Hey, I ran a marathon Sunday!
But ... let's back up a little bit.
When I last left things on this training log, I had just run a few miles in my new Hoka Bondis. The next day, I felt the slightest little bit of pressure on my let foot where I had been having issues. Incidentally, I also felt a little bit of pain in my right foot. I have a little knot or something right in the sole of my foot that is tender to the touch. But, since my run was pain-free, I figured I was going to try to make it through the marathon.
I got in another run on Friday. It was supposed to be 5, but somehow cam in at 4.98. Whatever. That run felt fine, too, as far as I can recall.
So, I woke up pretty early on Saturday, double (triple) checked that I was packed and picked up my friends Jake and Emily to head to Milwaukee. They're married, Jake is one of my best friends and Emily was signed up for the Lakefront Marathon, as well. We made it to MKE with no incidents and picked up our stuff at the expo, which was at the UWM campus.
After bib pick up, we headed to downtown/third ward MKE and wound up at the Milwaukee Ale House, where we had some food and beers (the first of MANY that weekend). While we are at the Ale House, my cousin, Ryan, and our friends Mitch and Molly - who were coming over from Madison - joined us. We ate and drank and had a good time.
From there, we got checked into our AirBnB and then had a distillery tour. At the end of hour-long tour, we sampled roughly 8 different kinds of liquor and then went up to the bar to have another drink. Standard pre-race activities. After that, we went and had some dinner. I had a BLT pizza, which is also standard before a race.
After dinner, we headed back to the AirBnB. I had a pull out couch to sleep on, but did not get much sleep that night. There were people screaming outside my window until after midnight and even after that, I still had a hard time sleeping. Race jitters, maybe?
So, because of that I was out of bed by 4:15 and getting ready. Emily - who also didn't sleep well - was out of bed by 4:45. We got dressed and packed for the trip and left the AirBnB by 5:15. After a short drive, we were at the Summerfest grounds, where we parked and hopped on a bus, which took us 26 miles north of MKE to Grafton High School, where the race started from.
Emily and I spent about an hour at Grafton High School just BSing, streching and waiting for the race to start. As the sun was coming up, they called us to the starting area. Emily and I took a quick selfie, then headed to our respective starting areas based on anticipated finish times. There are no corrals, but there were pace groups. I fell in between 4 hours and 4:30 and Emily went back to the 5 hour area.
And in no time, it was time to roll. I should mention quickly that the weather was PERFECT. It was probably just under 50 degrees at start time, sunny, just a bit of a breeze.
The first few miles through Grafton and the Wisconsin countryside were calm, beautiful and gorgeous. A few miles in, I ran past a guy playing "Beer Barrel Polka" on the accordion and I've decided that I want an accordion player accompany me for all of my races from here on out. That dude rocked.
The first half of the marathon were very, very good and smooth. I talked with a woman from central Wisconsin for a few miles, which made them go by very quickly in terms of perception and effort. I ended up falling in line with with the 3:55 pace group for much of the first half, which felt very comfortable.
Around the half marathon mark, I pulled a bit ahead of the 3:55 group. I figured I was biting off more than I could chew, but part of me thought that maybe a sub-4 was possible. So, I just decided to keep up what I could and go for it.
So, at some point just past the half marathon mark I felt it. A sharp pain in my left foot - exactly where I had a stress fracture 3.5 years ago. I was able to keep on and eventually the pain subsided, but I knew I'd probably done something to my foot. Fortunately, the brand new Hokas did their job and provided me a lot of cushion, which helped a ton.
The second half of the marathon was largely downhill and, despite the foot issue, felt really great. As each mile went by, I knew that a sub-4 was possible. A PR was unlikely, but as I ticked off the miles, I knew I wanted to hit that mark.
Around mile 20 or so, I started to feel a little fatigue in my legs. My cardio was good, my breathing was fine, but my legs were wearing out. I kept plugging through the suburbs, Whitefish Bay and some really nice houses. The crowd support throughout the race was incredible and the latter half of the race was no exception.
I also need to mention that Emily's husband and two our our friends came out to cheer us on throughout the race. I saw them around mile 14 and again at mile 24 or so. They had signs and were such a boost out on the course.
As I passed mile 20, I knew I was wearing down. I started doing the mental math on what I would need to do, pace-wise, to hit a sub-4. Honestly, that's easier said than done you're three hours into a marathon, but I managed. I kept the legs pumping, my feet were kind enough to not absolutely die and the miles passed by.
Finally, during mile 24, along Lake Michigan, I had to walk. I had been pounding pavement for as long as I could, but needed a short break.
I walked a short distance, but trudged my way through mile 24. Mile 25 presented another challenge. With all the rain this month, the running path along the lake was flooded over. And not just a little bit. Fairly deep water. So, as I was running through that, my feet got absolutely soaked. I stopped to walk again because I was beat and the 3:55 pace group caught up with me. I knew at that point I still had a sub-4 in me and just need to push it to the finish.
Right at mile 26 I saw two of my cousins, their wives and kids. They cheered me on and it was a nice little boost to the finish. I was struggling, but once I saw the chute to the finish and the clock ticking away, I had just enough energy to push. With nothing left in the gas tank, I crossed the finish line at 3:54:59, my second sub-4 and just 6 minutes off of my PR.
The rest of the day was pretty crazy. I slammed a water, a gatorade and A LOT of beer at the after party. The band playing there (at the Summerfest grounds) was awesome, too - a great mix of classic and current tunes.
Emily finished a little after 5 hours and joined in the festivities. She had an awesome race.
After the race, we got cleaned up and drank our way across Milwaukee, but that's a story for another time...
As I'm writing this a few days later (Thursday night), both feet are in somewhat rough shape. Not terrible. I can walk and I've mowed, but there is definite pain.
Obviously, Marathon Weekend is about 90 days out. That doesn't leave me a ton of recovery time. I had planned on a week off from running, but it may turn into two. I'll take it day by day. Being able to run at any pace in January is much better than not being able to run at all (I'm also stubborn enough that I'll run on crutches if I have to).
So, that's the current situation. Fingers crossed everything heals quickly!