47th Sub-3-hour Marathon State: The Maine Redo

My Maine Objective: Get this done and eat lobster rolls!

The Maine Marathon in Portland, ME was a great race in 2014 when I attempted it as the 2nd day of a double weekend marathon (2:56 in NH on Sat and 3:03 in ME on Sun) and the only state redo to date in which I returned to the same race. I really wanted that double sub-3 weekend in 2014 but that's a tough feat! I'm over it... call it my only DNF.

It's been 3 weeks since successfully redoing Wyoming. Over the years, I've found a 3-4 week recovery time to be ideal even if the thought of this race in the hours after WY didn't seem like a good idea... and as such, wasn't booked. This is marathon number 6 for the year, on the downslope of a bell curve with 2016 & 2017 being the peak at 9 a piece. It is nice to approach the finish with a lighter schedule.

Also, we're here for the beer. Some of the Libertyville Running Club was tagging along this weekend. Ted and I arrived in Portland Friday afternoon and did some damage at Oxbow Brewing. They moved to downtown Portland from their old location in a garage by Allagash Brewing; their success is not surprising, it's good beer. Good thing we had Saturday to recover!

This is Ted carb-loading at Oxbow Brewing

Of course, after a shakeout run the next morning along the Eastern Promenade to The Holy Donut, one of my favorite donut shops in the country, we found ourselves at Mash Tun, a craft beer bar, where Charles and Andrew joined us. We kept it fairly low-key the day before the race with the expo, pasta takeout back at the Airbnb, then bed.

Shaking down the steam engine

The Holy Donut

A good night sleep is important!

There are two things about east coast running that I've come to love: they start their races later and they've got a lot of fast runners. There are many sub-3 runners at this marathon of about 750 finishers and my plan was to run with Ted to a 2:58, what would be his first sub-3-hour marathon.

We started at 7:45am with the 1:30 half marathon pacer since there is no 3:00 marathon pacer and ran the first 3 miles at 6:43/mile each. Consistent! It's a pretty out-and-back course with some rolling hills, the hardest being miles 9-11 then their return at miles 16-18. I was losing Ted at the halfway point and as much as I wanted to stick with him, I knew I'd be cutting it close. I lost my watches at this point. No need to panic, right?

For the past year, I've had a Fitbit Ionic. I really like its interface and app more than Garmin but Garmin reigns supreme for GPS watches. Hence the two watches in this pic, neither of which were working for most of this race. My 6-year old Garmin Forerunner 620 died at mile 8 and the Fitbit didn't get a signal from about that point on. Here I am, running naked again!

I did some mental math every mile marker to make sure I would be under 3 hours. The headwind on the return added to the difficulty. At mile 24, I was comfortable knowing that 7:30/miles would bring me into a 2:58:18 finish, 22nd overall and 1st place in the 40-44 age group. Who's smiling about that, me?

Mile 26, sub-3-hour state marathon #47

Once the fellas finished, it was time to celebrate. After showers, we drove up to Maine Beer Company for one of my favorite anti-NEIPA breweries; clean and simple beers, I love it! After that, we stopped into Allagash Brewing Company for some free flights, maybe because we were all wearing the marathon shirt? They had a food truck serving lobster rolls which almost mirrored the all-you-can-eat lobster brunch I hit up after the 2014 marathon at Harraseeket Inn near Maine Beer Company.

Maine Beer Company decisions...

Matching shirts, northeast fall foliage

After a brief stop at Bissell Brothers Brewing, we parked the car at our Airbnb then continued into the night with Liquid Riot Bottling Co. and Tomaso's Canteen, the dive bar across the street from our place... we probably didn't need that stop.

LRC Bros. at Bissell Bros.

3 more sub-3-hour state marathons to go! When I think back to my 3rd sub-3-hour state in 2010 at the Napa Valley Marathon, I never could have imagined I would be here. I'm grateful I've got friends that have tagged along for many of these races making the experience unique and more memorable.

Oh right, the lobster rolls were first-rate! I had 4 this weekend. See ya in 2020 to wrap up this 50 sub-3-hour state marathon goal!

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!