Mount Desert Island (MDI) Marathon October 14, 2018

From Bar Harbor to Southwest Harbor, Maine                                           www.runMDI.org

Race Start - men's winner at left in white singlet, women's 5 time winner at center with pink beanie

Finish time 3:58:46 (9:07 average per mile)
Overall finish position 215th of 739 ; age group M60-64 4th of 20 

Weather: sunny and breezy, 40 degrees at the 8 am start and about 50 at noon 

I decided to register for this race so that I could visit Maine for the first time and see the outdoor beauty I had been hearing about.  The trip turned into a family thing with my wife and I joined by our older son Keith and his girlfriend, as well as our younger son Matt and his wife and one year old little boy.  We also visited my cousin Harv and spent a day or so with he and Dale.

My training for this race was a little abbreviated and less aggressive than my usual marathon training.  The training cycle was a little shorter and followed about a year of lower than my usual weekly mileage and began after a month of no running at all.  I focused on getting the miles in, doing more hilly runs; with 5 or 6 tempo runs and no speed work.  My impression from the training was that a 4 hour finish was a reasonable goal, but was not a sure thing.  The course is more hilly than a typical road marathon and includes significant hills even in the later miles.

Start with a smile for the camera!

My family joined me for the race start and since there are less than 1000 runners we could stand together close to the start line.  They moved  ahead a little just before the start so they could see me pass after the starting gun went off.

I positioned myself among people I thought looked like they might aim for about the same finish time.  The national anthem was played by a military trumpet player and I got choked up with emotion as usually happens for me.

The race has a tradition of playing Thunderstruck by AC/DC for the start, so that was cranking up as the announcer counted down to the gun (or cannon) start signal. I started my watch as I crossed the start line about 10 seconds after the signal. 

The course begins with a slight downhill for about a half mile then begins the first significant climb - about 150 feet over a half mile.  My pace was too fast from the start for my 4 hour goal, but the effort felt so easy. (That's what they all say!)

This wouldn't matter much for just the first mile or so, but I went too fast for the entire first half. Mile splits are listed below.  Even with the rolling hills throughout the course, I averaged 20 some seconds per mile faster than my plan.  I should have banked energy for the later miles, but I was banking time and that usually is paid back with interest toward the end.  It turned out I should have started further back because a lot of people passed me through the first hour or so.  They may have contributed to my pace problems (peer pressure).

The second major hill (as tall as the first but longer) came in the fifth mile and on the downhill side of that I stopped to relieve my bladder among some roadside trees.  This resulted in my first mile that was not under 9 minutes.

Water and sport drink were provided about every two miles by enthusiastic and well coached volunteers. I passed the first few water stops as I was carrying a small throwaway bottle as well as a honey mix gel that I often use.  As I approached the water table at about 8 miles, I took some of my gel and then walked through the water stop to grab 2 cups of water.  From this point on I did my gel and water the same way at alternating water stops.  When not taking a gel I normally took just water or sport drink as I walked through these support areas.

I noticed a few particular spectators who moved ahead numerous times on the course to cheer.  They were in a pickup truck with kayaks on top.  The lady in the driver's seat, the guy (bearded pioneer look with beret and kilt) was up there using the kayaks like a drum, keeping rhythm to the music playing from the truck. The runner(s) they were looking for must have been a little behind me but I never figured out who it was.  I also noticed the "courtesy van" several times as it was available in case someone needed to drop from the race.

After about 10 miles

At 16 miles or so

We came to two other MDI start lines along the course.  In one town, it was for the kids race the day before and at halfway it was the half marathon start which started a little later than the marathon and followed the same route to the finish.  I think we went through four or five little communities on the way to our finish in Southwest Harbor.

The scenery was quite beautiful and varied with forested areas, small communities and water or coastal views.  Always with hills.  It was rare to find even a short section that was not climbing or descending.  At one place a boat was just off shore and sounding its horn.  People on deck were cheering and banging on pans to encourage runners.

Somewhere a bit after halfway I saw a bald eagle soaring above the trees.  The leaves were changing colors and many places were alive with reds and yellows.

Gradually the constant hills were making my legs tired.  But everything still worked okay and I just continued, kind of letting the pace happen.  There was a short time I thought I might be developing some IT band problems and another with something hurting in one of my glutes.  Both issues faded as my general fatigue increased. Walking the water stops helped bring my pace closer to plan and I was able to hold up well enough for about 19 or 20 miles.  I was expecting to see my family somewhere in mile 19 and that had given me something to look forward to.

Seeing them was nice, though it was maybe only a minute from when they came into my view until I passed by their spot.  I told them I was ahead of plan and expected I would be walking some and slowing down.

My focus shifted to the hills from mile 20 to 25.  I figured I could finish in under 4 hours if I could maintain at least a 9:30 pace average from there to the end.  I would walk the steepest uphills and continue to check progress to safeguard the finish time I wanted.

Marathon route and elevation profile

I continued the same pattern of walking water stops and switched to an ultra runner type approach for the hills.  When my legs were so tired that I felt I needed to walk, I adopted a power hike for 100 steps, then switched back to running.  This repeated at least 10 times through the final miles.  There were periods of relief from steeper inclines and I ran those.  This meant some leap frogging with other runners who were continuing to run.  I passed them while I ran and they passed me while I walked.

It was in these last hilly miles that I started passing some half marathoners, most of whom were walking.  Near one water station there were people in fun costumes - a gorilla and a banana, and a ballerina in a very large inflated outfit.

I continued to watch my overall pace slow down and the buffer dwindle for my 4 hour goal. The top of the big climb came a little sooner than I expected and gave a mile of non stop running downhill.  I was surprised to run my fastest pace of the race at this point and even doubted that my gps watch was giving me good numbers.

There were 2 more small uphills before the finish.  I walked once more at the 26 mile marker when it seemed safe to give back a little time.

As I approached the finish line I saw my family again and waved.  The race clock was confirming what my watch was showing, that I made my time goal for the race.  I finished in 3:58:46 which is a little more than 5 minutes under the M65-69 qualifying time for the 2020 Boston Marathon.

Crossing the finish!

Finish line and finisher medal

mile splits 
8:38, 8:49, 8:39, 8:30, 8:39, 9:22, 9:07, 8:54, 9:11, 9:03, 8:54, 9:08, 8:52,
9:00, 9:00, 9:17, 9:04, 9:16, 9:04, 9:36, 9:36, 9:46, 9:22, 10:10, 9:20, 8:12, 2:18(822 pace)
1st half 1:57:17 (8:57 avg pace), 2nd half 2:01:39 (9:17 avg pace)


other pics

This tree has been the race image, but in the last year lost an upper branch that balanced its pic.

Maine is lob-stah country!

Yes, I Still Run

It's been a long time since I posted about races or any kind of running. I still run "socially", meeting about 3 times a week with my regular running partners Monique and Gene, and sometimes another run during the week, usually on my own.  I have not trained to race since spring of last year.  But I have run in some races.

Last September I joined some friends in the Chambersburg YMCA sprint triathlon relay. I ran the 5k in an "okay for not training" time of 23:48.  Our team was second in the masters coed division.

I also ran in two hilly trail races during November for social reasons.  One was the Twisted Turkey Trail Run 15k because a co-worker and her husband were running.  My time was 1:46:55.  The following week I ran in the Hex Hollow Half because my nephew Jason was volunteering.  My time was 2:46:37, good enough for 1st of 2 in my age group.

In May of this year I ran twice with my great niece Ada.  We did the mile in the Hustle for Health and Ada finished first.  Except for me, the other participants walked. A couple weeks later we ran in the Go Girls Go 5k.  She participated in the after-school program which included some run training.  We finished in 35:35.  Ada likes to put on a late unannounced sprint to cross the finish line ahead her Uncle Chuck.

Before the Hustle for Health

In early June I ran in the Race Against Poverty 5k at which I usually volunteer.  I thought I was running at a training pace as opposed to race pace, but by halfway it was feeling like race pace.  My 26:06 was third fastest of 10 or so in the 60+ age group, so now I have 1st, 2nd, 3rd place trophies from this race.  Of 16 5ks in my log, only one was slower.  That was 26:39 at my first race back in 2007 as a brand new runner.

I think I am ready to train again for goal races.  I have not registered yet but my fall racing wishlist is below.

September 8 - Old Forge Marathon or Half near Watertown NY.  The son of a church friend is doing his first marathon there.
October 14 - Mount Desert Island Marathon or Half at Bar Harbor Maine.  I've been hearing how beautiful Maine is and this would make my first visit.
November 4 - D & L Half Marathon goes from Slatington to Northhampton PA on a rails to trails route.  My run partners are considering this too.
November 10/11 - One Day 24 Hours at Sussex County Fairgrounds near Augusta NJ.  My one other 24 hour race was at the same place about 2 years ago.

I might also repeat at the Y Tri relay 5k on September 29.

I have gotten soft in my training mentality, often resetting my alarm for more sleep on days I intended to run if I didn't have plans to meet someone.  This will need to change for me to prepare properly for these races.  However this turns out, I plan to run regularly somewhere.