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May 29, 2016
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Marathon 55, State #48 (Age 47)
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Burlington, Vermont
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4:13:15
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Ok, I'm finally winding down or should I say in the home stretch of this crazy notion I had about 18 years ago that "how great would it be to travel to every state in the U.S. and run a marathon". When I started this quest the end seemed an eternity away, but now I'm nearly there! I do love traveling and after the past two falls heading all the way to the east coast from S. California where each of the last two years I choose to save some travel time by lumping two marathons into a single weekend. Let's just say I'm happy to be heading east again and even more happy that this trip only has one marathon over the weekend. Maybe for most people that wouldn't be relaxing, but I'm thrilled to death that after my run on Sunday I will not be getting up the next morning and doing it again!
So many of my marathons in the last eight have either been solo
trips or more recently with a few friends.
This one would be a little different for a couple of reasons. First, school is out May 26th for Parisa and
the trip starts May 27th so my girls have decided to go. Second, Vermont is so close to Montreal that
seemed to allure them, at least that is what Homeyra says and Parisa is along
for the ride!
My last marathon was last October, or seven months ago. This means training basically started all
over for this race after taking winter off.
Well if you know me I really never stop training so it's more I
"ramp up" for my next marathon.
I'm still spoiled that one a week I get to ride in the canyons which is
one of the ways I both always stay in shape and even substitute long runs for
rides. While still a believer of under
training the fact that I only had one race to run, I probably was a little more
carefree this time around.
Looking ahead at the weather, I was a little uncertain what to expect
because I had never been to the northeast in the spring/summer. It appeared it would be cold and rainy
about a week out so I packed warm clothes and rain gear. While I only remember getting rained on for
a whole race once or twice, I was ready for almost anything Mother Nature would
throw at me. (More on this in a bit!)
I'm a pretty good planner, methodically I usually have my whole
marathon weekend planned with places to go and of course places to stay. This trip was a day or two longer than many
of my weekend race adventures but it looked like there would be plenty to do
and see, however, of the four nights we would spend in a hotel my only
reservation was for the night before the race outside of Burlington, VT. That left three nights in a way of saying
it, "winging" it.
With this now an international flight I felt the need to allow
for a little extra travel time. While
most trips I would leave my bike at LAX this time around we loaded up the
Subaru. Being a Memorial Day holiday weekend
some of the parking services were full so we ended up parking for the first
time at Wally Park express. No traffic
on the way and great service with quick pickup and through security in a breeze
gave us ample time and some co-travelers wishing we hadn't woken up at 3:30 in
the morning.
All was going well, a nice 5 hour flight and on the ground in
Montreal. Passing customs 4x over the
weekend was a bit of a hassle but we were through without any problems and
we're off in search of our rental vehicle.
This was a bit of a goose chase because the rental company I chose was
off site. We first found the other car
rental companies and could have been in and out in a breeze however we had to
call a shuttle and it was 2-3 hours after we landed before we finally drove
away in our very "dirty" car.
=(
By this time we are all hungry, no internet service for gps on
phones, no map of the city, and no hotel.
First things first head downtown in search of food. We followed the signs for downtown and a big
Friday night traffic jam. We found what
seemed like the main drag through downtown and enjoyed the sights of the
architecture and all of our new surroundings.
Homeyra spotted a street lined with pink balls that looked live and full
of people, arts, and culture so we decided to take a closer look. Ends up after finally finding parking we
found a spot with night life and our favorite, food. The street's name was Sainte-Catherine Street which has quite a reputation. I think we stopped at one of the first
places we spotted with nice patio outside.
We weren't even bothered by the fact it was starting to sprinkle. As a bonus the restaurant didn't serve wine
so I picked out a bottle at a wine store just next door. She said it was an excellent choice. Over dinner I figured out how to get
internet access out of country and was able to book a room and catch up on
email.
Call it "user error" for our "downtown" hotel
which we thought was one mile away, was more like ten miles away. No worries, a great cozy and comfortable
room. Next plan was to get up and cross
the boarder and go check out Vermont including marathon expo, the nearby Ben
and Jerry's factory and just some general site seeing maybe taking in a few of
the states famous covered bridges.
The first couple things we noticed is that it stays way lighter
into the evening than Southern California and the temperature we were
expecting, cool and wet, was hot and muggy.
After inadvertently arriving at the start/finish area we made our way to
the expo at the Sheridan. Again with
sleeping in and a couple hour drive we were again hungry, but the expo had an
assortment of food samples to hold off the hunger. The race was bigger than I expected, perhaps
about 8,500 total participants. Parisa
had her adventure of a rock wall in the parking lot with three courses which
she was able to try each a number of times.
We were already cooking in the hot sun and only packed long pants which
were soon manually made into shorts before heading to Waterbury to find Ben and
Jerry's.
Now more hungry and running out of time to register for a time
for a tour I drop off the girls and while they make reservations I figured
about our only option for food and to get back in one hour was a quick stop at a grocery store which
ended up working out nicely. We headed
back to Ben and Jerry's and had a nice picnic before the start of our
tour. The tour was quick and
educational and soon we were tasting a free sample at the conclusion. Not knowing what to do next we headed
toward Stowe in hopes to see a little of the Green Mountains, a covered bridge
and some more cool places. We walked
around a little bit of downtown Stowe and then drove up the "notch"
and enjoyed the views along the way.
Again late and hungry (can you see the theme here) there was a lovely Italian restaurant across the street from our hotel. Wake up calls scheduled for 6:00am and a 8:03 marathon start. The hotel had a breakfast buffet with all the essentials and the all important late 2pm checkout. The family was loaded up and we make it to within only a few blocks of the start line. Already 45 minutes till race time and it was apparent that it was going to be less than a perfect day for a marathon. That being it was very humid and already 77 degrees!
Again late and hungry (can you see the theme here) there was a lovely Italian restaurant across the street from our hotel. Wake up calls scheduled for 6:00am and a 8:03 marathon start. The hotel had a breakfast buffet with all the essentials and the all important late 2pm checkout. The family was loaded up and we make it to within only a few blocks of the start line. Already 45 minutes till race time and it was apparent that it was going to be less than a perfect day for a marathon. That being it was very humid and already 77 degrees!
The p.a. system was loud and clear and the theme of all the
announcements were about running slow, no PR's today, and to make sure you stay
hydrated. There were also a lot of
announcements more so than I ever remember about safety and "paying
attention to police, fire and race officials. They even announced the course would be
open extra long for the slower than expected finish times for everyone. I was confident in my training and
abilities and has seen worse heat and humidity conditions more than a few times
for my races in the past. Parisa may
have even been a little worried for me but Homeyra had been to a few of those
tough races of mine and also knew I had prepared myself.
Homeyra did ask me on the way to the race if I was nervous. I've been to the starting line enough times
that I don't easily get butterflies, however, I did get a wave of emotion this
time around when the National anthem began to play and I looked over and saw my
two girls looking back at me. I
somehow entered the corrals in front of all the pace groups, so I wasn't far
behind the elite runners. I'd never
noticed that there appears to be a trend in the wheeled racers which have gone
from chairs they push the wheels with their hands to now they pedal using their
arms. I think the course record was
even broken in this category on this very hot day. I heard one of the locals that has done this
race that the same weekend it's snowed, however apparently there where two high
pressure systems that were forcing all the hot and humid weather into
Vermont. Even just sixty miles south
the temperatures were 30 degrees cooler.
Yikes...sucked to be us about to run 26.2 miles. I guess none of these last few marathons
were going to be a cake walk, especially today's race!
The gun was off and I quickly settled into my pace. Usual strategy, start slow then taper! The day before at Ben and Jerry's I ran to
the car, only a couple of minutes but in the heat and humidity I was out of
breath. Ugh. Today was earlier in the morning, yet there
was still that familiar feeling that the weather would take a toll on me today
and there wasn't much I could do, or was there?
One of the things I've learned over the years is temperature
management. Even reading of great Tour
de France riders keeping the body core temperature down. Heat and humidity are not a runner's friend,
but there are things to do to help minimize the effects. The obvious maybe is to slow down, but that
also means being in the elements longer.
Friends are the shade, wind, water, ice, carbohydrates, and salt. I started salt intake at mile 3 and a
capsule every three miles increments. I
poured water over my head and back every water stop. I carried my own water and was amazed I was
going through nearly 12 ounces nearly between each water stop plus drinking
Gatorade at each station. I also took
ice as available and filled my hat which help my head cool hopefully keeping my
core just a little bit cooler. So many
spectators had turned on sprinklers or had hoses ready to spray as you ran by
which while sometimes in the past I've shied away but not today.
The course was fantastic which repeatedly came back near the
start and I was able to see my girls who stayed themselves in the hot day in
the sun to watch and cheer. I was
pleased to learn at mile 13.1 I had broken 2 hours by two minutes! Not too bad for this hot day and I was right
on track to come in at my usual 4 hour mark.
I even met a girl on the course with a shirt that stayed she ran all 50
states in under 4 hours. While that was
never one of my goals since I didn't seem to pick out easy races, that would
have been nearly impossible for me. I
shared with her that I was on state 48 and we both agreed this might be one of
those "hard" ones today.
I started taking longer walk breaks at each water stop and even
felt the need now and again between water stops to walk to lower my elevated
heart rate. Each water stop had a sign
of the race conditions. The stared out
orange, went to red half way through and eventually black. All meaning conditions were unfavorable for
running. Ok, that didn't take a rocket
scientist! So I get to mile 18.5 and I think that was near
the beginning of a shaded trail along the lake front. Finally cover from the sun and a bit of a
breeze, all good things!
I was excited to see Parisa had crawled under the gates and was
in the finisher corral with me and Homeyra got a picture from the opposite side
of the barrier. I've run hard numerous
times especially in the 2nd half of a course to break a time goal and have been
wiped out, but today I was wiped out without even pushing hard. I was ready to just lay down in the grass
and close my eyes. Thanks to my girls
they took extra good care of me by grabbing my goodie bag of snacks and drinks
and sharing them together. This is
when I was finally made aware the race had been cancelled. Out of all 55 marathons I'd never seen one
cancelled. I do recall cut off times
and if you wouldn't make it to a check point you were pulled from the course,
however, it seemed as if my girls were correct and at some point all runners
were halted and picked up from the course.
I didn't realize what a logistical nightmare that could have been for
the race officials, but it did seem there was a bit of panic even with all the
spectators at the finish line. This did
lead to an extra short line at the massage tent so of course had to take
advantage of that!
We barely made it back to the hotel for our late 2pm checkout, but safely packed up and enjoyed our pasta leftovers from the night before in the hotel's dining room. Again no plan and no hotel for the next two nights we were on to our last few adventures of our long weekend. I suggested we check out downtown Church St of Burlington. The guy that I talked to at the start with the weather details said the weather would "break" about 4pm race afternoon. Sure as could be the clouds rolled in, the sun disappeared, and the rain began to fall. The temperature dropped about 15 degrees in a few minutes boy that would have felt better a few hours earlier! So we strolled the streets checking out a few stores and one last stop at Vermont's pride and joy for some yummy chunky ice cream. (and by now well deserved!)
Monday morning we had no problem sleeping in and the drapes
pulled completely helped to get a great nights rest. That's a good thing because we had a long day
exploring the town on foot. About seven
blocks away was the original settled area of Montreal including Notre Dame
Cathedral and the St. Lawrence river.
This was probably Parisa's most fun day because we let her play for two
hours on a zipline obstacle course followed by fast zipline across a long run
across the water.
Our last day, Tuesday was mostly a travel day, but we did get to
hike up to Mont Royal with a beautiful view of the city skyline.
I kept following the news and the marathon website to find out the "official" rulings for the race cancellation. The race director's comments on the website were that the decision to terminate the race was based on providing a safe experience for all runners. There was a new system put in place a couple years ago that measures the Wet Bulb Globe Index and when the index reaches 82 WBGT it is considered Extreme Risk. While the race was discontinued at 3:58 minutes an effective cutoff of 4:27:04 seconds was used (actually rounded up to 4:30) so what's important for me is that my results were within these limits and is recognized as an official finish which I can count towards my 50 states! Yeah!
I kept following the news and the marathon website to find out the "official" rulings for the race cancellation. The race director's comments on the website were that the decision to terminate the race was based on providing a safe experience for all runners. There was a new system put in place a couple years ago that measures the Wet Bulb Globe Index and when the index reaches 82 WBGT it is considered Extreme Risk. While the race was discontinued at 3:58 minutes an effective cutoff of 4:27:04 seconds was used (actually rounded up to 4:30) so what's important for me is that my results were within these limits and is recognized as an official finish which I can count towards my 50 states! Yeah!
| Splits | Time | Cumulative Time | Moving Time | Distance | Elev Gain | Elev Loss | Avg Pace | Avg Moving Pace | Best Pace | Avg HR | Max HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8:38.7 | 8:38.7 | 8:30 | 1.00 | 59 | 3 | 8:39 | 8:30 | 8:07 | 145 | 156 |
| 2 | 8:25.6 | 17:04 | 8:20 | 1.00 | 26 | 75 | 8:26 | 8:20 | 8:06 | 150 | 157 |
| 3 | 8:43.8 | 25:48 | 8:24 | 1.00 | 30 | 43 | 8:44 | 8:24 | 8:03 | 153 | 160 |
| 4 | 8:25.9 | 34:14 | 8:23 | 1.00 | 7 | 49 | 8:26 | 8:23 | 8:09 | 156 | 161 |
| 5 | 9:15.0 | 43:29 | 8:48 | 1.00 | 0 | 39 | 9:15 | 8:48 | 8:09 | 152 | 161 |
| 6 | 9:16.9 | 52:46 | 8:54 | 1.00 | 33 | 16 | 9:17 | 8:54 | 8:04 | 157 | 165 |
| 7 | 8:47.1 | 1:01:33 | 8:46 | 1.00 | 26 | 33 | 8:47 | 8:46 | 8:04 | 160 | 164 |
| 8 | 9:17.6 | 1:10:51 | 9:05 | 1.00 | 13 | 0 | 9:18 | 9:05 | 8:29 | 160 | 165 |
| 9 | 9:25.9 | 1:20:16 | 9:21 | 1.00 | 75 | 3 | 9:26 | 9:21 | 8:41 | 163 | 168 |
| 10 | 9:03.2 | 1:29:20 | 8:55 | 1.00 | 13 | 102 | 9:03 | 8:55 | 8:27 | 158 | 167 |
| 11 | 9:14.4 | 1:38:34 | 9:13 | 1.00 | 23 | 0 | 9:14 | 9:13 | 8:13 | 159 | 163 |
| 12 | 9:54.1 | 1:48:28 | 9:50 | 1.00 | 49 | 16 | 9:54 | 9:50 | 8:44 | 159 | 164 |
| 13 | 9:19.2 | 1:57:47 | 9:15 | 1.00 | 59 | 72 | 9:19 | 9:15 | 8:24 | 160 | 168 |
| 14 | 9:13.6 | 2:07:01 | 9:13 | 1.00 | 16 | 52 | 9:14 | 9:13 | 7:44 | 160 | 165 |
| 15 | 9:50.3 | 2:16:51 | 9:49 | 1.00 | 23 | 3 | 9:50 | 9:49 | 8:38 | 162 | 166 |
| 16 | 10:17 | 2:27:09 | 10:04 | 1.00 | 105 | 30 | 10:17 | 10:04 | 8:27 | 164 | 169 |
| 17 | 10:01 | 2:37:10 | 9:55 | 1.00 | 36 | 26 | 10:01 | 9:55 | 9:01 | 164 | 169 |
| 18 | 9:45.2 | 2:46:55 | 9:40 | 1.00 | 7 | 66 | 9:45 | 9:40 | 8:35 | 163 | 168 |
| 19 | 10:45 | 2:57:39 | 10:26 | 1.00 | 13 | 3 | 10:45 | 10:26 | 7:51 | 161 | 167 |
| 20 | 10:37 | 3:08:16 | 10:26 | 1.00 | 3 | 26 | 10:37 | 10:26 | 7:39 | 160 | 167 |
| 21 | 10:21 | 3:18:38 | 10:16 | 1.00 | 13 | 0 | 10:21 | 10:16 | 7:40 | 161 | 167 |
| 22 | 10:19 | 3:28:56 | 10:16 | 1.00 | 0 | 46 | 10:19 | 10:16 | 8:13 | 160 | 167 |
| 23 | 10:18 | 3:39:14 | 10:13 | 1.00 | 16 | 0 | 10:18 | 10:13 | 9:08 | 163 | 166 |
| 24 | 10:22 | 3:49:36 | 10:19 | 1.00 | 0 | 3 | 10:22 | 10:19 | 8:35 | 160 | 166 |
| 25 | 10:18 | 3:59:55 | 10:11 | 1.00 | 3 | 7 | 10:18 | 10:11 | 8:46 | 161 | 164 |
| 26 | 10:21 | 4:10:16 | 10:15 | 1.00 | 3 | 20 | 10:21 | 10:15 | 8:23 | 161 | 168 |
| 27 | 3:02.5 | 4:13:18 | 2:58 | 0.34 | 0 | 3 | 9:03 | 8:50 | 8:46 | 170 | 174 |
| Summary | 4:13:18 | 4:13:18 | 4:09:45 | 26.34 | 653 | 738 | 9:37 | 9:29 | 7:39 | 159 | 174 |
