 |
> home
> community >
discussion forums > run and race reports
> breakers marathon - newport ri
|
    |
 |
| > rules | > faq | > e-mail to a friend | moderator: hup, , , crunningman
 |
 |
| Author |
Topic: Breakers Marathon - Newport RI |
Penikese
Member |
 posted Oct-21-2007 12:30 PM
  
This was a new course for the the Breakers Marathon going from a triple loop course to a single loop taking us through Newport (Ocean Drive & the mansions) and into Middletown. It was a very nice and scenic course. I enjoyed going through Fort Adams and Ocean Drive afforded beautiful views (and early enough to enjoy them!). Middletown is also beautiful and Sachusett Point was pretty. I was surprised to see probably 40 surfers in the water at second Beach, pretty cool. Some hills at the end but not too bad. It was well organized with adequate water stations. At the end they had boiled lobsters and chowder which is a great spread but I did not partake because I wanted to get home to my kids, and truth be told I didn't feel like chowing down. Maybe next year. The temperature wasn't bad (low to mid 60's) something I was concerned about because the temperature had risen in these parts to high 60's low 70's the latter part of the week. It was very humid though.I finished in 3:08:41 which I am very pleased with. My official (publicly stated) goal was 3:10, but I was secretly hoping for 3:08. My BQ time was 3:20, so I'm in! This was my first marathon, which definitely effected my strategy and confidence. I stuck to a conservative game plan, going out slowly. I was able to run a negative split. I went out 20 seconds over my goal pace for the first 3, then pretty much kept it at 7:15 until 13 when I sped up a little. I made up a little time until 20 miles where my pacing slipped a little over the next 2 miles. I did notice a couple of guys walking at this point. At 23 I hooked up with a guy who looked strong. We chatted for a little bit and I learned he had run Steamtown (I was amazed at how strong he looked for a guy who had run a BQ 2 weeks ago). Anyway, I think he realized I had a little more gas in the tank (I was WAY too chatty at mile 23!) and he urged me to kick it up. "Put the hammer down" as he said. When someone says that you can't just speed up a little - you have to really speed up, right? So we were doing probably 7:00 minute miles at this point so I pushed it to what felt fast but doable. Much to my surprise my Garmin was telling me 6:15 to 6:30 pace. I was able to maintain this pace more or less through the last 2 miles that included the biggest hills of the entire course. I passed one guy and almost caught another (he beat me by 1 second. Arghh.) I probably did the last 2 miles in under 13 minutes. In retrospect I probably should have done my middle miles a tad faster as I did have more at the end (even though it WAS painful). I wasn't totally spent at the end, so that is heartening. This being my first marathon I was afraid of going too hard and bonking and I really had no experience to inform me as to what is too fast. Now I have a better idea. All in all, good fun. Next stop:
"I'm shipping up to Boston.
I'm shipping off...to find my wooden leg." bhearn: As you can see I was in Newport not Oregon. I now realize I was behind you just leaving Fort Adams, I think. You were wearing a yellow shirt, right?. I said to myself: look at that guy with the dress (analog) watch with the metal band (very unconventional since most runners at a minimum require the more precise timing of a digital/sports watch and frequently are "gadget freaks") how refreshing i thought (well maybe perplexing, or at least noteworthy). This set me off on an analysis of runners' personality types- from the hyper-anal type (engineer/scientist) to the more organic (feel) types. Thanks, your watch choice yesterday provided some distraction for the better part of Ocean Drive. You looked quite strong for a guy who did a 3:08 less than 2 weeks ago. You're amazing! I'll introduce myself next time.
IP: Logged |
runninlaw
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-21-2007 02:14 PM
Congratulations! Your race sounds very much like my second marathon (and BQ). While you may have been a bit more conservative than you needed to - I bet those last couple of miles felt awesome! Not only a BQ, but a big negative split and the ability to pick up the pace by almost 1 minute per mile. Good for you!!Sounds like a nice race - the lobsters at the end sound great - although I don't know how many people could stomach lobsters after 26.2. Recover well and congrats again. It was fun "training" with you! ~R
IP: Logged |
bhearn
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-21-2007 02:57 PM
Great report! And congratulations again. "Some hills at the end but not too bad" -- heh. I had mapped out the course on gmap-pedometer, since there was no elevation profile on the website, and from that it looked like a mountain at mile 20. Not too bad for me since I wasn't really racing all out, but I did think it made for a rather challenging course, certainly if you weren't prepared for it, which most people probably weren't (see "no elevation profile"). The guy I wound up running next to most of the race was asking me about hills, starting around mile 8 or 9 -- I told him "it's pretty flat until 17, then fairly hilly, with the biggest hill at 20." He said: "this is flat???". Evidently when you train in New Hampshire your perspective is a bit different from a New Yorker's.  Anyway, I'd bet you could easily run a few minutes faster on a less challenging course, with better weather, let alone whatever you had left in the tank. You might begin to think about sub-3 at Boston, actually (though that is not an easier course). Glad I could offer you some distraction with my backup wristwear. Actually that's why I was ahead of you at Fort Adams. I'd planned on holding an even 7:35 pace until the hills started, but it was too hard to read the little minute hand on my stopwatch while I was running. So I went out too fast. When I met up with the New Yorker he called out the splits to me, and I got a bit saner. Yeah, actually I am one of those hyper-anal, engineer/scientist gadget freaks. I would have been tearing my hair out when I found the Garmin dead if this had not been a fun run. I did partake of the chowder and lobster. That's a first -- by lobster, I mean, everybody gets a whole lobster. Wow. Then I toured "The Breakers" -- the Vanderbilts' "summer cottage" in Newport. This is a usage of the word "cottage" I'm not familiar with, as most cottages do not have 70 rooms.
IP: Logged |
Butchie
Member |
posted Oct-22-2007 10:56 AM
I'm not a flatlander, and I thought ithe second half was pretty hilly. I've run the Newport Half a few times, and figured that there wouldn't be any bad hills beyond the turn off Indian Ave.- wrong! Anyway, I thought the course was great and the entire production was very well done. Would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great marathon experience, as opposed to "using this to qualify". At the end I was speaking with a guy who had just missed his BQ time, and it seemed to have ruined the whole experience for him.Challenging course, great production, lobster at the end- appreciate it for what it is! (Editorial ends here.)
IP: Logged |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
