Beach to Beacon 2017

I ran another race! Two blogs posts and two races in 8 days? It’s almost like I’m back to being a runner blogger!

Elite Women! I heart Shalene

So my second race post baby couldn’t have been more different than my first. Peak’s Island is a low key, small race while Beach to Beacon is a major event. For those of you not familiar with the race, The Beacon to Beacon 10k was founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson (the1984 Olympic marathon gold medalist) who wanted to bring world class running to her home state. This year’s race had more than 7,000 runners and featured elite runners Mary Keitany (who set a new women’s record at the London Marathon), Shalene Flanagan, Abdi Abdirahman, Stephen Kosgei Kibet. It is pretty amazing to have these world class runners just minutes from my house!

nice guys at the bike valet

The race totally takes over the small town of Cape Elizabeth for the weekend. I was hoping to beat the crowds by heading to the expo as soon as it opened at 4 pm on Thursday, but apparently a lot of people had the same idea! Luckily, it is incredibly well organized so I still had my bib and shirt within just a few minutes. I had planned to stay and browse the expo a bit, but it was really hot and I had a sweaty baby strapped to my chest. So I just said a quick hello to the ladies at the Spandits booth and then headed home.

bathroom line selfie

Race morning is a little more complicated with a baby, especially since I’m still breastfeeding. I have to either feed him or pump as close to the start of the race as possible, which in this race was a good 2 hours before the race started. With a point to point race in a small town, traffic on race morning is also an issue. Luckily, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine started offering a bike valet service a few years ago. This is absolutely the way to go! I had a nice 3.5 mile bike ride warm-up to Fort Williams Park, checked my bike in, and then hopped on a shuttle bus to the start. It was so easy and stress free! 

My one complaint about this race is that there are never enough porta-potties! Knowing this, I skipped my pre-race coffee in favor of a straight up caffeine pill (#hardcore). So I only had to wait in the long bathroom lines once. Then I found my husband who was working, providing security at the start, and then headed to the corals.

I was not exactly raring to go. I’d barely slept the night before and had also made the mistake of doing a million deadlifts on Thursday so my legs were super sore. So I decided to just go out at a pace that felt comfortable and see what happened.  Once I got running, the energy of the crowds and the other runners definitely helped motivate me, but I never felt the surge of energy and motivation I felt during the Peak’s Island race. It was also incredibly humid, I felt like I was running through a cloud. The first couple miles are mostly flat, with couple gradual downhills, then the next 2 miles are a gradual uphill followed a big downhill and then steep rolling hills in the final 2 miles.

The Beach to Bacon sign on one of the final hills always makes me laugh. Probably the only time in my life I say no to free bacon.

I just kept running at a comfortably hard effort, only checking my pace at the mile markers, and not stressing about my pace. As I clicked off the first couple miles I realized I was on pace to finish in under 54 minutes so I made that my goal. I actually ended up way under that: 51:40- a 8:19 pace. I’ll take it!

The beacon behind the finish line

creeping on the elites at the finish- that's Deena Kastor in black!

I got my medal, took a finish picture, and then booked it to the Dunkin Donuts tent! After skipping my morning coffee, I had a major craving! Iced coffee in hand, I headed through the food tent and then ate my blueberry bagel, blueberries, and watermelon. There are a lot of fun things to do after the race, but I skipped them this year because it had been 4 hours since I pumped and I was getting uncomfortable. Plus I missed my baby!

Thanks to the bike valet I was home in less than 15 minutes- unlike all the other people stuck in traffic in their cars! After a second strong race performance I think it is safe to say I'm officially back in shape after having a baby. Now what?

Beach to Beacon 2015

Beach to Beacon is one of Maine's biggest and most prestigious races. Every year thousands flock to Cape Elizabeth to run the 10k, including some of the best elite runners in the world. Last year Meb ran! As a Maine runner, I really wanted to run the race and see what all the hype is about!

Unfortunately, we were in New Zealand on the day of race registration. The race sells out in minutes, so I figured I was out of luck. But then just last week, my husband was able to get me a bib through his job. Yeah!!

Although this is only a 10k, it feels like a major marathon. The expo is good, there is a separate night of kids' races, the t-shirts are really nice, and the post race festivities are awesome.

However since the population of the town basically doubles on race weekend, the traffic can be atrocious. Luckily, I got to avoid all that thanks to a bike valet put on by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine. I had a nice little 4 mile ride to warm up my legs and then handed my bike off for safe keeping!

I hopped on a shuttle to the start and ended up having about 45 minutes before the race started. I said hello to my husband, who was stationed at the start for security, hit up the bathrooms, and then stretched out a bit. 

Since I just found out last week I was running, I didn't have time to do any specific training for the race. Last week at the Peaks Island race my strategy was just to go out hard and try to hold on. I knew however, that wouldn't work in this race. First it was a good 25 degrees warmer and there are some really punishing hills in the last 2 miles. I needed to be more conservative. Plus I made some poor life choices yesterday by eating a bunch of greasy Chinese food, followed by a Dairy Queen Blizzard, followed by a few beers. So my stomach wasn't in the best shape. I told everyone I just wanted to run under an hour, but really I was hoping to run about 9 minute miles. 

I made my way up to the 9:00 pace and planned to start there. However, 5 minutes before the start I really needed to go to the bathroom one more time. So I wormed my way back to an opening and made a pit stop in the woods. There was no way that I was going to be able to make it back through the crowds in the corral, so I start quite a way back close to the 10:00 pace mark.

The first couple miles were a little frustrating because I was doing a lot of weaving around people. It was also the hottest part of the course because we were in the direct sun with no breeze. Given this, I was really happy to click off my first couple miles at an 8:40 pace.

I kept pushing at that moderately hard effort and the miles kept going by. I was working, but I also felt strong and good. I decided to just switch my Garmin screen to the clock, because I didn't want to worry about my pace. I just wanted to run as fast as I could. 

A little more than half-way the course turns right onto Shore Rd. There is a nice long downhill and we were in the shade. I was passing a lot of people. Around 4.5 we hit the hills, but I was still feeling good. I ran strong up the first couple and then a little less strong up the 3rd, but knowing that I had less than a mile to go made me feel better. I was very tempted by the bacon at the "Beach to Bacon" water stop, but I refrained! As we turned into Fort Williams Park, I saw my husband and that gave me a little extra lift to get up the last hill. Once I was up, I pushed it as hard as I could for the last bit around the back of the park and to the finish by the lighthouse. 

My official chip time was 54:19, so I came well under my secret goal of a 9 min pace! I was 126th out of 559 in my age group and 2251 out of 7,000 overall. Not a bad race for someone who hates the heat!

the infamous beacon. Otherwise known as Portland Head Light

Then I staggered up a hill to the post race festivities. I grabbed water and a bunch of fun swag. So much swag that I couldn't carry it all and I was dropping stuff everywhere. I was a mess! The post race food was perfect for a hot day- watermelon, yogurt with fresh blueberries, and chocolate milk!

My only poor decision was waiting in line for more than hour for a 5 minute massage. Oh well! However, I more than made up for that time waiting in line on my way home. I retrieved my bike from the valet, looking at huge lines of peoples waiting for shuttles back to the parking lots. Then I flew right by the bumper to bumper traffic waiting to get out of the fort, and the whole way down Shore Road. Love it!

Overall, I was really impressed with this race. It's really neat to have such a big, well organized, event right in my back yard!

Then I spent the rest of the day at the beach. So for me, it was Beach to Beacon to Beach!

Did you race this weekend? Is there a famous race near you that you've never done?