I started running seriously a little over two years ago. During this time, I participated in three racing events (10mi trail, 1/2, full) before this event. This one was the best organized racing event so far. This was a technology heavy race with social features, a mobile app, web enabled metrics and an informative web page to help me train better for this race and the next many races.
When we signed up in March, I and my running buddies (Stanley, Pavan and Rahul) had just completed the Hyannis Marathon. We signed up for this race and started logging training miles leading up to this race so that on the race day we would perform better than we had done in our previous races. I felt good with my training and was ready to take on this marathon. Hyannis was mostly a flat marathon but this one had surprises built into it. I was ready for it.
Saturday (5/25)
We drove up to Waitsfield, VT with our families, where we had rented a vacation home for the long weekend. I had a good pre-race pasta lunch and a good Indian dinner with lots of carbs/proteins to keep my system running at an optimal level on the race day. We were aware of the bad weather (rain, cold, wind) that would affect us on the race day but somehow we were not too concerned. The Hyannis Marathon with its sub 20 degree temperatures, high wind and freezing rain, had trained us well. We were more focused on the logistics of getting our families to the race event without going through the hassles of parking or blocked streets. We are not Burlington, VT residents, so everything had to be planned with a Plan A, Plan B and a Plan C. Our families had planned to leave around 9am and we (the runners) were going to leave at 6:15am to avoid any surprises with the traffic etc. I went to bed at 9:30pm but had a tough time sleeping, as my mind kept thinking of strategies to have a better race day than my Hyannis Marathon (Official time 4:56).
Sunday (5/26)
I got up early at 4:45am. I was nervous. It was dark outside and quiet. It was not raining in the Mad River Valley area and so I had high hopes of a better than expected race day. I planned for and had a light breakfast that consisted of 2 bananas and a Nature Valley Honey & Oat Granola Bar and water.
From my training, I knew that I can do up to 8.5 minutes/mile for the first 13 miles. I also knew that I could sustain a 9 minutes/mile pace for the next 7 miles but did not know what to expect after that in terms of speed. What I did know for sure is that I was going to finish the marathon, no matter what.
We left for Burlington at around 6:45am. We were late. It took us a little over 40 minutes to drive up to Burlington and find a parking spot. It was rainy, windy and a cold morning. I got out of our car and instantly felt the shivers and the race jitters. I had on a technical shirt, a wind jacket and shorts to protect me from the elements. That was clearly not enough. I and my buddies walked over a mile to the Battery Park. By the time, I got to the starting line; I was wet with light rain that was not letting up. I looked around and some runners were dressed perfectly for this weather, while others had garbage bags/ponchos on them and others were brave enough to just wear the least amount of clothing for the race.
We looked for cover and settled under a tree, right next to the starting line where we could wait until the race started. My goal was to start with the 4:30 pacers to warm up for the first 2-3 miles. In hindsight, that was a bad decision because I spent a considerable amount of energy making up the distance and catching up to the 4 pacers.
The music started and the race began. I crossed the starting line at 8:04am.
It was still cold, windy and raining. I felt good starting out my run. There were a lot of spectators cheering us on. About one mile into it, I felt that my body was ready to kick into the next gear. I tore open my first GU Gel and squeezed all the energy out of it. About 5 minutes after my first GU Gel, I kicked my body into the next gear. I was probably running at an 8 minute/mile pace for the next couple of miles and then finally settled at about 8:50 minute/mile pace. We went through the streets with big cheering crowds….loud crowds on either end of the street. There was father and a daughter team running in front of me. The father wore a “father” T-shirt and the daughter wore the “daughter” T shirt. I thought that was neat and I smiled. There is nothing like running with your kids. Someday I will too. Because it was raining, there were puddles that I was trying to avoid while running. Since I had so much energy, I started jumping over them. After a few jumps, I realized that I was wasting my energy and that I should take it easy with all this jumping. The run through the Church Street was the best. I had so much energy, a good form and the crowd was extremely supportive and fun to interact with. Folks had signs with supportive words such as “You are amazing”, “This is how you do it” and so many more. Spectators were supporting their running family members with their names on the signs. Some were dancing while others were clapping hard. I was just humbled with the fact that they decided to come out in such a bad weather to support us. Soon after the church street, we entered the beltway and it became a downhill run for about a minute before it tapered off to an even run. By the time, I hit the beltline, I had caught up with the 4 minute/mile pace group.
I was running just a little behind them but wasted a lot of needed energy just catching up to them. I could relax now and just stay with them as long as I could. We ran on the beltway and came across a country station truck that was playing country music. I love country and turned down my headphones to just listen to whatever they were playing. It wasn’t loud enough for me to hear but I was just happy that country music was represented. A little later on the beltline we noticed a band made up of drums and percussion playing a nice beat. I lowered the volume on my headphones and got into that energetic beat. I started to match my steps with that beat. That was fun. I finally hit the turn-around point and started to run back towards the city. I met up with Rahul and Stanley first and then later met Pavan who was also enjoying the race. I kept the pace and soon we were running on the church street again. And then, I went into a meditative stance with good music and a good pace that carried me to the halfway mark. I woke up from this zen moment (its hard to describe it, you gotta feel it.) just a mile or so after the halfway mark when cold and heavy winds started hitting my face. We were on the bike path running right next to Lake Champlain. It is a beautiful lake, except today; it had a lot of energy to it. Waves were dynamic; wind was strong and very cold. It was hitting my face real hard and I could feel my fingers freezing. This reminded me of Hyannis and how I ran with frozen fingers (hand and foot) through most of the marathon. The wind did not have enough in it to stop me, I was stronger than that. I powered through it. I finally reached the Battery Street and saw the 1/2 mile hill in front of me that I was warned of. All of a sudden that hill did not look that bad. It was surrounded by spectators who were extremely supportive and loud. I used that energy to power me through the hill without loosing my pace. This was mile 16. I was still doing well. When I got up to the top, there were Skittles and Jelly Beans table waiting for me to munch on. I grabbed some skittles on the run and just kept running while munching on the sweetness of the Skittles. Skittles never felt so good. On a normal day, I am the first one to avoid Skittles and will usually opt for a Hershey with almonds or M&M’s. But today, any sweet thing would do. I continued to run. Little that I knew, there was another hill waiting to be run on. This one was a small hill but a steeper hill. I got through that. I will give credit where it is due. The Skittles. I continued running for another mile or so before we got into a neighborhood. Again, the crowd was intense with people standing in front of their houses cheering us on. Some had oranges to give us while some had bananas to offer, others had water or Gatorade. These people are truly the support system, a runner needs to make it through the miles that are in front of him.
The oranges helped power me for a few more miles and the GU that I squeezed in that neighborhood. Finally after a few more miles, we hit the bike path that would lead us to the finish line. Before we hit the bike path, we had to run through this steep downhill. Let me say this. I never hated a downhill more than I was hating it at mile 21. This downhill was steep. My calves were already not happy with me and this downhill made it that much more tough. I still ran through it by gliding and not actually stepping. I was semi successful. My calves still hurt from that downhill.
Once I made it through the downhill, it was all supposed to be very easy. I opened another GU gel. I started racing with this guy, who I was competing with, during some parts of the race for fun. He kicked it up a gear, so I kicked it up a gear. I was probably doing a bit more than 7 minutes/mile for about half a mile with him. I thought I could carry this pace all the way to the end. But that is not what actually happened. All that jumping I did in the beginning of the race, the speed I had to use to catch up with the 4 pacers and the race with this guy at mile 21, finally caught up to me. My hamstring started to tighten up. It was cramping a bit. So I had to stop and stretch my hamstring. After a good stretch and another GU gel, I told myself, let’s be smart and take it easy until mile 25 and then we will pick it up again. I lost my 4 pacer at that point. I learnt a lesson at that moment. Don’t start behind from the beginning. Start ahead. Don’t jump. Just run. Don’t race when you don’t need to. After stretching, I started running again. These last miles were tough because I just wanted to get to the finish line, but couldn’t get there fast enough.
At the 25th mile, I saw the 4:15 pacer through the corner of my eye and realized that I was running slowly. This is when I realized that I had a mile left and it was time to turn it on. I started to speed up recognizing that my hamstring may start cramping at any time. I rounded the corner and finally saw the grass that led me to the finish line. This is when I really turned it on. I started to run at a 7 minute/mile pace. I saw Stanley’s family shouting my name and I smiled and waved back at them. My eyes were searching for my wife and kids in the crowd.
In the last frame while running in Brooks Orange Wind Jacket
I was wearing the name of my kids so I really wanted to finish this race and take a picture with them and my wife. I had a lot of emotions going through me as I was about to enter the finish line. I also happened to step on muddy grass right after the finish line and sprain my left ankle. I sprained my ankle because I was excited and still slowing down and had lost my form and was not looking down at the muddy grass. I walked over to get my medal and the foil to keep me warm. I saw my wife and the kids in the crowd and started to walk towards them. I grabbed two bottles of chocolate milk and two bananas along the way. That was the happiest moment of the race. I teared slightly as my mind and body were very tired from the race and the weather conditions. I just wanted to hold my kids.
I set a new PR with a 4:14:41 time.
http://www.runpix.info/arace8/00/finord_one.php?id=1359&ev=vmt13&dt=42
http://www.runpix.info/arace8/00/finord_one.php?id=1359&ev=vmt13&dt=42
A half marathon is a test of physical endurance. A full marathon is a test of physical endurance and mental toughness. -hw