2017 Hartford Marathon

I'm writing this post way too long after the fact. I knew the following week that I should have just written it then and saved the draft until I caught up from the other posts. I vowed not to get so far behind again, but we seem to be so busy at work on Wednesdays lately (except one!) that I'm often left with an incomplete post until the following week. Like I said, I'm seriously in pain quickly trying to sit at the desktop at home, and the computer at the Tamworth base is in a room where other people are...which is where I am right now. I've been staring at a blank page for an hour. My brain gets easily distracted with other things going on, and it makes it hard to think, but since the two other people in the room now are actually doing their own thing AND the tv isn't on, I just might be able to get this done. Haha. Might is the keyword.

I was really nervous going into this week of the Hartford Marathon. I really didn't know how it was going to go. Having run a 2:57 there last year in MUCH better shape, I knew I had to adjust my goals. As much as I would have loved to squeeze in under 3 hours, I knew it wasn't going to happen. What I didn't know was just how far over 3 hours I could potentially to go. I looked at different finish times and their average paces and decided that a reasonable goal for me would be sub-3:05. I also wanted to go under 3:05 since that's actually the time that was expected of me as part of New England's Finest if I want to return again in the future.
I was so afraid of being a fraud! And I loved the experience there in 2016 so much. I didn't want it to be tarnished. I also wanted to finish top 3 for masters women so that I could win some of the prize money; for me, prize money isn't about having extra spending money, it literally goes to my mortgage payment and bills first. It helps keep me in my house another month. So any chance I can get at prize money, I'm going for it. Based on who was invited to Hartford, I felt pretty confident that I could be top 3. So, anyway, I set my sites on 3:05 or less. Took the pressure off myself a bit getting the sub-3 out of my mind.

I stayed smart most of the week. Kept it slow with low mileage, except with my usual run on the Mountain Division Trail that I always do at a fast pace during marathon week. Even then, I only did 3 miles at a fast pace instead of the usual 8. I also made sure I got sleep. By only working the day shift on Monday, I was able to ensure I wouldn't be out all night, and good thing, too, because they did end up out overnight. Overall, it was a good week!

Monday, October 9, 2017- Like I said, I only worked 10 hours instead of the full 24. It felt great walking out the door at 5pm for a run even though it was in a torrential downpour. Haha. I ran a pretty easy pace around the aviation neighborhoods, just trying to minimize my elevation gain for the week. 5.8 miles in 44:42. 7:42/mi pace. Then I went home and had BEER! Something I rarely get to do on a Monday. Haha.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017- Slept in a little then drove over to the Mountain Division Trail in Fryeburg for the aforementioned quick run. Pulled into the lot at the same time as a tour bus, so I waited in my car awhile until they were all out of the bathroom. Haha. This run has become a tradition for me the week of marathons. The one day I do a flat, fast run. It's usually 8 miles, but I think it's been 7 before. Today I had planned to do 6, but I wasn't mentally in the game and had too much going on in my mind that I couldn't focus, so by mile 3 I was done and ran the final 3 miles back to my car at an easy pace. The first 3 splits were 6:40, 6:35, 6:28. The last 3 were 7:16, 7:07, 7:13. And there ended up being an extra .1 miles at the end. So 6.1 miles in 42:37. This made me a little nervous that maybe I wouldn't even break 3:10 at Hartford! I would die if I ran over 3:10!!

Took a photo along the way 

I picked up John on my way home and actually did an upper body workout before we left for Jackson. I wanted to take John apple picking since it's been about 3 years, but I find it's kind of boring. Too many rules and you're done in like 5 minutes and then paying for overpriced apples. That's when I remembered the abandoned orchard off the Hall Ledge Trail in Jackson, a place I often used to take John when he was around 16-18 months old. I'm not sure why it had been 10 years since I last ventured on this trail, but today was the day to go back. I was going to show John a more fun way to go apple picking. That didn't mean he didn't complain when it was time to go, but once he saw that apple orchard, he had a blast. This orchard was from the 1800s, so this apple variety probably don't even exist anymore. The orchard is overgrown, unmaintained and the apples aren't pretty, but they are still pretty tasty. We spent over a half hour in the orchard with John climbing up two different trees and knocking the apples down until we had a huge pile that I wrapped up in my jacket as a makeshift bag. John had more fun than I even expected, so it just made the whole hike that much better. It would end up being our last hike with Spot, so I'm happy it was such a good one.

Spot

When I got home, I got on the computer and found a pic of John from 10 years prior standing in front of this same rock that we're sitting on.

2007 in the same spot

We hiked about a total of 2.5 miles. My phone died before I could finish measuring it; I was using the app. (Like clockwork, same week as the Hartford Marathon last year, my phone had charging issues and completely died. They sent me the same model phone as a replacement. Barely made it a year. Don't by a Motorola! They don't last!)

Wednesday, October 11, 2017- Got myself up for a treadmill run before work. 3 miles in 21:26. 7:09 pace. A little to quick, but I kept it at 1% grade, so it felt easy. 24 hours of work at the North Conway base. Fall...the season of crazy and suicidal ideation. Our middle of the night call was not what I wanted to wake up for, but I somehow was able to connect with this person and help them calm down. I mentioned before that I've dealt with a lot of psych patients in my job over the last 6 years, and I have learned how to communicate with them. Maybe this is why I'm a crazy magnet. These people seem to flock to me. Ugh. But it definitely helps to have these skills at this job.

Thursday, October 12, 2017- It was back to Club Motorsports for what would be my last detail at the track for the season. Another gorgeous day and good company hanging out with Eric again. It was fly hell due to some compost the track had brought in for landscaping so we spent all day swatting flies that came from it and flew in the ambulance. I absolutely abhor flies and was disgusted. I ended up going on a fly killing rampage with a SAM splint as a fly swatter. Haha.

Mike at the track had told me the last week to just bring my stuff to run with me in the ambulance so I could get my run in instead of taking the ambulance back to the base first. Duh. Why didn't I think of that before? I ran two loops again but much slower than the first time since it was only 2 days out from Hartford. EEK! 5.1 miles in 41:15.

Friday, October 13, 2017- Woke up early enough to get in 3 miles on the treadmill. Flat and slowish. 22:12. I also did an upper body and abs workout for some reason. Haha. We were only going to Hartford for one night, but I still packed way too much stuff. By 11:30ish, John and I were on the road headed for Connecticut. Last year, we hit a ton of traffic on 495, but this year it was completely smooth sailing. I couldn't believe it. We were at the Radisson in Hartford just before 3pm. Perfect! I love how everything for us is all located in the hotel. Just an elevator ride to bib pick up and the pasta dinner. After getting to our room, John and I went to pick up my bib and race packet and get John's elite tag. I love the pullover and race shirt this year! It was nice to see Ken there again. He was the one who took care of all of us last year.

I made John walk down to the Expo to see if I had a poster and browse for free samples. I had no idea this time if I had a poster, but there I was! I'd moved up from the side street window to the front window. Haha. Same photo as last year, but with some enhancements. Hmm. How to make the photos interesting? We moved inside to the indoor posters where there wasn't a glare.

I like some of the outtakes better, so I chose a few that made me laugh. John always gets funny ones.

After perusing for free samples, we made our way out of the XL Center and ended up running into "Fitz", Michelle LeBrun, Scott Mason, Mimi Fallon and Jess Cover on the sidewalk and chatted with them for awhile until John finally asked if we could go back to the hotel. Haha. We did stand out there for long time. Haha. On the way back, John asked to use my phone so he could take a photo of the coolest street in downtown Hartford.

We thought dinner started at 5:30 so we went downstairs and found the doors still closed. Only a few of us were there. Scott Leslie, Mike and Christina Stadnolik, Liz Ryan and Ryan Place and another guy I probably should have known, but didn't. Scott and I talked about doing Baystate the next week. He said he was on the fence and would wait to decide. Well, it looks like if your name has "Leslie" in it, then you're a little nuts because he would end up doing Baystate after all. He still ran really well at both, and based on his race report, it looked like he faired much better at Baystate than I did. Haha.

After standing around for awhile, we learned that dinner wouldn't be ready until 6 so John and I went back to the room. I was STARVING by the time I got back down there. I really hadn't eaten much all day so I made a huge plate of food and then joined Diane Senecal and some other women at a table. I didn't know Diane was running, and I learned that the other two women, also from RI, were masters and doing the marathon. EEK! Competition I wasn't expecting! I last raced Diane at VCM in 2015 where she ended up having SVT that slowed her down during the race. The other two, I'd never seen before. Karolyn Bowley and the other woman's name I didn't catch. I guess I needed to be on my game the next day after all, so I was nervous!! John joined us finally, and I proceeded to get a second plate full of food. Like I said, I was so hungry. I didn't care about the looks I was getting. I was hoping I could be like, "See. That second plate of food didn't hurt my race at all, now did it?" Haha. Tiramisu for dessert? Yes please. The pre-race meeting was shortly thereafter and very brief. I brought my bottles down for the elite water tables I have been majorly spoiled with. I made a last minute decision to tape S!Caps to the bottles after learning the weather would be humid. I honestly believe those S!Caps saved my race. I also had 2nd Surge Gels taped on there. I usually use Pacific Health Labs Accel Gels, but I find I can stomach their 2nd Surge Gels much easier. (And by the way, I don't have sponsors. These are products I've found that truly work for me. You won't see a bunch of hashtags and lies promoting products I get for free in exchange for publicity.)

It was back up to the room to get in relaxation mode. I opened my favorite pre-marathon beer, a Stoneface Porter, and sat in the arm chair. Our view out the window was the opposite of the year before. After my beer, I took the usual 20 minute Epsom Salt bath then got ready for bed. I let John stay up a little later than me, but not too late since he had an early morning, too.

Saturday, October 14, 2017- RACE DAY!-

My alarm went off at 5am. I had no problem getting up. A good sign! I made coffee in the Keurig and broke out the same muffins I ate before Baystate. Kills me to only have one small cup of coffee, but if I have more than that before a marathon, I'll end up too dehydrated. I had organized everything the night before so that it was easy to get ready quickly. I changed into my running stuff got my coffee and relaxed for about 10 minutes before waking John up to get him moving.

We stepped out into surprisingly cool temperatures, but also about 95% humidity. The clouds blocked out the sun, thankfully, otherwise it could have been a sauna. We walked down and ran into Mimi, who was doing the half. Last year I was clueless as to where to go, but this time, I knew the deal. Once in the VIP area, I set John up in the VIP seating area with the fancy couches, candy and breakfast trays laid out. There were also TVs that he could watch. Super spoiled. Haha.

Here's a better view of the VIP "lounge".

I went to the athlete's tent to leave my bag and get ready for a short warm up. I ran a mile out and back and was sweating to death quickly. The humidity was FER REALZ. Shit. This could be a tough one, and I was once again nervous. I hit the bathroom one more time when I got back, said goodbye to John and then we all walked over to the start as group. For the second year in a row, I was in the front of the group. I didn't deserve to be in the front of this group. haha. I walked with Laura Brustolon, my CMS teammate. She also ran last year and passed me around mile 22 when my wheels came off. She was also nervous about the weather and what to expect today. Once they got the barriers open, we all moved into the front behind the handcycles. Once they started, they dropped the barrier behind us and the rest of the racers moved up to join us. I took a quick look to see where the other masters women were to keep track of them, and then we were off.

My big plan not to go off too fast didn't really work since I wanted to keep Mary Lynn Currier in sight. She always goes off too fast so I didn't plan to keep up, but I knew the perfect distance to stay back from experience. Haha. I went out ahead of Karolyn and Diane. The race is crazy crowded for a very short time until the half marathon splits off. This is always a relief. My intention was to keep my pace easy which is difficult for miles 1 and 2 since they both have wicked downhills that keep the pace fast. Plus, it's a mind fuck having the half marathoners next to you, as well. 6:42 and 6:31 for the first two miles. I was happy with that. I knew I would slow it down after that and wasn't worried. I reeled it in better than I thought and really got into a groove. I passed a few people who had gone off fast, and some other women passed me, including Ashley Busa, one of my Six03 teammates who's having a great year. We chatted a bit about the course and her goal which I thought was modest considering it was what I ran last year and she's in much better shape. (I was happy to see she did run faster than that after all.)

I had a little bit of a panic moment around mile 3 when running felt harder than it should at this point, and I could feel the high hamstring thing already aching a bit. But then I remembered I had this exact same panic moment last year at this exact same spot! 6:58 for mile 3. A little slow, but there was a slight hill, and I wanted to slow down anyway. Miles 4 and 5 were a bit fast, but I still felt good and kept Mary Lynn just ahead of me. I hit the 10K in 42:18, which was a little fast for my expected finish time today, but not unusual for this fast part of the course. I knew I would slow it down on the long run out to mile 17. Just past the 10K, I passed Scott Mason on the bridge.

He pointed at Mary Lynn who was only about 15 yards ahead of me at this point, and I mouthed back, "I know!!" Haha. I could sense she was fading which surprised me, as I'd heard she was going for an age record. This wasn't like her at all, so I had a feeling she was struggling. I caught her fairly quickly after this and chatted with her briefly; she had a story for why she was running horribly, and I genuinely felt for her because no matter what the reason, I could tell she was going to have a disappointing race.

I moved on and finally hit my first water bottle at mile 8. I struggle with eating and drinking while running, and my pace for every mile I do this is always slower. I noticed someone coming right behind me at the table to grab her bottle and realized that Karolyn Bowley had caught me. Damn!! But it would end up being a really good thing because by mile 10, she was dragging me along. I was struggling early. The only thing that kept me going was hanging onto her. The humidity at this point was getting to me. Although the pace was fairly consistent, it was creeping up into the high 6:50s which made me nervous for the 2nd half of the race. Would I be over 7s?! EEK! Although Karolyn and I didn't talk really except just past the half mat, we had what seemed to be a silent pact of getting each other through the 7 miles we ran together. We hit the half marathon in 1:30:29 (chip time; my watch said 1:30:30 haha). Not bad, but I was nervous with this pace already being over a 3 hour finish time....AND I was struggling. I was never so happy to see my next water bottle. S-Cap down the hatch, as well as the gel.

This long out and back is a bit of a mental struggle, and the long gradual climb of mile 17 can really be daunting. I had no idea how the rest of this was going to go, but then we hit mile 15. Huge crowds here since it was a relay exchange. I don't know if that sparked it, but I all of a sudden had a crazy second wind. I think the gel and S-Cap kicked in around this time, and all of a sudden, I was able to move faster and immediately pulled away from Karolyn. It was so weird. I started reeling other people in. Even though mile 17 would be 13 seconds slower than last year and a 6:59 split, I still felt great. This is so not me! The last time this happened was at VCM in 2015 when I started catching people at mile 17. Obviously, the pace was much slower, but I felt crazy good. I was passing so many people! It was insane. There turned out to be a master woman in front of me that I thankfully passed, as well. I wish I knew how many people I passed exactly, but it had to be upwards of 15 from mile 15 to the finish. After mile 17, my splits 6:47, 6:48, 6:31, 6:54 (since I had to eat and drink again!) and then a crazy 6:25 for mile 22!!! I dropped my average pace from mile 17 to 20 by 2 seconds. Mile 22 is where I hit the wall last year and died. It's where Laura Brustolon and Jenny Goswami flew past me. In almost the exact same spot, I passed Laura. She said her wheels were coming off. I told this was exactly where the same thing happened to me last year. It was weird. I was DYING at this point. Today, I had so much left in the tank.

Like clockwork, Bruce Christensen rode up his bicycle. He was the same guy I had to ask to stop riding beside me last year; I felt so bad about that but I was hurting and couldn't take someone next to me yelling for me. Bruce rode by quietly this time with a smirk on his face. I laughed and said hi. Then it dawned on me. Have Bruce find out where Karolyn was. So when he rode back by, I described her and asked if he could see her. He took off on his bike...and was gone a long time. He came back and said she was 2 minutes back. Phew. I felt good and knew I had this in the bag as far as the masters win.

Todd Brown got this one. See the 4 guys I'd just passed? Heehee.

My watch would end up failing me after mile 22; it was never accurate from the get-go as far as matching up with the mile markers, but it really lost a signal for miles 23-25. I felt like I had only slowed slightly after mile 22; I felt like I was running mid-6:40 pace and was continuing to catch people. What a difference from last year. Just before the the on-ramp at mile 25, I passed 4 guys. With 1.2 to go, I was happy to see I would definitely be under 3:05. I couldn't stop smiling...until in the last .4, this woman on a bicycle started riding next to me!! Argh!!! Why do people do this?! Haha. She wouldn't leave me alone. "Keep your head up!" Fuck you! I do what I want! haha. I kept trying to shoo her away, but it was difficult to talk at this point. Finally, I saw the beginning of the finish line barrier and knew she would be gone. Thank god!

Scott Mason was there and got a photo, and then as I rounded the corner, I saw Fitz and Michelle and waved and smiled at them. Up the hill and through the finish in 3:02:08. 1st master female for the second year in a row. I was psyched!! 6:58/mi average pace.

Scott Mason's photo before the finish. 

I felt so good and elated! If I had run a 3:02 last year, I would have cried and pouted for a month, but this year, hell yes! Considering my injuries, my slower finishes and the lost training from being sick, I was so fucking happy to run a 3:02 today!! No regrets! I had an awesome race!! The humidity killed me for a good 7 miles, so I wonder if maybe I would have run closer to a sub-3 after all. But whatever! 13th female overall, too! It was time to celebrate! I changed clothes, found John then grabbed beer!

I caught up with Fitz and Michelle and then Matt Howard who was my "companion" this year. One of our perks is to have a companion who can enter the half or full for free and be part of the VIP treatment. Last year, I couldn't give it away until Melissa Garfield's sister finally used it. When I was talking to Matt at Ragged this year, and he said he was planning to do Hartford, I offered him my companion pass. He was so grateful!! And enjoyed every minute of it. I was happy he got to enjoy the perks because they're pretty awesome!

Matt Howard with my poster. Haha

Matt wasn't the only one who took a photo with my poster. Haha.

Haha!! Heidi Martini.

John and I stayed until it was time to get back to the hotel for check-out. We definitely took a cup full of Hershey Kisses. haha. I had time to shower before we left. There would be no second night in Hartford this time. Way too expensive, and I just wanted to go home. As I was loading stuff into the car, I found that a damn solicitor had left his business card on my car window. I'm never buying his photos again... except I just did! Haha. Only kidding. The two professional shots in this post are both Scott's. Capstone Photography did a great job this year for what would have been a hysterical Worst Running Photos ever collage. 80+ photos and only 5 or so decent ones that weren't worth spending a dime on. I was happy to see Capstone came through much better at Baystate.

John slept the whole way home. It was nice to be back with my dogs for the night, too.

Sunday, October 15, 2017- For the first time ever, I actually felt like running the day after a marathon so I took Chill and Phoenix separately on a road/trail mix around the neighborhood and Waldorf School. 3.7 miles at a 10:11 pace. Haha. To say my hamstrings were sore would be an understatement, but this really helped loosen them up. Spot didn't run with me on leash but got out to do her own thing for a few hours that morning. One of her last. :(

I had to get John out on a such warm day so we took our annual Fall hike up Mt Willard. I didn't bring the dogs because it's too difficult with such huge crowds. I almost regret it since Spot would have gotten one more hike in, but she would have hated being on leash. John and I flew up the mountain passing so many tourists. Haha. We actually ended up snagging 6th overall for the women for the Strava hiking CR which is funny since my legs were trashed.

Little did I know this would be my last evening I would have with Spot. I got one last photo of her. It wasn't a good one, but it would be our last walk together.

The week had actually been awesome. Better than expected!! And Hartford....hell yes! I hope I get invited back again next year. I would do it every year if it worked out. LOVE it.

This was weird way to do my blog posts; this backwards way, and I don't plan to do it again, but I really wanted to end the 2017 major race stuff with Hartford. I'm going to do another catch up post next. haha. This is becoming a pattern. And I'll try to do better. Hmm. Now what song? John wanted me to put a song in from Sonic Forces, but I think it's a little too cheesy. Haha. After sitting here thinking, I'm going with one that's been on my playlist since March, but that I've heard more than usual the last week and a half. Interesting timing.