20 miles on the Vineyard

Last Saturday was an adventure. I woke up early, picked up some friends, and headed to Cape Cod. I parked the car, hopped on a shuttle to the ferry, then took the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. By the time I reached the island, it was 10:15. The Martha's Vineyard 20-miler started at 11.

I stashed my pocket with jelly beans and chucked my backpack on a bus to meet me at the finish. I chatted with my friends, Colin and Ariel, whom I had convinced to come race. They had never run more than 14 miles, but are planning to bandit the Boston Marathon so decided a 20-miler was inevitable. And why not at beautiful Martha's Vineyard?

The weather was fantastic. Mid-40s. Maybe a few clouds in the sky, but mostly sunny. It was windy, but it was a tailwind for the first 8 miles along the shore. Not bad.

Mile 1 - 6:26 oops, too fast.
Mile 2 - 6:34 caught all the ladies by this point.
Mile 3 - 6:37 much better. Ran with a biophysicist that I'd met on the ferry. Nice guy, but by the sound of his breathing I knew he wasn't going to stay at this pace. Poor guy.
Mile 4 &5 - 12:58 somehow I missed the mile marker. Biophysicist dropped back and Mike from my team, the Greater Boston Track Club, started running with me.
Mile 6 - 6:35 picking out my future summer home.
Mile 7 - 6:39
Mile 8 - 6:48 still feeling pretty good.
Mile 9 - 6:35
Mile 10 - 6:42 Another GBTC guy, Ken Ross, catches me and Mike.
Mile 11 - 6:40 turned away from Nantucket Sound in Edgartown. Now running into the wind - boo.
mile 12 - 6:45 Mike and Ken take turns leading, shielding me from the wind.
Mile 13 - 6:42 There are some gentle hills here, and for the next few miles.
Mile 14 - 6:37
Mile 15 - 6:48 There is a hill here and the wind gusts are strong as we run by an airstrip.
Mile 16 - 6:52 Clinging to Mike and Ken. I know if I run alone, I'll fall apart.
Mile 17 - 6:48 A few guys from a competing club team catch up. One of the guys ran this race in 2007, the last time I ran it. He reminded me that we'd run many miles together during that race, and then I'd dropped him with a few miles to go. His friends said something like, "Don't make her mad." Ken surges forward, Mike drops back, I carry on. Pretty sure I'm a little delirious by now; I think I even called Mike "John." Sorry.
Mile 18 - 6:30 Freshly motivated, I drop Mr. Bitter-about-2007 again.
Mile 19 - 6:45 This mile was so long. When will this end?!
Mile 20 - 6:39 Cross the finish, hobble to a high school locker room and hot-shower myself back from my hypothermic state to reality again. Grab a bowl of minestrone soup and wait for Colin and Ariel. They finish around 3 hours and are actually happy to have come (yea!).

We stuck around for prizes (which turned out to be tiny medals) and then barely caught the ferry back to the Cape. Glad we caught it for many reasons, but mostly because Ariel needed to attend her own surprise birthday party that night. :)

Because I drove our friends, I didn't have room in the car for Scott, Bruce, and Phoebe. They spent their Saturday fine-tuning their Mario Kart skills.

Photo via http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/article.php?id=9608

Two

Our sweet Phoebe turned two years old! We celebrated by having a feast with all of her favorite food and her favorite friends. The menu included homemade cheese pizza, applesauce, corn on the cob, and chocolate cupcakes. I was going to make macaroni and cheese from the box because she does love it and it's so easy to make, but Scott thought pizza would be a little more adult and kid-friendly. He was right: everyone loved it, including The Birthday Girl. We weren't sure how Phoebe would react with a big crowd, but she sat down and ate all her food.

After we ate, we frosted the cupcakes and decorated them with M&Ms and other candy, chocolate chips, and such. I'll add video of the party within the next few days. Scott and I congratulated ourselves on the party afterward: it was just what Phoebe wanted and nothing more.

We are so blessed to have Phoebe in our family (and honestly, soooo glad that she is 2 and not newborn anymore! I think I've blocked out some of the bad memories from that newborn phase, but lucky for me I'm such an honest blogger and they're all recorded here).

Me, the Miler

I hopped on the indoor track for another mile attempt, this time in a distance medley relay. I hadn't run a relay race in a few years, and I'd forgotten how much fun it is (and how nervous it makes me too!). My team, the Greater Boston Track Club, raced against a bunch of college teams. I ran the anchor leg (the last leg of the 1200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, 1600-meter relay), so unfortunately our final placing was up to me. And unfortunately I'm not a real miler. Four teams passed me, and then I nipped one back at the end (see the photo finish below).
After the race, I remembered why I used to carry cough drops with me to every indoor track meet: the "track hack" (I think it's the combination of deep, hard breathing and really dry indoor air?). After coughing for a solid 15 minutes, I went for a 10-mile cooldown with some teammates and felt much, much better by the end. 78 days until the Boston Marathon!

Cross Country Nationals!

This was my weekend.

Scott finagled his way out of working this weekend so he could be with Bruce and Phoebe while I went to Charlotte, North Carolina and got my cross country on.

I flew to Charlotte on Friday night and got a full night's sleep (amazing!) followed by sleeping in and lounging about on Saturday morning. It felt luxurious. Then my teammates and I geared up and went to the race, which was held on a gorgeous wooded course with one big hill and one big mud-pit.

The race was very competitive. All of the fastest club runners came from around the country. My team was shooting for the top ten, but we ended up 16/29 teams. We aren't disappointed though: just about everyone ran her best, but the competition was just so good!

I love races like that - where there is always a pack to run with and plenty of runners to pick off. It keeps racing interesting.

The start was fast - there was a long straightaway that narrowed quickly. I got pushed and shoved to the back of the pack, and spent the rest of the race working my way up. This was perhaps the most physical race I've been in - some lady pushed me away from her while we were battling up the hill. I felt good about how I ran and even had a sprint at the end. My time wasn't my best - 22:55 over 6K - but I don't run that particular distance often and I am not in super-fab shape. I'll get there though.

Boston Marathon 2011 is the next Big Race.

The Race Report

Yesterday was the Codfish Bowl, a cross country invitational for area colleges with a few has-beens like me in attendance. Scott, Bruce, and Phoebe ventured off for a hike and rock hunt while I warmed up and then ran the 5K. There were a lot of fresh collegiate athletes who went out way too fast and sandwiched Slow Me for about a mile. I eventually elbowed my way out of the pack and caught quite a few people. The third mile wasn't spectacular - I was starting to feel the 80-degree heat and my inconsistent training - but it was good enough for a 15th place finish, 5th place on my team. I wasn't thrilled with my time - 20:17 - probably because I ran an 18:44 on this course a few years ago. Someday when I'm not pushing a stroller for half of my mileage and missing half of my workouts because Scott has to go back in to work at night, I'll get my times down to where I want them.

Return to Racing

I finished my first PP (Post-Phoebe) race, the Bedford 12K. My goals for the race were to 1) not go out too fast, 2) run somewhat even splits, 3) not feel like walking or shuffling, 4) not get injured, and 5) look good in pictures. That last one is really important.
I finished in 50:29, almost a full seven minutes behind my winning time in 2007. But I reached my goals for this race. Now I'm looking around for my next race. Maybe a 5K? Maybe I'll be faster?
I love my team, the Greater Boston Track Club. On the drive up to the race, everyone in the car shared what they ate the night before. Turns out no one ate the traditional pre-race pasta. One guy ate a hot dog and fries at a bar. I had grilled veggies at a clambake (Scott's last Harvard biophysics event - sad). There's one difference between college and club running: we're too old and busy to care about such things as when to eat noodles.

* Thanks for the pictures, Brad.