Grandma's Marathon - Number 10!

Last September  at Superior 100 Mile I ripped my hamstring in two places and suffered two Grade 2 Semimembranosus tears. After 12 weeks of rehab I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to run trails for a while or ever  as the uneven terrain caused some pain. I was, thankfully, stable on pavement. My hamster brain went right to 'oh well, I'll enter a few marathons instead of trail ultras' and I was thinking of getting a border collie puppy (which didn't work out) and didn't want long weekends away so road marathons was the plan. 

Since then, I have healed beautifully and am running trail ultras and marathons. We do heal and we do recover, the body is an AMAZING thing. 

I entered Wobegon, Grandma's and Twin Cities Marathons. OH, I'll have to write up a Wobegon report. I guess I missed Chippewa 50K in April, too. I mean, there is a lot of repetitiveness after 25 years and I don't think I yet posted TransRockies 6 Days event last August which was incredibly amazing.

Back to Grandma's!  I last ran the event in 2016. This would be my 10th Grandma's Marathon, 25 years from the first time I ran it as my first marathon. 150 ultra marathons/marathons later. Wow, so many memories along that course. I treasure the memories of Steve, Tyler and Troy cheering me on at so many mile markers, at mile 22 at Edgewater and at the finish line. I thought about our time at the DECC for the expo, we were amazed at all of the running trinkets, the pasta buffet, all of the people that ran marathons!  I thought about running Grandma's with my Dad when he turned 60, 22 years ago,  and my family followed us down the road onto the finish line, when I ran my first Grandma's not knowing that it would be the beginning of finding a love for long distance running that would stretch into my lifetime, often times, as a lifeline. 

I was going solo this year. I hit the expo earlier in the morning to avoid the crowds and ate the delicious pasta buffet as a late lunch. I met a very good friend and the expo-we visited a couple of hours, walked the expo and went our separate ways. 

Upon checking in I learned that the Edgewater no longer has shuttle service to the start - although I was told upon making my reservation that they still did, I asked.  I would now be driving to the pickup at UMD. Ugh. Edgewater is no longer a nice hotel. My boys used to love staying here because of the water park and the rooms were awesome, clean and new. Oh my goodness, not anymore.  Dumpsville. 

On race day I made some mistakes!  Just because I'm experienced doesn't mean I don't fumble. I began to walk out the door and realized I hadn't eaten my breakfast. WHAT? I went back in, grabbed the two bagels all ready for me that I wrapped and placed into the refrigerator the night before, eating one as I walked out and putting the other in my finish bag. Wow. 

As I began to pull out of the lot, thinking I was going to drive to the shuttle at UMD, I noticed the parking lot was blocked in with gates and cones. London Road was not accessible. Oh for crying loud. I moved a cone, drove onto the road, realized I couldn't go anywhere so moved the cone again and came back to the lot. As I was panicking I noticed a couple walking from the hotel, they looked like runners. I asked them if I could get a ride with them if they were going to the shuttle. They were, thankfully!  I quickly parked my car and walked with them to their car, smartly parked in a lot on the other side of London Road. OK then. Crisis averted.

It was a beautiful day. 50F, clear sky, the smoke pollution for Canadian fires had cleared. They high would be 70F. Stellar. Maybe a tad too warm but couldn't complain.

I had 2 hours to race start after being dropped by the bus. I ate my second bagel, drank water, put my  blocks and GU into my short pockets, sprayed up with sunblock and just hung out. My final stand in line for the toilets lasted 45 minutes!  The start gun fired and I was still standing there. Oh well, it was a chip start so I didn't really care. By the time I made it to the start line we were 7 minutes into the race. Off I went!

There is aid every other mile at Grandma's until mile 19 when there is aid every mile to the finish. It was so great. I drank a small cup of water and poweraid at each station. I had a gel every 45 minutes or so. I felt great. I ran miles at 10:10 ish, a few too fast in the 9s but for the most part I stayed steady. 

I heard my name yelled out at mile 19 and saw Doug and Maria!  A three way hug and smiles gave me a boost to hasten my step. At mile 22 I saw Jean and April cheering after they ran the half marathon. So much fun!  I smiled and laughed my way into the finish line at 430, reaching my goal; 2 minutes faster than Wobegon the month before.

I mosied along the finish line, cheered in other runners, changed my clothes, walked over to Bayfront and listened to the live music, taking in the festivities. Such a blast. Eventually I made my way back to the bus pick up area to head back to my hotel. Guess what my hotel didn't have a shuttle. I had to wait an hour for a private van the hotel hired to pick me up. Still, I had a great day!

Upon leaving the next day I swung in Canal Park to make a reservation at a nicer hotel for next year and one in which I can walk to the DECC for shuttle service. I'll be staying at Pier B, not the Edgewater. 

Three Days of Syllamo 2023

 

I had so much fun last year at this event that I wanted to go back again!  Maria made all of the plans, the reservations, Doug drove, all I did was ride along and run. It was fabulous!!

Three Days is held in Mountain View, Arkansas-approximately a 12 hour drive away. 

We stayed in a house on the river shared with a handful of friends, many for whom this was their first run at the event. The run schedule is 50K 50M 14Miles with lots of elevation!  I couldn't wait.

The 50K and 50M course is different each year so I was going to be navigating new territory, new trails, new views. The 14 M run is the same course, different direction each year. I learned that there would be a river crossing on day 1 and that the water was quite high. They weren't kidding!!

I had so much fun, 50K is such a great distance-not too much to drain me (well, I don't go fast enough for that), and still have down time afterward. I ran the course faster this year, as I said though, it was different from last year. I was happy with an extra hour of recovery time. 

After the race I wanted to visit with a cousin of mine. I knew she lived nearby our rental but wasn't quite sure where.  Doug suggested we find it on the way back to our rental and I could drive their car over after shower and a meal. He navigated to her house, it was about 1 mile away. Crazy! I drove over to visit, having such a great time connecting again. After a few hours I headed back to the house to get ready for the 50M. 

As last year, I didn't make the cut off in the 50M. I suppose I'm quite tired after a 50K with plenty of vert and am not just raring to go on day 2. I had a blast and enjoyed every minute out there, running as long as they'd let me. Well, more hours for recovery for Day 3.

Day 3 was amazing, of course. Just knowing that it is a shorter day alleviates any stress or anxiety. I went easy, enjoyed the views, became lost at one point, found myself back to the trail and again, ran faster than last year. I had so much fun.

Doug had packed all of our goods while we were running so after our finished we headed off for Kansas City!  Maria had reserved a great little house for us. We walked to dinner, stretching our legs out, fueling after a big three days of running. I slept SO well, having a quiet bedroom to myself again. It was luxurious. In the morning we walked to a coffee house, leisurely packed our belongings and headed for home.

A delightful time was had in the Ozarks of Arkansas!

Northwoods Winter Marathon 2023

 If you remember, last year I took an incorrect turn and didn't make a check in after the first 13 miles. I continued on for another 13 miles but I did not get a finish. I was NOT going to do make the same mistake this year!

Andy emailed the participants that with 11" of new snow we could look forward to a slow soft course and encouraged us to drop down to the half marathon. I wasn't interested in that plan. I wanted a good long run so stuck with the marathon.

With a 930 AM start there was plenty of time for me to drive the 2.5 hours to Duluth, check in and still have time to get dressed in running attire and pack up my hydration vest.

I was surprised that as I drove to Duluth the air temperature kept going up. Normally the opposite takes place. By the time I arrived to the race start it was 23F!  We were going to have a warm day indeed.  

Andy checked in with me, letting me know that he added an arrow where I messed up last year. I told him that I did not hold him responsible for my snafoo at all-that was totally on me!  I must say though, when I came up to that arrow I gave it a pat and said thank you Andy!

The snow was soft and deep. There were some deep post holes where hikers and horses had travelled through but most of it was pretty decent. The course is just so beautiful. I enjoy the woods, the paths along the river, the hills. It really is stunning. Not many people enter the race, it is low key and you aren't coddled.  All plusses in my book.

I found myself running with Kate for almost the full first loop. The time went by too quickly!  Before I knew it we were running into the start/finish. I filled up my hydration vest which I had been wearing under my jacket to keep from freezing. As the volunteer filled it we noticed that I had completely drained it. I didn't realize that I had consumed 60 oz of tailwind during that 3 hours. It went down easy! 

I zipped back up and headed out for loop two. I picked up the pace as the course was a bit more packed down now with everyone having gone through once. It was foggy on the lookouts over the city/lake during the first lap but during the second lap the fog burned off, the sun came out and the views were fantastic!

I hadn't run a longer distance since Superior in September so it was good to learn that my hamstrings had healed, my legs were strong and I was back where I love to be. Effortless. I could run all day at this pace. 

Most of the second lap I ran solo. I'd come up on a person every once in a while but not very often. It was quiet, peaceful and meditative.

Running into the finish with a negative split, first in my age group and oldest finisher was a cherry on top of beautiful day spent running.