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.
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