Gansett Marathon, Part One

Even after the disastrous final 20-mile training run, I regained enough confidence to really think this was the one. I was ready to break my three-year old marathon PR. 

I rolled into Narragansett Friday afternoon with plenty of time to check in to the host hotel (across the street from the start line!), pick up my race packet, and go to the pasta dinner. The race start was 8 a.m. so I could comfortably go to bed at 10 p.m., get up at 6, and still have plenty of time to eat breakfast and stretch before the race. 

Nerves kept me from sleeping too well, but I was rested enough this morning. A weird thought hit me early on, "Did I carb-load enough last night?" and I started worrying that I was not properly fueled. So I drank a little extra soy milk, then had a bagel, then stuffed my pockets with energy gels and chews, and ate half a Clif Bar. I also drank a little extra Gatorade. By the time we started, my tummy felt a little weird. No matter, I thought, I will run it off. 

I set my iPod to play the Phish show from 8/16/2009 because its length is three hours and  three minutes - my goal time. We got the go signal, I started the show, and hit start on the iPod's stopwatch. 

I banged out the first mile in 6:36. Too fast! At the end of the second mile I was in the 13s. The third, 20s. We were running uphill and into the wind on Ocean Road, yet with every passing mile, I was gaining time. By the fifth mile, I was a full three minutes ahead of schedule, hitting that mark at 32 minutes, instead of the planned 35:05 (goal pace was 7:01). 

I kept telling myself to slow down and I kept not slowing down. Through miles six through 10, downhill to the Point Judith lighthouse and Block Island Ferry, I remained three minutes ahead. And damn it, I felt great. 

Along Galilee Escape Road, the wind was at my back and the sun was beating down in front of me. Suddenly it felt like it was 80 degrees and I started sweating heavily. No matter - at the halfway mark, uphill on Point Judith Road, I was still three minutes ahead hitting it at one hour, 28 minutes. 

By that point, I should have long before slowed down, but I kept thinking about how great it was to have such a cushion, so if I NEEDED to slow down, I could. Heck, by that halfway point, I had determined that I could have run 7:14 miles from there to the end and still gotten a PR! 

Instead, a dangerous thought popped in my deranged noggin: if I keep this pace, I'll run a SUB-THREE HOUR marathon. That's the dream! And it was WITHIN REACH!! 

And so I soldiered on, uphill to the turn off of the major roadway and onto a woodsy road that let back toward the Narragansett beach and the start line. 

In the middle of the first song of the second set, my ipod crapped out.  I was not upset about the lack of music - I can run fine without it - but I was pissed that my stopwatch was now gone. I had to gauge it on feel from there to the end. Some folks passed me in the 15th. I knew I was slowing down, but figured it was OK. I had that cushion!  

At the end of the first loop, 16.2 miles, I was in good shape and knew I had my 3:03 PR locked up. The second loop covered only 10 miles of the same ground and I knew I still had plenty of time to do it.