"I Only Run in Purple." - Anisum's Road PRs in 2018

I just realized I forgot to post my race report! So I finished my second marathon! My goal was to PR and I sadly did not. I believe this was more because of my inability to understand just how ridiculous the elevation map was compared to what I was used to rather than a lack of training and I was very pleased with my performance given the course. See I come from what is overall a very flat area, I have some steep inclines on the route I run but they are short and sweet. I somewhat foolishly thought they would prepare me for the hills of Mount Desert Island (spoilers: they did not). I had a plan to stick to between 13:00 and 13:45 with 13:30 being my sweet spot. I knew I might not be able to be 100% consistent with pace just because of hills.

I was able to stick to my plan the first half of the marathon and came in just under 3 hours (2:59:58) and even into mile 16 I was still fairly on track, but after that there was a long uphill section and my body decided to start tightening up on every uphill which slowed me down. I wasn't able to loosen up much and ended up walking more and more through the uphills because I couldn't get loose enough to make the climb. This slowed me down considerably as the elevation slowly climbs during those miles until miles 21-25 where it's just about straight uphill. That was bad. I had to walk a lot of it. When I finally reached the last mile I was able to get back into a run with the help of gravity and I made my way down hill and through the finish.

Apparently I was a lot better off than a lot of people who similar to me were unprepared for the hills of Maine because many of the later finishers limped in. It was a tough course (a million times rougher than Disney) but running another marathon confirmed what I wanted to know about marathon running, which was essentially would I feel the same weird almost out of body experience when running for so long as I did during Disney. I definitely did, though the tough end was less than ideal.

I'm sure I'll do another marathon at some point but it will have to speak to me. Outside of my performance, I ran this marathon because it was supposed to be the most scenic. I can confirm it was. It was peak fall foliage and the views of the ocean and the mountains with all of the leaves changing colors was lovely. The race is low key as far as races go, two running clothes/gear/shoes/etc. vendors at the expo plus the race organization selling race gear. The supporters were outstanding at each aid station and my only complaint would be that a few of the roads left open needed a tiny bit more space for the runners but I would highly recommend it. Other highlights include, my lobster claw medal, free photos, and also free medal engraving if desired. I would recommend it to anyone who has long rolling hills to train on. If you don't perhaps consider their relay or half marathon offerings instead.
 

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