We arrived in Burlington Saturday afternoon around 2pm following a long drive from CT. Considering it was about 4.5 hours with a 4 year old in tow, it really didn’t feel that long. I wish portable DVR players were around when I was a kid! It sure beats counting license plates from other states!
I checked us in. Immediately we had to change rooms because the first one was in a remote area of the hotel with tons of stairs that would present problems for my mother-in-law, who had driven in from Quebec. The room itself smelled like someone had smoked a cigarette in a bus station bathroom and tried to cover it up with Grandma’s perfume. Other than that, it was really nice.
Once the Sheraton got us into a more reasonable room, I went to the expo, picked my number, t-shirt while my wife, son and mother in-law left to go into town so my wife could get her 3rd haircut in as many weeks (don’t ask)
The number pickup was quick and painless, as was the t-shirt dispersal, which was separate this year.
After I picked my number I thought I’d get a quick run in and went back to the room to change. Then I got a text from Jen B on Daily Mile asking if the meet-up was still on at 4pm. I cancelled the run and went back to the expo and met up with Sandra, Dena, Brendan, Jen, JB, Kristen and Ernesto. I had not “met” Kristen or Enrnesto on DM before, but it was great to meet everyone in person.
Sunday came up quick, after a great dinner downtown; I was in bed by 9p and snoozing pretty good.
5a I was up and out of bed. My clothes were laid out the night before but I had misplaced 2 of my hammer gels so I had to leave the hotel with only 3 of them. The rest I would get on the course. I sent out a plea on twitter for extras but I knew the chances of getting hammers were pretty slim. I was correct but I don’t think it mattered a whole hell of a lot. I had a cup of coffee, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with blueberries in it.
The shuttle got me to the starting line by 6:55a. By 7:10 I had used the portapotties twice and had stopped sipping water. I went and said hi to my son’s running coach and some fleet feet people and took a group picture with them. I then met up with Dena and Sandra from Daily Mile, and then later briefly with Brendan, and met Alett, also from from DM.
At 7:30pm it was time to hit the bathroom one more time to be safe. I left the DMers and got in the line at the half shell. I swear the line did not move in 5 minutes. I bailed and went back to the Daily Miler group as I saw runners start migrating from the park to the starting line.
I really wanted to start with Dena and Sandra because I knew they were running similar paces so I was relieved they wanted to hit the bathroom as well. We got in line at the blue pillars of solace and inched our way closer and closer to the front-we were in the “race before the race.” At the gun, I found myself finishing Nature’s call. That was a first.
Fortunately, we were close to the start and within two minutes, I had crossed the staring mat and was on my way to my 3rd Vermont Cities Marathon.
The first few miles I was just trying to keep adrenaline in check and settle into a pace. The weather could hardly have been better. It was 61 and cloudy. It felt dry, but some say the humidity climbed later. It certainly wasn’t sticky or anything.
I was intent on maintaining a 9:55-10:00 pace and through the first six, I ran pretty steadily with Sandra and Dena at my shoulder or just behind or in front of them right at that pace. At mile 5 or 6 I recall feeling a tug and tightness in my calf but feeling overall good enough to keep pressing my pace to maintain. At mile 9, I kept checking back and wondering where they were but I figured they were holding themselves back and saving energy for the end. (a strategy I should have used) I could no longer see them in my rear view mirror by the 10 miler mark and continued to press on. By 13 miles, I was at 2:05 exactly on target for where I wanted to be. I had a hammer gel at 7 miles and 13.
Mile 13, I kicked it up slightly. I passed Oakledge Park and the 2nd relay point. I saw two runners attending to a fallen runner on the path. 9:46 and ran on. Mile 14 was mostly a straightaway headed toward the assault on battery. 10:02. Feeling good. I could hear the Taiko drummers and saw my wife in the crowd. As I hit the hill, a little nausea and fatigue hit me but I maintained a forward posture, bent forward at the ankles and kept my eyes focused forward. Caroline yelled encouragement from the side as she strode up the hill with me. “Looking good!” “Liam and Suzanne are at the top of the hill!” I got up nearly to the top before I needed to walk-just for 10 seconds and then continued on. I hit the 15 mile mark at the top of the hill in 10:02. Not bad.
By mile 17, Sandra and Dena had caught back up with me. They passed me with ease. I thought momentarily of trying to hang with them, but I was strugg-el-ling. I acknowledged as much to them and I’m glad they ran on past. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this.
I can see from my splits I walked in miles 16, 19, 20-24. I recall seeing Jen B running the 2nd half replay somewhere in there and passing her, but I couldn’t tell you when. I was just surviving. During mile 18, I recall seeing a 4:30 pace group and hung with them for a bit. This helped because I had a 10:14 split. This gassed me however, and just as the group exited the neighborhoods, I had to stop and walk and the group left me in the dust. Once again, I was alone.
Miles 19 and 20 wind through more residential neighborhoods. I labored on past houses with water hoses, sprinklers and Dixie cups filled with water that tasted like failure. At 20.5, Relay point 4 taunted me with wild cheers of runners with fresh legs waiting for their partners to come pass the baton so they could rip off the final stage of their marathon. Hello sun. You picked a fine time to shine on me as the wall was hitting me in the face.
Somewhere in this stage, I found the 4:45 pace group. I would use them to pace me home. I even said to one of the leaders, “Do you think you can get me in by 4:45?” “Oh yeah,” was the answer. And she was right. I got felt my legs again at mile 23 and knew the end was near.
As I entered Waterfront Park where the marathon finishes, I could see the concrete path lined with people 4 and 5 deep. The crowd was still strong at this point and they made a great racket. I could hear them scream. I passed Doug M from Vermont right after I entered the park. I’m still not sure if he heard me as I called his name. Adrenaline got me back up to 11:07 and 11:19 for the miles 25 and 26. I knew I had only these two to go so I gave it everything I had. The pull in my right calf made me limp and affected my gait slightly but whatever. This is my last marathon for a while. The final .2 of the course has you curve back into the park and cross the finish line. As I turned the corner, I looked for my wife and son and within a few seconds, I could hear my wife and see my son. She was lowering him onto the course over the plastic barrier. As I got to him, I took his hand and ran slowly across the finish line. 4:47 and change, gun time. He was grinning from ear to ear and had been waiting patiently for 20 minutes at that spot to run in with me. He was so ecstatic and to see the look on his face, I would have ran 3 more miles and paid double the entry fee. It made my weekend.
Where does this one rank? Well, time-wise, this was my 3rd best marathon. 4:45:39. A ten minute improvement over my first marathon, but five minutes worse than my effort two years ago. As far as total experience however, this had to be one of the best if not the best, from training, to overall health, the expo, the social aspect, the weather, the family time, the race itself, the town, the crowd, the sidetrips, restaurants, etc…More important, I finished FEELING better than I did at Disney or Cape Cod. Those races, I finished defeated, miserable, unhappy with the course and the effort. Not so at all with this race.
I highly recommend this race to anyone. It’s not a cakewalk, nor is it an overly brutal course. It is a phenomenal experience.
Until next time VCM..
Tomorrow..the product that REALLY was a god-send for me during the marathon.
1 comments:
Hi Duffrunner -
I enjoyed your account of this race. The Vermont city marathon sounds like a fun race. Hope you achieve your goal of getting to Boston someday.
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