#runningforrescues

Rhinebeck Marathon

May 11, 2019

I have to say, this has become one of the races I look forward to the most each year.  This is one of those wonderful small town races- smaller crowd, smaller amount of runners, no dodging around everything.  Made itin the night before, so I could spend some time visit with my parents.  Grabbed the obligatory pre-marathon pizza, and relaxed for the night.  

The drive on race day is only about half an hour, and its all backroads, so nice and quiet, but still have to be on the lookout for deer, porcupines, raccoons, opossums, etc- only thing that didn't make an appearance this year was the porcupines.  Got there with plenty of time, although parking is never an issue here since the race is staged at the Dutchess County fairgrounds(best part about that is the flushing toilets!!!).  Got my bib(i get to be #1 again!!!), and the great tshirts- they're women's cut, a nice design/logo, and they're soooo soft.  Pre race was the usual ritual, and its time to head out into the not too warm, but rather windy, day.

The marathon goes off, and away we go! This is a 2 loop course, which helps to keep you from feeling too all alone- the only really quiet point of this race is the first part of the second loop from the marathoners- you aren't passing the tail end of the half marathon, and you haven't hit the out and back yet.  The wind isn't quite as bad once you get running- its helping to keep me cool, but its also not as bad, with all the tree cover(also means its not too sunny either).

I'm not feeling too bad as we begin- this wasn't my goal race for the spring, even though it is my only marathon- I knew from last year that likely I wouldn't be fully recovered from Lake Waramaug, so really pushing it was out of the question, i'll leave that till the fall.  Lots of rolling hills through here, which makes me happy.  I know that's not considered perfect conditions, but when its the majority of what you run, it feels easier, and less straining then an all flat course.

The first loop is going well, and ive reached the out and back for the first time.  As wel go along, some of the leading men are already coming back(theyre so fast!!), and thankfully, no deer run out into the road this year.  I reach the turnaround, and head back down the hill.  And heres where it gets fun- there's a tree branch.  But am I paying attention? Nope! So for the second race in 2 weeks, ive tripped over a tree branch. Thankfully this time I didn't cut my leg, but instead jammed up my hip real good.  I hobble trying to test it, some of the initial shock and cramping settles some, and I can at least keep running.  I'm trying to figure out if this is going to hold up, but ive got a couple miles to do it, as that's when the first loop ends. I get back into town, head down to whats the end of the halfers, and the start of the second for us.  The timing mat is there, and I'm going to cross it just over 2 hours. I confirm with the volunteers- the time cutoff is 6 hours, so if it gives out, ive got 4 hours to finish the second half.

The start of the second loop is quiet- there's only 100 marathoners or so, so we are pretty spread out by this point.  My hip isn't great, its tight, and its affecting my whole gait.  I decide the plan is to walk through the water stops to give it a chance to calm down, as these water stops are really well spaced.  I keep hobble stepping along, its not getting worse, but its not working itself out either(guess ill be taking a few days off after this!!). To be honest I don't remember tons about the second half- pain has a funny way of doing that.  I don't know about you, but when I'm in pain, even if I can focus on something in short term, that's not what I remember in the long term.  I think I appreciated the fact that this happened on a course I know so well- this is the 4th time in running this race, so I know exactly what happens, and that makes it so much easier to just zone out and foccus on finishing.

Finally hit the out and back, I know its not much farther from here.  This is where the biggest crowds are, and where it feels there's more runners.  On the upside, fueling is going well, and I'm not having any of the cramping that was plaguing me at lake waramaugh, so there's that.  I walk a few points along here, because this hip is starting to be more unhappy than it has been.  And finally the out and back is done, and its just the run back to town.  Up some hills, up some more hills, as we climb back up from Rhinecliff, which is really the low point of the course(its right by the Hudson), and then not much climb back up out before the out and back.  And finally the last road, and straightaway before making the left turn to home.    I keep running through here- at this point I. Just. Want. To. Be. Done.

And then I am!  It's a new personal worst, but that was out of my control today.

Final stats:

4:28:24, 64/100 overall, 20/40 women, 9/11 women 30-39