Sugarloaf Marathon Preview 2010, Part 2

For the remainder of the week I'll be posting a 4-part breakdown of the Sugarloaf Marathon course. The second part covers everything from mile 7 to the half-marathon mark, from the outskirts of Stratton village until a short distance past the Sugarloaf entrance.

So this is where the challenge factor of the course starts.  From the 8th mile to the 12th the elevation ascends and doesn't let up.  It's not terribly steep but it's long and is a silent assassin of your energy if you're not careful.

When you get to the top - approximately mile 11 - the views of the surrounding mountaintops (including Sugarloaf) are beautiful. On a nice day - or even a more dreary day - you can't beat the scenery on this course, especially at this point.  Enjoy it while you can.  After the 11 mile mark, things go downhill, and fast.

The image above is deceptive (courtesy Google Maps) - after the 11 mile marker, it really does drop fast.  It's one thing a lot of long-distane runners know:  downhills can kill a runner's legs just as badly as an uphill climb.  It's much harder to slow down which makes your quadriceps work and burn as it tries to keep the brakes on.  Often it's how this downhill is handled that determines how you'll feel the rest of the race. 

When the nose-dive into the Carrabassett valley finally levels out, the entrance to Sugarloaf looms ahead.  At this point, small crowds have formed and are cheering you on.  Civilization once again, if but for a brief time.  Once the small village disappears behind view, the trees crowd in again, broken only by the occasinal building and glimpses of the river on the left.

Half way there.

Sugarloaf Marathon 2010 Preview, Part 1

For the remainder of the week I'll be posting a 4-part breakdown of the Sugarloaf Marathon course. The first part covers the first 6+ miles of the course, nestled deep in the woods of upper western Maine, from the Cathedral Pines Campground to the departure from Stratton village.

The Eustis Ridge Road site in perfect view of the start line, accompanied by a sign that lets you know how close you are to Canada. It's quite a remote spot to be at (provided you're not a camper). The peacefulness and serenity of an early sunday morning is broken significantly by the preparation of runners, the announcer, and finally the boom of the starting cannon (yes, seriously).



The first two miles consist of perfectly flat pavement surrounded on both sides by deep forest. Aside from the runners, the air and sound for that first bit is quite peaceful, at least until the traffic opens up once again. Aside from the people gathered at the beginning, don't expect anyone on the side of the road cheering you on. The only spectator at this point is mother nature.


The next two miles approach and enter the small village of Stratton. The course remains flat but the trees give way to water and the scenery completely opens up.  The first water station is seen just after mile 3 along with many of the first spectators.  Quite a few villagers come out in the early morning to cheer the Marathoners as they make their way through the heart of the town.  If you like the spectator part of running, it will at least satiate you until the next crowd at mile 12.

At the end of the village, the forest starts to surround the road once again and the level road starts taking on elevation.  Small rolling hills litter the course at miles 5, 6, and 7, a prelude to what's next...

Peak Week(end)

After finishing up a well-run double today, I now have a little under 37 for the week. Everything has been running pretty smoothly these past few weeks as my weekly total continue to climb. With the Sugarloaf Marathon a little over 2 weeks away, it's time to get the last bit of training in and glide in to T-0.

Tomorrow is my day off, only my second in 3 weeks. That small bit of rest - roughly 36 hours - should give me the restoration of energy I need for Saturday morning's race...

Orrington 10K
Saturday @ 9AM
Center Drive School, Orrington, ME




In 2008, this was the first 10K I had ever run. This distance is ideal for a handful of reasons, which is why I'm a bit disappointed that there are so few 10K's around these days. The lack of 10K races means that I have had only a few to record a personal best on. The last 10K I ran was in November of 2008, and at that race I set my PR which still stands (42:44). Provided everything goes smoothly up to race morning, I should have little trouble smashing that PR. This will also give me an opportunity to run with/against RK, something that hasn't been easy since I moved away from Bangor.


Sunday - 20-mile long run
This will not be a race, but just a conditioning exercise to give my legs that final prep for Sugarloaf. The goal is to get roughly 20 miles, more or less depending on where I'm running and how my legs feel to that point. I don't recall doing an extra long run the day after a road race but my only concern is that this will put my 7-day running total at roughly 64 miles. This will be the most that I've ever run in a single week, and will be a good gauge of how I'll handle it in the summer months as I try to push my weekly miles beyond anything I've done before.

Return to Two Years Ago

Between upping the intensity of speed workouts, increasing run mileage, restructuring my food intake, and prepping for the inevitable Sugarloaf run, the next 4-5 weeks are going to feel like hitting the acelerator of my running regimen.  With what I'm doing for training and the races that I'm picking up along the way, it's feeling like 2008 again - the year I had some of my best times in road races. There's going to be a lot going on, and I'll fill you in on the details.


Unity and Portland:  Two-Race Weekend
The Unity Spring 5K on Saturday and the Patriot's Day 5-miler on Sunday will be a good test of how well I'm running in the shorter distances.  I ran them both in 2008 (the 5-miler was on Monday that year) but skipped them in 2009 due to a conflict with dancing rehearsals. 





Unity starts with a long downhill for at least the first half mile.  There is a big temptation in this stretch to ride your adrenaline and let go of the brakes completely.  I did just that in 2008, landing my best mile I've run to that point (5:56) but faltering the rest of the way, missing my PR (20:52) at the time by 4 seconds.  Even though the rest of it is flat and open, the lesson I learned was that downhills can steal your energy just as fast (if not faster) than uphills.  My goal this time is to manage that downhill efficiently - letting up on the brake but not overstriding.  If anything it'll be a practice for what I'll encounter on mile 11/12 at Sugarloaf.





The Patriot's Day 5-miler was a little trickier than I first expected.  Not knowing the geography of Portland as well as I do now, I completely forgot that the stretch of Washington Street included in the route is all uphill.  Considering that this part is around mile 4 of the race, you can probably guess that it dragged me down quite a bit.  What makes it worse is that part of that stretch is run on the sidewalk of the Back Cove Trail and Washington Street exit of I-295, making that part of the course very congested if there's a lot of people around.  In other words, don't expect to pass people at that point.  Once back on Cumberland Avenue, though, the idea is to put everything down.  The half mile is slightly uphill but straight and open.  I got 37:36 the last time I ran it; I should have no issue getting past that and possibly getting close to my 5-mile PR (32:20).


Orrington 10K (May 1):  Return to Form





 
This wasn't my first run, but it was my first 10K and it was on this route where I started my very first speed workouts with RK.  Like the previous two races, I missed the 2009 edition but plan to run it this year.  This course has small rolling hills on miles 2 and 5 but it's mostly flat and very quiet.  I should have no problem breaking the 46:35 time I have on this course and should even break my PR (42:44).
 
 
In between these races will be my long runs - 16-18 on the weekend in between these races and 20 the day after the 10K.  Then it's 2 weeks until the big race.

The Master of Wind - (belated) Eastern States 20-mile Results

Overall time: 2:25:56

Overall Finish:  53rd (Out of 703 finishers)
Age Group Finish (39 and under, male):  46th
Splits:
7:55, 7:08, 7:11, 6:51, 7:12 (36:17)
7:12, 7:08, 7:14, 7:22, 7:27 (36:23, 1:12:40)
7:17, 7:36, 7:22, 7:13, 7:24 (36:52, 1:49:32)
7:26, 7:27, 7:16, 7:18, 6:57 (36:24, 2:25:56)

Yeah, it's kinda like that.

Though the temperatures were on the rebound from the dismal 30-degree days that suddenly popped up on us, the wind was far from forgiving, especially when it came to race time on the Maine and New Hampshire coastline.  The strangest part was that it was a south wind, which is usually warmer than its northern counterpart.  It wasn't.  The early spring weather in New England is unpredictable at best, and today was no exception.

It was chilly when the race started by the Naval Shipyard in Kittery, but that sensation always goes away once warmed up.  The first mile was slow as I employed my usual running at the middle of the pack and find pockets to pick up speed and break through.  By the time I passed the Memorial Bridge into Portsmouth, I could stretch out and find that ideal pace.

The next several miles were actually pleasant, and I found myself at times going faster than I expected.  Part of me wanted to turn it up but another part knew that this feeling wouldn't last for long.  Once I was within sight of the Atlantic Ocean on mile 7, the wind went to overdrive and blasted me in the face.   This is what I would experience for almost two-thirds of the race.

For the next 10 miles I would struggle to keep myself around 7:15, only managing to do so for a few of those miles.  The inland stretch between miles 13 to 18 gave me relief from the wind but my energy was already spent and I focused on conserving what I had left.  No matter what was flying in my face in the last two miles I would put as much effort as I could into it.

As I turned the corner to get back on Route 1A and passed the 18-mile mark, I stepped it up.  The wind once again pushed hard.  Sand, debris, dehydration, and breathing problems all hit on that final stretch but I let my adrenaline take over and fought the weather as much as I could.  I did notice, however, that many runners were also struggling and falling off their mark too.  This was killing everyone, but I was determind not to let it kill me.

I pushed myself over the finish line under 2 hours, 26 minutes.  While I didn't hit the sub-2:25:00 that I wished for, it was better than I was expecting when I started the race.  Mother Nature threw a lot at me today, and I still ran my best time for a 20-mile run - almost a full minute over last year's time.  It's another good mark on my path toward the 3:10:59 marathon goal.

2010 Eastern States 20-miler Preview

This is the time of year where we start seeing signs of spring.  Some days bring May-like temperatures, others reminding us that winter hasn't quite left yet.  It's been a strange series of weather patterns even for this time of year and this weekend only emphasizes that.  however, all this teaches me one important lesson.

When running outdoors in a New England spring, be prepared for any weather.

As of now the Eastern Sates 20-miler, which starts in Kittery and ends at the border of Massachusetts, will have overcast skies and mid-40s temperatures.  I will have prepared clothing in case it's sunny and above 50, or rainy and below 40.  Until the morning of the race, it'll hard to tell what the weather of a very early spring will bring.

As evidenced by the map, the long road skirts the Atlantic Ocean and its often unforgiving March winds.  This year, repairs to the Seabrook Bridge has diverted the path of the course for 2010, hooking miles 13-18 inland.  The elevation doesn't change a lot - this was the transition from rough cliffs to sandy beaches along the coast - but the small rolling hills are more drawn-out.  The end of the race also changes this year as the last mile no longer reaches Salisbury but ends in Hampton Beach, just short of the Massachusetts border.  It's a bit disappointing that it won't be a 3-state run this year but thankfully my goals have nothing to do with the geography.

Speaking of goals, some of you are probably wondering what they are.  To be quite honest, I have nothing definite.  I would like to set a PR for the distance and get myself below the 2 hour, 25 minute mark, but I have no definite gauge of how I'll do after the bump in the road that was Hyannis.  Mileage has been a little low for the last 4 weeks and the only race I had was the 5K in Portland. (The Kerrymen 5K was postponed due to weather and slated for this Sunday, a day in which I obviously can't run it.)  It's tough to say if my legs will feel good enough to hold 7-minute miles consistently or if I'll feel well enough to finish strong in the last few miles.

There's only one way to find out....run it.

The March Laundry List

Today's Run:  7.07 miles through Bath (Work)
Total Time:  55 minutes, 55 seconds (7 minutes, 55 seconds per mile)
Type of run:  Easy
Total Miles this week:  27.35

It's been a quiet work week as far as running goes.  The times of my easy runs are back to normal.  The weather is calm and pleasant, averaging in the upper 40s.  Everything feels good and ready for the 5K this weekend.

The planning and scheduling phase, however, is far from quiet.  Here's my to-do list for the month of March:

Recover from Hyannis.  After the monkey wrench in my Marathon goal, the objective was to just make sure there were no lasting effects from the race.  After a week of very sluggish running and a respectable 5K, I seem to have returned to normal.  In essence, this objective is complete, but I still want to pay attention to muscle aches in my body and not push too far in my non-race runs for another week.

Run a race PR in the Irish Road Rover 5K.  I didn't really have any particular goal set - I just had two benchmarks to see how well I would recover from Hyannis:  beat 21:29 and get as close to 20 minutes as possible.  The former was reached, the latter was a bit unrealistic.  All in all, mission accomplished.

Register for the Eastern States 20-miler.  Done today.  It wasn't really a high priority to register right away but I wanted to make sure I got that done so I didn't have to worry about it.

Register for the Beach to Beacon 10K.  Today is open registration for Cape Elizabeth residents (of which I am not).  Tomorrow morning at 8AM is when official registration begins.  4,000 open slots to grab.  Last year it took 2 hours to fill 6,000 which makes it extremely important that I register as soon as the site goes up.

Run a race PR and beat 20 minutes in the Kerrymen 5K.  The PR time to beat is 20:20.

Run a 20-mile PR in the Eastern States race.  Sunday, March 28.  This is the important big race in between Hyannis and Sugarloaf.  The closer to 2 hours, 20 minutes I get in the race, the better.  Some changes are taking place in the race due to construction, so I'll keep a close eye on things and plan my strategy accordingly.


Then it's on to April!