Hyannis, Year 4

Overall Time:  3:27:04
Pace Per Mile: 7 minutes, 54 seconds
Overall Place/Finishers:  51/358
Age Group Place/Finishers:  21/56
Place among ME runners:  2nd

Splits:  36:02 (1-5)  37:13 (6-10)  37:25 (11-15)  39:50 (16-20)  56:34 (21-26.2)

I could have taken a lot of negatives from this race but the goals were simple:  beat my best time for the course or, failing that, just complete the race.  My primary goal was achieved.

Conditions were dismal - low 30s and wet snow, with wind picking up by the second loop.  I took a gamble and nixed the gloves - that was a mistake.  The first 3 miles were a struggle to ignore my chapped, half-frozen hands while gauging my optimal pace.  Luckily my body warmed up enough to ease the discomfort, at least for the time being.

I paced comfortably between 7:15-7:30 for the majority of the race (though I was sub-7:15 for 4 of the first 5 miles).  This worked well until my legs started to stiffen up around mile 16 and I gradually lost momentum.  Until that point I had managed to pace under 7:30 which was ahead of my own projections, but I was thankful that I stayed ahead of them to that point because of the wall I would hit at mile 18.  I recorded 7:37, 7:40 for 16 and 17 and 8:20 for 18 and 19.  A surge of adrenaline got me a 7:53 for 20 but that was all I had for sub-8 running for the remainder of the race.  I even recorded a 10-minute-plus mile at 25.  At least the last .2 was clocked at a respectable 1:40 - a low-8 pace - and I was able to finish well under the 3 hour, 30 minute mark.

I can take a lot of things from this race.  First, wear gloves to a Marathon with sub-freezing temperatures, even if there's no precipitation.  I'm probably lucky I didn't suffer frostbite damage to my hands.  Second, my fitness overall is better than it has been in previous Hyannis marathons in spite of my running struggles this time of year.  This is a good sign for Sugarloaf and Boston.  Third, I'm grateful for people I know to help me out post-race this year. I went alone for 2008 and 2009 but if I had gone alone this year, I might have had some issues getting back to my vehicle post-race (mostly because of being under-dressed when my body temperature dropped back down).  Fourth, a successful Hyannis run is a perfect foundation to build momentum into spring.  With this year being more active than ever for races, I'll need all the self-motivation I can get.

Seven weeks separate Hyannis from Boston.  That means I'll need to pull all the positives out of the race and put everything back together in quick order.