Worst. Blog. Ever. Welcome to the worst blog ever. My last blog check in was May 2nd, more than a month ago. Why? Well because if you read the blog post from May 2nd, I had just realized this full marathon training just really wasn't for me. The whole team was really feeling that way.... Well except for Lou, he can show up on marathon day without a handful of long runs ahead of time (beast mode). The rest of us just realized the amount of time needed to really devote to a full training schedule just wasn't something that worked well in our lives and with our other activity interests.
So what have we been doing since May 2nd? Well a little bit of everything. A little outdoor stuff, Jenn biked a bunch, Lou did his usual training at the gym and with the kids, and Michelle, Liz and I did what we could running. When I realized I wouldn't be able to "run" the whole full marathon, I transitioned to the run/walk training method. I would run for a certain time - like two or three minutes - then walk for that same amount of time. That was actually a hard transition. Walking is just different than running and it actually hurt my shins and hips more. Of course we all walk everyday but walking for speed is just different than everyday walking - and different then running. It took awhile to figure out how to run/walk but it was getting easier and was making me think we could actually pull this off.
A couple weeks out from the race.... A couple weeks out from the race some big changes happened. Lou realized he would not be able to run the race. His close friend passed away last year and this awful thing we have lived with called COVID didn't allow them to properly celebrate his life with a memorial. The memorial happened to fall on Grandma's weekend and of course there was no decision to even be made. He needed to be with his friends and family. So we were down to Me, Liz, and Jenn (Michelle had to duck out for some work/life things she had going on). Ok the three of us can still do this. Then came high school spring sport season final games/events. Liz's daughter is a freshman on the high school soccer team and of course, the final game to play in to advance to the state tournament was Grandma's weekend. Another no-brainer, she had to be at the game. So that left me and Jenn. I am pretty confident either one of us could have easily talked ourselves out of this race. I could have easily been swayed to say let's just recognize we are half marathoners and call it a day. For some reason, neither of us said that (I think we prayed the other one would say it first). I finally reached out to her one week to the day, yes.... one week.... and said let's do this. What is the worst that could happen? We start, we see how far we get, we run the farthest we ever have in our lives, and we see what happens. That is exactly what we did.
Race weekend........ What a perfect weekend! I am so thankful COVID restrictions have lifted some. The event was well planned and still captured the sentiments I love.... the packet pick up, the expo, etc.... all fun and awesome. It was a new adventure for me. I have never driven from Ashland to Duluth on race weekend alone. I always stay at my brothers and didn't this weekend because I didn't want to be without my running partner. In fun news, Lou actually won a weekend hotel stay at Canal Park Lodge from an Asics contest. Even though he couldn't run, the whole family stayed there for the weekend. It was fun to have access to packet pick up from the hotel. They made the best of the beautiful weather all weekend. I joined Jenn and her work friend who was also running the race for dinner and when we walked out of the restaurant, there was a beautiful double rainbow.
Race day....... Running has weird morning rituals for me. This morning was perfect. Breakfast, electrolytes, coach bus ride to Two Harbors (with a bathroom, HA). The sky was blue as can be and beautiful. The lines at the Biffies were reasonable (I am telling you it is all about the bathroom, I think I used three biffies between were I parked at the start line). I saw my friend Jen M. who has been motivational support throughout this training in line at the start. I was out of the bathroom by the time the jets flew over after the national anthem. It was a great way to start.
The race........ We planned to go out really slow. The longest I had ever run was 13.1 miles. My only goal was to run farther than that and I knew I would need to save some gas in the tank to make it happen. We ran/walked the whole first 13.1 I had a timer that would buzz when we would transition between running and walking. While it wasn't my best half time, it was better than the last several halves I have run on Grandma's weekend (except last year when I PRd my virtual half). I felt pretty good the first 13 but was noticing I was starting to fade. Right then, a song that reminds we of Wendy came on and my husband Kevin text me to ask how it was going. That was the perfect "lift" I needed to push through mile 14 and 15.... which was now the longest distance I had ever ran/walked!
Mile 15. Yuck. This is where it got hard, really hard. Mile 15-18 was brutal and miserable. I had no idea how I was going to pull off finishing this race. It was physically hard and mentally awful. Somehow I dug deep and thought to myself, I did not come this far to only come this far. There is no way I was stopping and giving up on that finisher medal. There was no way I was stopping at the mile 19 medical drop out. I looked and Jenn and said if we can somehow push to 20 miles, we can walk the last 6 miles if we have to. That is exactly what we did. Mile 18-20 we alternated walking, power walking, jogging, and running. We used shorter time intervals and even used land marks instead of time (light post to light post). Somehow we arrived at mile 20. I was still miserable but all of the sudden it became fun again. I knew I could walk six miles. I knew it would be hard after just going 20, but the finish line became in sight (not literally unfortunately). By then, we both turned off our music and just took it all in. We talked, laughed, laughed some more, interacted with the spectators, talked with other run/walkers and just had fun. It was still hard, but we put one foot in front of the other and just kept going.
Mile 24 Jen M. was waiting for us. Who runs a full marathon and then looks for runners she knows just to make sure they are ok? Jen does. By the time we saw her, I was all smiles. Literally smiling. We hugged, posed for some fun photos.....even picked up the speed and got some running shots. It was so awesome to see her.
Rounding the DECC is always so much fun. Anyone who knows the course knows it is deceiving. There is a long stretch yet when you see the ship and the huge American flag. The finish line is close but not close enough to sprint yet. The crowd on the back side was cheering and I even yelled to them "OMG it feels like I am the winner"... which got them cheering even more. Spectating a race is fun..... and is so appreciated by the athletes! You know who is also appreciated? Volunteers. I thanked every single volunteer that I could and by the end of the run..... I thanked them for "waiting so long" for us to come through. Many of them said they would wait for the very last runner to come through.
Finish line..... as we rounded the final bend in Canal Park and entered the final shoot, we ran. We ran all the way through the finish line. I thought I would be emotional... and I was... but only a little..... I was just so happy I could not stop smiling. We did it. We. Did. It. We finished. It was awesome, awful, amazing, terrible, and so much fun all at once. I have ran the second half of the course many times for the half marathon, but the whole course put together is simply stunning.
For now, I think my full marathon days are over...... although there is a little part of me that knows the 50th Grandma's Marathon is the year I turn 50.... never say never. For now, the training involved with the full just doesn't work in my life... I have come to understand I am still an athlete regardless of distance. I have two half marathons planned this fall and possibly a triathlon this summer. Not to mention just living an activate, healthy life.
Thank you!........ Thank you for reading about our journey. Thank you team for letting me share our ups and downs. Thank you Jenn for lining up at the start line and FINISHING this race with me! We are marathon finishers.
I posted tons of photos on my facebook page...... there are just three I will share here.... the three most important.......
Jenn and I .... marathon finishers
Lou and his girls.....
he couldn't run the race, but ran the Whipper Snapper Races with his girlsAshland High School Soccer Team
Headed to state.... Liz made the right choice to miss the race
While we might not run a full marathon soon (or ever again)..... we are still in this for the "long haul" and will share our summer fitness adventures soon!
Carrie and Team
