I did something a little bit different at the start of this race...had an energy drink. Not the no calorie kind that I usually drink...but the full sugar/calorie kind. One of my favorite parts of doing races is the people that you meet. There were 4 of us from my local running club that all met up that morning to ride up to the start together. One of them is a marathon maniac - and wouldn't you know it...we met other maniacs. The funny thing about these guys...they introduce themselves by their number. Kinda weird...but I'm not really gonna dis anyone that runs as much as these guys do.
T.O, Pam, Brad, & MichelleThe 4 of us all belong to the same running club in Texas. The guy in the yellow...this was his like 65th marathon. We had a nice long bus ride to the start. The weather was nice. Not too hot not too cold. Perfect day to run. We had a fly over by 2 Navy planes...that was pretty cool. We also had a moment of silence for a runner from Kenya that recently died and had won Grandma's in the past. The next thing we knew...we were off.
I got myself into a nice groove. Laughing as I read the street sign "No Passing Zone". The next thing I know a nice girl ran up next to me. "You seem to be running pretty steady...what is your goal time" - I answered "hopefully will do a 4:15" - she said "do you KNOW how fast you are going?" So, we started talking...she kept my mind off the fact that we were hitting each mile marker at about 8:25 pace per mile. She wanted to come in at about 3:45 so around mile 13 I let her go...I was getting tired...she wasn't. I cruised at about a 9 minute pace until mile 20. It was at this point when I knew that 4 hours was in my grasp. All I had to do was average a 10 minute mile. So.....I did one at 9...another at 11...another one at 9...another one at 10...2 miles to go...not only will I hit 4 hours...I knew as long as I didn't stop I would break 4 hours. As I'm running down the last 100 yards the announcer is getting the spectators to cheer for the runners trying to break 4 hours. They actually did a count down of the last 10 seconds until 4 hours...but since this wasn't my first rodeo...I knew that was gun time...not chip time...so there I cruised into a 3.58.45 - I was excitied. I hurt. but then I found ice cream. Life was good once again.
My sister and I in the REALLY cold Lake Superior
Grandma's Marathon - is a great race. This is a town that really knows how to put on a race and still care about all that marathon weekend should be. We did the pasta dinner on friday night and partied all night in Duluth on Saturday. I am actually planning on going back next year. My sister wants to do the 1/2 and I have a cousin that MAY do the full.
The gang after some good pizza and beer!
T.O., Brad, Michelle, 7 Pam
