I DID IT! Newport, RI Marathon Review

I slacked a lot on the blogging lately, but there was very little slacking on the marathon training. I'd like to skip the updates on training right now though to share the story of my BQ and the Newport Marathon held this year on October 11 in Newport, Rhode Island.

I was nervous. Even though I put in the training and ran the course for a few of my long runs, I knew a lot would come down to weather and how I was feeling on Sunday. This is a tough course with a lot of hills and twists and turns. Brutal winds and pelting rain are not out of the question this time of year in New England. Although I was only 5 minutes off a BQ time in May and had remained injury free plus trained harder than ever since then, I still had worries. This was no Sugarloaf Marathon, which is mostly straight and downhill. Also, my legs felt pretty pooped most of the time during my training, especially as I started to taper. Did I overtrain? Was the course too difficult to get this done? 

As race day approached, I have never been more excited for packet pick-up and was first in line when they opened on Saturday. In terms of race review, this was the bare bones packet pick-up: Get your number, get your shirt, get a little goodie bag (and a free beer glass thank you very much). No sales of running gear, headbands, massagers, blah blah blah. 

My license plate and bib were matchy match.

The night before I fretted over everything: compression sleeves or no, arm sleeves or no, bib on shirt or shorts, how does my iPod feel on my arm. I decided to go minimal. No sleeves, bib on shorts for easy shirt removal if I got hot and iPod ready to rock. 

I felt a little queasy at the start, knowing how much time, money and miles I have spent on getting a BQ and knowing how many people I had told about my goal. I didn't want to finish with a story of wimping out, getting hurt, throwing up, crying or peeing my pants, but a lot can happen in 26.2 miles. On the positive, the world was conspiring to help me accomplish my goal. I had slept well, carb-loading was good, hydration good, weather was ideal and legs were fully charged. Everything was going smoothly. 

The sun came up like this just before the start.

Pre-race

We started at 7:30am for the half and the full marathon: 1680 runners for the half and 575 for the full. The plan was to run conservative for the first half. However, as per usual, I felt amazing and just booked it. I always have this overly optimistic idea that maybe I am faster than I think. What if my training paid off so much I can run way faster than I imagined and miss out by playing it safe? I felt like I was running easy in spite of the hills. The course was GORGEOUS. Although I have run it before, I haven't seen such perfect conditions. Just a light breeze, decent temps and the sun over the water on Ocean Ave. Really great. I tried to pay attention to coordinates and do my best to minimize all the turns. I was under 40 minutes at 5 miles (beating my best 5 mile race time by almost a minute).  I watched my watch as I approached 13.1 miles and just for fun decided to see if I could beat 1:46:50, which was my PR at Covered Bridges. The answer to that question was yes, by the way. I hit 13.1 miles at 1:45:59. Best of all, I still felt strong and could keep the pace onto the second half. Was this real life?

Mallory rode the course and cheered for me in several places. 

Around mile 18 as I trudged up a very long gradual hill, I realized this was, in fact, real life. I watched my pace begin to plummet and I found what I thought was the wall. Then the downhill came and I was over it. Still not feeling as strong as the first half, but confident I still had enough fight in me to get it done. I just kept running, doing math the whole time and predicting what I would need to do pace-wise.

As I got further into the race, I watched the time slipping away. I was putting everything I had into it, but kept slowing down. It was time to pay the bill for my ambitious foolish start. There were hills all over and I might have been dying. I kept running anyway. I knew the worst hill was around mile 24.5, a short, but steep climb and then an easy stroll to the finish. I passed the last water stop, not wanting to take any chances as volunteers offered me Gatorade, a banana, gel or water. Ain't nobody got time for that! I waved them off and "charged" the hill, which meant jogging as fast as my dead legs would go while those around me walked. "Get that guy!" the police woman directing traffic yelled at me. "Pass him!" I did. 

Faces of Death, Marathon Edition

Even after the hill and knowing I was almost done and probably gonna BQ if I didn't die, I couldn't get my legs to run in strong. I continued to do math and realized at mile 25 I would BQ if I could finish in 12 minutes. Should be easy. Not easy! I grunted. I groaned. I yelled at myself in my head and out loud. My Garmin hit 26.2 miles at 3:43:?? and the finish wasn't there. I couldn't even see it yet! What the hell? Getting a BQ would depend on how close I got myself to the finish. In the meantime, Mallory watched the clock and wondered where I was. Had I fallen? Was I hurt? She didn't know if I would make it. She thought I was done for when the time left one minute to spare and she didn't see me. And then there I was. I was still under my BQ time and gave everything I had as I stared at the seconds piling up and dragged myself across the finish line. 

I have never been more sore and tired than at this moment.

A+ Medal Design! Favorite Medal Ever!

I finished in 03:44:29 which is 31 seconds under qualifying standards. I cried a little. I cried part pain, part happy and part disappointed. I can call myself a qualifier, but I know 31 seconds won't get me registered for Boston in 2017. However, I'm already registered for Sugarloaf and have the confidence from this tough course in Newport to know I can beat my time on an easier course. I will still be there in 2017. 

I also accomplished another dream on October 11, 2015. I won first in my age group! I have wanted to place in a longer race for years and didn't think that would be in the cards for a good long time. Nope. Did it! 

Medal, Finisher Shirt and Award

So, what happened on October 11 in Newport for me? A lot!

1. I beat my 5 mile PR.

2. I beat my half marathon PR.

3. I beat my full marathon PR.

4. I qualified for the Boston Marathon.

5. I won first place in my age group.

Special thanks to Jason Fitzgerald of Strengthrunning.com for the plan that helped me accomplish this day without injury and confident to do it again and better in May at Sugarloaf!  Also, extra special thanks to my lovely wife Mallory who has cheered me on, kept me on track and supported all my time spent on this endeavor for months.

Ready to be my personal cheering section all over the course.

Now for more goals. Many challenges to come. Stay tuned.