Jun 19, 2007 12:08 PM
Grandma's Marathon RR
Grandma?s Marathon Race report:
Short version:
3:19:20 chip time
455/6980 Overall finishers
373/4415 Men
43/573 Men 45-49
Long version:
This last Friday, DW and I drove 5 hours north to the beautiful city of Dulluth, MN for the 31st annual Grandma?s Marathon. I was signed up for the full marathon, and DW was going to run the William A. Irvin 5K on Friday night (she did not have success with the lottery draw for the ½ marathon).
We got to the expo about 1:30PM, and I was able to visit a bit with PacerChris (the 3:10 pace leader from Clif). He is one of the best marathon pacers in the business! Bought myself some black Race Ready shorts, and went to listen to the speakers. Listened to Hal Higdon, Doug Kurtis, Jenny Spangler, and Dick Beardsley. I?ve listened to Dick about 4 times now, and he always has some excellent stories to tell.
Soon, it was time to get over to the 5K race, but the race start was delayed due to thunderstorms passing through the area. The race started about 30 minutes late, and DW ran wonderfully. She got herself a 5K PR of 25:09!! She placed 192/1090 OA, 57/615 Women, and 4/44 Women 45-49.
After the pasta dinner, we went back to the dorms to retire for the night.
I left the dorm at 5:30AM to catch the bus up to Two Harbors. I had just enough time to get ready, check the gear bag, porta-potty line, and work my way into the corrals. I lined up right behind PacerChris and the 3:10 group, as that was my goal for the day.
Off we went, and the first few miles were a lot of fun. I did notice that I was sweating quite a bit, and HR was creeping up a bit higher than expected. I kept hydrated, and kept plugging along.
I thought there was no way the weather would be anything like 2006 here, but soon I was feeling the effects of the high temps, humidity, and direct sun. The pace started to feel pretty tough around mile 10, but I still hung on. A quick check of my HR showed that I was reaching 178 on some of the hills, and rarely dropping below 170.
Now, it was time to take some action. I eased back slightly at mile 12, but wanted to see if I could keep the 3:10 group within sight. This didn?t help much, as my legs were starting to feel the effects of lactate in them. I hit the half in 1:35:13 and was about 100 meters behind the 3:10 pack. Now, I really needed to take some drastic action or I would be facing the dreaded DNF!!!
For the next 9 miles, I continued to reduce pace and was painfully slogging at 8:00-8:15 miles. I even had to walk for about a minute at mile 17.5. I was seriously considering going into the next med tent, take the DNF, and get a free ride down to the finish.
But, I came up with an alternate plan for the race. I would keep slogging it out until the 3:20 group catches me, and then I would run with them.
Sure enough, at mile 22 the 3:20 group (with pace leader Darris at the helm) came up and blew past me. I felt like I was standing still?.. Well, I dug down deep and decided I would try my best to keep them in my sights for the next few miles. This was really tough, but now I had a goal ? hang on to the sight of them!!!! The next 4.2 miles were some of the toughest marathon miles I have ever run, but I really wanted to finish sub 3:20 now. With a mile to go, I was gaining on them. Things were going better now, but suddenly both of my calves cramped up right in front of the William A. Irvin ore ship which is about 0.5 miles to the finish. I needed to slow down and the cramps started to subside a bit. As I got to the final stretch, I had Darris in the cross-hairs, with the finish line only 200 yards away. Right at that moment, DW was hollering and cheering me on. I pushed hard to the finish line and finished strong. This time she managed to take the picture BEFORE she started jumping up and down!!
Skipping the Fashion report, as I am including a picture this time?..
Overall, our experience was fantastic at Grandma?s. The scenery on the course is great, fan support is awesome, and the post race party cannot be missed! I am looking forward to running it again next year.
I have concluded that I was not at the same fitness level as last year, but stupid me wanted to think that I could run it just as fast. Lesson relearned??
I?ll included HR comparison for 2007 vs. 2006 Grandma?s marathon for you HR and data geeks out there. Last year was a 3:07:43 finish in very similar conditions. No wonder I blew up this year!
Thanks for reading,
John
Short version:
3:19:20 chip time
455/6980 Overall finishers
373/4415 Men
43/573 Men 45-49
Long version:
This last Friday, DW and I drove 5 hours north to the beautiful city of Dulluth, MN for the 31st annual Grandma?s Marathon. I was signed up for the full marathon, and DW was going to run the William A. Irvin 5K on Friday night (she did not have success with the lottery draw for the ½ marathon).
We got to the expo about 1:30PM, and I was able to visit a bit with PacerChris (the 3:10 pace leader from Clif). He is one of the best marathon pacers in the business! Bought myself some black Race Ready shorts, and went to listen to the speakers. Listened to Hal Higdon, Doug Kurtis, Jenny Spangler, and Dick Beardsley. I?ve listened to Dick about 4 times now, and he always has some excellent stories to tell.
Soon, it was time to get over to the 5K race, but the race start was delayed due to thunderstorms passing through the area. The race started about 30 minutes late, and DW ran wonderfully. She got herself a 5K PR of 25:09!! She placed 192/1090 OA, 57/615 Women, and 4/44 Women 45-49.
After the pasta dinner, we went back to the dorms to retire for the night.
I left the dorm at 5:30AM to catch the bus up to Two Harbors. I had just enough time to get ready, check the gear bag, porta-potty line, and work my way into the corrals. I lined up right behind PacerChris and the 3:10 group, as that was my goal for the day.
Off we went, and the first few miles were a lot of fun. I did notice that I was sweating quite a bit, and HR was creeping up a bit higher than expected. I kept hydrated, and kept plugging along.
I thought there was no way the weather would be anything like 2006 here, but soon I was feeling the effects of the high temps, humidity, and direct sun. The pace started to feel pretty tough around mile 10, but I still hung on. A quick check of my HR showed that I was reaching 178 on some of the hills, and rarely dropping below 170.
Now, it was time to take some action. I eased back slightly at mile 12, but wanted to see if I could keep the 3:10 group within sight. This didn?t help much, as my legs were starting to feel the effects of lactate in them. I hit the half in 1:35:13 and was about 100 meters behind the 3:10 pack. Now, I really needed to take some drastic action or I would be facing the dreaded DNF!!!
For the next 9 miles, I continued to reduce pace and was painfully slogging at 8:00-8:15 miles. I even had to walk for about a minute at mile 17.5. I was seriously considering going into the next med tent, take the DNF, and get a free ride down to the finish.
But, I came up with an alternate plan for the race. I would keep slogging it out until the 3:20 group catches me, and then I would run with them.
Sure enough, at mile 22 the 3:20 group (with pace leader Darris at the helm) came up and blew past me. I felt like I was standing still?.. Well, I dug down deep and decided I would try my best to keep them in my sights for the next few miles. This was really tough, but now I had a goal ? hang on to the sight of them!!!! The next 4.2 miles were some of the toughest marathon miles I have ever run, but I really wanted to finish sub 3:20 now. With a mile to go, I was gaining on them. Things were going better now, but suddenly both of my calves cramped up right in front of the William A. Irvin ore ship which is about 0.5 miles to the finish. I needed to slow down and the cramps started to subside a bit. As I got to the final stretch, I had Darris in the cross-hairs, with the finish line only 200 yards away. Right at that moment, DW was hollering and cheering me on. I pushed hard to the finish line and finished strong. This time she managed to take the picture BEFORE she started jumping up and down!!
Skipping the Fashion report, as I am including a picture this time?..
Overall, our experience was fantastic at Grandma?s. The scenery on the course is great, fan support is awesome, and the post race party cannot be missed! I am looking forward to running it again next year.
I have concluded that I was not at the same fitness level as last year, but stupid me wanted to think that I could run it just as fast. Lesson relearned??
I?ll included HR comparison for 2007 vs. 2006 Grandma?s marathon for you HR and data geeks out there. Last year was a 3:07:43 finish in very similar conditions. No wonder I blew up this year!
Thanks for reading,
John
