Well this past weekend was Grandma's Marathon. Was pretty excited to run it because this is the marathon I grew up as a kid hearing about from my Aunt and Uncle who would run it every year. Unfortunately developed a sinus infection the week leading up to the marathon so was a little nervous as to how the race would be. Drove up there with Jin and another guy Evan who my mom connected me with through her work. This was his first marathon so was pretty exciting. Slept Friday night up in Duluth at some on-campus apartments with some of Jin's friends. Was a new experience staying with all Koreans for a night. Woke up the next morning a bit late (40 min) because my alarm was set wrong and we both slept through Jin's multiple times. Scrambled to pack stuff up and a bit unorganized because with both Jin and I feeling under the weather the night before, we just went to bed without really planning the morning out (mistake).
Was able to get to the parking area we needed to and hop on one of the last shuttles from Duluth to Two Harbors. Was pouring rain in the morning but luckily by the time we reached Two Harbors it seemed to have drizzled off.
Race: Ended up seeing Jake Pittman at the start and we decided to start out running together. Both of us went and wished Chris Lundstrom good luck on his race and waited for the start. The start was exciting with over 6k people there. Many international (Kenyan) athletes were there for the large payout to 1st place ($10k I think).
Beginning miles felt pretty good. First couple miles we ran at about 7:08 making our way to about 7:00 miles. Felt a little more fatigued than usual at around mile 7 and worried how the later miles would feel. Was nice to run with Jake because he had is GPS watch and would give up mile splits that we needed to hit. He was in charge of our splits and I was in charge of where we ran on the road and also when to take our Gel's which we did every 45min. We ran together until mile 11 when Jake decided he was "going to drop" which I initially thought he meant out of the race but he actually meant his shoes. From that point on I was solo running with a pretty steady group older people. Slight tailwind on our way to Duluth really helped keep cool and feel light. Went potty (#1) at mile 20 after holding it in a little longer than comfortable. Put me down about 30-45 seconds but tried to catch the group of guys I had been running with slowly as to not burn out the legs too much before the tougher miles came up. With the increased crowds and college students support, felt pretty good in the later miles. Lemon drop hill was pretty tough and was feeling a little heavy legged at that part was still had a little energy left to pick it up in the late miles. Felt like I was passing many people from mile 21-25 and near the last mile didn't have to much to give. Compared to previous marathons though, this one I had cramped the least and was able to push it the most later towards the end of the race. Ended up finishing at 3:06:something AGAIN, and was not too disapointed. For a bit during the run, I had my hopes up of getting 3:05 and felt very excited for a bit (was a math miscalculation though :( )
After the race had a chocolate milk and headed to the massage tents to wait for a massage. Met a guy named Eric who was a runner for Minneapolis who had run Tokyo marathon before! Was a fun chitchat with him. After becoming freezing cold and searching for Jin for some time without bringing a drop bag, was happy to meet him and receive a blanket that he had been carrying around from the rest of the day. Went back to Kayla's roommates house and then went to Burrito Union and enjoyed eating there for the second time.
Overall, was a beautiful race and I look forward to running it next year. Have felt the least sore after this marathon than any other which is a great thing. The thing that hurt the worst though was having feet crammed into my Aasics Trainers and having been accustomed to running in my Aasics trail shoes to not wear out the Trainers. Bad idea.
Have a 10k next week (Time to Fly) that will be doing with Tavis and maybe a few others. Kind of bummed not to have any long distance events scheduled until the 50mile. Am trying to find a back to back Sat/Sun marathon duo as preparation for the 50mile. Haven't been able to find any at the time I need so might be doing some high milage on my own. Thank god for Japanese podcasts that I can zone out and listen to.
This have been a little rough with the McNair program so far, not having as much direction as I imagined and feeling a little lost in the research paper process. Might sadly be switching to another mentor and different topic if I cannot meet up with my current mentor by tomorrow. Am a little excited to start progressing though with summer project.
Well am in the BioMed library so should probably pretend to get back to work.
Sorry didn't proofread
