Number 43 was the Roxbury Marathon in Roxbury, Connecticut on 9 November 2019. I finished in 4:26:48, 19th overall, 13th man, 3 in my age group. This was an extremely frustrating run. It was a perfect day, conditions were on mark and I blew it. I ran the first half around 1:56, felt like I could finally get back under 4 hours. At 16 miles I put the pedal down, I felt great, nothing could stop me, but at 20 miles my legs turned to wood and I had to shuffle home. I had an egg mcmuffin for breakfast and three gel packs during the race, but somehow I came up dry. I guess I'll try training more serioiusly for the next race.

The race starts out and back along the Shepaug river. The weather just turned cold race week, heading for a Siberian blast in the week to come. It was about 20F (-7C) at the start, eventually rising to around 40F (4C) by the finish. I flew to Hartford late the night before and stayed at the airport, arriving at Hurlburt Park around 7:30. The people at the start were friendly and the crowd was good, but it was too cold to sit outside chatting so after checking in I mostly napped in the car waiting for the 8:30 start. Here's a photo of me bundled up to run at the start:

I ran the out and back leg, the first third of the marathon in 1:16 at sub 9:00 pace. The final two thirds of the marathon consists of 5 3.5 mile loops along a back road for 1.5 miles, along the highway for a mile and then along another backroad for a mile, 3.5 miles each loop. I ran the first loop in 31 mintues, the second in 32, the third in 33, the fourth in 42 and the fifth in 51 minutes. Very depressing, but a nice way to understand what's happening. I dropped the pajama bottoms and sweat shirt passing the start after the first out and back. On the first loop a guy helping at an intersection saw that we were wearing the same hat and said "nice hat." On the second loop he said, "still like your hat." On the third loop he didn't say anything, just a nod to to my wave indicating that our friendship wasn't really all that deep. I took off my hat and gloves for the final loop.

It's weird to be surprised by the same things 5 times over. There was a squashed gel pack on the highway at mile 3. A band aid fallen off an ankle on the ground at mile 2.5. A snake on the road that scared me until I realized it was a lost piece of wire. 5 times. Finishing the 4th loop at 3:35 I was passed by early finishers. They seemed fresh and energetic, it was hard limping through the finish area as those that could keep going stopped and those that really should stop kept going. But, in the end, I got'er done. Another state on the map, time to move on. Here I am with my hardware at the finish:

I never talked to so few people before on any run. The Roxbury race is by design minimalist, which is a great idea. Traffic impacts were small with the loop course, there is no requirement of a day wasted getting there for an expo. But it was too cold at the start and finish to chat with anyone and during the race no one seemed to want to talk. I passed back and forth with a woman during the out and back. I asked her where she was from but got no response. Maybe she was wearing headphones. I met a guy from Springfield, Massachusetts. The fact that he was from Massachusetts was the extent of our conversation. But it's great that the organizers put on this run. I don't know how they keep it small. A couple weeks before 50,000 people run NYC, on this weekend just a couple of hundred people show up right off the metro north line. The volunteers were great, one aid station guy told me they had beer and shots available if gatorade wasn't enough. Unfortunately that was on the first lap, I didn't take him up then and forgot to get fortification when I really needed it.

At the finish I grabbed a water bottle and limped to my car. By the time I reached the car I already had email with this figure on the left below. Pretty cool. The figure on the right is my pace as measured by my phone.

I put my pajama bottoms back on over my running gear and drove off, although I was still in quite a bit of pain from my limp home. I thought I would be miserable forever. Once I got on the freeway I suddenly had the mother of all cramps in my right calf, happyily cruise control was already engaged. I was screaming and squirming for a couple of minutes, but once it passed I felt better and it seemed that life could go on. Just my body's way of saying, "watch how you treat me, I can make you pay." I had already checked out of my hotel, so eventually I pulled in to a rest area and used a wash rag to clean up a bit while changing into civilian clothes, feeling sorry for whoever had to sit next to me on the way home. While I went up on a direct flight, I had to stop in Detroit on the way home, which was helpful because I finally got a shower in the Detriot Sky Club so that I would be presentable when I go back to Rachael.

Not the outcome I hoped for, can't understand how such a perfect day ended up slower than 42 and 41, which were much more difficult courses. Obviously I'm not the runner I was 20 years ago, although I feel like the same guy. But I'm not even the runner I was 2 years ago, should be able to fix that. But maybe can't, I'm busier than every, weight is still up, the results are what they are. I live to fight another day.