This was a very important race for me because of the training. I became a SAHM recently and really struggled with the lack of specific tasks each day. Motherhood for 4 under 4 years old is a lot of "staying afloat" (changing diapers, preparing food, cleaning, repeat).
As much as I despised my mile long to do list when I was working, turns out having an item with a clear beginning and end really helps. In this case, it was my daily run- X miles at X pace, cross off when complete.
That said, I enjoyed a great 16 week training cycle with no injuries. Lots of 4 am mornings, as I need to be done with workouts when the kids wake at 7 am.
Trey traveled with me for this race and we made it a long weekend getaway. We arrived Friday morning and met up with our weekend hosts who live just outside Portland, Kristina and Mike.
Trey knew Kristina from college and, though we ran in similar social circles, I didn't really describe her as a "friend"...until this weekend. This was less a trip to race and more extended quality time that just happened to include a race.
Race day morning came quickly and my support crew drove me to the start. Potty, warm up, National Anthem (leaving out my disgust over the privileged white kids who had the audacity to take a knee during this- that’s a whole other post, whole other blog).
There was quite a bit of fog at the start but the temperature felt amazing- mid 40s. I focused on running easy in the beginning, as I knew the later miles were hilly. It was really uplifting to see Trey, Kristina, and Mike twice in the first half.
Rather than describing turn by turn (real talk: I’ve got 40+ races on this blog that all sound the same), here are some thoughts I had during the second half of the race:
“Maine is so special. We need to come here more often”
“Why don’t we live here?”
“I love out and back courses. Looking at all the people running in the opposite direction is making me forget about everything else!”
“I shouldn’t have eaten all that food yesterday”
“Is Trey riding a bike?”
“This is the mile that will never end. Where IS the finish line?!”
“Finally, a BQ that will actually get me in the race!”
“Ooooh, chocolate milk!”
I finished a very evenly paced race in 3:31:58 (1:45:28 first half, 1:46:30 second), a Boston Qualifying time that will secure my spot for 2019, should I choose to do it. Very proud of this effort- state 43!
