11/50 - Grandma's Marathon

After Vermont, I took the week off to rest up for the beginning of a series of three 5k races in my hometown. Most runners have their own secret race that they use as a confidence booster. You know the race - it’s the one that not too many competitive runners participate in and the one you don’t tell your friends about because they just might steal your moment. The Homewood/Flossmoor 5k series is mine. In 2010, I ran all three races with the best overall combined time. This year, I had some great competition waiting for me and lucky for them, they were able to take advantage of my ravaged legs from the heavy marathon schedule as of recently. I started this year’s series off with a 3^rd place finish and a sign of just how much these marathons were taking their toll on my body! Having just completed the 2^nd in the series this past weekend (with a few wrong turns that put my total distance at about 3.5 miles!), there are three of us with similar cumulative times. The final race will be interesting.
   
I had a good two, 40+ mile weeks after the 5k in spite of the fact that I picked up a part-time job after Vermont (in addition to the full-time gig) working at a running store. I was warned that the irony of working in a running store is that you will run fewer miles than ever before. So far, so true! The tradeoff is that there’s nothing more exciting to me than seeing the enthusiasm of all types of runners coming into the store and helping them find the right shoe or gear to better assist with their training. Also, it was a great way to help me heal my aching hamstrings!
 
I had a nice two week taper for this race – a 19 mile week and a 4 mile week. A last minute opportunity came for the wife and me to fly to Belgium for a long weekend right before we were to ride our motorcycles to Duluth, MN for the Grandma’s Marathon. She had some work to tend to and I had the world’s best beer to find, drink and maybe bring home! Belgium proved to be the perfect melding of French and Flemish cultures and a nice break from running for a bit. Beer, waffle, frites and chocolate repeated for three days…
 
Then on to Duluth, by way of motorcycle. We started our bike trip the day after we got back. Two days of riding through the Wisconsin backcountry was a beautiful escape from our hectic, day-to-day lives. I intentionally didn’t book much for this 10-day trip. We planned to get to Duluth, run the race and just explore all the nooks and crannies of WI and MI. After two days of riding on scenic roads along rivers and through dairy pastures and taking notable stops at New Glarus Brewery and Leinenkugel’s Brewery, we settled into the cold, rain of Duluth in our college dorm accommodations. We found a great Italian place with a beautiful view of the lake for a pre-race dinner (http://www.vabenecaffe.com/va-bene-caffe.html).

The morning of the race remained cold and wet with the rain finally letting up at the start. Grandma’s has a reputation for being a PR course because it’s pretty flat. In its 35^th running, the start corrals were noticeably skewed toward the sub 3-hour runner. To date, Boston is the only other race where I’ve seen this. I settled into a 6:30/mile pace knowing it probably wasn’t a good idea. I thought I was starting off slow based on where I lined up in the corral. I came to find out that the runners around me were actually starting conservatively (well, with the exception of the three middle-aged guys dressed as Steve Prefontaine - complete with 70’s track shorts and mustache!) as most were shooting for times in the 2:40 finish. Whoops! After the half, I settled into a more realistic pace and met up with Doug Kurtis – the 59 year-old that won the race a few times. Doug was now on pace to complete his 299^th sub 3-hour marathon. I was on pace with him to complete my 8^th. What can I say; he’s got a few years on me!
 
The last two miles were the most painful I’ve felt since my first marathon. I’m sure a combination of Belgium, beer and 700 miles on a motorcycle didn’t help, but I was actually sore for days after this race. Having been humbled most recently at the Vermont Marathon last month, I went into the Grandma’s Marathon knowing that I wasn’t in shape to run my best. I just wanted another sub-3 hour marathon in my quest for the 50 states. I got it, my 8th, with the company of Doug, who completed his 299^th sub-3 hour marathon. It was just another reminder that in life, there’s always someone, somewhere, going harder, faster and longer.

The healing process began with a great beer tasting at http://www.fitgers.com/ for lunch then dinner and a movie (Midnight in Paris – fantastic!) at http://www.zinema2.com/ (a cool indie brew and view with a great restaurant attached) in downtown Duluth before hopping back on the bikes to explore the Upper Peninsula and eventually make our way back down to our regularly-scheduled lives.