Eastern States 20 Miler Race Recap

I went into this race not knowing what to expect, and I do not think I was the only one.

After what happened to us last weekend...

 The sadness from our ugly DNFs.... at the Quincy Half Marathon

SO when the Eastern States 20 Miler and Half Marathon morning came we were a little nervous. I was set to run the 20 miler, my last long training run for the Boston Marathon in 3 weeks!!!! Damian decided to run the half to help him get into a better training cycle for the Pittsburgh Marathon in 6 weeks. Crazy marathon people haha

The day was cool, now we had beautiful weather all week long sunny, 70s-80s and just simple great weather! The race day weather was cold, about 40s, windy and rain held out until the end which was good. I had my race bib all set and ready to go as we got ready to leave from the high school. 

This was a small race. Kind of a pain, honestly, I do not think I would do it again. The start and finish line are not at the same place and you have to be shuttled around. It was just kind of confusing. It really was nice to have a 20 mile long run with other people so that was the good part about it, but I could have done that closer to home.

I started out at 8:40s minutes per mile because I did not want to over do it. That is my strategy now and it seems to work much better. Stick to slow those first few miles and warm up my legs. Then after about mile 3 I was feeling good and crept into an 8:30ish pace. The run was nice we basically just ran down the coast line of New Hampshire, very similar to the Smutty Nose half last year.

 I did not get to take many pics since it was drizzly I did not want to get my phone wet, but I did manage this one of the marshes.

The first 6 miles ticked off easily and I began to settle into a rhythm. I was surprised at home good I felt, and I go to my mile 8 and powered through, this is where I was having knee problems on my last few long runs. In fact I have not run longer than 10 miles since Hyannis Marathon so I was happy when I passed mile 10 and felt good still.

Around mile 12 I began to feel better and better and I just kept going. The course was relatively nice and flat so that made it even easier on my knee. It was a little sore here and there but I felt strong today.

Once I hit mile 15 I stopped to tinkle quick at the rest rooms and then I kicked into race mode. I wanted to see if I could maintain some sort of race pace for a few miles....

I did! :) It felt great. I had 8:05, 8:11, 8:17 they all went well. I felt like I was floating by then. I remembered Hyannis and got that same feeling of accomplishment all over again. I needed it. Mentally I needed this run more than anything. I had to see that even with some rest and less running my body was still more than capable of pushing through a 20 miler at a decent pace. I had to see that I could get through it without my knee totally giving out. And I did.

 20.21 miles in 2:53 I will take it :)

I was happy to be done, but I was also freezing! I was in a shorts and tee shirt and although I felt good while racing, I always get hot when I am running, I felt so cold when I stopped. Luckily an ambulance driver gave me a blanket! So thank you to her it was kind!!! And it kept me warm while I waited for Damian to finish.

He came in shortly after me finishing up his half marathon!!! It was good to have us both feeling good on race day and actually completing the race this time ;)

We came out for redemption and certainly did redeem ourselves and our post race picture shows it for sure.

All smiles for the finishing of another race!

 So now another long run is in the books! I cannot believe the Boston Marathon is only 3 short weeks away! I have begun to freak out a little ;)

You can help calm me down by joining us for the Fight Forever Virtual race which is happening next weekend!!!

I am glad to bee meeting new friends running and I cannot wait to go to the races planned in the next few weeks! We have the Fight Forever 5k and 10k next Sunday, and then the Great Bay Half Marathon April 7! Then I get a week off before Boston :)