Notes
My race report that I posted on Runner's World forum:
The weekend started off without a hitch and I made it up to Duluth to attend the expo. Met AJ, B2B, Jag, and Don for a few minutes at the expo and listened to Kara Goucher speak. Was staying at the MIL's 20mins south of Duluth and wound up going to bed at 11:00 and got up at 4:40. Wanted to go to bed a little bit earlier, but was too jacked up to sleep and was happy with the 5+ hours I got. I went to a hotel in Proctor at 5:30 and boarded a bus and got to the start line around 6:20. PLENTY of time to take care of business, if you know what I mean!
This was my first marathon in 16 years (ran '94 Grandma's) and felt I was way better prepared this time around. So my #1 goal was to break 4, but I really thought I had it in me to do a 3:40. So I hooked up with the 3:40 pacer and had every intention of sticking with him the entire way.
Miles 1-11 were pretty uneventful and I was hanging with the pacer and we were right on pace. The only thing of significance was my right foot started falling asleep at Mile 7. Now I've had my pinkie toe or maybe the next toe fall asleep before, but this was my whole foot. And it was more than just falling asleep, the thing was practically numb (side note: I think I put on the wrong pair of socks, as I had two identical pairs and one pair had never been washed/worn before).
At the water stop at Mile 11, I don't know if the pacer didn't stop or I took longer than expected with my GU and water, but next thing I know, I look up and see the little balloons he was carrying way ahead of me. I didn't want to waste my energy and try to catch him, so I just kept the same distance between him and I and figured that would be good enough.
I hit the halfway point in 1:50:03, right on pace, still a numb right foot, but feeling good and thinking the 3:40 was still doable. Everything was going fine until Mile 15. I don't know what happened. I just lost it. I couldn't maintain a decent pace and it was very discouraging. I hit Mile 20 at 2:57 and the quick math told me I needed to do the last 10K in 10min miles in order to break 4hrs. At the time, I thought it was doable. But as each passing mile went by, I saw my overall pace on my Garmin start creeping up. By Mile 24 I knew the sub-4 was out of reach and just did everything I could to put one foot in front of the other. Ran by the William A. Irvin ship and saw AJ cheering me on saying everyone else was just seconds ahead of me. Rounded the corner, headed towards the finish, and saw my DW cheering me on down the final stretch (kudos to my DW for being my "curb crew" and finding me in 3 different spots along the course....was very cool). Crossed the finish line and ended up with a 4:03:01.
This is a journey I started back in September. I picked up running again last July and by September I decided I wanted to tackle this course again and do better than I did in 1994. So yes, I am very happy with the result. Found my DW in the family area and all the emotions just kind of came out after completing this journey.
After the race I did everything I could to find the rest of the MNRW crew, but was having no luck. I duck into a porta potty to take care of some bizness, and as I exit there's Don and he yells "DEEELLLL!!" Talk about timing!! We grab our free beers, hook up with a few others by the lift bridge, and down a few more cold beverages (beer never tasted so good). DW and I made it out to the resort that evening and met everyone else. Highlight of the evening was sitting next to a very calm and very beautiful Lake Superior, smoking a fat cigar, drinking a cold beer, and relaxing. Was definitely the way I pictured me celebrating my 1st marathon in 16 years.
I want to thank everyone for letting me be a part of this group and welcoming the DW and I. It was a very enjoyable time and made the whole marathon experience that much more better. Thank you for the burger and food AJ, thanks for the cigar Jag, and thanks to everyone else for a good time. Can't wait for future festivities and look forward to running many miles with this group.
p.s. I don't care what Jag says, I do not recommend playing volleyball a few hours after running 26.2 miles!!