Grandma's Marathon Recap :)

                 Grandma's Marathon Race ReCap                             June 16, 2018 

Friday 

I have been doing a lot of reflecting on Grandma's Marathon, which took place just about a month ago now. I've tried hard to think back to all the moments throughout our time in Duluth, as it is easy for it all to be a blur. Overall, we had a fantastic time. The event is very well run.

We arrived Friday early afternoon and went right to where we were staying, some friends, a few miles from downtown. One thing I appreciate about this, as the participate/athlete, you get away from the commotion of all the people around for the race and can relax.

We took our time getting down to the race expo/packet pick-up. Had we done this again, I would not have waited as long as we did. Traffic was heavy and it took quite sometime to get parked down in Canal Park and into the DECC. 

We walked through the EXPO and grabbed my packet and had dinner at the Spaghetti feed. Food was great and service was wonderful. (All the Volunteers, simply amazing!) 

The downtown area we beginning to thin out and we headed back to where we were staying to get ready to call it a day. 

Race Day

The morning of the race was ideal. Weather was cool, and the sun was actually shining . I got on the buses at the UMD campus... the ride to Two Harbors took about 30 minutes. The ride was pleasant and conversations on the bus were cheerful. It's fun to listen to everyone around you talk about their goals for the day. Everyone is truly there for a wide variety of reasons, which is really cool!

The bus arrived with about an hour to spare. At this point it was cool but the sun was still shining, ideal for race day, clouds started to cover and by the time we started, it was completely overcast and fog had rolled in (again, ideal for racing!)

My Husband and little Man Tucker on the race course

People began to crowd into the start and I got into the position I wanted to be before the gun went off. I started with a jacket on, which ended up to be a mistake, I shed it around mile 3 and had to carry it until I saw my dad and husband around mile 5. 

My Dad (22x marathoner (2:36) )

The first half of the race went absolutely perfect, I hit all my splits and overall, was feeling great, I crossed the half around 1:37, which was exactly where I wanted to be at,  I felt that the fuel was going well and I was staying hydrated. 

The miles continued to tick, it was encouraging to see the BIG balloons at each mile, you could see them aways up and it seemed to make the miles go faster. 

Around mile 21 I started to hit what they call "the wall" . It's a hard feeling to describe, but it truly just hits you . My pace dropped about 25-30 seconds a mile for the back half of the last 10k. I remember passing my husband and dad around mile 24 and just shaking my head like, how am I going to finish this thing. The rest of my family was waiting just before the last turn and my little brother was yelling at me to get going. Encouraging to hear and know I had support at the end . 

My Amazing family waiting for me at the last turn

What's Next !

Through this training cycle, since I hadn't raced this distance in years, it was really hard to set an exact time goal. Prior to having kids running was just something I did to stay in shape. Getting back into it after years of not having goals set or anything that I was working towards has been incredibly uplifting. 

Working towards finishing this race has been a huge priority for the last 10-11 months. So seeing the finish line and that 3:17 on the clock felt really good! But... I know there is more potential just waiting to be unlocked and so many great runs ahead.

Grandma's was amazing , I would recommend the race, the city, the atmosphere to anyone looking to run a great race! This will be a favorite for years to come ! 

Boston April 2019 !

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