ING Hartford Marathon

October 13th: 5:30am wakeup. Rolled around in bed for a few minutes before crawling out of bed to use the bathroom. Goupil was fast asleep so I made sure to be extra quiet when moving around. I used my iPhone as a flashlight to navigate in the pitch darkness. Grabbed the coffee maker and brought it into the bathroom. Cooked up some water for instant oatmeal (1.5 packets because it's a longer race). Ate my oatmeal while Goupil slowly awakened from his slumber at around 6ish. Some television watching and relaxing before the prepping began.

Changed up into some of my race day gear minus some of the accessories. Headed out for a pre-warmup just around the corner to make sure I shook up anything that was left in my intestines and to test out the weather. It was definitely chilly (frost coated grass), but no wind. Toes were cold by the time I made it back to the hotel. Back into the bathroom for the last remains. Out to change up into the rest of the gear (arm warmers, gloves, Buffalo Bills winter hat, cheap shorts and long sleeve shirt, Powerbar gels into the 3 pockets, band-aids on the nipples, petroleum jelly on the inside of the thighs and underarms, Nike Streaks). Some foam rolling and light stretching before heading downstairs to head over to the starting line.

Antsy at the beginning of the warmup and Goupil calmed me down. Easy jogging over to the start line. Arrived with plenty of time, but not too much. Found a couple college buddies (Zack Schwartz and Kerwin Vega running the half). Found my teammates (Aaron Knobloch and Kevin Treadway). National Anthem singing and ready to roll. Long sleeve and long shorts off. 35 degrees for the start and couldn't ask for better weather.

Off the front line well without minimal traffic. Settled in nicely in the middle of the pack (since the half marathon went off at the same time and followed the same 1st mile or so). Saw Kevin Treadyway (shooting for sub 69 out in front of me, which was a good indicator) and the Stotan guys in front of me.

Mile splits:
Mile 1 -  5:32
Mile 2 -  5:36 Hooked up with Pat Moulton and we worked together for the next 10 miles or so
Mile 3 -  5:29

Mile 4 -  5:38 Top of my left foot tightened up/cramping, but went away. Panic for a short bit

Mile 5 -  5:36 (27:53)

Mile 6/7 -  11:09 Did not mind missing a split and seeing the 2 mile split (Gel taken)

Mile 8 -  5:35

Mile 9 -  5:42 No problem, work back into it

Mile 10/11 - 11:05 (61:27) Sweetness

Mile 12 - 5:34 (Gel taken)

Mile 13 - 5:31

Half: 73:09 Feeling good, relaxed, and not too taxed. Nothing hurting

Mile 14 -  5:23 Cool, keep it going

Mile 15 -  5:22 What? Alright, just ride it out

Mile 16 -  5:31

Mile 17 -  5:34  

Mile 18/19 -  10:44  Downhill section that I didn't notice heading out on this road (mile 16 and 17 was the uphill section of these miles (Gel taken)

Mile 20 -  5:32 (1:50:41) 2nd 10 miles: 54:46

Mile 21 -  5:35 good

Mile 22 -  5:38 fine (Gel taken with some water his time)

Mile 23 -  5:42 okay

Mile 24 -  5:51 ouchies, my body is tightening, but I am too close to the finish to fall apart

Mile 25 - 5:44 better

Mile 26 - 5:44 Along this mile, I was yelling at myself to close it up and finish strong (out loud)

Mile .2 - 74 ahhhh!

2:26:13 and a second half in 73:04. Whoa! Sweet deal.

Immediately, my entire body cramped up and I was on the ground. A volunteer by the name of Vinny helped me to my feet and down the corral for a while. Continued down the corral to almost reach the exit before I realized I didn't have a finisher's medal. Damn. Backtracking through the crowd to reach a volunteer. I asked her where they were and she said she would grab one for me. I made the mistake of sitting down on the curb to wait for her. My legs throbbing and cramping with a pain face to match it. A fellow runner asked if I was okay and if I needed some help up. She assisted me up and brought me to my parents, Kimber, and to my surprise my sister Sarah and her fiance Bob. Cool! The woman who rescued me to my fan club was from the town over from where I grew up in Connecticut. Not too crazy since the marathon was in Connecticut, but still pretty neat.

At this point, my legs are in so much pain and I just needed to jog/shake my legs out. My dad brought me over to some open road to allow me to work out the kinks. I wish I had a video because it looked like I didn't even know how to walk. Stayed in the sun to keep warm. Found Goupil and we all walked back to the hotel ever so slowly and stumbling.

Shower, foam roll (as much as I could), and said my goodbyes to the family members. Kimber hung out for a little while more. Calf massage :) Kimber got picked up from her Dad around 1pm so Goupil and I headed down the street for lunch.

The rest of the day consisted of a whole lot of nothing. Sat in bed until about 6pm. No napping. Some icing. Dinner downstairs. Spicy buffalo wings, a Coors Light, and chocolate lava cake. Mmmm. It was perfect. Hung out with our teammate, Kevin Treadway and his girlfriend, at the hotel.

Bed by 11pm.

Great day with a 13+ minute PR in the marathon. Perfect weather. Felt prepared. Great day. Can't wait for the next one, whenever that will be in the future.