If you read my wrap-up that was posted on Sunday, you know that on Thursday I tweaked something in my back doing a kettle bell workout. I woke up Friday morning and my back was so stiff! I don't think I moved normally the whole time I was trying to finish packing. I was so, so nervous about what this meant for the remainder of the weekend.
We stopped twice on our way to Duluth for bathroom breaks. Getting out of the car was torture each time, but once I was up and moving, it would feel okay. When we got to Duluth, our first stop was the DECC (Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center), where the race expo was being held. This was right on the shore of Lake Superior, and boy was it cold! Even as Minnesotans (plus I grew up on the shore of Lake Michigan), we were still caught off guard by how chilly it was! The expo wasn't fantastic (in my opinion) for what I was expecting. Compared to other races and expos I've been to, I thought bigger race would equal bigger expo. Even if it was bigger, it wasn't necessarily better. Or maybe I don't know what to expect at an expo. That is a good possibility!
After the expo, we headed over and checked into our hotel -
the Edgewater. We picked the Edgewater for a couple of reasons - 1) it's location right on the race course, so Chad wouldn't have to do a lot of running around with Ava and 2) the waterpark, and that we wouldn't have to fight the crowds to do a lot of other touristy stuff (not that we don't want another Duluth/North Shore vacation sometime). Everything worked out well, and they did a great job catering to racers and spectators for race weekend. Still, I had a hard time knowing how much the room prices were marked up just for race weekend - but that is the nature of the beast! I would consider staying there again, but also like the idea of trying to be right down in Canal Park. You do have to book rooms early though! We did some swimming, changed and went and ate dinner, and then swam some more before bed. I sat in the hot tub hoping it would loosen everything up (especially my back) but it almost had the reverse affect. My back felt loser in the pool than it did after the hot tub.
The good Lord heard my prayers over Thursday and Friday, and when I woke up (at 3:45 - a full hour before my alarm was set to go off), there was no pain in my back! I was so, so relieved. I laid in bed until about 5 minutes before my alarm was set to go off, and actually felt like I had willed away some of the butterflies. Surprisingly, I had no issues taking care of my business that morning (a usual problem on race day) and was uncharacteristically calm. I got ready by the light from the toilet area - and just had the door cracked to the mirror and sink area while I dressed, etc. I was trying really hard to make sure I didn't wake Ava up! I even took an in-the-dark selfie!
I grabbed a banana from the room that we had brought from home, and headed down to the lobby where they had a breakfast set up. I had planned to eat a bagel, but we forgot them at home! So, really - thankfully I knew they were going to have food for us or I would have had to find a grocery store. I ate a yogurt, an apple, a granola bar, and drank some water. I saved my banana for once we got to the start line. Busses ran from the hotel (and throughout Duluth) to the start line from 5:45 - 6:15. I was not going to wait for the 6:15 bus, although being on the first one meant I had over an hour to wait at the start line. That is when I used the restroom, took a phone call from Chad and Ava, walked around trying to stay dry and warm (it was upper 40s and drizzly), and ate my banana. They wanted runners in the starting chute at 7:15, so right around 7:00 I walked back to drop my bag. I waivered up until I was standing at the bag drop deciding if I was going to take my windbreaker off or wear it. I ended up taking it off, and had mixed feeling about it throughout the race. In the end, it was probably the right decision. There were, however, a few spot along the course where the wind came right off the lake and it was cold! At my second bathroom stop, I even noticed red splotches like I get when running and sweating in winter!
Once I dropped my bag, I headed to the starting chute. Of course there were many, many people that waited until after 7:15 (it was a 7:45 start), but I didn't want to feel rushed or crowded. I was still utterly shocked at how calm I was feeling and how hungry I was! Most race mornings, I am so nervous I choke down a few bites of something and call it good. What a difference. I hung out around the 5:30 pace sign. I was totally fine starting in back, knowing I was going to finish towards the back. The Clif Bar race team came out, and I decided to start with the 5:30 group even though I hoped to finish closer to a 5:15 or 5:20. The pacer was Sharon, and she was amazing (and for the record running her 111th marathon. Holy crap!). Her plan was to do a run/walk, in which she walked for one minute every half mile. To off-set the walks, they would run around an 11:40 when running. Sounded like a good plan. I got pretty cold waiting in the chute, but eventually .... we were off!
I tried to run with the pace group, but didn't like how they all bunched behind the pacer (I don't know if that is typical) and then had to stack the middle during the walk breaks to allow the runners to go around. I wish I would have taken pictures throughout the course! The line of people was obvious for the first few miles - not like smaller races where everyone is dispersed after the first one or two! Anyway. Since I didn't like the crowding and feeling like it affected my stride, I finally moved to the outside and slightly in front of the pace group. I stayed within ear shot, to maintain the pacing/walking/etc. I had sort of felt at the start like I needed to use the rest room, but thought it was just nerves. When I still had the urge around mile 3, I decided to stop. Once I caught back up to the pace group, I again moved slightly in front of them. Though the 10k, I was just slightly in front of them and could still hear Sharon. But after that point, I was feeling good and didn't want to keep stopping every half mile. I decided to just keep running.
For the next handful of miles, I was pleasantly surprised with my pace. I was just a minute of so off from a 12:00/mile average (so for example hit mile 7 in 1:25 vs 1:24). I was feeling really good. I tend to break these long runs into 5 mile increments because I know 5 miles is about an hour of running. 6-10 were my strong miles in training, so I wasn't surprised when they flew by during the race either. 11-15: I stopped once more for the bathroom, but continued to feel pretty darn good. I did start to notice the rubbing of a blister on my left pinkie toe, but tried to ignore it. I did take a Gu just past the 10k mark, and again past the half way mark. I took them slowly as to not cause any GI stress. My split time for the half marathon was about a 2:39, and I was okay with that. I was confident that a 5:20 was possible.
15-20 are when I start to struggle. I start to get bored. I have a harder time focusing. Generally speaking, they actually went really well - but I had to work to stay focused. When I looked at last year's timing, I thought there were going to be more splits, but then had read in packet material that it would be 10k, half, 20 miles, 25 miles, and end. Since I had told Chad that he would get a text at mile 16, I ended up calling him to tell him he wouldn't. I did this because I didn't want him to miss me when I ran by. I didn't know if they were hanging out outside, or if they were going to only come out when I ran by! This both helped and hurt .... I often have a hard time keeping my emotions in check during long races anyway, and calling him didn't help. Especially, when Ava got on the phone! So, I had to work extra hard to keep everything in check after that. But it kept my mind off any fatigue coming on! Considering I only had one 17 mile run that felt good, I was thrilled that I still felt okay at the end of this stretch! My Garmin read something around a 4:04 when I got to the 20 mile mark.
I purposely looked at my watch at Mile 21, knowing I had just over 5 miles left. My Garmin read 4:17, and I felt good about a 5:20ish finish. Just to back up for a second - one of the things I did when I broke away from the pace group was to walk the water stops - which were every two miles starting at mile 3. This was working for me. At mile 19, the stops started every mile - and I decided to keep walking every one. I think this almost hurt me more than helped, but I can't say for sure. You know how it is though - sometimes the more walk breaks you take, the harder it is to keep running or start running again. At mile 19, they also had bananas. This tasted really good, but also make me want extra water. So I felt a little sluggish for a bit! Back to 21 .... I got to the mile 22 mile marker, and could see Lemon Drop Hill. I knew at the top of that hill was the Edgewater ... and Chad and Ava. I texted Chad as I walked through the water stop, "will me up this hill". I tried to run up it, but couldn't. I walked most of it, then started running again. And I almost missed Chad and Ava, who had walked a block or so up from the hotel! I stopped to hug Ava, let her run a few steps with me, and had a real hard time keep my emotions at bay!
Right around mile 23 is when I felt the blister on my left pinkie toe pop! Ugh. And this event is what made the last three miles really hard. Not that they wouldn't have been hard anyway ... I knew I was getting tired, but still felt okay ... and better than expected. :) The blister hurt when I ran, it hurt more when I walked, so I pushed when I could. These are the instances my head starts to win though - and I more or less did a walk/run to the finish. Trying to take pressure off the blister changed up my stride a little and I started noticing pains in my chins and my knees! So - the last three miles were not pretty ... but I finished! It was in these three miles the 5:30 pace group passed me - I tried to then stay with them, but their walk breaks weren't lining up with mine, so I just let them go! I knew Sharon's plan had them finishing around 5:28, but I also knew they were ahead of schedule for awhile. I have no idea what they crossed in .... but my final time was 5:29:54 - a 12:35 average. Here's my detailed results from mtec results:
| Location | Race Time | Time of Day | Pace Between | Overall Place | Division Place | Sex Place | | |
|---|
| Time | 5:29:54 | 13:26:17 | 13:20 | 5683/6211 | 1260/1397 | 2385/2714 | | |
|---|
| 25M | 5:13:55 | 13:10:18 | 13:26 | 5664/6186 | 1252/1388 | 2373/2699 | | |
|---|
| 20M | 4:06:47 | 12:03:09 | 12:36 | 5678/6185 | 1254/1387 | 2371/2697 | | |
|---|
| 13.1M | 2:39:52 | 10:36:15 | 12:07 | 5777/6184 | 1294/1394 | 2429/2700 | | |
|---|
| 10K | 1:16:26 | 9:12:48 | 12:18 | 5908/6182 | 1323/1394 | 2522/2701 | | |
|---|
| ChipStart | 6:31 | 7:56:23 | | 5401/6211 | 1198/1397 | 2286/2714 | | |
|---|
| GunStart | 00:00 | 7:49:53 |
|---|
According to my Garmin, here are my splits ...
| 1 | 12:04.1 | 1.00 | 12:04 |
| 2 | 12:13.2 | 1.00 | 12:13 |
| 3 | 12:14.0 | 1.00 | 12:14 |
| 4 | 14:11.1 | 1.00 | 14:11 |
| 5 | 10:50.7 | 1.00 | 10:51 |
| 6 | 11:54.1 | 1.00 | 11:54 |
| 7 | 12:01.1 | 1.00 | 12:01 |
| 8 | 11:56.7 | 1.00 | 11:57 |
| 9 | 12:03.3 | 1.00 | 12:04 |
| 10 | 11:39.6 | 1.00 | 11:40 |
| 11 | 12:10.2 | 1.00 | 12:11 |
| 12 | 12:13.1 | 1.00 | 12:13 |
| 13 | 11:59.5 | 1.00 | 12:00 |
| 14 | 12:03.5 | 1.00 | 12:04 |
| 15 | 11:56.5 | 1.00 | 11:57 |
| 16 | 14:11.1 | 1.00 | 14:12 |
| 17 | 12:13.2 | 1.00 | 12:14 |
| 18 | 11:58.4 | 1.00 | 11:58 |
| 19 | 12:01.0 | 1.00 | 12:01 |
| 20 | 13:32.8 | 1.00 | 13:33 |
| 21 | 12:55.9 | 1.00 | 12:56 |
| 22 | 13:01.4 | 1.00 | 13:02 |
| 23 | 13:30.3 | 1.00 | 13:30 |
| 24 | 13:32.3 | 1.00 | 13:32 |
| 25 | 13:34.1 | 1.00 | 13:34 |
| 26 | 13:29.5 | 1.00 | 13:30 |
| 27 | 4:08.3 | 0.36 | 11:23 |
After the race, I made my way around the athlete area, waited for the shuttle back to the hotel, showered and changed. Took a quick swim with Chad and Ava. Then, since it was sunny for the first time that weekend, we went down to canal park to do some sight seeing. We ate supper at Grandma's restaurant - the original sponsor of the marathon. I waited until Ava went to bed, then took my sleepy butt down to the hot tub, and enjoyed it for the better part of a half hour!
When we got home on Sunday, we had to take one last picture ... me, Ava, and the sign her and Chad made for me. Notice she had to find her medal from her April 1k for the picture. Love it.
I am really glad that I was able to let go of the expectations I had put on myself. It made the race much more enjoyable, and somewhere around mile 18 I think I finally realized I was going to finish! It wasn't 100% easy, but I felt much better than I thought I would. It was quite an experience, but I think I am still on cloud 9. In some ways it feels like it was a bigger deal leading up to it.
I did go back over some of my data from long runs ... there were a few tough ones in the last couple of weeks. Then there was the 17 mile at the end of April that I ran with an 11:47 average ... and I already had the thought, "I bet I could do better." Might another 26.2 be in my (not so near) future?
