Saturday, March 26, 2011

Eastern States 2011

Before spring finally arrives, bringing its rising temperatures, gentle winds, and greener grass, the cold bite of winter takes one more rip out of us.  Funny that it always seems to fall on the last weekend in March, just in time for a long coastal race.


I went back and forth a lot on the decision to run this.  With a lot of commitments outside of running over the next month, I could have easily skipped this one and might have been okay.  Beyond that, this year puts the race in between the Hyannis and Boston Marathons.  Counting the Brian Boru 5K, that's over 75 miles of road races in 7 weeks, which is unprecedented from a personal standpoint.  (If you count the Sugarloaf Marathon and the Orrington 10k over the following month, that's about 110 miles of racing in 11 weeks.)  This goes above and beyond any pace I had set for myself at this point, so what impact this will have on my legs will be unknown.


None of this really scares me, though.  In fact, I'm excited to have this opportunity to not only run Boston, but to push myself beyond my previous limits and possibly hit a sub-3-hour marathon.  It's a big part of why I decided to commit to this.


Date:  Sunday, March 27
Time: 11AM

Start Location:  Kittery, ME

Finish Location  Salisbury Beach, MA

Course Map:  http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=342214


After a couple of years of various construction projects, the race is back to its original course - nearly the entirety of it runs along route 1A.  It's flat, it's wide open, and it's well-marked.  What makes this course a challenge is - like Hyannis - the weather.  Though it's spring officially, winter hasn't quite left most of northern New England yet.  There's always a strong wind off the Atlantic at this time of year and the forecast calls for exactly that.  At least the sun will be out to provide a small amount of warmth.


After tomorrow, there will be three weeks separating me from my first ever Boston run.  I'd love to go into it with some confidence and momentum.

My top five 20-mile races:
2:21:01 - Sugarloaf Marathon, 20-mile split, 2010
2:25:13 - Sugarloaf Marathon, 20-mile split, 2009
2:25:56 - Eastern States 20-miler, 2010
2:26:31 - Somesville 20-miler, 2010
2:26:53 - Eastern States 20-miler, 2009


To beat the Eastern States PR shouldn't be too much of a hassle provided everything goes well.  To get an overall PR would be great, and from what I've run so far this year, it's definitely doable.  I'll know for sure in less than 24 hours.