DreamBig 2015 - #45 Massachusetts

STATE #45 - Manchester-By-The-Sea, Massachusetts
Half Marathon By The Sea
Finishers: 432

September 26, 2015
It was a gloomy, rainy Saturday in Atlanta and Gregg and I had both been awake since around 5am. Why you ask? Because 4 days ago we landed from a 2 week trip to Bali (Bali blog in progress) so we were all messed up on sleep. Just when you think you've kicked the jet lag, you find yourself falling asleep on the couch at 3pm, waking up only to move to bed at 11pm and waking up at 5am. My flight up to Boston wasn't until 2pm so I figured I would just go grab Chick-Fil-A early. Early as in, when they open early. I got my normal #7 up on Piedmont and came back to the house to watch Brooklyn 99 while doing my best to avoid packing/unpacking/cleaning/being an adult. Once I had thrown a few things in a backpack, I was lazy and got an Uber to Marta in Midtown and started my race #45 adventure to MA. Sorry I have to stop spelling out Massachusetts because it's long and I misspell it every time and the red squiggle "this word is misspelled" makes me feel like child.

Ah - a #7 and Brooklyn 99 at 6:45am

That Marta life.

How did I end up on ANOTHER plane?

I was lucky enough to get an upgrade to first class when I got to the airport. This helped because I was oddly experiencing some travel anxiety. I don't know why but stepping on a plane made my mind think I was going to be in air for 14 hours...again. We landed around 4:35pm and being one of the first people on the plane, I flew right on to the rental car bus and was on the road to Manchester by 5pm. Manchester-By-The-Sea is a little beach front town that is part of Cape Ann just a town over from Gloucester. The area doesn't have a ton in terms of hotels and since this was a last minute addition to my race schedule, I opted to go the AirBnB route. I had been communicating with Page, my host, for the past month and although she was skeptical of my stay since my profile had no reviews, she said she would kick herself if she missed out on being a part of my goal.

Flying into Boston

So I arrived in Manchester around 5:45pm and even though I was right near Page's house, I took a detour and decided to drive the course before it got dark. The race directional signs were already up so I didn't have to play the dangerous "follow the map on my phone" game. Aside from a small part of the race through the town, the majority of the race was on back roads through the trees. I had done a few races like this before (Delaware and New York especially come to mind) and they are super boring but since I was already in town, I decided I would suck it up and stick around for the run.

The only mildly scenic part of the race course around Mile 4 and 9

Page called around 6:10pm worried I had gotten lost since I told her I'd arrive by 6pm. The timing worked out perfect as her house was right at Mile 11 of the race so I pulled in to her driveway soon after our call.

Page's house - my rental car.

Page, based on a birthday card I saw on the wall, is a 70 year old woman who you would never think was 70. She lives in a country style house that was just charming. All of the appliances were old school and the decor was just comfortable. Page and I had messaging back and forth a lot prior to my arrival so she was well aware of my recent travels and was so excited to hear about my trip to Bali. For the first hour I was there I totally forgot that this woman was a stranger and I sincerely felt like she was a relative.

We chatted in the kitchen as she worked on some dinner before she showed me around the house and up to my room. Page has a very large black cat named Shaq who loved following me around the house. After getting settled, Page informed me she was having a friend over to eat dinner and watch a movie and let me know I was more than welcome to join them. Exhausted from the 2 hours of travel, I figured it would be nice to have a home cooked meal with company versus take out or sitting at the bar with strangers.

My room! Sorry the best is messy...this was post sleep in bed

Shaq - this picture doesn't do his size justice

Page got back to working on the ratatouille (no talented cooking mouse in this recipe) and cheese stuffed pizza bread. We talked a little about my work and her nonprofit work and just about careers in general. I told her about Bali and she told me about life in Manchester and a little about her friend Ann who was coming over. Now that I think of it, I can't remember if the friend's name was Ann or Mary which is only funny to me because Ann is my mom's name and Mary is her sisters name. Maybe I'll just call her MaryAnn....okay so Page told me that MaryAnn doesn't like cheese. She isn't allergic or anything she just won't eat it. She however likes white pizza and also doesn't believe that Parmesan cheese counts as cheese.

Once MaryAnn arrived, she informed us that she had stopped on the way over to buy a beef sandwich and wasn't interested in whatever Page had cooked. More for me! While dinner finished cooking and MaryAnn quizzed me on my life, Page presented me with three options of Netflix movies...like the kind that still come in the mail. Knowing I would be watching with 2 older women, I read the descriptions and eliminated anything with the word romance, sexuality or love. Therefore we ended up whittling the choice down to "Into the Wild". I then realized it was like 2.5 hours long and I would never make it through that whole movie awake...whatever.

Page made me a plate and set up everything on a tray to carry into the living room. As we migrated to the next room, Page explained to me that MaryAnn was a pedigree cat breeder and was very particular about the screening of the people who were able to purchase her cats. MaryAnn went into more detail about the specific bread of Siamese Oriental short hair and how they are healthier when they grow up in isolation but they also need to be socialized so they aren't shy. It was all extremely fascinating. MaryAnn ate her sandwich while Page and I enjoyed the ratatouille and fresh baked cheese stuffed bread while we watched the movie. When we got into the living room, it was explained to me which spot was Page's and which spot was MaryAnn's and the other options of seating I was allowed to choose from.

I had my choice of chair or chair - couch was reserved for ladies. #seatstaken

I made it about an hour and forty five minutes before I started dozing off and excused myself so I could retire to my room and watch the second half of the Auburn v. Miss State game....which I quickly turned off and went to bed. It was easily 9:30pm at the latest but I was still whooped.

Trying to watch Auburn from bed

The entire evening was no joke an episode of the Golden Girls. Page was far too familiar to Dorothy and MaryAnn had the exact personality of Sophia. With the fat cat, Shaq, nuzzled between the two woman, I had a hard time believing the entire evening wasn't something straight out of a sitcom.

September 27, 2015
I didn't sleep very well, not because of the accommodations, but because I was not used to being cold and I was just nervous I was going to miss my race even though it was at 10am. I got up and down a lot and finally around 6:30am I heard Page come back upstairs after making a cup of coffee and I decided to venture down for one myself.

When I walked into the kitchen, I was surprised with a spread of fruit salad, muffins and breakfast cakes, a variety of cereal, yogurt, juice, coffee and tea. It was incredible! Page had written me a sweet note suggesting I toast the muffin and add jam and butter. We had also agreed that she would drop me off at my race in the morning even though it was less than a mile away.

How cute?

As I enjoyed my "A Little Princess" breakfast and coffee, I started getting nervous again for the race but did my best just to push it aside. After breakfast and several cups of coffee, I went back upstairs to rest and stretch and get ready to run. I met Page back downstairs around 8:30am and I talked to her a little bit about why I run and how I don't wear a watch and how inspiring I find everyone running because everyone has their own story. I made the poor lady tear up a little - I'm that inspiring, I know.

She dropped me off at Manchester Essex Memorial Elementary School where I picked up my packet and just sat around and stretched while the weather quickly warmed up. I had been worried earlier that morning I would be cold as it was around 41 when I woke up, but was thankful to be wearing a tank as the temps were rapidly climbing into the 60s. I called my trainer, TonyT, and told him he had 2 minutes to give me a pep talk. He was unaware I was even running a race but did his best to get my head right before the race started.

SO - not - EXCITED!

Racers arriving

Start Line 

The race began around 10am and when the gun went off, I realized I was very unprepared for this race. Although I had stretched, eaten a good breakfast, stayed hydrated, chomped on some energy blocks and gotten a lot of sleep, my body was still exhausted. Halfway into Mile 1, I was pooped. Bad sign. The course I had driven that seemed very flat was all of a sudden hilly and just plain hot. Good grief - I should have known this was going to happen. Less than a week ago I was beach hopping in Uluwata, Bali on a motor bike and I thought I would be ready to run 13.1 miles?

The mental Debbie Downer started chit chatting in my brain far too soon into this race but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. After a short stretch of town, we head up towards the highway and then by Mile 3 we were on a gravel packed backroad heading north. At this point I was already saying in my head, "Okay - make it to Mile 4 and you can walk for a little bit". Mile 4 came, I got excited to walk, and then for some reason I just kept going. I legit did this for Mile 5, 6, and by 7 I was sure I would stop when I needed to make my 7 mile Snapchat but I kept running. I think I was delirious.

Follow the arrows

The course was fairly out and back so by Mile 7 we were on our return. On top of just being all around tired, my arms and hands were dead asleep. I had fixed this problem earlier by taking a multivitamin high in iron but with the recent trip, I had fallen out of my vitamin routine and I was paying the price. As one of my friends would say, "good thing you don't use your arms to run". Ignoring the weird dulling pain, I just sort of kept chugging along. Mile 8 that will be my walking time....nope. Okay, Mile 9, I'm going to walk at Mile 9. Nope. I wasn't going fast by any means but I was moving. I took my energy gel at Mile 8 and it was a chocolate one which I have loved in the past but this time around it was horrible and it stayed with me until a little water stand in a families front yard came along out of nowhere.

Mile 10, still just chugging along. I turned around Mile 10.5 down Page's road and came face to face with one of the only large hills on the course. I knew Page would be at the top and she was probably worried since I told her my predicted time was about 15-20 minutes faster than what I was currently running. Up the hill, counting down mailboxes, I saw her chair out front and a cup of water but no Page. As I got closer, I saw her in the garage so I yelled at her and stopped for a second to drink the grape Propel or whatever the water looking but grape tasting drink was titled. She asked if I needed anything else and other than requesting a quick selfie, I told her I was alright and head on for the last 2 miles.

I actually took this post race cus I was too tired to take during the race

My girl, Page / Dorothy

I could tell I was way towards the back of the pack because traffic was starting to pick up, volunteers were looking very board, and the pack had thinned out a lot. Town was Mile 12 and with one more mile left, my hip flexor and knees on fire and my arms asleep, (please picture all of this - like what a mess) I continued back towards the school. Winding up and down the last couple of roads, I saw the firetruck and the start line and knew the finish was right around the corner. Up and around the school driveway and across the finish line I went. No clue how I finished, but tearfully I did.

Page's house was around a mile away, so I grabbed a banana, my gear bag and a few waters and headed in that direction. I had to stop at one point and sit down on a bench to finish my banana because I was just so tired. Have I mentioned how tired I was?

Too tired to eat and walk at the same time

I arrived at Page's house and found her and a friend watching the Patriots game. She helped take my race photo in the backyard before I took a quick shower, said my goodbyes and thank yous and head off for the airport.

OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 45 states down, 5 more to go! #DREAMBIG

I was flying standby and missed the first option by one seat, so I calmed my sadness with some Boston Clam Chowder while I waited on my second option which I easily got on.

Bahston ChowDah!

45 states down, 5 more to go!
#DREAMBIG