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Duluth, MN - half marathon

Sunday, November 13, 2016

First Marathon win

Bass Pro Marathon:
1st female
tied Marshall for 5th overall
2:44:57
RESULTS

Last Sunday, I capped off 2016 with my final race. I completed my 6th marathon and got my first ever marathon win! For November, we really couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. I've been participating in a Bass Pro race since 2011, but have yet to run the marathon until this year.

I always liked running local events. It's nice to sleep in your own bed, be able to cook myself a nice dinner, and have home course advantage. My parents and Marshall's parents were able to come watch us run, and it being an open course, we saw them several times. This really helped because for some reason, this race doesn't have very good crowd support. Yes, the aid stations were awesome (especially the one near mile 24), but considering probably over half this race is through residential neighborhoods, it was rather lonely. Many times when Marshall and I run in Springfield it becomes somewhat of a tempo effort because it ends up being just the two of us working together.  Those that know me best, know I thrive off competition. Nearly all my PR's have come in races that I don't win.

However, this race was some-what out of the norm. Thankfully we did have company through mile 19, but rather than working with us, this runner was more content to just let us pull him through the miles (so still felt like a tempo). Either way, it was nice to have a small group of three for most of the race. By the time we split up, we had already run into some half marathoners anyways. Usually with a race this long and grueling you build some comradery and everyone works together.

Excited to see all 4 parents
 The first half of the race was boring, and mostly it was just me trying to be patient and not get carried away. We ran the uphills through Southern Hills fairly conservatively and used the down hills when we could. I've been fighting a small hip/gluteal annoyance (been REHABBING) and I didn't start to notice it until mile 13-14, so that a plus. Wind hadn't been an issue until we reached the downtown area.


Unfortunately, it was my own fatigue that let our little pack break up at mile 19. I had fought some ups/downs through the downtown area with just enough of a head wind to make me tired. It wasn't so much that he sped up that much, but that I had dropped off a couple seconds per mile. Marshall (having run a 2:36 earlier this year and several sub 2:40 marathons. . . click HERE for his blog) could have easily left me and probably taken 4th place overall, stayed and helped me keep the pace honest the last 10k. The race had gone off without a hitch up to this point. We came through half way at 1:22:xx (low) and had every intention of a negative split. Didn't quite happen, but we had nearly even split (1:22 high for second half).

Once we made it to the top of Jefferson, I could start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We had about a 5k to go were already running into half marathoners that hadn't finished yet. Thankfully we had Dale as a lead bicyclist to clear the way for us. We managed to finish just under 2:45, so we were happy for that. Our goal was to be somewhere between 2:43-2:45 and we were right there in the mix.

First ever marathon win :)
While I didn't PR and was about 6 minutes off, I'm happy and content. I went into this race knowing that I wouldn't PR because the course/atmosphere simply isn't designed for a that kind of a race. However, being a low-key race, this allowed me to really enjoy just running, seeing my parents and in-laws, and enjoy the local atmosphere and the pride I feel when I race in Springfield.

2:44:57
 What's next you ask? Well I took 5 days completely off running. Next week is very low-key and low mileage as well. I can always tell when I'm getting fatigued because instead of "I get to go run" it becomes "I have to go run". I'm going to get some much needed rest and recovery so I can bounce back into2017 with lots of energy and motivation!