Hyannis Marathon Relay

Kiirsten, Mo, me and Betsy before the relay!

This past weekend Kiirsten,, Mo, Besty, and I revisited Hyannis for our second year as a marathon relay team. Team Chicopee. We headed down to the race on Saturday afternoon and made it in time to pick up our numbers early and even see the Hoyts! (Mo's favorite racing team). After getting our numbers we settled into the Marriot and went to dinner at Not Your Average Joe's. We had an early, but very tasty, dinner in preparation for our big race.

When we got back from dinner we presented Mo with her birthday cake that Betsy, Kiirsten and I had secretly prepared the night before.

We woke up at 7:30am, got our Dunkin Donut's coffee and bagels and prepared for our race! I, as per usual, was debating about what to wear - long spandex or my running skirt. The weather forecast was for rain, and potentially snow, with a high of 41. I decided on the running skirt - definitely the right choice for me.

The race went very well. I decided I would take this opportunity to race a portion of the marathon relay and then use the rest to log in a 20.5 mile long run. This ended up working out really well. Jack had told me I should warm up before the race... and I am starting to realize I should start taking that advice. I ran the first 3 miles at a quick pace and was thinking there was no possible way I could sustain that pace over the next 13 miles. So, in my head I decided I would race the 7.2 mile leg and then use the next 13.1 miles as my long run portion. After three miles, though, I started to feel good. All of a sudden I went from being convinced I would want to stop at 7.2 miles to the realization that I definitely wanted to continue to race through to the half marathon. I ended up average approximately 7:22 min/mile for the half! It felt great. I got to the hand off station to give Mo the baton and we started off running together. It felt great to have someone to run with so that I would hold myself to doing the full 20.5 miles. When I made it to my finish line, I felt great and as though I could have kept going.

Mo, on the other hand, was not feeling so great. :( Before she started running, she was feeling a bit under the weather and the run definitely did not help. Don't mind the "I feel great" look on her face (see picture to the right). After finishing her leg she bundled up in the car and ended up having a fever! It was pretty amazing she was able to run her leg, and I am glad she made the wise decision not to continue on through the half marathon.

As Mo came shivering through the finish of her leg she handed the baton to Kiirsten, the only one of us that had to run her whole leg all alone! She took off in her new running spandex and jacket, listening to Ace of Base and "Barbie Girl"... Kiirsten is not as much of a runner as the rest of us. However, for the past two years she has been more than enthusiastic to join in on this relay and has tried to fit in the time to train for the couple of months leading to this race. (Last year her training also involved a last minute run at 4:30pm the night before the actual relay... she decided against that plan this year...) Well, her training really paid off this time. She not only ran faster than last year, she came cruising through the finish line at a quick pace with a huge smile on her face! Yay for Team Chicopee!!

Even with the bad weather and Mo's sudden illness, the weekend was a blast. After getting home we all cozied on up at Sandal's resort (aka 79 Park Street) to watch the Oscars, eat sushi, drink wine, and celebrate our second year of a great race and a great weekend!