Running the Upside Down Cow: Martha's Vineyard 20 Miler (2/17/18)

Race: Martha's Vineyard
Location: Martha's Vineyard, MA (Vineyard Haven to Edgartown and back to Oak Bluffs)
Goal Time: 2:32:30
Actual Time: 2:34:30 (2nd, Clydesdale)

I'm a bit behind on this blog, this is taken from my RunningAHEAD recap:

I had a pretty good plan:

8 miles easy
4 MP
4 MP-5
4 MP-10

Started out with Bolt, CA, Tim, Dennis and Sean, Sr. At Mile 6, I went from easy to less easy. At 8, I was going to drop it down to current MP (7:25). I tried, however, I needed to stop and retie my right shoe. Then I got back on track from 9-12. I was going to make 13 another MP. But that's when drinking til 2:45 with Tim and Scott started to effect me. I had some stomach problems after a chug of water at mile 12.5. Had to fight through that mile and then the next, I overcompensated on 14. It took me a little more than a mile to recover. At mile 17, I dropped to MP -10. That only lasted a little more than a mile. The miles caught up with me. 7:45/mi would be a BQ, so I can't be too unhappy.

Perceived Effort -10 - 20 mile race; really put it all out there. Nearly collapsed at the finish.

Mood - 7 - Man, everything was awesome. Weather; time; wind. Sadly, Scott, Tim and I had decided to drink until way past bedtime.

Pop - 4 - Tired legs from the middle-upper level training week. Each mile where I tried a pickup, I felt the weakness in the calves and quads. But as it got later, the inner quad felt like it was tearing from the tired legs.

I came in at my slowest Martha's ever. However, from my launch point of only Jan 1, I think I'm doing well. This race put me on target for this year's plan.

2nd Place, Clydesdales

Derry and Ferry: Boston Prep 16 to Martha's Vineyard 20 (1/29-2/18/2017

Derry, Ferry and bears looking for berries.
Brendan, bear, me

A quick google mapping puts the distance from West Running Brook Middle School in Derry, NH to Oak Bluffs Elementary School on Martha's Vineyard at 119 miles (plus: there is a ferry involved).

However, I did it in 242 miles.

Derry's Boston Prep 16 Miler and the Martha's Vineyard 20 Miler are both world famous in New England as prep races for the Boston Marathon.  For me they bookended the last three weeks of training for the Malta Marathon.  I ran 19 out of 21 days for a total of 242 miles:

Hills of New Hampshire (1/29/17)
Race: Boston Prep 16 Miler
Location: Derry, NH
Goal Time: ???
Actual Time: 1:55:49

Crew before Derry:
Aharon, Kieran, Lisa, me, Seth, Shark Tank, Brendan, Urvi, Eva and Kari.

I had mild plans for this race.  But with both Derry and Martha's Vineyard so close to Malta, I chose to not "race" either.  I started out running with Brendan for the first few miles.  However, despite trying to keep the pace down, I was running too fast that early for him.  So, he convinced me to go on ahead around mile 3.

The next six miles I tried to race with the easiest part of Derry's "mildly challenging" course:

Mile 9, sees the first hard hill. steep and about two blocks long - blerg. I moved to the side and just shimmied the hill best I could.  Several people passed me and as we were to crest the hill one more woman went by.  The hill started down and I passed her right back.  I didn't think anything of it. However, she said something like: "Can't let a girl beat you, huh?"  I was a little taken aback. We are out here running 7 minute miles in a marathon training race.  Every race women beat me.  If its a local 5k: maybe 5 women.  If it's the Boston Marathon: maybe 500 women.  I tried to stay cool and deferential: "Nope, got my 225 lbs going downhill; you're just gonna pass me again on the big hill!"

At mile 10 and a half you hit the "big hill."  2 miles long and pretty relentless, Urvi called it "humbling."  Many (probably all) of the people I had passed since mile 9 and a half passed me up this hill - including the aforementioned woman.  My 7:05/mile average pace fell to 8 minutes/mile.

The course is mostly downhill from the top at 12.5 miles.  So I opened it back up to around 7min/miles.  The last half mile is a big sweeping turn around a horse farm (saw several sauntering across the fields.)  I realized that I was catching up with the woman from mile 9.  Some of me wanted to go chase her down and beat her.  Most of me didn't want to do anything stupid, like hurt myself trying to come in 65th place. Fortunately the conundrum was solved by a loose shoelace.  I thought for a minute, should I run and avoid the lace?  No.  don't hurt yourself 5 weeks out by stepping on a shoelace.  I tied my shoe and finished the last mile at a 7 minute pace.

Expedition Long Run (2/5/17)
Race: Super 5k
Goal Time: 20:00
Actual Time: 21:37
Placed: 2nd in Linebackers (after TomBWarrior was caught trying to win the division)

Urvi and I - with our low numbers thanks to Jim Rhoades - at Lowell Elks for Super 5k
(Sammy V. disguised as Gronk in the background)

Super Bowl Sunday rolled around and it was time for another long run.  I also was registered for Jim Rhodes' Super 5k.  Since that was in Lowell, I came up with a plan.

1) Run 1.8 miles from Central Sq to Porter Sq.
2) Take the commuter train from Porter to Concord
3) Run 16 miles from Concord Center out to Lowell via the Bruce Freeman Trail
4) Race the Super 5k

All of that happened.  Oddly, my 5k plan did not.  6:30/miles lasted for about 1/2 mile.  But got in 21 miles for the day!

And, Patriots won!

Pat Patriot and I after the game
photo by Andy M.

Snowy Long Run and Brunch (2/12/17)

Urvi was planning to run 13 miles with Lisa and Amie.  I was planning on running 18-20, then we'd all meet in Harvard Square for brunch.

Urvi stuck with her plan; I stuck with brunch.

Ferry Trips, non-growlers and 20 miles (2/18/17)
Race: Martha's Vineyard 20 Miler
Goal Time: 2:25:00
Actual Time: 2:28:19
Placed: 2nd Clydesdale; 4th age group

Nichole, Dennis, Victor, Brian T, Urvi, BLav, me, Bolt, C-A, Culla, Tim, Erin

I had a plan for this race.  I was going to do 8 miles easy at around 8 min/mi.  Then I was going to finish with 12 at marathon pace ~6:45/mi.

None of this happened.

I ran the first 5 with the "Yellow Wall": me, Tim, Erin, Nichole, Deb and Old Sean.

At mile 5, you turn back out onto the main coast road in Oak Bluffs.  That's when the wind strafed us. Deb had some argument about how long we'd be in the wind, etc.  But I wasn't listening to Deb about wind: "fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.” Deb, Sean and I took sail into the wind as Tim, Erin and Nichole took off in front of us.

After three miles, I caught a brief respite when Neil came out of nowhere to pass me.  I hung onto him through the worst of the wind and we caught up on life, etc.  After the relay area in Edgartown, we got a bit out of the wind and into the middle of the island.

Seth and Urvi

Around Mile 11, Deb with her workout for the race came by Neil and I.  I decided to get in some 7:05 miles with her. That didn't really happen but we did push it for about 5 miles.

Then the wheels came off.  From mile 16 to the end I just hung on, knowing that in 28-32 minutes, I would start tapering for Malta!

I came in under 2:30 - right behind Neil as he'd caught up and passed me.  I got inside to be informed that Kieran won!

TAPER TIME! En route back from the Vineyard
(There is now a ferry involved)

20 in and 20 done: Martha's Vineyard and a lack of motivation (2/15/14)

Keiran and I at Off-shore with our age-goup and clydesdale medals

Photos taken by Urvi

Race: Martha's Vineyard 20 Miler

Location: Vineyard Haven, MA

Goal Time: ??:??

Actual Time: 2:24:46

I didn't really have a goal going into this race.  I sort of wanted to break 2:20.  But I had no idea.  So, I figured I'd start out with Tinger, Culla and Barry and then see how it turned out.  By a mile and a half (into a 20 mile race), I realized that was a mistake...

Then, I figured I could just keep running around 7 minute miles.  But, the fact is there is a pure lack of motivation going on here.  I've dedicated my early season to running shorter goal races in April, May and June.  Because of this I was not ready to race a 20 mile race.

"Then why'd you sign up?" someone asked.  good question.

Marc and Emma at mile 4.5

By mile 10, I found I had a complete lack of motivation.  If I ran hard the rest of the way, I get what a few seconds faster?  I don't get my PR...

Culla at mile 16

Tinger at mile 16

 By mile 15, I was just flat out tired.  I looked at my watch and said well at 8 min/miles that only 40 minutes...40 minutes? crap... that's forever.

I pulled it together and sang War Pigs to myself for the next few miles.  There is a big turn at 17.8 miles.  Now you know you're going to make it. (And, more importantly, that much closer to Larry Santos' clam chowder.)  I picked it up a little bit.

Amy braving the snow @ mile 19 (Seth Tank trails in the background)

At 19.5 there is one last turn toward the school.  Any motivation I had was summed up here.  I had two people in front of me.  I did my closest thing to sprinting and reeled both of them in to up my place from 43rd to 41st overall.  1st in the Clydesdales / 6th in my age-group.

Nichole with her age-group award

 SRR Shoutouts -
Keiran was 6th overall and 1st in his age-group with a 3 minute PR
Nichole was 3rd in her age-group
Alison had a nearly one hour PR
Shark Tank won the Filly category..

"Now I'M driving the bus!"
Harrison was driving us home...

Non Infantis Flendi: Martha's Vineyard & The Isle of Winter (2/16/13)

Race: Martha's Vineyard 20 Miler
Location: Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, Edgartown
Goal Time: 2:19:59
Actual Time: 2:20:37 (2nd, Clydesdales!)

In the 1st Century AD Tacitus described Ireland as Hibernia, "the isle of Winter":
"si quidem Hibernia medio inter Britanniam atque Hispaniam sita et Gallico quoque mari."

My recollection of High School Latin states that Tacitus felt Ireland was "between Britain and Spain and in the seas by Gaul."  Or maybe that it was the "point where mediations were held about the various characteristics that differed" between several brown breeds of dogs.  (Out of context either one could be correct.)

Indeed the isle of winter was so formidable even the most powerful and expansionist empire the world had ever seen would dare conquer it.  Although apparently Tacitus' son-in-law, the rogue Governor of Britannia Julius Agricola, did attempt to build an invasion force.  (There is something else in Tacitus' text, if my High School Latin holds up, where Agricola can see Hibernia from his house and Agricola claimed Finn MacCool was "palling around with terrorists.")

... but, I digress.  Situated a 45 minute ferry ride from Wood's Hole, si quidem Vinea Marthae medio inter Nantucketum atque Paenisula Moruae sita et Massachusettsium quoque mari.  And throughout the week there had been much fear among those running a 20 mile race on the Vinea Marthae that it would be an insula Hibernia.  As we crossed the ferry, the chance of various degrees of rain, sleet and snow ("slushballs from the sky", as my father calls them) dwindled from 50% to 20%.  Things were looking hopeful.  It seemed that I may have actually overdressed with my arm-warmers and high socks.  But - as I often tell my poker buddies - 20% is still one-in-five; it's not impossible. 

The weather was cool - 35F - at the start and I went out with a bunch of the boys who were warming up with 7:00/miles.  The first three were great and then they sneakily dropped the minute per mile on me without me noticing.  At 3.5 miles, I looked at my watch and we were doing 6:25.  Before I walked into a Teutoburg Forest problem and Augustus started demanding his legions back from me, I said, "Whoa, guys.  I'm now going to slow down."  Each one of them were a little shocked to see me still running with them and agreed with my plan to go back to 7:00/miles.

Tyler, who I think was just trying to go easy, dropped back with me to keep me company through the run.  Over the next couple of miles my hands warmed up and it looked like Hibernia was a mere scare and fear of those runners who like to fear things.


Around mile six, I saw some sweat fly off my hair in a weird angle.  It took me a second to realize, that wasn't sweat and it didn't fly off me.  In fact my hopes that the weather would pass was like trying to go - as Steinbeck argued - ad astra per alas porci ("to the stars on the wings of pigs").  Over the next 10 miles, I attempted to maintain my 7 min/mile pace as gradually Vinea Marthae seemed more and more Hibernia.


Tyler continued coaxing me onto 7 minutes and cajoling me away from stupid actions.  The sleet and snow and rain continued to fall and soak through my arm warmers and my shoes.  Fortunately at some point everything is numb so it can no longer feel the Hibernian weather falling upon it.  The trails iced into skating rinks that required running on the road. (Drivers were mostly great).  Police and volunteers directed traffic and crossings.  (Can I give three - no four - cheers to the volunteers here?  Running in that weather was awful.  But sacrificing your day to stand at windy corners and point crazy runners left and right?  Superheroes!)

At 17, I told him I couldn't continue on anymore at the pace.  He moved ahead at a more comfortable pace for him.


At this point the 11 miles of Hibernian "slushballs from the sky" had left me shaken.  It took all my strength to, in the words of Virgil, "durate, et, vosmet rebus servate secundis."  Which my high school Latin says: "Toil on and things will be better the second time."  (Robert Fagels more eloquently - and probably more correctly - says: "Bear up. Save your strength for better times to come.")

Miles 18 and 19 dropped well off the 7 minute pace.  With one mile to go, I had to run a 6:40 to break my PR from last year.  I put all my effort into it.  But, my 6:42 mile was not enough and I missed last year's time

In a letter to the governor of Libya, Pliny the Younger said that the Martha's Vineyard race would require something: "Non infantis flendi"  (No Weenies!).

SRR Shoutouts -

Kieran placed 5th overall and 1st in his age group
Deb Downs took 2nd in her age group
Tim Morin and John Wichers each took 3rd in their age groups
John Wichers and I made a one-two punch taking the top slots in the Clydesdales.

The ever democratic Somerville Road Runners were represented by 18 people - from Kieran at 2:5 to Urvi at 4:08 - taking home the inaugural "Running Club Cup."

Need a Bigger Boat: Martha's Vineyard 20 (2/18/12)

The gang on the ferry back to Cape Cod

Race: Martha's Vineyard 20 Miler
Location: Vineyard Haven, MA
Goal Time: 2:24:00
Actual Time: 2:20:35 (1st place, Clydesdales)

*****
"This race, swallow you whole"

20 Miles is a long race. While shorter than a marathon, it's still a beast of a race. I targeted Martha's Vineyard as a trial race for my marathon. I wanted to know if I could maintain my goal marathon pace and properly fuel myself. The course is pretty flat except for gentle hills between 13-19.

Of course what makes the race is the Vineyard itself - a gorgeous island of 15,000 year round residents. The island is filled with beautiful beaches, lovely little villages with Victorian era cottages painted like gingerbread houses, and in the middle is a large state forest.

Like Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard had been a whaling hub in the 19th Century. It has been able to remake itself as a vacation destination on the East Coast. It was even the site of Amity Island in Jaws.
*****
"Gonna need a bigger boat."

The race is brilliantly planned to start at the ferry port in Vineyard Haven. With the race due to start at 11, the ferry from Wood's Hole that pulled in right at 10:15 was packed with wicking shirts and talk of Boston Marathon goals.

At the start of the race I ran out a little fast. After a brief unplanned stop, I caught up with Elizabeth, Mariah and Megan around mile four in the old port area of Oak Bluffs and had settle into a nice stride.

Out of Oak Bluffs the course followed a duney stretch of the Nantucket Sound for 5 or so miles before heading inland at the 10 mile mark.

At 12 miles, the course turned into the state forest (and around the airport) and directly into the wind. Mariah and Megan who were near me were in the top 10 among women and we saw two more women who could probably be caught. While I was going to "line up to be a hot lunch," I knew I was in the lead of the Clydesdales. I suggested the two of them slip in behind me while I put 7 minute miles into the wind as long as I could and maybe we could catch the women up ahead. This worked for a few miles.

Around mile 16 there was a small hill. Mariah was ready to pick it up a bit and I was ready to take a little off the pace. She passed me and slowly over the next 4 miles disappeared from my view. I knew all I had to do was fight to the mile 18 marker and then I'd be fine - the last two will complete themselves.

By 18 and a half I was feeling good. I was coming in way under my goal time. I hadn't slowed too much - ran 7:20s for the last 3 miles. AND, it looked like I might actually beat Megan Hyland. At 19 and a half, those hopes were dashed as she dashed by me.

I pulled in at 2:20:35 seconds: 3.5 minutes ahead of my goal time, 2 minutes ahead of 2nd in the Clydesdales and 15 seconds behind Megan. (While she beat me by a good 2 and a half minutes at Derry, in the other three races this year Megan has beat me by a combined less than 30 seconds.)

Shoutouts go to Mariah and Elizabeth for Age Groups Second Places; and Deb and Megan for Age Group wins.

Also a shoutout to Barry for pulling off a 1 second PR in a 20 Mile race.

And an additional shoutout to Korynn for her 20 Mile PR (not that it's apparently "anything to be proud of" ~ Coach Tim)

"I used to hate the water."