Grandma's Marathon: Race Report

First off, if you missed the post about all things leading up to the big day, scroll down, or click here.

I didn't sleep well Friday night. No big surprise there - I wasn't worried about it. My alarm went off at 4:20 and I grabbed my phone and laid back down for a minute, listening to the pounding rain. At 4:27, I got a text message from Kim, wishing me luck. It reminded me of randomly seeing her prior to the start of the Chicago marathon last year, and how HAPPY it made me to see someone familiar. I smiled, and hauled my butt out of bed. Time to move.

I settled on a short sleeved tech tee and capris. I wanted to wear a tank, but with a high of 48, rain, and the wind off Lake Superior, I was worried about freezing my ass off. I made a cup of coffee, poured some milk in it, and tried to figure out how I was going to eat a bowl of cereal with no bowl. I'd just decided to use a cup, and I realized I had no spoon. I said eff this, and ate a cliff bar instead. In retrospect, I believe my non-traditional breakfast had a lot to do with the success of the day, and I MAY have actually figured out my stomach problems. Time will tell...

My mom came over a little after 5, and it helped calm me down having her there. I sun screened up, which seemed ridiculous as it was still POURING outside, and since it was cold, I opted to leave the handheld water bottle behind. I packed up my spibelt with all my essentials, tucked some TP, salt packets, and an extra tube of aquaphor in my back pocket, grabbed a water bottle and a banana for the bus ride, and I was off to find the bus.

In the hallway, I chatted up a girl staying a few doors down from me who was obviously heading in the same direction. It was nice to have company. We hopped on the first bus and ended up staying together through the first few miles of the race. She was running her very first marathon, and I'd like to think that I helped her as much as she helped me - chatting and laughing and having someone to hang with really helped me stay relaxed. It was pouring down rain as the bus pulled away from the hotel, and I was kicking myself for not bringing any rain gear or an umbrella or a garbage bag, but as we got closer the rain let up more and more. By the time we got there, it was just a drizzle. By the time we started, there was hardly any drizzle even.

The first few miles were absolutely uneventful. I just settled in and tried to find my groove. The first couple I spent chatting with Lee Anne (from the hotel) and relaxing into an easy pace. We were giggling about 2 ladies who told us we had "a long slow race" ahead of us. Really?!? We were unaware...

• mile 1: 11:05
• mile 2: 10:45
• mile 3: 10:46
• mile 4: 10:46
• mile 5: 10:48

I was aiming for 11ish minute miles, and I knew I was probably going a bit too fast, but I was running more on "feel" and at that point, it felt really relaxed and easy. I was soaking it all in. I was smiling at everyone. I was running happy.

For those of you who don't know the course or the area, Grandma's is a point to point race starting in Two Harbors, MN which is up the north shore of Lake Superior, and it ends in downtown Duluth. Until you get into town, the whole length of it is right along the lake. We had, in my opinion, the PERFECT running weather. It was overcast and cool with a wind off the lake at our backs. I couldn't have WRITTEN better running weather. They had aid stations every 2 miles starting at mile 3 until mile 20, when they switched to every single mile. I walked all the aid stations and took water and powerade from most of them. I gu'd at 6, 11, and 17 and took salt at 13 and 20.

I ADORED running next to the lake. It was such a fixture in my life growing up, almost a source of comfort, and it just felt right running along side of it. The miles flew by early on, and I enjoyed the quiet of this race. There were people out, but they were scattered between the little towns along the way, with people coming out and hanging at the end of their driveways offering support. It was a far cry from the constant chaos of Chicago, and I appreciated it for what it was - peaceful. It let me settle into my head and think of my Grandma and remind myself of G's words and smile inwardly. I saw my first cowbell just before mile 10 and cracked up laughing.

• mile 6: 11:07
• mile 7: 10:27
• mile 8: 11:07
• mile 9: 11:09
• mile 10: 11:31 (stopped to text my family - I wasn't counting on runner tracking this time)

the only picture I took the whole race - just before mile 10

my Dad took this one

I was on cruise control. I kept checking in with my body and form, and everything was feeling good. I needed to pee, but not bad enough to wait in line at a portapotty for it. Just after mile 13, there was a HUGE bank of portapotties (turns out, this was where the half marathoners started, which is why there were so many) and I made my only pit stop of the race. My stomch never peeped. Not ONCE.

• mile 11: 10:41
• mile 12: 11:22
• mile 13: 10:39
• mile 14: 12:33 (pee stop)
• mile 15: 10:33

Mile 16 was where it started to get a little harder for me. Not *hard* but definitely tougher than it had been up to this point. I talked myself out of it a bit, telling myself that there were only 2 more 2 mile stretches I had to do before the water stops came every mile. My right piriformis was aching now, and my feet were starting to feel beat. I tried not to think about it. I focused on my tunes. After 18 is where we came into town more, and the crowd support increased by a lot. I think mile 19 or 20 was where I saw a girl working a water station that I went to GRAMMAR school with. For real. She's a facebook friend, but I haven't seen her in close to 30 years. She looks exactly the same. "Alice??!?" I asked her, incredulous. What are the odds of that? It distracted me enough, and made me smile.

• mile 16: 12:33
• mile 17: 11:29
• mile 18: 11:20
• mile 19: 11:05
• mile 20: 13:06
• mile 21: 13:23

Miles 20 and 21 were my mentally toughest of the race. At this point, I knew if I could pull off a killer 10k, I could barely break 5 hours, but I wasn't feeling physically able to do that. Everything started to hurt. And then I'd say to myself, "DUH dumbass - of COURSE it hurts! You've just run 20 freaking miles!" And I'd suck it up for a while, and then falter again. After a bit though, I knew it was getting close to where my parents would be. And that was enough to keep me running. Then, at 22 or so, the 5 hour pace group caught up with me. I hung strong with them for a bit.

hanging with the 5 hour pacer

the guy in the gray COTTON shirt behind me?
had bloody spots all over his BACK. felt bad for him.

Then comes the infamous Lemon Drop Hill in mile 22. I ran up most of it, walked the crest, and relished in the enormous downhill on the other side. Until I didn't. That downhill lasted close to a mile, and it felt steep. My quads did NOT like it at all. It hurt. At the mile 23 aid station, I stopped to walk, and the pace group kept on. It sucked, but I had to let them go. For the longest time, I had them in my sights, thinking maybe I could catch them again. Never happened though. So I decided to keep running happy even though I was hurting. I high fived a gazillion college kids handing out beer. I high fived bacon. Seriously. A giant piece of BACON.

Just before mile 24, I saw my parents. I was SO FREAKING HAPPY to see them! As I ran up, my mom had this huge sign that said "Go Bobbi GO" on it, and it was freaking upside down! A runner ahead of me told her and she flipped it over just as I reached her, and we all cracked up laughing. I ran over to give my mom a hug, and Daddy snapped some pictures.

The last 2 miles were just freaking hard. But I was so so so happy with how it all went, I didn't care. I was OK with the toughness. I was OK with an occasional walk break that didn't last very long. I tried to keep running, but my ass and my feet were screaming at me at this point. Did I fade at the end. Oh, yeah. Did I give up? Hell. No. There was going to be no negative split here, but there was going to be no walking it in either. I gave this race everything I had.

• mile 22: 11:43
• mile 23: 11:59
• mile 24: 11:54
• mile 25: 12:21
• mile 26: 12:19
• last 0.37: 10:39

The last mile and a half last for FREAKING EVER. After running in a basically straight line for miles and miles, the last mile and a half are twisty and turning, around corner after corner. Coming around each corner, even though you KNOW it isn't there yet, you want to see the stupid finish line. After 2 turns, the wind that's been at your back for the whole race is now full on in your face. It's a mental struggle to keep going forward. But forward is the only way to go. And then? FINALLY it's there.

My parents made it back to the finish line too, and my dad was able to get some pictures...

can you see me? orange scarf guy's right ear

High 5ing King Kong

getting Mom all salty

 

stole my dad's coat - was FREEZING

5:02:28. So so PROUD. Since this is OBSCENELY long, I'll stop here. I'll wrap all the after stuff up in the next post. If you made it this far, you are a rock star.