1:28:57

The date for the New Bedford Half Marathon finally arrived today, after about fifteen weeks of fairly consistent preparation for me. Friday things weren't looking too good with heavy, wet snow blowing down all around these parts, but luckily the city of New Bedford is about the southernmost point in Massachusetts, and sticks out into the warm waters of Long Island Sound pretty well. The roads were lined with snow all the way to the shiny gates of the city proper, which had been 99% spared by the storm. The sun was shining too, but the big weather event of the day was the constant biting wind that made the mid 30's temps feel much worse.

Due to the storm, KL was pretty snowed in under a foot and a half of powder in New Hampshire, and she was not able to get here in time for us to drive down and preview the course on Saturday, so we ran it blind. The start area was downtown, which sits on a hill overlooking the harbor, and this was the windiest and coldest part. After a last minute trip to the portajohn I lined up well back in the 1500 runner throng assembled at the start. When we trotted out, I found my way up behind four runners from the HFC Striders running club. I knew one of these guys by sight as he lives in my town, and I knew he was not only a more experienced runner than I, but that he would be running just a bit faster than my goal pace, making him a good rabbit.

The wind direction was apparently not typical for this race. Right off the start, we had a stiff headwind from our right. The first few miles are pretty flat and just take you around the north of the city. I hit the first mile marker 6:54 after the gun, as it had only taken me about ten seconds to reach the starting line. There looked to be hundreds of runners ahead of me, and I thought for sure KL, whom I'd lost before the start, was among them, so I was quite surprised when she appeared next to me, cruising along and chatting away. She didn't stay by my side for long, and even with the distinctive dog with a bone logo on the back of her singlet, I soon lost sight of her.

Mile two went by at 6:57, the third in 6:59, and the fourth, containing a sizable hill, 6:53. Around this point the course made a 90 degree turn and the wind was now at our back. I'd gone with tights and a skullcap, and here I was a touch warm, so off came the hat. This section of the course was a long, straight road that gradually descended down to the ocean along the western edge of the peninsula the city sits on. Mile 5 took just 6:32, and the following markers 6:30, 6:27 and 6:21. By this point the course was pancake flat and right down on the beach, but the wind still hadn't really hit us in the face yet.

I'd been warned about how this course could be deceivingly easy in the first half. Eventually it makes its way down near the tip of the peninsula, a spot infamously known as "the turn." It is here the course turns back north with the harbor proper now on your right, and this stretch is known for brutal headwinds all the way back to second significant hill, which at the twelve mile mark starts your ascent back into the downtown. Everyone advised that drafting would be key, and that's why I really pushed it in mile eight in order to stay near a group. However, when we rounded "the turn" the only real wind was that which was knocked out of my sails by this effort. There was a little rise that took us up to the nine marker, and here I faded and lost my group, back to a 6:54 stretch.

Heading into mile 10 was tough. Back along the seawall, the wind wasn't as bad as I'd feared, but some gusts surely had me seeking shelter behind anyone I could get near. I made it through in 6:49 for a 10 mile split of 1:07:14, about a minute slower than I ran Foxboro. I knew my "real goal" of an hour thirty was still in reach so long as I didn't totally fall apart, but I wasn't exactly brimming with confidence. The eleventh mile hadn't been kind to me on my training runs.
This was the 30th annual running of this race. I'm not sure of the exact date for the first, but I lost my Dad on March 18, 1978, the inaugural year. Those who know me can assure you that I am not exactly a fervent worshiper of any kind, but I was praying to my Dad for strength and help in mile eleven, that's for sure. I think the wind may have even died down on queue in a few spots too...

Making it to the eleventh mile sign in 6:53, I was psyched to still be on goal pace, and also to be back away from the water on a tenement-lined boulevard. By the way, the mile markers were nostalgic looking old Sunbeam bread signs with the blonde girl pointing to a loaf. Pretty funny. The twelfth mile seemed the longest. I was falling apart, I'd lost all my rabbits, some people were catching me from behind, and others were exploding in the road ahead of me. The twelfth Sunbeam girl finally appeared after 7:01, just as the final hill began. The hill wasn't that steep, but here we found the elevated portions of the city were clearly the windiest. It sucked. The entire course had a lot of spectators, a first for me, and the dozens of uniformed police officers marshalling the course were actually quite enthused as well. Their cheers helped me keep going as hard as I could.

I didn't know the finish, but mercifully I discovered we got a nice downhill for a block right before the last stretch of a few hundred meters that headed back south. For sure I knew this little descent was going to help me keep my pace respectable. Someone said "288th" or something like that as I went by, and then only one guy passed me before I made it to the line just a few seconds short of 1:29. KL greeted me there, as she'd done a great run and finished in 1:25:39. The last 1.1 miles had taken me 7:48, a 7:04 pace, my slowest. Good.

All right, that was a friggin' book, way too much drama. Too bad. I trained all winter for this, and I'm pretty happy it all worked out. I was having my doubts as I tapered this past week. My legs were always sore, despite having two massages, and I just didn't feel fit like I did going into Foxboro. Saturday my legs finally started to feel fresh, and I gave them even more couch time, staying off the trainer. It worked. The total training was only about 325 miles in a bit under four months. My average HR was 164 for the race, right where is should be. Mistakes? Really just one, switching to thinner socks and Bodyglide instead of my preferred two layer "ankle jackers" and vaseline for the race. Like they say, don't race it unless you tried it in training. Well, my feet moved around in the shoes a bit with the thinner socks, and the Body Glide didn't get it done. Both feet have blisters. Live and learn. Thanks for reading.