Race Report: Baystate Half Marathon

Baystate Half Marathon
October 20, 2013
Lowell, MA
Start time 8:00am
Temp at start, 55 degrees, sunny, slight wind
Chip time 2:37:30

Flashback to 2011: The 2011 Baystate Half Marathon was my first half marathon in my second reincarnation as a runner. I had done the Chicago Marathon in October of 2002, then the Vermont City Marathon in May of 2003. In May of 2006 I attempted to run the Big Lake Half Marathon, but dropped out at mile 9. I think I signed up for the Big Lake Half again in 2007 and 2008, both years loudly proclaiming that this would be my comeback run, and both years failing to actually train or show up to the starting line. But in 2011, I did train for the Baystate Half Marathon, and it was a half marathon PR for me, breaking records from 8-9 years prior. I remember signing up for the Chilly Half Marathon a few weeks before running Baystate, thinking that I was being slightly foolish and slighty bad ass for running two half marathons in two consecutive months. Well, I liked that experience so much that I went on to run 12 1/2's in 2012, which oddly enough also equaled 14 half marathons in 14 months (October 2011 through November 2012.) But yes, back to Baystate. That was the race that knocked over the first domino, and now, two years later, with dominos strewn all around, I came back to run it again.

Baystate 2013
I had only signed up for Baystate two weeks before the race. I had been in a slump since Timberman, and after watching friends run the Smuttynose half a few weeks earlier, I decided that running a fall half was the perfect cure-all. My friend/co-worker/fellow liver team runner Connie, who I talk about enough in my blog that I'll now be referring to as "Sidekick Connie", was already signed up to run, as was my friend Lisa, both of whom ran the 2011 Baystate half, so I didn't really consider signing up for any other race except Baystate. My coach said that running Baystate was a good idea so long as I treated it as long run, and not a race. No problem, said my legs and my lungs and my brain. Glad we're all in agreement.

Loop one -- I didn't really have a pace goal in mind for Baystate. My runs lately have been anywhere from the 11's to the 14's (minutes per mile). I figured I'd start out around 12:00/mile and see how I felt. The first couple of miles felt ok. I was running mid-12's, but the problem was that I didn't feel that I was going that slowly. I was afraid I'd end up slowing down, and I didn't want my pace to drop into the 13's. The course is a two loop course, so at about mile 5.5 I got lapped by the half marathon winner who was finishing his second lap. Then about 8-10 more half marathon finishers came zooming by. At about the 6.25 mile mark when the finishers split off toward the finish line, I thought briefly about how I also wanted to be done running, and maybe I'd just quit and call it a day. Luckily that thought was fleeting, and I set out on loop two.

Loop two -- Shortly after the split, I ran by the "Half Marathon 1/2 way" sign. My watch said 1:21:xx. I decided then & there that I'd be running a sub-2:40 half marathon, so I picked up the pace a little bit. I caught up to my friend Lisa around mile 7 and ran with her for 10 minutes or so. We talked about how we were lucky to be running a half marathon, and how we both refused to compare this run to any other run. We were grateful for the accomplishment just as it was. Lisa and I parted ways at the mile 8 water stop, and by mile 9, I could feel myself picking up speed. Right after mile 9, you run over the Rourke Bridge, where the runners doing the full marathon course are crossing the bridge in the opposite direction beginning their second, much longer loop. Even though the bridge was less than a quarter of a mile long, I thought that I might catch a glimpse of my liver team friends who were running the full, and almost immediately after having that thought, I saw my friend Matt! I cheered for him and called his name, then realized that Meghan was also running near him so we yelped and waved to each other just before getting out of earshot.

The combination of that mutual encouragement, and crossing the bridge and getting onto the "home stretch" gave me a huge boost. I caught up to Sidekick Connie at mile 9.5 and told her of my plan to run a sub 2:40, and asked if she'd like to join me. She thought that sounded like a great plan, and wished me well on my solo endeavor to accomplish it. We ran together until the mile 10 water stop, and that's when I kicked it up a notch. Just for fun, I started counting the people I passed. From mile 10 to the finish line, I passed 34 people (35 people, but one of them passed me back so I subtracted him out.) I ended up finishing in 2:37:30, which means I ran the second loop about 5 minutes faster than the first loop.

The best part about this last stretch was that it was FUN. I'm really glad I didn't skip that second loop. As they say, "Don't give up before the miracle happens," and that miracle happened for me on those last 3 miles. Even my fastest mile, 10:57 was slower than my average pace from Baystate 2011, but I really don't care. Baystate 2013 might have been my second slowest half marathon, but I'm definitely putting it in my Top 3 list of favorite halfs I've ever run. Sidekick Connie ended up beating her goal and running 10 minutes faster than the half she ran a few weeks ago. Lisa did an amazing job as well. Two weeks ago, Lisa said after a 9 mile run, "I'm feeling like a loser. I'm running Baystate in less than two weeks & this is my first run over 6 miles." Her half marathon pace? 1:40/mile FASTER than that 9 miler. Like I said, Don't give up before the miracle happens.