21/50 - Maine Marathon

That lobster roll in New Hampshire was the beginning of what was going to be an epic gustation of lobsters! Maine is one of my favorite states for this and myriad other reasons. Its coastal beauty, idyllic New England charm (and chowder!), its preponderance of Volvos and oysters, and simple lifestyles make it a state that I yearn to retire in. I will jump at any chance that I can to revisit it.

It was a 2.5 hour drive from Bristol, NH. We arrived in Portland, went to the expo, then checked into our hotel; the one The Wife booked in the 11th hour because I happen to be a procrastinator when it comes to booking all the travel associated with these marathons. I prefer to be spontaneous and free but unfortunately in this situation, it would have resulted in sleeping in the car because all the hotels were booked. Lucky for me, this hotel was about a mile from the start line but more importantly, really close to a great bar we stumbled upon called The Great Lost Bear (the website alone is worth a visit for its awesomeness - www.greatlostbear.com). I may be biased given my affinity for bears, but this place was the bee's knees. Chicken wings and beer - that was my pre-marathon dinner for the second of a double marathon.

The race started at 7:45am. The east coast likes to sleep in and I appreciated that today. I woke up feeling great considering yesterday's race. My back was still in pain but this time I just toughed it out; I had an unexpected tinge of pain resurface for the first 4 miles of this race. Back in July of 2013, I tore a calf muscle prior to the Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon in Washington. I was beginning to feel that same uncomfortable sensation until the adrenaline kicked in. I managed a pretty decent run after that until the fatigue set in at mile 23.

I finished the Maine Marathon in 3:03:24 (7:00/mile pace), tied for 24th out of 1,027 finishers. I'm the analytical type so I was curious what my deterioration rate was from race #1 to race #2. The first time I did this with KY & OH, it was 5.5% (a 10-minute difference). This time, it was 4.0% (a 6-minute difference). My average race time for this weekend was 3:00:02. All races were Boston qualifying times for my age group. Details within: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/606053611

Now for the good part... We found an all-you-can-eat lobster brunch! With 6 whole lobsters between the two of us, we walked away in the black. Down the street was the most clean and sterile brewery I've ever been to - Maine Beer Company (www.mainebeercompany.com). They had a maple syrup stout only served at the brewery called 2014. We went back the next day after visiting Allagash (www.allagash.com) and L.L. Bean for more of it while doing NPR crossword puzzles at their picnic table on a beautiful fall afternoon.

After relocating to www.theregency.com near the wharf in downtown Portland for a few nights, we continued our quest for oysters and lobsters. Being the donut connoisseur that I am, I staked out The Holy Donut (www.theholydonut.com) on Facebook months ago and it just happened to be a block from the hotel (coincidence?). This is the stuff of my donut dreams... After a walk to the west end neighborhood of Portland for the best breakfast corned beef hash (www.hotsuppa.com) the following morning, we began our journey home with a stop at www.smuttynose.com of course!

20/50 - New Hampshire Marathon

There is a common thought had by most people after running their first marathon. That thought of course is, "I will never do this again!". I had that same thought after my first marathon, Chicago in 2001, and then after the first time I ran two marathons in the same weekend with the Kentucky Derby Marathon and the Flying Pig Marathon in 2011. Never. Again. Or so I said...

Here we are, three weeks after running the Presque Isle Marathon. Given all the travel required to run 50 marathons in 50 states, it is occasionally advantageous to run a few back-to-back. There are several marathons that make this ideal and often you'll be among like company with Marathon Maniacs and 50 State Club members - perplexingly, I'm not a member of either. I've always held a philosophy that running with friends should not cost you a membership fee. That being said, these are still wonderful clubs with incredible people.

Being the road trip enthusiast that I am, and knowing all the breweries we were planning to visit, we drove the car. If you've ever driven through New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine, you know that the shortest route between point A and point B is about 7 different 2-lane highways and an additional 150 miles! If you can accept that, there are some beautiful, quintessential New England towns inhabiting a landscape of rolling hills dotted with balsam fir, white and black spruce, and various species of pine, maple, oak and birch trees, in various metachromatic stages. Each charming town contains a steepled, white church and a general store and not much else.

We spent an entire day driving all over Vermont in pursuit of beer in what was considered prime fall foliage. Vermont has a reputation for some of the best IPAs produced partly for their excellence in craft and partly from scarcity due to small-scale production. The day started out very much like a scavenger hunt - following beer delivery times (www.lawsonsfinest.com and www.alchemistbeer.com only get delivered in small amounts to a few general stores in the area weekly), adhering to limited tasting room hours (www.hillfarmstead.com is an anomaly in of itself. I could write an entire post about the inconceivable hype for this beer and its inability to live up to it), and mapping the best routes. We also managed to stumble upon Ben & Jerry's headquarters for a tour and tasting. I highly recommend this quirky stop if ever you're in the area. In the end, we drove away with a car full of beer and one contradictory conclusion: we are so over this game of acquiring rare beer that is akin to collecting baseball cards when I was a kid. That being said, I was going out with a bang on this trip; a last hurrah if you will.

We had the day to lounge on our wrap-around porch at a historic bed & breakfast (www.thewhipplehouse.com) near the start line of the marathon. The mayberry-esque view was an ideal setting to enjoy some of these beers and a lobster roll on the afternoon before the race. Joining us at the Inn were two other couples also doing the double marathon. In fact, I met a lot of runners in New Hampshire and very few were not running the double marathon!

Small town races have their charm. There are usually 200 - 400 runners. The townspeople and participants are most gracious and friendly, and the passion for the sport is not as lost in translation as compared to that of huge production races. Don't get me wrong, I love them both. However, there is something special about the local freemasons at the New Hampshire Marathon volunteering to serve runners a pasta dinner at their masonic temple complete with a dozen of their different homemade pasta sauces along with other goodies that you won't find at the New York City Marathon. It makes the personal and economic impact you are making on the host city palpable.

Now let's talk marathon. I divulged the training I did for this double marathon in the Presque Isle Marathon post 3 weeks ago: double long run weekends, speed and hill workouts, and 46-mile weeks on average. I really wasn't thinking too much about the races this weekend. I was hoping to get as close to breaking 3 hours at both of them as I could but mostly looking to enjoy myself; these were fairly hilly and scenic courses. When I ran the double marathons at KY & OH, I finished in 2:59 and 3:09, respectively.

I woke up the morning of the race and threw my back out; I was just thinking I hadn't done this in years! There is always something, psychosomatic or otherwise, to fret over before a race. Luckily I found some Aleve and after a few miles, I hardly noticed any pain. This marathon started at 9:00am with a 10K on a cool, grey and dreary day yielding rain at times. I started with a couple of 7-minute miles but noticed I was in 6th place after the 10K runners turned off. Knowing that there was prize money for finishing in the top 3, I started picking up the pace. There is a massive hill at mile 10 that I used to my advantage (all those hill workouts paid off!) and was soon jockeying with someone for 2nd & 3rd place. He and I worked together until mile 19 when I started picking up the pace for the final 10K (my new technique). Details within: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/605367696

I finished in 2nd out of 281 finishers in 2:56:39 (6:45/mile pace) with $150 in prize money! I always said that I would quit running marathons if I could win one. Truth be told, I really don't want to quit! I had a great masseuse after the race work on my back then we were off to Portland, ME to do it again tomorrow.

This:

Had to fit into this:

Also, I'm going to start adding the race photo, as ridiculous as some may be, to each post from now on. I'll see how far back I can do this for previous posts.