We had a great, relaxing trip up to Two Harbors on Friday. We checked in at the Americinn and made our way back down to Duluth to the DECC to get our race info. We got rock star parking, got our packets, had our spaghetti dinner, and were back at the hotel by 8ish.
We watched Karate Kid and Caddy Shack (what better motivators??) and were sleeping soundly by 11. We got up (who knew it was light out at 4:30 am?) and had our bagels and went out to catch the bus to the starting line.
One very long porta pottie line and an orange Gu later and we found ourselves in our starting line spots - Mark in the 3:20 zone (cripes, he's fast), and I, realist that I am, parked myself in the 5:00 region. I'd been estimating a 4:30 - 5:00 finish time based on my long training runs and the RunnersWorld.com pace calculator.
Starting line
The weather at start time was fantastic - in the low 50's. I started out well and flew through the first 10K. Then all the advice from every marathon-finishing friend and our training book went rushing through my mind - if you have to go to the bathroom, go. Don't wait. Just go . . . 5 minutes in line later I finally got to go. I should have listened to myself rather than the fear running through my head. I could have waited. I was running slightly under a 10-minute mile at the time, which at my giant 5' stature I considered decent for my first marathon. Oh well, it was good to get the pit stop over with.
I felt fantastic. I was still doing quite well at the 10 mile mark . . . and then, just like my 20-mile training run, it starting happening again. The nausea. Every muscle in my legs felt perfect, not a hot spot on either foot, but that crazy nausea came back to haunt me again. One mile in I knew the temp was creeping up along with the humidity. For some reason the women in my family have this crazy thing with humidity - makes us feel anxious and rather ill.
I kept running but began downing, not sipping water at all the stops. I never saw anything indicating the temp was getting bad, but I felt it. I was trying to eat my shot blocks, but was only able to get about 5 down the entire race. I'd planned on eating 12-15 of those little buggers, but just couldn't.
Looking back, the bad miles are all mixed up in my head. My big savior was the water stops. The volunteers were amazing! Every one of them cheering us on. I never had to wait for water or Ultima and they had the best thing on earth - ice. Ice was my BFF that day. I found a great strategy of running with cups of ice, which quickly melted and kept me hydrated. It also helped me cool down the occasional warm water or Ultima. I cannot say enough about the volunteers and other runners - Minnesota nice at its finest.
After the half-marathon mark I found myself walking - a lot. I was a little disappointed, but knew I'd still finish. I saw people at the med tents with oxygen masks and knew I wouldn't end up there. I saw people cramping and asked if they needed anything, and when I was completely bent over (strangely the only position I felt comfortable in) I was amazed at how many people stopped to ask if I was okay. Just asking made me feel like I could start running again - hugging the left side of the road for any second of shade I could get.
My angelic drug dealer on the side of the road
I stopped @ a couple med tents to ask for Advil for what I thought may have been cramp cramps, but they were out. Then I randomly asked a spectator on the road with a rather large pack of supplies if she had Advil. She was so nice and even filled my cup with some of her water. I don't know if it was her Advil or taking off my running pack, but a few miles later I finally started feeling normal enough to run steadily again.
Somewhere around mile 19 I saw a spectator in the middle of the road and thought, "Really? Please move." Then I realized it was Al Franken. I gave a big smile and he patted me on the back. That was my second celeb spotting. I also saw Sven, the Kare 11 weather guy earlier on, walking the wrong direction along the course . . . weird.
I met a nice man at some point as I was completely bent over, during what I decided really needed to be my final moment of upside down deep yoga breathing. He asked if I was okay. "Yup I'm good. Just completely nauseous." We walked together for a while and he told me this was his 28th marathon and this was the longest he'd ever made his fan club (wife, some of his kids, and 5 grand kids) wait. It was so nice to talk to someone to distract myself from what was happening to my body.
He told me he normally finished marathons in 4:00 - 4:15. "Okay, so it's not just me having a bad day," I thought. Other people are struggling. He told me he thought he'd just walk the rest of the marathon, but eventually I asked if he wanted to run a little while together. He initially said, "No, you just go ahead," but then hesitated and said, "yeah, why not?" We ran together for about a mile until he spotted some of his family. It was so great to have someone to push on with. He was so positive and really helped me forget about my pain. Maybe I even helped him a little bit.
My last 10K was pretty good. Stomach seemed better, legs still felt good, and the sidelines started to fill in with more spectators to focus on. I so wished I felt well enough to high-five them for the beer they were handing out, but I just couldn't do it. One proud moment was lemon drop hill. Doesn't look like much of a hill when you drive it, but at mile 22 it certainly feels large. I was the only person running it at the time. All that River Road training paid off at that moment.
I skipped the 25-mile water stop and made my way toward the finish. Luckily my friend warned me that you think you're near the finish line because you can see it, but you're not really there.
I was so excited to see my friends holding the sign they made! I really needed to see them at that point. I still can't believe they took the time out of their weekend to come to the race. They are incredible!
My feet were on fire because it was so blazing hot out. I got a half-mile or so further and finally saw the actual finish line, heard my husband calling out to me, crossed the finish line, and saw my sister cheering for me. I went over to the fence and was so relieved I was done. I muttered, "I have to go" and stumbled over to the very cheery person who put my medal over my head.
I gathered a bag of chips (I think I lost a pound of sodium on my face alone) and some juice and found a curb to park myself on. Mark found his way over to me and we went over our experiences together. It wasn't just me having a hard time! He also had trouble due to the heat/ humidity.
As we went to get up and meet our family / friends, I said, "Man, I need a shower." It instantly started a 5-minute downpour, which felt fantastic.
My dad took us all to lunch and then he and my sister took us back up to Two Harbors. We cleaned up and were hungry once again.
Chef Beth highly recommended The Scenic Cafe, so we thought we'd give it a try. We didn't have reservations so we sat outside in the sun in their beautiful garden. We had a great shrimp appetizer and a couple drinks. Dinner was amazing and so worth the wait. Mark had hanger steak with potatoes and shaved radishes and greens. I had Alaskan salmon with ravioli. The dessert was a lemon cake terrine with raspberries It was a perfect evening. Rather than venturing back down to Duluth for the concerts, we went back to our hotel and were out before 11.
Midway through the marathon I didn't think I'd ever want to do another marathon. Then I finished, oh so slow time and all, and I immediately knew this wouldn't be my last. I'd learned so much. What worked, what sooo did not work. It took Mark a couple days, but 2 drinks in to tonight's dinner at Al Vento he announced he felt the same and knew he could do better. Vegas here we come.
What I would do again . . .
Follow the Penguin. Marathoning for Mortals was so easy to follow. The full training program was laid out for us and wasn't intimidating.
Train with someone. Even though we did our runs separately, it was amazing to do this with Mark. He is such a true athlete and I admire how well he did throughout the entire experience. I'm his biggest fan and he is mine.
Enjoy the training experience. I never knew what I was capable of. I'm so much stronger mentally and physically than I thought I could be.
Do yoga at Inner Strength. Tuesday night yoga has greatly improved my strength and flexibility and keeps me peaceful and grounded.
What I would tweak . . .
Pick a marathon where there are spectators along the entire route. Sans iPod (this marathon doesn't allow them) it got very lonely out there. There weren't many points where spectators could catch you along the route.
Use real food and more of the energy drink. Our friend ran San Diego and she used the energy drink and nibbled a Cliff bar throughout.
Choose a cooler marathon. I know myself. I like it cool. I had great training runs, but June gets really warm!
Try to convince a friend to run with me. Time flies by so quickly when I run with friends. I only have 2 I've gone running with, but those are some of the most enjoyable runs I've ever had.
Bring more friends. A lot of people didn't carry fuel belts because they had spectators planted to hand them Gu's / drinks.
Wait until everyone is lined up to use the porta's. Our friend who ran San Diego looked and noticed no one was in line anymore as everyone got into their expected finish time spots. Your clock doesn't start until you cross the starting line to she darted for the empty porta potties and then hopped back over the fence to start. Great strategy!
She and her boyfriend had us over last night to sit in their hot tub. I felt so much better after that. Neither of us had any chaffing or blisters, but I have a couple toe nails that I'm worried about. I feel pretty lucky that that is the only injury to report between us.
Today we picked up Mark's new car, I chopped off a lot of my hair, and we had a fantastic, relaxing time at Al Vento.
We watched Karate Kid and Caddy Shack (what better motivators??) and were sleeping soundly by 11. We got up (who knew it was light out at 4:30 am?) and had our bagels and went out to catch the bus to the starting line.
One very long porta pottie line and an orange Gu later and we found ourselves in our starting line spots - Mark in the 3:20 zone (cripes, he's fast), and I, realist that I am, parked myself in the 5:00 region. I'd been estimating a 4:30 - 5:00 finish time based on my long training runs and the RunnersWorld.com pace calculator.
Starting line
The weather at start time was fantastic - in the low 50's. I started out well and flew through the first 10K. Then all the advice from every marathon-finishing friend and our training book went rushing through my mind - if you have to go to the bathroom, go. Don't wait. Just go . . . 5 minutes in line later I finally got to go. I should have listened to myself rather than the fear running through my head. I could have waited. I was running slightly under a 10-minute mile at the time, which at my giant 5' stature I considered decent for my first marathon. Oh well, it was good to get the pit stop over with.
I felt fantastic. I was still doing quite well at the 10 mile mark . . . and then, just like my 20-mile training run, it starting happening again. The nausea. Every muscle in my legs felt perfect, not a hot spot on either foot, but that crazy nausea came back to haunt me again. One mile in I knew the temp was creeping up along with the humidity. For some reason the women in my family have this crazy thing with humidity - makes us feel anxious and rather ill.
I kept running but began downing, not sipping water at all the stops. I never saw anything indicating the temp was getting bad, but I felt it. I was trying to eat my shot blocks, but was only able to get about 5 down the entire race. I'd planned on eating 12-15 of those little buggers, but just couldn't.
Looking back, the bad miles are all mixed up in my head. My big savior was the water stops. The volunteers were amazing! Every one of them cheering us on. I never had to wait for water or Ultima and they had the best thing on earth - ice. Ice was my BFF that day. I found a great strategy of running with cups of ice, which quickly melted and kept me hydrated. It also helped me cool down the occasional warm water or Ultima. I cannot say enough about the volunteers and other runners - Minnesota nice at its finest.
After the half-marathon mark I found myself walking - a lot. I was a little disappointed, but knew I'd still finish. I saw people at the med tents with oxygen masks and knew I wouldn't end up there. I saw people cramping and asked if they needed anything, and when I was completely bent over (strangely the only position I felt comfortable in) I was amazed at how many people stopped to ask if I was okay. Just asking made me feel like I could start running again - hugging the left side of the road for any second of shade I could get.
My angelic drug dealer on the side of the road
I stopped @ a couple med tents to ask for Advil for what I thought may have been cramp cramps, but they were out. Then I randomly asked a spectator on the road with a rather large pack of supplies if she had Advil. She was so nice and even filled my cup with some of her water. I don't know if it was her Advil or taking off my running pack, but a few miles later I finally started feeling normal enough to run steadily again.
Somewhere around mile 19 I saw a spectator in the middle of the road and thought, "Really? Please move." Then I realized it was Al Franken. I gave a big smile and he patted me on the back. That was my second celeb spotting. I also saw Sven, the Kare 11 weather guy earlier on, walking the wrong direction along the course . . . weird.
I met a nice man at some point as I was completely bent over, during what I decided really needed to be my final moment of upside down deep yoga breathing. He asked if I was okay. "Yup I'm good. Just completely nauseous." We walked together for a while and he told me this was his 28th marathon and this was the longest he'd ever made his fan club (wife, some of his kids, and 5 grand kids) wait. It was so nice to talk to someone to distract myself from what was happening to my body.
He told me he normally finished marathons in 4:00 - 4:15. "Okay, so it's not just me having a bad day," I thought. Other people are struggling. He told me he thought he'd just walk the rest of the marathon, but eventually I asked if he wanted to run a little while together. He initially said, "No, you just go ahead," but then hesitated and said, "yeah, why not?" We ran together for about a mile until he spotted some of his family. It was so great to have someone to push on with. He was so positive and really helped me forget about my pain. Maybe I even helped him a little bit.
My last 10K was pretty good. Stomach seemed better, legs still felt good, and the sidelines started to fill in with more spectators to focus on. I so wished I felt well enough to high-five them for the beer they were handing out, but I just couldn't do it. One proud moment was lemon drop hill. Doesn't look like much of a hill when you drive it, but at mile 22 it certainly feels large. I was the only person running it at the time. All that River Road training paid off at that moment.
I skipped the 25-mile water stop and made my way toward the finish. Luckily my friend warned me that you think you're near the finish line because you can see it, but you're not really there.
I was so excited to see my friends holding the sign they made! I really needed to see them at that point. I still can't believe they took the time out of their weekend to come to the race. They are incredible!
My feet were on fire because it was so blazing hot out. I got a half-mile or so further and finally saw the actual finish line, heard my husband calling out to me, crossed the finish line, and saw my sister cheering for me. I went over to the fence and was so relieved I was done. I muttered, "I have to go" and stumbled over to the very cheery person who put my medal over my head.
I gathered a bag of chips (I think I lost a pound of sodium on my face alone) and some juice and found a curb to park myself on. Mark found his way over to me and we went over our experiences together. It wasn't just me having a hard time! He also had trouble due to the heat/ humidity.
As we went to get up and meet our family / friends, I said, "Man, I need a shower." It instantly started a 5-minute downpour, which felt fantastic.
My dad took us all to lunch and then he and my sister took us back up to Two Harbors. We cleaned up and were hungry once again.
Chef Beth highly recommended The Scenic Cafe, so we thought we'd give it a try. We didn't have reservations so we sat outside in the sun in their beautiful garden. We had a great shrimp appetizer and a couple drinks. Dinner was amazing and so worth the wait. Mark had hanger steak with potatoes and shaved radishes and greens. I had Alaskan salmon with ravioli. The dessert was a lemon cake terrine with raspberries It was a perfect evening. Rather than venturing back down to Duluth for the concerts, we went back to our hotel and were out before 11.
Midway through the marathon I didn't think I'd ever want to do another marathon. Then I finished, oh so slow time and all, and I immediately knew this wouldn't be my last. I'd learned so much. What worked, what sooo did not work. It took Mark a couple days, but 2 drinks in to tonight's dinner at Al Vento he announced he felt the same and knew he could do better. Vegas here we come.
What I would do again . . .
Follow the Penguin. Marathoning for Mortals was so easy to follow. The full training program was laid out for us and wasn't intimidating.
Train with someone. Even though we did our runs separately, it was amazing to do this with Mark. He is such a true athlete and I admire how well he did throughout the entire experience. I'm his biggest fan and he is mine.
Enjoy the training experience. I never knew what I was capable of. I'm so much stronger mentally and physically than I thought I could be.
Do yoga at Inner Strength. Tuesday night yoga has greatly improved my strength and flexibility and keeps me peaceful and grounded.
What I would tweak . . .
Pick a marathon where there are spectators along the entire route. Sans iPod (this marathon doesn't allow them) it got very lonely out there. There weren't many points where spectators could catch you along the route.
Use real food and more of the energy drink. Our friend ran San Diego and she used the energy drink and nibbled a Cliff bar throughout.
Choose a cooler marathon. I know myself. I like it cool. I had great training runs, but June gets really warm!
Try to convince a friend to run with me. Time flies by so quickly when I run with friends. I only have 2 I've gone running with, but those are some of the most enjoyable runs I've ever had.
Bring more friends. A lot of people didn't carry fuel belts because they had spectators planted to hand them Gu's / drinks.
Wait until everyone is lined up to use the porta's. Our friend who ran San Diego looked and noticed no one was in line anymore as everyone got into their expected finish time spots. Your clock doesn't start until you cross the starting line to she darted for the empty porta potties and then hopped back over the fence to start. Great strategy!
She and her boyfriend had us over last night to sit in their hot tub. I felt so much better after that. Neither of us had any chaffing or blisters, but I have a couple toe nails that I'm worried about. I feel pretty lucky that that is the only injury to report between us.
Today we picked up Mark's new car, I chopped off a lot of my hair, and we had a fantastic, relaxing time at Al Vento.
Yeah!! I am so proud of you!
ReplyDeletesee you at yoga -angie