Reach the Beach 2009 -- Part 2

Getting out of a van in the pitch black darkness of a New Hampshire night to run 9.2 miles is not something a normal runner would do. But, as most of you know, I am no normal runner. As I started off, I knew I had one of the most difficult legs of the race in front of me. The description of the leg warned me that there was very little shoulder to the road and that the road surface was rough. Not only that but there would be a 910 foot elevation gain over the first 5 miles of the leg.

The first ½ mile wasn’t too bad except for the stiffness in my legs after having sat in a van for several hours before my run. I was tired from a lack of sleep and I hadn’t really had anything to eat. I can’t run after eating anything. So, I did not eat before I headed out for my second leg. I was lulled into a false sense of security in the first ½ mile because it is a slight down hill before heading up. When I got to the point that the elevation was starting to steepen, I thought, “I conquered Heartbreak Hill. How bad could this be?” Little did I know.

My goal was to run a consistent 8:30 pace on the uphill portion of the leg and then pick it up the last 3.5 miles to allow me to come in around 1 hour and 10-15 minutes. Although the actual grade was not as steep as the Newton Hills of the Boston Marathon, the hill seemed to never end. Whenever I would reach what I thought was the top of the long hill, I would look up and see another hill in front of me. All I could see in front of me were the flashing red lights of the other runner’s safety vests. They looked like they were ascending into the sky. I couldn’t let my team down and pushed on.

After about the 4th mile, I looked at my watch to see where I was on my pace. I felt like I was running in quicksand. I knew I was behind pace. The look at my watch confirmed it. I was running at a 9:00 minute pace. If I stayed at this pace, I would lose a chunk of the time we had gained so far. I also realized that I would not be able to hit the original team goal for this leg of 1 hour and 20 minutes. The problem was I simply couldn’t go any faster on this long hill. I tried to pick up the pace. It just wasn’t happening. I decided to push as hard as I could and see what I had left in the tank when I hit the last 3.7 miles (downhill) to the next transition area at the Gilmanton School.

About this time, my teammates were parked along the road and had a fresh water bottle for me. They encouraged me. They said I was looking good and they couldn’t believe how well I was doing on this tough leg. I think they too were delirious from lack of sleep. I thanked them and told them to meet me another 2 miles up the way so I could get one more sip of water before I would need to pick up the pace to the finish. They agreed and left me there in the dark to trudge on. And trudge on I did.

Miraculously, I reached the apex of the hill finally and it started to level off. I began to increase my turnover and didn’t feel any ill affects from the long slog up the hill. I actually was starting to feel pretty good. My pace quickened nicely. I actually started to pass other runners. In fact, as I passed one runner who seemed to be struggling a bit, I said, “Looking good! Keep it up!” His response was, “It’s too early to be running that fast.”

Up ahead, I could see the van and my water break before I would finish what I thought would be the last 1.5 miles. I drank my water, thanked my teammates and headed off. What surprised me was that as I crested the little hill, I could see the transition area and the end of my run. The adrenaline kicked in and I hoofed it to the transition area where I handed it off to Helene for her next leg. I had finished one of the hardest runs I have ever attempted. I felt great despite the fact that it was cold and dark.

As I walked back to where the van was waiting for me, I dreaded looking at my watch. I knew I had missed the goal time and felt bad about it. I hit the light on my watch and was shocked at what I saw – 1:20:36. Somehow I had managed to pick up the pace enough on the downhill portion to come in only 36 seconds behind the team’s goal for this leg. I didn’t hit my personal goal. But, I was ecstatic that I didn’t give back any of our lead.

I changed out of my wet clothes. We all piled back into the van to head off to the next transition area to meet Helene. I slipped into my sleeping bag in the far back seat and tried to take a little nap. I did doze off a little as we travelled along the last three legs of our second set of runs. We finished around 8:15 am at the Vehicle Transition Area (VTA) #2 – Bear Brook State Park. We had a hot breakfast provided by the Allentown Fire Department for a mere $5. Then we grabbed some much needed rest on the field before we had to head down to VTA #3 at the Sanborn Town Hall.

When we met Van #1 at the Sanborn Town Hall, we had 6 more legs to go to the finish line at Hampton Beach. We were still well ahead of our goal. The key now was to be able to hold onto it. We all felt good about it and were really excited to get in our last runs.

I needed to take a real recovery week after the Reach the Beach relay. Until I went out for my first run after the race, I did not know how sore I was after the effort. Here are my training totals:

Sept. 14 – 6.10 miles (52:51, 8:39 pace)

Sept. 15 – 6.50 miles (55:56, 8:36 pace)

Sept. 16 – 3.10 miles (27:00, 8:41 pace)

Sept. 18 – 6.61 miles (52:25, 7:55 pace) – Leg 1 of Reach the Beach

Sept. 19 – 9.25 miles (1:20:36, 8:43 pace) – Leg 2 of Reach the Beach

Sept. 19 – 2.20 miles (15:59, 7:16 pace) – Leg 3 of Reach the Beach

Sept. 22 – 6.00 miles (53:27, 8:54 pace)
Sept. 23 – 4.00 miles (34:35, 8:38 pace)
Sept. 26 – 8.00 miles (1:08:22, 8:32 pace)

Total Miles: 51.76 miles

2009 YTD Miles: 1,518.26 miles