Cantabloggia

Photos and stories about running, architecture, travel and music, with a Cantabrigian accent.

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Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Milling around Lowell



October 14th saw Cantabloggia make an outing to the historic mill city of Lowell, MA, 11 years and one day after my last, ill-fated marathon, which was in the same location. This time around I was entered in the half-marathon, and conditions were excellent: a cool, crisp, sunny day, with a little wind but nothing too challenging. I had run what was for me an unprecedented number of miles over the last 3 months, and taken it easy for a few days leading into the race. If I didn't race well, I would be struggling to find a good excuse.

The full marathon and the half started almost side by side, with the full marathoners getting a few yards head start. It took me the better part of a mile to make up those few yards on eventual women's marathon winner Kara Haas, and that was with me going out a little faster than I had planned, in about 5:45. I was encouraged by how easy that mile felt, but backed off the pace a little to make sure I didn't burn out in the early miles.

I had two personal records in my sights from the start. My fastest previous half (1:16:48) was in 2001, on a course that drops about 200 feet over its 13.1 miles, making it a "non-record quality" course in the eyes of those who certify road race records. The Lowell course, a loop run twice, is record-quality, any my prior best on such a course was 1:18:03 earlier this year. I hoped to get under both these marks but knew that things would have to go well to eclipse the lower one.

After keeping myself in check for miles 2-4, I started to move up through the pack, passing team-mate and middle-distance specialist Andy Colon. As the course reached the midpoint and turned back into a now noticeable headwind, I made a conscious effort to catch a runner in front of me to get some help into the wind. This was the first time I became aware of breathing hard. It was worth the effort though, as my new-found buddy and I took turns running into the wind for the next 2 miles, until the course turned around again, at which point he wished me well and I went on my way to try to catch long-time rival Mike Cooney (I don't think I've ever beaten him at any distance). It was never going to happen, but it gave me something to focus on as I tried to work as hard as I could in the final miles. My 12th mile was the fastest of the day as I began to realize that the 1:16:48 mark was in reach. Mile 13 snaked around the parking lot of the minor league baseball park that houses the finish line, and eventually I found myself on the warning track of the field running from left field to right and sprinting down the first base line to finish right at home place. 1:16:33 - a new PR, six years after my previous best, and on a more challenging course.

The musical angle on this story is that Christy and I broke with the old runners rule that the night before the night before is the most important one for a good night's sleep. On that night we had tickets to see the "punk-dance" band !!! (pronounced, roughly, Chk Chk Chk) at The Paradise, and with a certain sense of duty we took ourselves out to see an act coming on after our normal bedtime. (The evenings in a household where everyone is doing marathon training are not exactly high energy affairs). We had been listening to their new album, "Myth Takes" for a couple of weeks, and seeing them live was absolutely worth the late night. One thing that really got the night off to a good start was when the members of !!! spontaneously appeared on stage and started dancing during the closing song of the prior act, a pretty reasonable DJ. It seemed to send a message of "we're not too cool to hang out with the support act, and we're here to have fun". It really put the audience in a receptive mood when !!! re-appeared a few minutes later for their own set, which was great.

So I am forced to conclude that the night-before-the-night-before theory is looking a little weaker now.

Here is a bit of !!! - title track of the Myth Takes album

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