. It didn’t cover my forearms, but it covered
my legs from the knees up. That meant my
tights wouldn’t get as wet. The
disadvantage of the poncho is that it’s somewhat loose-fitting. I gave up on trying to keep the hood in
place. Instead, I wore a waterproof hat
with a brim.
Our course was an out-and-back along a paved road through
the campground. We made a large counterclockwise
arc, with a few small bends. Then we
turned around and came back the way we came.
It was about 1.1 miles each way.
To complete a marathon, we needed to do 12 laps.
We were running through a heavily wooded park, so it was a
fairly scenic course. Unfortunately, it
wasn’t a good day for taking pictures.
Most of the course was either flat or slightly rolling. There was one big hill near the beginning of
each lap. I didn’t really notice it
during the first lap, but I found it do be somewhat tiring in subsequent laps.
I started the race at a somewhat relaxed pace. Because I stopped after a half marathon
yesterday, I didn’t have any sore or stiff muscles today. I didn’t need to rush back to the hotel
today, so there was no reason to worry about my time.
Conditions during the early laps were cold and wet, but I
was better dressed than yesterday, so I didn’t get as cold. I was expecting the rain to stop, but it was
still raining after an hour. It was also
still raining after two hours. It didn’t
seem like it was ever going to stop. I’m
not sure if the temperature was rising, but the wind gradually picked up. That made it seem like it was getting colder.
I realized after a few laps that my mittens weren’t
waterproof. They gradually got soaked, as
did the gloves I was wearing underneath.
I kept my hands clenched to retain as much heat as I could. My forearms also got cold.
By my sixth lap, I was getting cold, but it wasn’t as bad as
yesterday. I knew I would finish today,
but I also realized I would have to tough it out in the second half of the
race.
After my sixth lap, I checked my watch. My time for the first half was about a minute
faster than yesterday. That surprised me, because my pace felt so relaxed. It’s possible I was subconsciously picking up
the pace because I was cold.
In the seventh lap, it finally seemed like the rain might be
stopping. It was hard to tell at first,
because the wind was making drops fall from the trees. It wasn’t until I reached the start/finish
area that I could tell for sure. That
was a parking lot with no tree cover. I
didn’t see any drops hitting the puddles in the parking lot, so I knew the rain
had really stopped.
It took another lap or two, but I started to feel more
comfortable. For the first time, I wasn’t
cold. My gloves and mittens were still
damp, but they were no longer sopping wet.
After my eighth lap, I walked briefly, so I could eat a PBJ. It was the only solid food I had eaten since
waking up. I wondered if I would regret
that. After the next lap, I ate another
PBJ.
At some point, I heard a sound in the distance that might
have been a crack of thunder. Before
long, it started raining again. By my
tenth lap, it was raining harder. It
also seemed like the wind was picking up.
I wasn’t comfortable any more.
Fortunately, it was getting late in the race. I wouldn’t have to endure being cold for too
long.
After that lap, I wanted to eat another PBJ, but I was too
cold to take a walking break. I had to
keep running now.
In the second half of the race, I had two voices in my
head. One was telling me to hurry up, so
I could get the race over with. The
other was telling me to take it easy and save my energy for tomorrow. Which one I listened to depended on my mood
at any given moment. Because of that, my
pace was somewhat erratic. I couldn’t make
up my mind.
During my last lap, the rain tapered off again. I still had two voices in my headed. “Pick up the pace and finish quickly.” “No, just relax now that the rain has
stopped.” As I started to run down the
hill near the end of the lap, I felt more temptation to go fast. Then I heard a third voice say, “Why? To save 30 seconds? It’s doesn’t matter. You’ll be done soon enough anyway.”
I finished in 4:27:16. I didn’t realize I slowed
down that much in the second half. I
guess I was mostly listening to voice that said, “slow down.”
As with most Mainly Marathon series, the finisher medals
form a chain. Today’s new piece was in
the shape of New Hampshire.
After the race, I still had to drive back to Nashua, but I
didn’t need to be in any rush. Today, I
didn’t need to check out. Tomorrow’s
race is in Nashua.
As I drove through Greenfield, I saw a sign that read, “Welcome
Runners.” This is a small race, and we
weren’t running through town, so I didn’t realize anyone in town knew we were
here. I didn’t think about all the runners
who spent the night at inns in Greenfield.
Even a small race can have a large footprint when it’s held in a small
town.
If I’m racing again the next day, I usually try to refuel
right away with a high-carb snack. I
didn’t have any snacks at the hotel. Why
didn’t I buy that blueberry pie at Whole Foods?
I wanted to take a whirlpool bath or try out the hotel’s saltwater pool,
but first I needed to go to a restaurant to have some lunch. After eating a late lunch, I’m not sure if I’ll
have room for dinner. I don’t want to be
out too late, because I have to get up early again. Maybe I’ll just go somewhere for dessert.
This was my third marathon in New Hampshire. To finish my third circuit of 50 states, I
just need to run marathons in Idaho, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and
Kentucky. I’ve scheduled races in two of
those states. The other two will have to
wait until next year.
Race Statistics
Distance: 26.2 miles
Time: 4:27:16
Average Pace: 10:12
Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:
334
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