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 !




Follow me at:

https://www.bibrave.com/users/130193
https://www.athlinks.com/athletes/346050774

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NOW BCAA's - A MUST in daily workout routine

-
Image
 I received Now Foods BCAA Big 6 to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out  BibRave.com  to review find and write race reviews! BRANCH CHAIN AMINO ACIDS This was one product I was extremely excited to try and incorporate into my daily workout routine. I have never been a huge fan of supplements, nor do I use medication very often for any purpose. But Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) seemed different, as I had heard many good benefits of them from a variety of people, whom I think highly of when it comes to health and fitness. I have now been using Now Foods BCAA's in my water bottle on a daily basis, for about 6 weeks. The BCAA's come in two flavors, watermelon (which is my favorite) and grape. It's as easy as filling a water bottle with 14-16 ounces of water,  putting one scoop of powder in, and shake!                     ...
Read more

A Week at a Glance !

-
Image
WHAT DOES MARATHON TRAINING LOOK LIKE ?? I get a lot of questions regarding how a week of mileage looks and how to balance everything you need to do to stay healthy. This has been a HUGE learning curve for me the past 12 months , I still don't have it all figured out, but I think that's what keeps things fresh and fun, is your always learning.  FULL MARATHON TRAINING A glance at my notes from past weeks ! My Grandma's Marathon Training was quite a bit more intense then the half marathon training I'm doing right now.  Throughout the 16-20 weeks leading up to Grandma's a typical week looked something like this. Monday - 8 miles (easy comfortable pace) Tuesday - 8 miles (in the winter inside) Usually Track Warm Up and Cool Down - 5-6 miles on the treadmill doing some sort of a hill or speed workout (ie. treadmill at 4% incline .. Rounds of 200s, 400s, 1/2 mile or mile repeats) Wednesday - A mix of different workouts, swimming, spinning, an easy few...
Read more

Trekz Air - Music to my Ears

-
Image
"Disclaimer: I received Aftershokz Trek Air to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race Reviews!" June 24, 2019 - AfterShokz Tre kz Air - Music to my Ears     It has been some time since I have blogged about anything ! 32 weeks pregnant has slowed my running game down, but not the exercise game. Since running through my pregnancies never has really worked for me (baby #3 due in about 8 weeks!), I haven't run since February, this has been mentally tough, but also a refreshing break from high mileage and high intensity workouts. I know I will be excited to get back out there this fall! Nice and sleek just around the neck too     I am usually an early morning runner, opting not to run with music, mainly because I am always cautious of my safety. But to be completely honest, after using the Trekz Air headphones, I was pleasantly surpr...
Read more