Do you remember when I swore off this race forever after the hot 2016 Grandma’s Marathon? Well ladies and gents, it really shouldn’t be surprising that just after two short years, Grandma’s Marathon had me coming back for more.

Finish Time: 3:42:57

I was in the throws of the best training cycle of my life when I had a knee issue flare up 4 weeks before the Eau Claire Marathon. I spent four weeks on the elliptical, replacing all runs with cross training in hopes that I could keep my fitness and toe the line at Eau Claire. While I was able to give this race a shot, I ultimately had to DNF (gulp) due to a combination of my knee and what ended up being low iron and ferritin. On the quitter’s bus back to the finish area, I did what any DNF’er would do, and I signed up for Grandma’s Marathon. That would give me 6 weeks to let my knee heal and figure out why I wanted to take a nap on the race course (anemia).

I was already registered for the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon with my husband and a few friends, so I was planning on running that day in Duluth anyway. I wasn’t sure what my mental game would be with the shift to the full marathon, as I do have some baggage with Grandma’s Marathon coming out of 2016. However, I quickly shifted my attitude away from the hard feelings and towards one thing, and one thing only: get redemption on 2016. I had unfinished business with this race, and this was my chance to right the ship.

Leading up to the race, after the DNF at Eau Claire, I was able to ramp up mileage again quickly. I squeezed in an 18 mile long run, a 20 miler and 14 miler with race pace miles, and still had some time left to re-taper. If stars aligned, I was set up to run a 3:35 marathon, which would be a BQ minus 5 minutes.

Race day weather forecast

The weather was the talk of the town during the week leading up to the race. The forecast was calling for thunderstorms and a head wind. Every day I would say, “it is early, the forecast will change”, but it just never would. I was mentally ready to run in the rain. I’d actually prefer rain over sun or heat. I made sure to pack a garbage bag to wear and some plastic grocery bags to go over my shoes before the race to stay warm and dry. Spoiler alert: I didn’t need them. In true Grandma’s Marathon fashion, I woke up to a totally different forecast than what was predicted even the night before. We ended up with 55 degrees, humid (thank goodness it was cool), and no wind.

We got to Duluth around 2pm on Friday and went right to our hotel to check in and meet our friends who we were sharing a room with. We always stay at the Inn on Lake Superior as it is right at the finish line. This close proximity has paid off every year that we have run Grandma’s Marathon. It is expensive, but all hotels are expensive this weekend, so the extra expense is totally worth it, in my opinion.

Also, pro tip: if you are sharing a hotel room and your hotel only allows one car to be parked in their lot, the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) only charges $5 to park for the whole weekend.

The Expo:

The DECC, where the expo is held, is always very congested both inside and out. However, every year I am pleasantly surprised at how slick the process is given the sheer volume of people who are at one place at the same time. There are over 17,000 runners picking up their packets for either the marathon or half marathon, plus the William A. Irvin 5k and the Michelina’s spaghetti dinner are held in this location on Friday evening. So, it is busy, but the logistics are really smooth and we are always able to get in and out without a problem.

The Oiselle Team selects races throughout the year that are national team meet up events, and Grandma’s Marathon was one of those selected races. There were a lot of activities planned by Oiselle that included shake out runs, team photos, a team dinner at Va Bene Caffe, and a post-race celebration at a local brewery. Because Kara Goucher is from Duluth and was racing the half marathon, I knew there was a chance of meeting her either at the booth at the expo or at one of the events. And you guys, my dreams came true at the expo! She is just as kind and genuine as I had expected her to be given the stories I have heard about her. She’s such an inspiration and positive force for female runners everywhere!

Me with Kara Goucher in the Oiselle booth at the expo!

Race Day Logistics

My alarm went off at 4:45am, allowing me a half hour to get up and get ready, and another half hour to get breakfast in the hotel lobby before walking over to the DECC to catch the buses. The buses run from 5:45-6:15, so I usually try to be boarding a bus by 6am. However, this year I ended up forgetting my Gu gels in my room, so by the time I made it back to the buses it was already 6:10. This actually worked out well as there wasn’t a line for the buses and I was able to hop right on and start the long ride to the starting line. We got to the start at 6:55, which was just the right amount of time to meet my Oiselle team for a photo at 7am, hit the porta-potties, and line up in the corral.

Oiselle Volee Team Ready to Fly

The Race Breakdown

One of my Oiselle teammates and I had planned to line up together with the 3:35 pacer and stick with them for as long as possible. Within the first few miles we said to each other that we are glad we were with the pacer so that they could help control our early race paces. We both have a tendency to go out too fast at races, and we were hellbent on holding back to conserve energy for the later miles. But the fact that we were both feeling like we were holding back with the pacer was a good sign. We both felt great on race day!

We stuck with the pacer until mile 8 where we accidentally lost them on a downhill. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but we spent the next few miles trying to let them catch up, but they just never did. I was really enjoying running with the pacer because I never had to look at my watch. The miles were flying by and I didn’t have to worry about pacing myself. Once we lost the pacer, I found myself obsessively looking at my watch trying to keep us at a consistent pace. The first half of the race honestly flew by, and at mile 13.1 we looked at each other and said, “wow, this is the best I’ve ever felt at the halfway mark of a marathon.”

The half marathon split was a 1:46:48, which would put us on pace for a ~3:33:50 finish. Our mile-by-mile splits were: 8:10, 8:00, 8:04, 8:07, 8:10, 8:04, 8:10, 8:16, 8:18, 8:08, 8:14, 8:17, 8:11, 0:48 (.1).

I continued this momentum through to mile 17 when things started getting really hard. One of the volunteers at the water stop asked me if I was chilly, catching me totally off-guard. It was at that point that I realized I had goosebumps and that I had stopped sweating. Well that explains why I felt so crappy all of a sudden! I decided at that point to start taking in Gatorade at the water stations and start focusing on getting electrolytes into my system wherever possible.

I rode the pain train for the next few miles, and by mile 20 my calves and quads were starting to uncomfortably cramp. Cramping is not something I have ever had to deal with prior to this. At this point I was walk/running, knowing that my A goal of 3:35 was out the window, but that I could still BQ (under 3:40).

I saw my Oiselle teammates at mile 21 where they gave me the best pick-me-up I could have ever asked for. I needed this so badly, to the point that they actually brought me to tears. So much love and gratitude goes out to this team!

Oiselle Team Cowbell Corner – Mile 21

By mile 22 at Lemondrop Hill I realized my B goal was also out the window, but I also knew that a PR was in the bag. I kept chipping away at the last few miles, not letting the fact that I just blew my BQ attempt cloud my mental game. I used mile 22 to reassess my new goal, as “just PR” wasn’t enough. I needed a time to shoot for. I reset my goal to be under 3:45 (~6 minute PR). Bonus: while spending this entire mile doing nothing but hard math in my brain, I ran an “at goal pace” mile for the first time since mile 16.

Although my legs were still cramping and I still had goosebumps, I did start to catch a second wind around mile 24. I don’t know if the electrolytes were starting to do their job, or if it was just the “get me to the finish line” mentality. Either way, I was able to muster up some faster miles at 25 and 26, then a 7:00/mi pace for the last .2 of the race.

My 2nd half splits: 8:08, 8:09, 8:13, 8:46, 8:30, 8:59, 9:58, 9:07, 8:16, 9:19, 9:18, 8:53, 8:54, 1:42 (.2).

My final finish time was 3:42:57. I missed my A goal and B goal, but I shattered my C goal of a PR. This was good for an 8 minute PR, of which I had been relentlessly chasing since 2012. And even better, I shaved 18 minutes off of my 2016 Grandma’s Marathon finish time. Don’t mind me as a put a big ol’ check mark next to “Get redemption on Grandma’s Marathon 2016”.

What I did well at Grandma’s Marathon

• Mental Strength – I missed my A goal, but I didn’t let myself crumble like I have been known to do in the past. Given the unforeseen challenges that I faced in the back half of this race, I do feel like I fought through what I could and that I ran as well as I could have on this day.
• Progress – I had a baby 10 months ago, and was battling an injury that took me away from running completely for 4 weeks. I wasn’t running this race on full strength, but was still able to PR by EIGHT MINUTES. I am my fastest-self right now, 10 months postpartum. It might not have been fast enough for Boston (I’ll get there!), but I am damn proud about where I am at with my fitness.
• Pacing – I have a tendency to go out too fast in the early miles. Thanks to the pacer, I was able to stick to goal pace and start out at what really did feel like an easy pace.
• Confidence – I went into this race truly KNOWING I could achieve my goals. In 2016, the last time I attempted a BQ at Grandma’s Marathon and missed, I showed up WONDERING if I could achieve my goals. I have made so much progress over the last few years, of which I believe is a result of having increased confidence in myself, my coach, and the training process as a whole. I don’t even know who that unconfident, mentally weak runner was, and that is ok, as that is a version of me I don’t ever need to meet again.

What I could have done better at Grandma’s Marathon:

• Hydration – This is a no-brainer, but I am going to mention it because I truly thought I was hydrated based on ounces of water consumed that week. I always have a rule of no alcohol during race week, but this time I met my coworkers for happy hour the Wednesday before the race. Thursday was then spent making up for the lost hydration from Wednesday, and was only left with Friday to build my hydration levels up again. I also didn’t drink enough Nuun over the course of the week (I let myself run out at the worst time possible!), so I didn’t have the added electrolytes which in hindsight would have been beneficial. So, next time, no alcohol on race week and I’m never running out of Nuun again.
• 3:35 Pacer – I should have literally stopped and waited for the pacer to catch up and continued running with the group. We tried running a few slower miles for them to catch up, but ultimately decided to just go ahead and pace ourselves. I felt drastically different running with the pacer than without when my eyes were constantly glued to my watch. Next time: stick with the plan. Run with the pacer.
• Self-Care – I was sleep deprived and stressed going into this race. My 10-month-old was sick with pneumonia the week before the marathon, and work has been at an all-time high on the stress meter. I will always wonder how, if at all, these things affected my performance that day. As a result, I have already prioritized sleep and have found ways to let go of the incredibly high standards I hold myself to at work. Next time I will be much more aware of these factors not only during race week, but throughout the entire training cycle.

So what’s next? I took the last two weeks off for recovery and to give my knee a much-needed break. After talking with my coach, I am going to start ramping up miles and start a quick training cycle to see if I can squeeze in another 2019 qualification attempt before the September cutoff. If at any point I am not feeling strong enough, or if my knee is giving me trouble, I will be honest with both her and myself and I’ll cut my loses for Boston 2019 and give it my all at Twin Cities Marathon for Boston 2020.

I am proud of my effort and performance at Grandma’s Marathon, and I can’t stress enough how excited I am for what is to come. I don’t know yet how fast I can be, but I am about to find out!