I've often dreamed of running a marathon in cool weather, slightly misting and a nice tailwind. Yesterday's marathon in Duluth was a dream come true.
While uncomfortable at the start, the conditions were ideal; 48 degrees, dense fog, misting with a 10 to 15 MPH tailwind. I caught an early bus to the start, which meant hanging around the Port-a-Potties for an hour or so. Grandma's is a great race, but the starting area is one of the most bleak. Basically it is in the parking lot of a Two Harbor's car dealership. I made one last bathroom break, then dropped my stuff at the bag drop then made my way to the starting line. Partial nervous energy and partial "help, I'm freezing here" had me pacing between the 2:50 and 3:00 flags. As I was pacing, 4:30am guy from our Runners World forum stopped me to say hello. He had to utter words I am guessing he never thought he would ever have to say to a stranger, "Are you Swamp Angel?" Its always nice to put a face and a personality to an internet acquaintance. It was a pleasure to meet you Chris and nice running with you. We chatted for a bit, then just like that, the horn sounded and we were off.
Miles 1 - 5 (6:59, 6:48, 6:41, 6:46, 6:45)
I ran with 4:30am guy for a bit and after a few miles he was gone. The good news was that the early miles were going by super fast. Seriously, the cool wind off the lake was like having AC blowing at our backs, it was awesome. About mile 5, 4:30 guy joins me again after a nature call on the side of the road. One great advantage of running along the north shore is that there are plenty of opportunities to pull off the road and do what you have to do!
Miles 6 - 10 (6:42, 6:46, 6:45, 6:43, 6:31)
I continued to run with 4:30am guy through mile 10 and we both commented how effortless those first 10 miles were. He took off and I got down to work. The course was hillier than I remember, but I maintained my pace with not much effort. I kept telling myself that if I felt this way at the half, I would open things up a bit, but luckily I didn't get careless with my pace. The miles were just clicking by and it was like every time I looked up there was another yellow mile marker greeting me to the next mile. It really felt great!
Miles 11 - 15 (6:47, 6:40, 6:42, 6:38, 6:42)
I deliberately pushed just a tad harder through these miles and I was finally starting to feel some fatigue. I was also feeling a slight twinge in my right abductor, which had me worrying just a bit. Working through the hills seemed to help, but I also realized that I needed to just hold pace and not ruin this. Hell, I was running 6:40 miles and it felt awesome! What is there to worry about!?
Miles 16 - 20 (6:42, 6:46, 6:44, 6:38, 6:45)
The second milestone for me was the 18 mile mark, where I vowed to get a little careless with my pace. I broke that vow, however, as things were going so well and this 6:40 to 6:45 pace felt just perfect. Why mess with a good thing? Also, there was Lemondrop Hill to worry about and I wanted a strong finish. Lastly, the twinge in my right abductor had blossomed into full fledged pain.
Miles 21 to 26.2 (6:44, 6:36, 6:42, 6:32, 6:36, 6:51)
There are lots of downhills when you hit town and I found it kind of easy to drop into the low 6:30's. Unfortunately, my right hip continued to give me trouble and more worrisome was my right hamstring which was staring to quiver. Every time I would try to push the pace it started to spasm. I soon found out that if I shortened my stride a bit and concentrated on a quick turnover, I was fine. Also, I concentrated on landing on my front foot, which seemed to take some pressure off the hammy. After Lemon Drop Hill, it was all downhill and I threw caution to the wind. I still wasn't moving crazy fast, but I was passing people (including two guys in my AG) and the shouts from the crowd were very encouraging. At this point, I knew I was going to break 2:57, but by how much? I got into downtown and pushed as hard as my wonkish hamstring would allow and cruised down the cobblestones of Superior Street at a sub 6:30 pace. What a blast! The last stretch has lots of turns with lots of screaming fans, which is pretty cool, but making lots of turns is easier said than done at the end of a marathon Crossed the finish line in 2:56:28 and I couldn't be more thrilled.
The mist had now turned to a cold rain, so I didn't spend too much time in the finishing area. I chatted with a few local runners, comparing times and small chit chat, grabbed some goodies and made the trek back to the hotel.
While uncomfortable at the start, the conditions were ideal; 48 degrees, dense fog, misting with a 10 to 15 MPH tailwind. I caught an early bus to the start, which meant hanging around the Port-a-Potties for an hour or so. Grandma's is a great race, but the starting area is one of the most bleak. Basically it is in the parking lot of a Two Harbor's car dealership. I made one last bathroom break, then dropped my stuff at the bag drop then made my way to the starting line. Partial nervous energy and partial "help, I'm freezing here" had me pacing between the 2:50 and 3:00 flags. As I was pacing, 4:30am guy from our Runners World forum stopped me to say hello. He had to utter words I am guessing he never thought he would ever have to say to a stranger, "Are you Swamp Angel?" Its always nice to put a face and a personality to an internet acquaintance. It was a pleasure to meet you Chris and nice running with you. We chatted for a bit, then just like that, the horn sounded and we were off.
Miles 1 - 5 (6:59, 6:48, 6:41, 6:46, 6:45)
I ran with 4:30am guy for a bit and after a few miles he was gone. The good news was that the early miles were going by super fast. Seriously, the cool wind off the lake was like having AC blowing at our backs, it was awesome. About mile 5, 4:30 guy joins me again after a nature call on the side of the road. One great advantage of running along the north shore is that there are plenty of opportunities to pull off the road and do what you have to do!
Miles 6 - 10 (6:42, 6:46, 6:45, 6:43, 6:31)
I continued to run with 4:30am guy through mile 10 and we both commented how effortless those first 10 miles were. He took off and I got down to work. The course was hillier than I remember, but I maintained my pace with not much effort. I kept telling myself that if I felt this way at the half, I would open things up a bit, but luckily I didn't get careless with my pace. The miles were just clicking by and it was like every time I looked up there was another yellow mile marker greeting me to the next mile. It really felt great!
Miles 11 - 15 (6:47, 6:40, 6:42, 6:38, 6:42)
I deliberately pushed just a tad harder through these miles and I was finally starting to feel some fatigue. I was also feeling a slight twinge in my right abductor, which had me worrying just a bit. Working through the hills seemed to help, but I also realized that I needed to just hold pace and not ruin this. Hell, I was running 6:40 miles and it felt awesome! What is there to worry about!?
Miles 16 - 20 (6:42, 6:46, 6:44, 6:38, 6:45)
The second milestone for me was the 18 mile mark, where I vowed to get a little careless with my pace. I broke that vow, however, as things were going so well and this 6:40 to 6:45 pace felt just perfect. Why mess with a good thing? Also, there was Lemondrop Hill to worry about and I wanted a strong finish. Lastly, the twinge in my right abductor had blossomed into full fledged pain.
Miles 21 to 26.2 (6:44, 6:36, 6:42, 6:32, 6:36, 6:51)
There are lots of downhills when you hit town and I found it kind of easy to drop into the low 6:30's. Unfortunately, my right hip continued to give me trouble and more worrisome was my right hamstring which was staring to quiver. Every time I would try to push the pace it started to spasm. I soon found out that if I shortened my stride a bit and concentrated on a quick turnover, I was fine. Also, I concentrated on landing on my front foot, which seemed to take some pressure off the hammy. After Lemon Drop Hill, it was all downhill and I threw caution to the wind. I still wasn't moving crazy fast, but I was passing people (including two guys in my AG) and the shouts from the crowd were very encouraging. At this point, I knew I was going to break 2:57, but by how much? I got into downtown and pushed as hard as my wonkish hamstring would allow and cruised down the cobblestones of Superior Street at a sub 6:30 pace. What a blast! The last stretch has lots of turns with lots of screaming fans, which is pretty cool, but making lots of turns is easier said than done at the end of a marathon Crossed the finish line in 2:56:28 and I couldn't be more thrilled.
The mist had now turned to a cold rain, so I didn't spend too much time in the finishing area. I chatted with a few local runners, comparing times and small chit chat, grabbed some goodies and made the trek back to the hotel.
No regrets in this race. With these conditions it could have been easy to get careless in the first 10 miles and ruin a perfect opportunity for a PR. I have to admit that I was surprised that my hip and my hamstring were giving me trouble. I logged a lot of miles this cycle and I thought my body could take the pressure. Oh well, my time was good enough for an 8th place AG finish and an 80th percentile age graded time. The high-miles paid off big time for me. This crazy sub 3 effort started in earnest in 2006 with a dismal failure on this same course (1:32 first half and a 3:59 finish) I slowly but surely have lowered my times gradually from to 3:59, 3:45, 3:29, 3:17, 3:07, 3:02, 2:58 and 2:56. Hey, that's 8 consecutive PR's! All as a result from higher (not faster) mileage. Not sure if I have a 9th consecutive PR left in me, but I am not too worried about that right now, just going to enjoy the buzz of another marathon PR!
Cheers to 4:30am Guy, who ran a phenomenal race and a huge negative split, finishing in 2:54! Awesome race Chris! You definitely can go sub 2:50!
Thanks for reading!
Happy Running!
Rick
Cheers to 4:30am Guy, who ran a phenomenal race and a huge negative split, finishing in 2:54! Awesome race Chris! You definitely can go sub 2:50!
Thanks for reading!
Happy Running!
Rick
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