2008 MDI Marathon Fun and Pain

As I write this, Snowman and I are still hobbling around, barely able to get up and down the stairs, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself...

Pre-Race Prep:
Saturday morning, Snowman and I were out of the house before 8am to drive up to Mt. Desert. After a stop to pick up a delicious egg & cheese on a biscuit and a pumpkin spice donut at Tim Horton's, we motored up the highway, arriving at the hotel to pick up our runner packets around 10:30am. We wandered around the expo, picking up a few things, and ran into Jamie, and met his dad John and stepmother. As it was still early, we decided to do another drive of the course. Again, it seemed hilly but doable. Most of the hills seemed to give back, at least while driving. Lunch was pizza at a small cafe in Southwest Harbor. Yum. We headed back to Bar Harbor, checked into the motel and met up with Jamie for a quick run. The run went well, felt like nothing! We were ready. I mean, 2 miles is just like 26, right?! The evening was capped off with the tasty marathon-sponsored pasta dinner, and hanging out with my parents and Snowman's parents, who made the trip up to be our biggest fans out on the course. Thanks guys!

Marathon Day:
Sunday morning dawned crisp and clear. It was around 35 degrees with bright blue skies. Perfect. We watched the walkers start off at 7am, and got ourselves ready. We stayed in our room until the last possible minute, taking advantage of the fact that we were literally a 10-second walk from the start line in our motel room. After all, it was cold out there! We said hi to Jamie and his dad, and ended up lined up next to Jim, another Trail Monster Runner, with both he and Snowman wearing their Bradbury Bruiser shirts! Mindy and Pete, who had made the drive up to bike the course and cheer us on, along with our parents, were out watching the fun. After a few more words from the race director, we were off!

Early Miles:
Last night, I had asked Snowman if he was OK with me running with him for as long as I could. Our goals were pretty similar, and I figured it would be a lot more fun to run with him than alone in the crowd, only seconds apart. And it worked out great. Our plan was to keep the early miles at a mellow pace, and overall we succeeded. We went through the first mile in 8:38, which considering the "goal" pace was 8:45, seemed pretty good. The first 6 miles seemed to fly by, with us running steadily along, being passed by some and passing others, and soon we were running under the "Carpe Diem" arch in Otter Creek. Cool. We were feeling good.

Miles 6 to 12:
Soon after mile 6, we were routed off the main road onto a quiet side street that gave us our first view of the ocean as well as took us through a prestigious section of big houses with names like "Ravencleft." Then it was down to Seal Harbor, where a big crowd of spectators was waiting, among them our parents, in a great spot at the front of the crowd, as well as a kid holding up a sign that said, "Finish=Beer." That gave us something to smile about before we headed up the first of three hills we would climb in the next 1.5 miles. Still, we kept our steady pace and worked together. We hit the mile 12 water station in 1:44:50ish, right on target. We both stopped for a quick water break and I downed a few Clif Shot Bloks before we headed back on our way.

Miles 12 to 20:
The crowds started to thin out around this point, as we meandered down several residential streets in Northeast Harbor and hit the halfway point at 1:54:02. As we were nearing mile 14, I realized that things were awfully quiet. All the banter around us had trailed off and we were running around only 2 or 3 people. We were starting to feel the miles under our belt and it seemed weird to be so alone in a race of 900 people. This was also the stretch where we headed out right along the edge of Somes Sound and were running right into the wind. Yes, it was beautiful but it could have been a tail wind! At mile 16, we started up, up, up and again, conversation was sparse. But our spirits were lifted by the sight of Mindy and Pete, riding up next to us. They were super encouraging and stayed with us for a half a mile or so, coasting along beside us. Soon after, we hit the end of Sargent Drive where our fan club was waiting, cheering us on. We smiled and were boosted again by that, until we realized that the road was once again going uphill. I hadn't remembered this stretch. Oh well, on we chugged. We took a pee break in the woods around mile 19 (ah, much better!), and then finally we saw the final dip before the short climb to Rt. 198 at mile 20. The time was 2:53:20. We were getting there!

Miles 20 to 23:
We were into the tough part now, we knew, and we took a bit of time into mile 21 to regroup, and almost choke on a few Clif Shot Bloks in my case. As we headed up the hill after mile 21, we were moving along pretty nicely and passing a fair number of people. One man said "Release the hounds!" as we passed by, and it did seem we were chucking along. It felt good, but I was working a bit to keep up with Snowman. I don't think it was that I was moving slower; he was just moving faster. I had a bit of a mental battle with myself back and forth - well, you could back off - no, keep up! - but it hurts! - stay with him -- that sort of thing. And I did, as we went up and over several more hills. And then around mile 23, on a long uphill, he pulled away and that was that.

Mile 23 to 25:
I could see Snowman up in the distance. I wanted to catch him, but it wasn't in the cards. But still, I kept moving and passing people. And then, tada, the sign for the "Top of the Hill Restaurant" appeared on the horizon. I was almost there!

The last 1.2:
Although you would think a downhill at mile 25 would be welcome, it actually hurt. A lot. My legs were feeling the affects of the marathon, and as I wanted to be done, I was doing everything in my power to keep up my pace. I passed a few more people as I got to the bottom of the hill. I was almost done, but man, this last stretch seemed long! And the worst thing about it was that right around mile 26, there was a short uphill that seemed endless. But, only 0.2 to go! I could see the finish, and then finally, I was there, in the chute. Done.

The aftermath:
I was wrapped in the silver blanket, and Snowman was there to meet me. I got my medal and my chip taken off my shoe. Our parents were there to congratulate us. We had done it! My final time was 3:44:29, a 10-minute PR from the 2006 Maine Marathon. Woohoo! Snowman had finished in 3:43:03, which is pretty awesome for a first marathon on a hilly course! And we had run negative splits, finishing the second 13.1 miles approx. 5 minutes faster than the first half, which is pretty cool. I was psyched, but to be honest I was also feeling a bit nauseous. I put on some warm clothes and tried to walk around a bit. I couldn't move very well. My legs felt like blocks. I went to get some food, but had to throw both the bagel and the chocolate (horror of all horrors!) out. We chatted with Jamie, his dad, Mindy and her friend Tim for a bit, before we realized, man was it cold! Time to get to the car. Snowman had the bright idea of grabbing a few bags of Cape Cod potato chips. The crunch and salt hit the spot and I slowly chewed on them as we walked along the race course back to the car. After the 10 minute walk, I was glad to sit in the warm backseat of the car and rest. I was tired. There were still a lot of runners and walkers coming down the final hill, and I was glad I was done and not still out there! Of course, by the time we got back to the motel, I could barely move and walked up the stairs like a total invalid. Ahhh, running... isn't it so good for you?! :-)

Post-Race Ponderings:
Overall, it was a great race. Very well organized, with lots of enthusiastic and helpful volunteers. It was a beautiful day and we couldn't have asked for better running weather. Crisp and clear with fall foliage to boot. The course was very scenic, and in one of our favorite places. The course, with all the hills, was also very challenging. It was awesome to run the first 23 miles with Snowman, lots of fun and very helpful mentally through the tough spots. I wish I could have stayed with him for the last few miles, but I am very happy with how my race turned out. A huge thank you to Mom and Dad, Irene and Dana, and Mindy and Pete for cheering us on, as well as Grammie and Bampie for sending along good vibes!

P.S. Snowman is already talking about running a "flat" road marathon to see what his time might be. I'm still pushing for the 2009 Stonecat trail marathon. Who knows, maybe we'll do both?!