The Falmouth Road Race is a 7 mile race through Falmouth MA on Cape Cod. The race route runs through spectacular waterfront scenery, including a typical Cape Cod lighthouse, and along stretch of road paralleling a gorgeous beach along Vineyard Sound, ending at Falmouth harbor. Seven miles including 3 major elevations - 2 at the beginning and one right before the finish line. I drove it one day last winter, terrifying in its winding roads and seemingly enormous hills and never-ending beach. It woke me up some nights - how will I ever do this? What have I done? I've never run anything or anywhere ever before my first 5K in Feb. (which was billed as a "fun run with Bill & Frank").
I decided to run Falmouth alone on a sunny Sunday in April. I figured if I could practice running the route I may have a shot at finishing. It would also help with my nightmares - it's midnight - everyone's gone and I'm still......running....walking.....crawling toward the finish line..... Oh lord. I'm toast.
I didn't anticipate the traffic - cars literally zooming around the curves and down along the beach as if they were racing at Daytona. I ran 5 of the 7 miles - my heart pounding - hyperattentive to every noise. A large dog ran down a driveway and decided to run a mile or so with me just for the fun of it. A neighbor said the dog has a habit of joining runners along that stretch of beach.
I think I could have finished the route but my wife disagreed, so I stopped at 5. The nightmares continued. I had to find out if I had any shot at finishing or if this was going to be a humiliation.
Today I ran 7 miles in 100 minutes. Granted it was in my neighborhood - no traffic, no dogs, but lots of hills with similar elevations. A woman my age blew by me running at top speed and with spectacular form. That'll be for another day and another challenge.
Today I ran 7 miles in 100 minutes. I expect to sleep well tonight.
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