Marathon – Every Mile Becomes a Part of Me

One Year “Run-versary”

One year ago today, I ran my first marathon – The Wisconsin Marathon – in my “transplant home town” of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

You would think that by now this might have sunk in – even the slightest bit – but one year later, it still has not.

Since completing this marathon, I have completed a few smaller distance races (10K or less), two Ragnar Relays, four half marathons, three more marathons, two 50Ks, & one 50 miler. Therefore, if I have learned anything, I have learned that “I am capable of so much more than I ever imagined” & that “limits, like fears, are often just an illusion”.

Even though I have accomplished so much, I still struggle to consider myself a marathoner or even an ultra runner. In my head, I’m still the every day, average Joe runner. Thinking about running any distance still stirs up all sorts of anxiety. Can I do this? What was I thinking when I registered for this? Am I insane? Why did I ever think this was a good idea? What if I fail? It is when these voices of doubt start that I have to make my own voice louder & stronger. I can do this . . . I have trained for months to do this! I like challenges – Courage to Start . . . Strength to Endure . . . Resolve to Finish! I am a Half Fanatic & a Marathon Maniac so I am a Secretly Insane Double Agent! And then there are some of my favorite quotes relating to failure: “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell . . . “Failure is success if we learn from it.” – Malcolm Forbes . . . “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.” – Henry Ford . . . “In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby

I will be celebrating this “run-versary” by returning to The Wisconsin Marathon on May 7th & stepping it up a notch by completing The Kalamazoo Marathon on May 8th – thus completing The Mitten Challenge.

My goals for this weekend are to:

Have fun! There is no point in running these races if I can’t have fun & enjoy the experience!
Successfully complete The Mitten Challenge & level up as a Marathon Maniac!
Improve my time from last year’s Wisconsin Marathon.

Every mile becomes a part of me . . . & I am a DISTANCE RUNNER!

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Race Recap: Bank of America Chicago Marathon (10.11.2015)

Bank of America Chicago Marathon (10.11.2015)

Over the weekend I successfully completed my fourth marathon & the second marathon to qualify for Marathon Maniacs!

Overall this was an awesome race . . .

Fun course!
Amazing crowd support!
Second race in the Chicagoland Triple Crown series done!
All of my gear worked fabulously – especially my Orange Mud Hydraquiver Vest Pack 2 (VP2)!

Here area my key “take aways” from this race!

THE GOOD: A Marathon Maniac is born!

This was my fun marathon for the year! *I know, I know – I just said fun & marathon in the same sentence . . . I need my head checked . . . BUT it is the truth!*

After running the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon last week – this weekend’s race was purely for the fun, the experience, & to top it off to qualify as a Marathon Maniac!

This has been a mission of mine ever since I found out about the Marathon Maniacs & this weekend – I successfully marked this bucket list item as completed!

THE BAD: Crowd Support.

I don’t think I have ever said this & I may not say it again . . . this is a positive & a negative . . . WOW there was a ton of crowd support!

I never thought that this could be a bad thing until they started crowding the course so much so that it caused numerous runners to trip over each other & in some places caused us to completely stop. YIKES!

On the other hand – there wasn’t a single inch of the course that didn’t have someone cheering on the runners. I have NEVER EVER seen so much crowd support.

In addition, to being amazing cheerleaders – several people gave out water, bananas, beer, Coca Cola, etc. That was awesome! I stole a banana that was strategically placed on a sign that a guy was holding up in front of him that said “Wanna have a taste of my banana??” How can a girl pass that up? I needed some potassium. *hee hee*

AND THE UGLY: Expensive Experience.

WHOA was this marathon expennnnnssssiiivvvvvee! Normally a marathon runs about $75 – $100 . . . this one has taken the cake!

Registration Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $185
Expo Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25
Race Day Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25
Once in a Lifetime Chance to Run this Marathon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Priceless

SUMMARY:

Overall, this was a great experience & I’m glad that I did decide to make this one of my marathons! And I qualified for Marathon Maniacs to boot! And as a Double Agent . . . shhhhh . . . I’m secretly INSANE!!

Half Fanatic #: 12734

Marathon Maniac #: 11670

Double Agent #: 1775

Marathon Maniac Sign

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Race Recap: Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon (10.04.2015)

Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon (10.04.2015)

Over the weekend I successfully completed my third marathon & the first marathon to qualify for Marathon Maniacs!

Overall this was an awesome race . . .

Beautiful course!
Amazing weather!
Amazing, supportive volunteers & crowd support!
All of my gear worked fabulously – especially my Orange Mud Hydraquiver Vest Pack 2 (VP2)!

Here area my key “take aways” from this race!

THE GOOD: 1:08:21 minute PR!

This is being renamed “THE AMAZING”!

The Wisconsin Marathon had its complications & I knew that I would PR on my next road marathon, but I’m ecstatic about the improvement!

I’m rather excited to see how my times shape up for year as I increase my weekly mileage & become more accustomed to regular 20 – 25 milers.

THE BAD: Cramping.

Although the morning started nice & cool – it did warm up as the race progressed.

Unfortunately, because of THE UGLY (see below) – I didn’t take my Tailwind as regularly as I should have & this lead to some muscle cramping / seizing.

Thankfully, I did have some salt tabs in my VP2 & within 15 mins of taking a few of those my muscle cramping / seizing subsided.

AND THE UGLY: GI Issues.

By mile 13 my GI was clearly not happy with me & I was doing my best to evaluate if I needed to find a porta potty.

My pace started to fall off from mile 13 through mile 19 until I could get my head back in the game and know that my system was going to be OK . Unfortunately, this prevented me from using my Gu as early as I should have, so I did briefly bonk until I could get my body some fuel.

SUMMARY:

Overall, an awesomely epic day! I don’t know if I have ever been so excited to run another marathon to see how much my time has improved. Next year, for the Mitten Challenge (Wisconsin Marathon on 05.07.2016 & Kalamazoo Marathon on 05.08.2016) – I may just push it on Wisconsin to see if I can improve even more! If not, I guess I’ll just need to add another marathon to my schedule for the hell of it!

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The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Race Recap: Wisconsin Marathon (05.02.2015)

Wisconsin Marathon (05.02.2015)

Over the weekend I successfully completed my first marathon! I am now a part of a whole new statistic!

Overall this was an amazing experience . . .

I made the right decision in having my first marathon be close to home!
I have a better appreciation for those long training runs!
I am absolutely in love with my Orange Mud Hydraquiver Vest Pack 2!
I cannot wait for my next marathon!

Here area my key “take aways” from this race!

THE GOOD: New Distance PR & stepping stone to bigger goals!

I think everyone remembers their first marathon . . . for some it is a one & done & for others it becomes the stepping stone to bigger goals.

For me – it is the stepping stone to bigger goals! I have already been signed up for my second marathon since August 2014, but earlier this week I confirmed my registration for the 2015 Bank of America Chicago Marathon (10.11.2015)! So at a minimum I will be completing three marathons this year with the possibility of adding in a fourth one – The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon (10.04.2015)!

*The combination of The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon & The Bank of America Chicago Marathon will qualify me not only as a Marathon Maniac, but it should also solidify my status as a Double Agent! YAY! YIPPEE! HOORAY!*

THE BAD: Blisters. ‘Nuff said.

On my last 20 miler training run I had a very small, tiny, insignificant piece of gravel work its way into my shoe. Me being slightly stubborn & just wanting to get the run over with, decided to ignore said piece of gravel. POOR DECISION.

This came back to haunt me – my heel which had completely blistered over due to this tiny piece of rock never recovered in time for this marathon. So . . . at this point I have developed a blister on top of an already healing blister & will be hobbling around for the next decade. *Yes, I might be slightly over reacting, but still! I now have that marathon shuffle with a little cha cha worked in.*

I will be looking to invest in a pair of gaiters & I will take the appropriate measures next time to remove even the slightest irritant from my runners.

AND THE UGLY: Wardrobe Malfunction!

Oy. Where to begin with this one? You know the rule that says never try anything new on race day? If not – check out my other blog that highlights some of the rules to run by (https://heartsandsolesblog.wordpress.com/rules-to-run-by/) . . . I can say that I have found the exception to this rule.

Never do anything different on race day . . . but always check the seams on the clothes that you are planning on wearing to ensure that they don’t disintegrate.

Around mile 10 I noticed some inner thigh chafing . . . no big deal – I pulled off to the side, discreetly applied some body glide & picked right back up with my intervals.

About mile 13 I was keenly aware of the chafing again . . . ok, time to apply more body glide – it was getting rather warm & I was sure that my shorts were rubbing off the body glide that I had applied.

About mile 16 I had to stop to investigate why it felt like all of my skin had been rubbed away along my inseam.

Ugh . . . this is when I realized that my shorts that I had been running in for the last 2 years had disintegrated along the inseam. I was no longer wearing shorts . . . I was wearing instead a very breezy “skort” . . . the only piece of fabric still intact was the very bottom seam of my shorts – otherwise everything else was gone. *blink, blink*

I quickly broke out my phone to contact my Mom & Husband – only to realize that it wasn’t working. I then flagged my wonderful running / training partner – Jen – down so that I could borrow her phone to make an emergency phone call for a pair of back up shorts.

My Husband (after slightly laughing at my situation) agreed to go home to retrieve back up shorts & then find me on the course so I could possibly complete the marathon fully clothed & avoid becoming front page news for the wrong reasons.

I cannot even describe all of the thoughts that were going through my head, but between the chafing & mental anguish my pace completely fell off.

About mile 20 my Husband was able to track me down & help me change into fresh shorts that were not falling apart at the seams!

SUMMARY:

I battled through & completed my first marathon at 6:48:51 . . . definitely not the time that I wanted, but it was an experience that I will never forget! I will PR at my next road marathon – GUARANTEED!

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