1:16:47
Finally, two weeks after the big 7 mile race, I'm getting around to doing this post! It’s been a whirlwind (a good whirlwind) lately, and here I am, ready to talk Falmouth. I have to thank again and again and again to everyone who donated to the race to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and have to give a huge shout out to Lindsay Briggs who inspired me to go down this path. She’s a helluva a phenomenal lady and I’m hoping sometime in the near future our paths cross and we actually meet in person.
So, here’s how the weekend went down:
I packed up my car and headed Northeast to New England but before I made it out
of Manhattan, I made a pit stop just off the West Side Highway at H&H Bagels. I thought the best NYC bagels would be a great gift for my hosts Annie and Mark. Well, that and two bottles of wine! Yummy! Oh, but the intention was not to have the bagels and wine at one sitting - that would be a bit odd, no? Although I love the taste of H&H Bagels, which I have all of about once every 3 or 4 months, by the time I got to CT, I regretted this purchase as the mixed smell of onions, garlic and God knows what else they throw on top of the everything bagel encompassed the car. I pulled over at a rest stop and threw them in the very rear of my mini-SUV thinking that would help, but who am I kidding? It didn’t help at all. It was like being back in the 80’s when one row of a plane or movie theater was the smoking section and the row immediately behind it was non-smoking. That never made much sense to me – there wasn’t some kind of magical air purifier in between the rows. Well, that’s what it was like in my car and since I passed through a few monsoons on the way up I didn't really have the opp to open the windows much. So, there went my new car smell I had held on to for the last 14 months. Gone in one smelly trip to The Cape.
Not surp
rising, the weekend summer traffic on I-95 was ridiculous and I instantly regretted not taking the Merrit Parkway. This bad decision cost me a lot of time and literally I sat in 20 miles of traffic. The good news was that my iPod was cranking and I was having my own private Karaoke session in the car, ignoring the looks from my fellow drivers. I thought about opening my windows at one point to let my pipes rip, but I feared that there might be a Simon Cowell amongst the other drivers. Time passed and finally after being trapped in my smelly car for 3 1/2 hours I was in New Haven and made a game time decision. Instead of heading East to The Cape, I decided to make a detour to Southie and would then hit The Cape on Saturday. So, that’s what I did.
Ok, in hind sight, I shouldv'e thought twice about this diversion for many reasons but mainly because I didn't get my much needed sleep since I stayed out a bit too late with di
nner at Cafe Portabella followed by a nightcap at neighboring bar, The Playwright. By 8am I was awake but dragging a little bit. There wasn't a Starbucks in sight for my chai tea, but the good news was that breakfast at Mul's in Southie made up for my early rising and late night. One of my college pals Michelle B. intro’d me to this Southie hot spot a couple of years ago. If you’re in the area, I implore you to check it out. It's got home cooking with just the right amount of grease to mop up the previous night’s damage. Yum!
After I filled
my belly, I gassed up the car and was off to The Cape and was excited to be heading to the place I considered a second home as a child with my family vacationing there for many years for a week or two at a time each summer and sometimes we'd go back in the fall. Nothing like hanging on the dunes in Wellfleet in the crisp Autumn air. Before my final destination, I stopped by the race expo to pick up my number and have a look around at all of the vendors pushing their products – everything from running skirts (score one for me in the great running skirt debate) to carb and energy laden snacks with promises of boosting a runner’s energy. Although I was ridiculously exhausted, I was instantly charged when entering the room; going to these pre-race expos always gives me a little bit of a high with the anticipation of the race and the excitement of all runners.
Finally, I arrived at Annie and Mark's pad and was happily greeted by their three adorable kids Max, Abbie and Kate. I felt like a little bit of a celeb upon arrival. It's as if they'd been waiting all morning and after my long journey I have to admit, it sure felt good to have people that were excited to see me! So, how did I reward these wonderful angels? I handed them the bag of the (smelly) NY bagels and after a quick bite to eat (Annie is an incredible hostess) she and I met up with Michelle B. and Sue. Nothing like an ice cold beer on a deck in the Cape Cod sun and shortly after, we found ourselves picnicking on the beach. Man, I was in paradise…great company, great burrito, a really cold beer and perfect Cape weather. If I could freeze time and throw it in a bottle and re-visit it every now and then, I’d throw that moment in there.
I was off to b
ed by 10pm and rose at 6am. I'm happy to say, no alarm clock needed! Dave F. offered to give me a lift, but Annie's bro-in-law Bert won the honors (LOL!) and after we carbed up on our H&H Bagels, off we went to his friend's house, which was between Mile 4 and Mile 5 of the race course. From there we were then driven to another home which was on a street one block from the start of the race. You know what that meant for me folks, no porto-potty! A woo hoo! I later learned Bert told Annie he thought I was nervous because I was hitting "the john" so much. Nahhh, not at all - just trying to avoid any kind of porto-potty situation and happy to say my strategy worked!
The race start was 10am, so off I went to the start line at 9:45am diligently looking for D
ave F. and Colleen S. who I thought would be around or at about my start time. No dice. Who was I kidding? The place was so jam packed and not even really tall guy or red head would be stand outs in this crowd. So, I do what I do best and chatted up some cute guys (check them out on the right!) and then off went the gun (or horn, who knows!) and we were running! And yes, there I was once again chasing cute guys - - some things never change! (Ok - that was a really goofy joke, but I crack myself up sometimes!)
Then finally, I hit the much talked about "big hill" before the finish. I actually thought the Finish Line was immediately following the hill, but it wasn't. It felt far away, but really wasn't. I looked around in the crowds for anyone I knew, but didn't see anyone, but the support wasn't lacking from total strangers. I later learned that Annie was there as well as JJ watching Dave F. finish ahead of me. Check out his pic on the left - what a happy runner! (Congrats Dave on a strong finish!) I finished the last part of the race, soaking in the crowd, the sun and the incredible view of the soft sand and Atlantic Ocean. I knew in my bones it wasn't one of the best races I've run, but continued to put my best foot forward, telling myself I was "having fun". And with that, I crossed the Finish Line with an unofficial time of 1:16:47. (Official results to be posted 8/27.) I was a bit defeated, but knew I'd be back again next year with the challenge of crushing that time...
So, here’s how the weekend went down:
I packed up my car and headed Northeast to New England but before I made it out
of Manhattan, I made a pit stop just off the West Side Highway at H&H Bagels. I thought the best NYC bagels would be a great gift for my hosts Annie and Mark. Well, that and two bottles of wine! Yummy! Oh, but the intention was not to have the bagels and wine at one sitting - that would be a bit odd, no? Although I love the taste of H&H Bagels, which I have all of about once every 3 or 4 months, by the time I got to CT, I regretted this purchase as the mixed smell of onions, garlic and God knows what else they throw on top of the everything bagel encompassed the car. I pulled over at a rest stop and threw them in the very rear of my mini-SUV thinking that would help, but who am I kidding? It didn’t help at all. It was like being back in the 80’s when one row of a plane or movie theater was the smoking section and the row immediately behind it was non-smoking. That never made much sense to me – there wasn’t some kind of magical air purifier in between the rows. Well, that’s what it was like in my car and since I passed through a few monsoons on the way up I didn't really have the opp to open the windows much. So, there went my new car smell I had held on to for the last 14 months. Gone in one smelly trip to The Cape.Not surp
rising, the weekend summer traffic on I-95 was ridiculous and I instantly regretted not taking the Merrit Parkway. This bad decision cost me a lot of time and literally I sat in 20 miles of traffic. The good news was that my iPod was cranking and I was having my own private Karaoke session in the car, ignoring the looks from my fellow drivers. I thought about opening my windows at one point to let my pipes rip, but I feared that there might be a Simon Cowell amongst the other drivers. Time passed and finally after being trapped in my smelly car for 3 1/2 hours I was in New Haven and made a game time decision. Instead of heading East to The Cape, I decided to make a detour to Southie and would then hit The Cape on Saturday. So, that’s what I did.Ok, in hind sight, I shouldv'e thought twice about this diversion for many reasons but mainly because I didn't get my much needed sleep since I stayed out a bit too late with di
nner at Cafe Portabella followed by a nightcap at neighboring bar, The Playwright. By 8am I was awake but dragging a little bit. There wasn't a Starbucks in sight for my chai tea, but the good news was that breakfast at Mul's in Southie made up for my early rising and late night. One of my college pals Michelle B. intro’d me to this Southie hot spot a couple of years ago. If you’re in the area, I implore you to check it out. It's got home cooking with just the right amount of grease to mop up the previous night’s damage. Yum!After I filled
my belly, I gassed up the car and was off to The Cape and was excited to be heading to the place I considered a second home as a child with my family vacationing there for many years for a week or two at a time each summer and sometimes we'd go back in the fall. Nothing like hanging on the dunes in Wellfleet in the crisp Autumn air. Before my final destination, I stopped by the race expo to pick up my number and have a look around at all of the vendors pushing their products – everything from running skirts (score one for me in the great running skirt debate) to carb and energy laden snacks with promises of boosting a runner’s energy. Although I was ridiculously exhausted, I was instantly charged when entering the room; going to these pre-race expos always gives me a little bit of a high with the anticipation of the race and the excitement of all runners.Finally, I arrived at Annie and Mark's pad and was happily greeted by their three adorable kids Max, Abbie and Kate. I felt like a little bit of a celeb upon arrival. It's as if they'd been waiting all morning and after my long journey I have to admit, it sure felt good to have people that were excited to see me! So, how did I reward these wonderful angels? I handed them the bag of the (smelly) NY bagels and after a quick bite to eat (Annie is an incredible hostess) she and I met up with Michelle B. and Sue. Nothing like an ice cold beer on a deck in the Cape Cod sun and shortly after, we found ourselves picnicking on the beach. Man, I was in paradise…great company, great burrito, a really cold beer and perfect Cape weather. If I could freeze time and throw it in a bottle and re-visit it every now and then, I’d throw that moment in there.
I was off to b
ed by 10pm and rose at 6am. I'm happy to say, no alarm clock needed! Dave F. offered to give me a lift, but Annie's bro-in-law Bert won the honors (LOL!) and after we carbed up on our H&H Bagels, off we went to his friend's house, which was between Mile 4 and Mile 5 of the race course. From there we were then driven to another home which was on a street one block from the start of the race. You know what that meant for me folks, no porto-potty! A woo hoo! I later learned Bert told Annie he thought I was nervous because I was hitting "the john" so much. Nahhh, not at all - just trying to avoid any kind of porto-potty situation and happy to say my strategy worked!The race start was 10am, so off I went to the start line at 9:45am diligently looking for D
ave F. and Colleen S. who I thought would be around or at about my start time. No dice. Who was I kidding? The place was so jam packed and not even really tall guy or red head would be stand outs in this crowd. So, I do what I do best and chatted up some cute guys (check them out on the right!) and then off went the gun (or horn, who knows!) and we were running! And yes, there I was once again chasing cute guys - - some things never change! (Ok - that was a really goofy joke, but I crack myself up sometimes!) The first mile actually felt really good as I hugged the left side of the street and passed quite a few people. I was feeling good, but after three miles of hills, I realized I was nowhere near the pace I was training at and suddenly remembered the e-mail from Dave F. a couple of months ago telling me not to stress, that for my first Falmouth race, my pace might be down. I mean, the dude was spot on. I felt like I was crawling.
I have to admit, I was frustrated realizing that while I was running through Mile 3, may people had already crossed the Finish Line. I tried to keep my focus and enjoy the view, forgetting that after I came out of the "woods" I was literally melting. I took every opportunity I could to run through a hose that many of the local fans were spraying on the runners and grabbed water from anyone that was offering it. Then at about mile 4 or so, I saw a gal who needed some help - nothing major. I stopped and asked her what I could do; she looked down and out and said, "I trained but I didn't expect this. My time is awful. And you shouldn't stop for me - go on. " I refused and assured her she was doing a great job and then Ken D.'s words rang in my head and I found myself repeating them to her, "Just have fun." And, within a minute or so we were off to finish the final 2 miles.
At about Mile 5, I caught up to some red head and shouted out, "Colleen, Colleen, is 
that you?" thinking it was Colleen S., fellow Stonehiller and gal that introduced me to this race. Clearly I was delirious as the gal turned around and said, "No. but you're not the first person today who's mistaken me for someone else." Oops, my bad! (See the real Colleen S. in the middle in pic with a strong finish!) Embarrassed by the mistake and I don't know how I did this, I pulled ahead of her. Mmm...maybe this is a strategy I should embark on for every step of the race next year...
that you?" thinking it was Colleen S., fellow Stonehiller and gal that introduced me to this race. Clearly I was delirious as the gal turned around and said, "No. but you're not the first person today who's mistaken me for someone else." Oops, my bad! (See the real Colleen S. in the middle in pic with a strong finish!) Embarrassed by the mistake and I don't know how I did this, I pulled ahead of her. Mmm...maybe this is a strategy I should embark on for every step of the race next year... Then finally, I hit the much talked about "big hill" before the finish. I actually thought the Finish Line was immediately following the hill, but it wasn't. It felt far away, but really wasn't. I looked around in the crowds for anyone I knew, but didn't see anyone, but the support wasn't lacking from total strangers. I later learned that Annie was there as well as JJ watching Dave F. finish ahead of me. Check out his pic on the left - what a happy runner! (Congrats Dave on a strong finish!) I finished the last part of the race, soaking in the crowd, the sun and the incredible view of the soft sand and Atlantic Ocean. I knew in my bones it wasn't one of the best races I've run, but continued to put my best foot forward, telling myself I was "having fun". And with that, I crossed the Finish Line with an unofficial time of 1:16:47. (Official results to be posted 8/27.) I was a bit defeated, but knew I'd be back again next year with the challenge of crushing that time...OK, I can't continue this posting here, right now - - it'd be WAY TOO long and since most of us are ADD or actually busy at work, I'm gonna finish this tomorrow to let you know what happened post race and to give a big, fat proper thank you to all those that supported me and give another reminder about the importance of organ donation and homage to Miss Briggs...
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