When I decided to run Sugarloaf I had a couple things in mind. 1) Force myself to create an endurance base and 2) Get another qualifying time for Boston. I did not include any speed work during this training cycle, just made sure I put in the miles. Going into the race I was feeling pretty good about my fitness.
When I woke up on race morning my stomach didn't feel that great. I'm sure it was nerves, but I had a hard time eating breakfast. I tried to put down some oatmeal but barely put a dent in it. Once I got to the start, I was feeling much better. It was drizzling out, but nothing major. I started with my rain jacket on with a plan to ditch it at mile 4, just trying to stay dry for awhile since the forecast was for rain the entire morning. I definitely didn't need the jacket because I got warm fast. And it really didn't matter because by the end of the race I was soaked from head to toe.
During the first part of the race, the mile markers were really off. I think the mile markers painted on the road were right, but then the signs weren't put in the same place. Sometimes they would put the mile marker at the water stop, which might be almost 40 secs before the actual mile marker. It was kind of frustrating since I was trying to monitor my pace in the beginning, but I just kept looking at the overall time to see where I was. After mile 10, the markers seem to be fine.
My goal for this race was 3:36, which is 8:15 pace.
Here we go ...
Mile 1 - 8:12
Mile 2 - 8:19
Mile 3 - 8:33 (not sure what happened here)
Mile 4&5 - 8:14 avg (this is one of the places the mile markers were off)
Mile 6 - 8:22
Miles 7-10 ... This is the start of the big uphill and again the mile markers were off so all I have is the total time over the four miles which averaged 8:28. I was really glad to be up over that hill, knowing that was it. It was mostly flat and downhill from that point on.
Mile 11 - 8:09
Mile 12 - 7:57
Mile 13 - 8:09
Mile 14 - 8:15
Mile 15 - 8:06
Mile 16 - 7:44
Mile 17 - 7:36
Mile 18 - 8:12
Mile 19 - 8:14
Mile 20 - 8:48 And this is where it happened. I knew it was going to be tough going from here to the finish. My splits just dropped a minute per mile.
Mile 21 - 9:09
Mile 22 - 9:12
Mile 23 - 9:13
Mile 24 - 9:23
Mile 25 to the finish I averaged 9:15
Finish time 3:42. I lost the 6 minutes in the last 6 miles, but I still got my BQ. Average pace 8:29.
Overall I was happy with my race. I am looking forward to a little recovery and then to start building on this endurance base.
I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Roger who ran course support for me the whole race. I think he appeared at least 6+ times during the race and I know I would not have made it through the last 4 miles as fast as I did if it wasn't for him constantly telling me to keep after it. I've never had anyone run support for me like that and it is amazing what a difference it makes!!
Next up Mt Washington.
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