I did it. I really ran an entire Marathon. Being a self identified distance runner since high school I always new a marathon was something I wanted to run. A goal that was unwritten and unplanned for years but at some point it would be come apparent now is the time and this is the year.
In the spring of 2019 I committed to running the Great Midwest Ragnar from Chicago to Madison with my cousin Vanessa, many of her friends from Madison and my good friend Brooke. The Ragnar is a relay team race with each teammate taking turns to together run 200ish miles from Chicago to Madison. My section of the race had me running 9 miles mid day Friday, about 6 miles Friday night and 7 miles on Saturday so 22 miles in about 36 hours. And although my miles were up considerably for spring that isn't the what pushed me over the edge to sign up.
What made me realize this is the year is my cousin Vanessa. She was our captain and cheer leader and as she was ramping up her training about a month before the race when she got injured. A couple doctor visits later she was diagnosed and told that it "wasn't recommended" she run anymore. We re-arranged the legs so that her miles were much less and of course she was still going to run/walk with us.
If not now, when. If I don't sign up to run a marathon my legs might not let me in the future. And my desire to run a marathon overcame my fear of the training plan and running 26.2 miles. Next thing I new I was signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon October 6th, 2019 (our anniversary). Brooke was already signed up to run the Marathon with World Vision so I joined her team too.
That training plan- I did not realize that I would be hitting peak mileage would be in the heat of August. I carried this Hal Higdon training plan with me in my planner at all times. My life was dominated by first getting my miles in and then making other plans. I ran in the morning, my least favorite time to run, to avoid the heat and humidity of July and August. I would spend most of my Saturday mornings running (like 3-4 hours most weekends). The training plan culminates with a 20 mile run 3 weeks before the race and then starts the real hard part- the taper.
World Vision hosts a group 20 mile run along the end of the course. Brooke and I ran every step together and solidified our plan to run the full marathon together. We kept a pretty consistent 11 minute/mile pace and were actually getting faster the last couple miles. I ironed out my fuel and water plan for race day. I was convinced we ran 20 miles without a lot of struggles so 26.2 was ours!
The Marathon was on Sunday October 6th and the night before I managed to get a little sleep at Brooke's house. Andy dropped us off at the a church near the start of the race. We had a World Vision Service and then walked to the starting line. I actually saw my coworker at the start line too- there were so many people I was surprised we found each other.
The race starts in downtown Minneapolis. It felt really quick and we were out of tall buildings and heading out of the city.We ran past the Basilica of St. Mary's and they had the bells ringing to cheer us on. It was really the first time we saw spectators and some people dressed up for church and a priest was outside. I had to high five father!
Once we got out of downtown Minneapolis we ran into residential communities and I was shocked at how many spectators were everywhere on the course. I was also shocked at how thick the running crowd remained throughout the entire marathon. I have run my fair share of tiny races with out many spectators so the Twin Cities Marathon had an enormous amount of spectators and it was overwhelming.
We saw our families around mile 11 and we were feeling great still. Hugs and high fives and excitement! Then we started to realize we both had to go pee and there was always a long line at every port-a-potty! And some of the people waiting were spectators. At mile 15 we just said the heck with it and stopped to wait in line. At that point I figured it was time to try and really get into our race pace and we did pick up the pace a little, but then around mile 17 Brooke started to struggle and I also agreed that running faster was getting to be too hard with all those miles we had running. She got some goo and a banana from a spectator and we started alternating walking and running and our pace dropped dramatically. Brooke tried to convince me to keep running on my own, but there was no way I was leaving her! We were a team and going to finish this crazy thing together.
For me things mentally changed when we got on the bridge to cross into St. Paul. Walking started to hurt just as much as running and I knew we had to go uphill for many miles before hitting the Cathedral and the quick downhill finish. I wanted desperately to see my family along Summit but also new that it was really hard to get to and if I did see them I might not finish. Up every incline there was a corner and around every corner I thought- please be the cathedral. I started to cry a lot. I ran into a friend and she gave me the biggest hug and then I started to bawl. She told me it was okay and ran with us for a block.
When we did finally get to the cathedral we also spotted this world vision flag. We picked up the pace and finished the last two tenths of a mile strong.
I could not believe how sore my legs where after we finished. Stepping up a curb was too painful. For days I winced walking down stairs gripping and using the handrail a little too much.
The next day I posted our finishing photos on instagram included this statement that I still feel is true:
I won't say never but I will say I'm focusing on shorter distance races next year!
