June 10, 2018
Heading into 2018, my quest to run all the Maritime marathons continued. I had become comfortable running two per year, one in the spring and one in the fall, and my options for this particular year looked pretty clear.
While initially I was looking toward the Johnny Miles for my next marathon of choice, there was another race I had not run yet that fell on the calendar a week earlier than that one. Although most runners don’t know much about the “Bean There Ran That” Yarmouth Marathon (some don’t know about it at all), it wasn’t one I was about to ignore.
Located in the far-off southwest coast of the province, the Yarmouth Marathon has plenty to offer – a beautiful course, great organizers and volunteers, and a worthy charitable cause – but, for some reason or another, it never seems to attract big numbers.
Having run my first marathon at my own local small event, I have a warm feeling for the smaller races. It’s nice to feel the excitement of the bigger ones, but there’s something to be said for the charm of a run where you’re not just another bib number.
I also know what it’s like to live in a somewhat isolated part of the province, where friends make you feel like they are driving to the end of the earth when they come visit you. I feel a certain kinship with those who put on running events that are off the beaten path.
As far as my running itself went, I was feeling desperate to get back on track after what had been a disappointing 2017. That year saw me miss a PB opportunity thanks to a course error at the Blue Nose, followed up by health-related training issues and a disappointing race at Valley Harvest.
I was convinced that my Valley Harvest result was an anomaly and did not accurately reflect where I was at as a runner. I knew I was capable of better, and was determined to prove it to myself.
As a “self-taught” runner, however, I felt like I had taken myself as far as I could. I decided it was time to look for some outside guidance. I wanted a coach, and soon found one in Greg Wieczorek.
An accomplished marathoner himself, Greg came highly recommended by my running friends, and was all too happy to create a training program for me. Working around my employment schedule, which saw me working from home two days per week and at my Amherst office three days per week, Greg was able to put together a workable plan and a clear path for me toward my goal.
One thing I really worked at during these few months was controlling myself during training, particularly slowing myself down when necessary. In the past, I had a tendency to go too hard during training runs that were meant more for recovery than speed. With Greg’s guidance, I aimed at keeping these workouts to at least a minute slower than my target race pace.
I also turned my attention to another important part of running that I had been guilty of neglecting in the past – core strength - and incorporated some good exercises into my routine.
For tune-up races, I didn’t do a whole lot. I ran the Moose Run 25K in March as a last-minute decision, and treated it more as a training run than a race. Then I ran the half marathon in Fredericton in May, followed by Leg 1 at the Cabot Trail Relay Race a couple weeks later. From there it was taper time to Yarmouth.
My Yarmouth trip was a solo venture. No wife, no kids. Just me and my Honda, an iPhone loaded with music, and the open road for the six-hour trip. Although some of my running friends had considered doing it with me, it never materialized. With no friends or family around, I really would be alone for this one.
I was able to rent an AirBNB at a nice affordable rate and close to the start and finish areas, and arrived plenty early enough on Saturday to go out exploring. Keeping my Blue Nose experience in mind, I drove the entire marathon route beforehand, familiarizing myself with the terrain and any potentially tricky turning spots. There were none, although all the open space made me worry a bit about wind.
The Yarmouth route is pretty straightforward, a largely coastal trip that includes two loops to the Cape Forchu lighthouse and back, before a bit of a jaunt through town to the finish line at the local NSCC campus. Not even I could screw that up.
As I drove the route, I heard a grinding, scraping noise coming from underneath my car. I pulled over and got out to investigate, and discovered the wheel nuts were loose – I’m talking finger-tight - on three of the four wheels. I then remembered that the wheels had been changed only recently, and should have been re-torqued after 100K. My trip to Yarmouth was about 500K, and I’m lucky a wheel didn’t fly off while I was cruising along the highway. I had to tighten them three different times with a wheel wrench before I got back to the place I was renting, and had to stop at a garage and get them tightened with a torque wrench before heading home.
Race morning came, and it was a beautiful day in Yarmouth. I drove to the finish line to pick up my race kit, and walked from there down to the start line, about a 1K hike to a nice shady green area along Main Street.
I expected the crowd to be small, and it was. There were a total of about 60 people for all distances. I found out afterwards there were only three of us running the full marathon, along with four or five relay teams.
I slept reasonably OK the night before and felt good heading out from the start line. As could be expected for June, the temperature got a bit high as the morning went on, but running beside the ocean was reasonably cool.
I kept to a 5:00 pace for the first 4K, and then gradually crept up to about 4:45-4:50. I was a bit surprised that it didn’t seem very windy, even along the open coastal sections. Then I turned around at the lighthouse at about 10K out, and was surprised to meet a serious headwind for the return. For some reason, I didn’t notice I had a tailwind on the way out. If I did, I probably would have allowed myself to go slightly faster.
Despite the wind, I was reasonably successful staying on pace for the 10K trip back on the first loop, determined to take advantage of that tailwind for the second trip out to the lighthouse. Unfortunately, this is where things started to go wrong for me. Staying focused is very important on that 20-30K section of a marathon, and I tried my best, but still couldn’t keep myself from falling off pace, despite the tailwind. I felt it was very much a missed opportunity.
As expected, the second trip back from the lighthouse, into the headwind, was a tough slog. At one point, the wind brought me to a standstill. But I can’t blame it all on the wind. I just didn’t have it that day.
The terrain was rolling, but the only big climb that stands out in my memory was near the end, when I got back into town and had to head for the finish at NSCC. That 2K section seemed to take forever, as I was fading hard.
When I got to the finish area, my watch told me I had run 42K, but the volunteers waved me on to a turnaround, which was about 300m up the street. That was tough to will myself through! It reminded me of the Maritime Race Weekend finish.
I crossed the finish line at 3:42:08, good enough for first place on that day (one of the benefits of being in an extra-small field). Finishing second was Elaine Burkholder of Charlottetown, who had been one of our faithful participants in the Age of Sail Marathon every year. It was great to have a chat with Elaine, who ran her 102nd marathon that day.
Interestingly, the Yarmouth event reminded me a lot of those Age of Sail marathons. Fewer runners, friendly volunteers, salty sea air… my kind of scene.
Although disappointed with my result – I was only about two minutes faster than my crash and burn at Valley Harvest the previous fall – it was pretty cool to get the ‘W’. I was awarded a nice plaque, and also won a great prize – a Brooks running jacket from a local store.
I enjoyed Yarmouth and getting to meet some of the friendly folks down there. This year they have changed their date to the first weekend in May, which will make it the first Maritime marathon of the year, and I think a better fit for them. They deserve more attention.
I never did figure out exactly what went wrong with my marathon that day. I was well trained, felt good going into the race, and stuck to the game plan that Greg had mapped out for me.
As I thought about my training, however, I wondered if I had really worked hard enough. I got all my workouts in, but did I attack my speed work and long runs with enough intensity? I’m not so sure that I did.
Upon further reflection, I’ve realized that my previous race at Valley Harvest may not have been an anomaly after all. It was more likely an accurate picture of where I was as a runner, and the road back was going to be a bit longer and tougher than I thought. But I was on that road.
Yarmouth was not a big improvement for me, but it was an improvement, and that would have to do.
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