Surf the Murph 50k - Race Report

I ran my first Ultramarathon two weekends ago in Savage, MN. An Ultramarathon is a race any distance over the typical 26.2 miles of a Marathon. Some typical distances for these races are 50K (31 miles), 50 miles, 100k (62 miles), and the amazing 100 miles. 


I knew after I ran my first marathon I wanted to try to conquer an ultra. I had an old college roommate that ran the Surf the Murph last year, and it was really the only ultra I was familiar with in the area, so like an idiot I registered for it without doing any research. Oops. There are 3 distances in this race, which is either 1, 2, or 3 laps in the Murphy Hanrahan Park Reserve. Each loop is 16.7 miles... so, if you do the math, the "50k" or 31 miles was really 33.5 that I would be running. Riiiiight. 

The 50 miler started at 6am, 50k at 7am, and 25k at 8am. I got there about 6:15 and met up with Kyla. It was pitch dark, so I muddled around in the dark with my headlight on. We checked in and got our race packets. We also got dressed in these awesome costumes that won us each a $25 Target gift card. Mother Nature #1 and #2. I was #2 for obvious reasons. Ha. 

We started out and it was pitch dark. The trail was EXTREMELY technical. It was entirely in the park preserve, only once crossing a paved street. The first 5 miles of the course were extremely steep up and down hills, with leaf covered single tracks covered with leaves, hiding giant tree roots and rocks. The elevation gain was 2,000 feet. I heard that a couple people broke bones from falling because the trail was so dangerous. I am so lucky and thankful I did not fall once. Kyla said she fell 3 times HARD on the ground. 


Ultra running is so much different than road running. Even the elite walk the hills. This took some getting used to. I will admit I was not trained enough for trail running, at all. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. But not once did I feel like giving up. It sucked, but I knew that even if it took me 19 hours, I would finish. (Thank god it didnt take that long lol) 


After the first 5 miles of the loop, it's a more mellow 7ish miles. That is until you get to this horrible prairie grass area. There were these giant holes in the ground, where if you weren't careful would just swallow your foot hole. I can see where it would be easy to break your foot in this area in a second. I was very careful to walk this area to avoid injury. For a few more miles it was easy running, and then there was this 1/2 mile section or so of bamboo or something that was cut down. It was awful to run on top of. It would scrap your legs and hurt like hell. This section also had a lot of those pot holes like the previous section. 

The spots that were awful and bone shattering were absolutely gorgeous. 

Here's a glimpse of one of the "bridges" we had to cross 

The end of that 7 miles brings you back to the same Aid station that was after the horrid hilly 5 miles. You check in there and then take off for the last 4 miles of that loop. That final 4 of the loop is another horrid hilly 4. It's topped off with a spot about 3/4 mile to the end called "Pikes Peak". You literally have to hold onto tree branches and roots to climb up this hill. After I got up that, and rounded the corner, I saw my mom and brother standing there and I knew i had completed lap one. 16.7 down, 16.7 to go! Time - 4:20ish.


I took my time in between laps. I refueled (the stations had the BEST food ever - pb&j's, chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese, licorice, all the stuff that you NEED for 10 hours of running... excellent) and went to the bathroom and also changed clothes. I chatted with my mom and brother for a bit to get my spirits back in the game, filled up my Camelback, and took off. Here we go again!


By the second loop the herd had really thinned. I went miles and miles without seeing anything. I think I went the first 2 Aid stations without seeing anyone between except the folks at the stations. My spirits were good at this point, I had my iPod on (which seems like a sin with the natural beauty all around me... but at this point I needed something to keep me from losing my mind). I got to the 5 mile aid station, checked in, saw my family, took off again, it was during the 7 mile loop that I began to notice the blister pain on my right foot. I stopped at mile 25's aid station and sat down, took off my shoe/sock, and sure enough had GIANT filled blisters under each baby toe on my foot. The ladies at the aid station cleaned up my foot for me and put some Bodyglide on it for me, filled my belly with pb&j's, and I was on my way. I made it to the next Aid station, saw my family again, and at this point only have 4 miles left! I had run 29.5 FREAKING MILES. 


The last 4 were rough. They took forever. My legs were not cooperating. The last 2 were very, very rough. I found a fuzzy woolybear on the ground and picked him up. I carried him with me the last 2 miles. He was in a ball on my mitten for awhile, and then eventually warmed up to me. He crawled all over my hand. That little guy kept me going, as crazy as it sounds. At that point I had been out there, in the woods, alone, for almost 10 hours.... you start to dip into this dark place after that long... I can't describe it.... It's very strange. I knew I just needed to pick one foot up and place it in front of the other, and continue doing that for 2 more miles, and I would be done. DONE with my first ULTRAMATHON. WHO was I?!?


I saw the finish line and it was such a great feeling. I saw my mom, brother, sister, brother in law, niece and nephew all sitting in the grass waiting for me, cheering my name. I ran by with my woolybear, and stopped to give him to my nephew.  

See him on my glove? <3

I got done and inhaled 2 pieces of pizza. I got to brand my finishers plaque with 50K on it. 

Everyone I talked to that has run Ultras that was at this race said this was the toughest Ultra they have ever ran, and that they could not believe it was what I picked for my first one. I guess I had no idea...? When I finished, I told my family I was never doing another one. I was sticking to marathons from now on. Now that it's over and done with, I think I may want to do the 50 miler next year at this same race. Hmmm... I never thought a half marathon was possible, or a marathon, or a 50k, and I've conquered all of those.... I finished, not great, but I didn't even come in last! 33.45 miles!

My feet after the race. This was after the ladies at mile 25 cleaned up my feet for me. 

Ragnar : Great River 2011

I don't even know where to start! Well for starters, Ragnar is a relay running event that includes in most cases 12 runners, 6 in Ultra teams. The event I participated in began in Winona and ended in Minneapolis, and covered 196 miles. It's relay style, so 1 runner runs at a time and a slap bracelet is handed off between runners at each exchange point. 


I had no intention of doing this race until a few weeks ago. I joined the Winona Running Club facebook page and got a message from a girl named Kyla, asking if I wanted to join their team, as they needed a sub because someone dropped out that had already paid. Score for me! He had already paid the fee, so all I had to pay was the $10 transfer fee. (It's $1,200 a team otherwise, so $100 a person). Of course I can't back down from a challenge, so I said yes and had no idea what I was getting into really. 


We had a meeting last week where I met everyone for the first time. 11 strangers. I knew right away I liked these people, and wasn't going to mind spending 48 sleepeless hours with these people running day and night and when not running in a cramped van. 

We met Friday morning at 6:30am at someone's house. Our start time was 8:00am. Our team name was Victorious Secret, so we had bras and panties that we were going to wear throughout the weekend and over our running stuff and of course to decorate our vehicles with. 


Here's a picture of Scott and Chris, the 2 men from my Van, trying on their panties of choice. 


There are 2 vans of 6 people each. I absolutely adored everyone in my van. Each person is assigned a runner number, and I was runner #2. We all went to the Levee at 7:00 am for safety check and to get our packets/shirts etc. It was our first exposure to the runners and teams that we would see for much of the next 48 hours. 

Here are the WHORs... Women Hooked On Running.

Ragnar 911... hilarious group! They had little sherriff symbol temporary tattoos made up, and they handed out "Citations" for certain stuff... my citation is below... 

Below is me getting my citation from them......

Anywho, Scott was our first runner. He headed out, we all hopped in van 1, and headed to exchange 2. I was runner 2. I got ready for the exchange, and did my run when Scott met me at the exchange. I'm used to running at 4am, so it was weird to be running in the daytime. My first run was at 9:04am.It was 6.2 medium miles. It was toasty out! It was from Fountain City up the highway in WI. I got 5 "kills" which is Ragnar talk for how many people you pass or "roadkill" on the way. Despite it being very warm and me being out of my normal element, it felt great. I think the greatest part of Ragnar is knowing that you'll have 5 smiling and cheering faces for you at the exchange point, and another runner waiting for you for the hand off. 

We went through the rest of our runners, and when our last runner Pam was done, we met with our van #2. Our van was done for awhile while van 2 had to take their turns running, so we took advantage of the time to take a make shift shower from a hose at the exchange station and find some food. 

The "boys" from my van taking a shower at the major exchange between van 1 and van 2

After lunch, we headed to the exchange point where we'd meet up with van 2 again when they were all done running. It was a camping area where a lot of people had their blankets and pillows out and were trying to take naps, they had first aid set up, free s'mores tent, and of course music and stuff like that. We walked around a bit, there was no way any of us could sleep. We were all so excited and hopped up and ready to go. Scott started to get ready for leg 2 - and of course, had another fashionable outfit to display. 

My second leg was the first of the night legs. Any run that started after 7:30pm had to have night time gear, meaning a head light, butt light, and a reflective vest. My leg started at 7:33. I knew going into this leg it was a "hard 8.3", with one bitch of a hill in it. 

Holy Balls! That was one mother f'ing hill. It was awesome though. My van leap frogged and met me about every mile to cheer me on, and I peddled up and down that mother. I ended with an average pace of 11:01 for that 8.3 mile leg which I'm super pleased with. And of course I had 5 smiley faces at the end to meet!

At the end of this leg for our van, we were at a junior high at about 1am that had free WARM open showers, hot chocolate, and a gym floor. It was GLORIOUS. I showered naked with all the other ladies and didn't even care. It felt so amazing. I filled my belly with warm, free hot chocolate, and laid down on the gym floor with my ear plugs. I got 1 hour of sleep before Chris woke me up and said it was time to hit the road again!

one of the night time exchanges

My leg 3 started at 5:10 am and was from Hudson to Bayport. It was an easy 3.9. When the 5 of us were walking to my exchange I almost toppled into the stream by the sidewalk I was so exhausted and couldn't even stand up straight. Great I thought, this should make for an interesting run. But as soon as I saw Scott and had that bracelet and hit the road and heard my crew cheering for me out the window of the van, I was good to go again!

Being van 1 definitely had its perks. We were done about 8 or 9am. Then van 2 had to finish running to the finish line where we met them. Meanwhile we were at the major exchange showering again, and then we went to Perkins and ate an amaaaaazing warm delicious breakfast! YUM. 

We went downtown MPLS and walked to the finish area and waited for our other van full of people to show up. Our last runner, runner #12, would be running to the finish and then we would all run in as a team together the last little ways. She runs 7 minute miles and the last leg was only 4 miles, so she should have been in under 45 minutes or so. after about an hour, we were all getting worried. Our team captain told the MPLS police our runner was missing, and one of our runners borrowed someones bike to ride down the course to look for her. She was no where. We were all pretty much starting to freak out, because she was in the middle of downtown MPLS with no cell phone and no ID and had no idea where she was. Thankfully she came around the corner. Whew! We all joined her running and crossed the finish line together. 

Team Victorious Secret!!

We ended up finishing with an average pace of 9:01. # 131 out of 280. Only 1 person on our team had ever done a Ragnar before. Not bad!!!!!!

It was the absolute best time of my life. Better than my first marathon even. I can NOT WAIT to do it again. The group of people I met are just amazing and I have met some really amazing new lifelong friends! 

Trails

My first Ultra-Marathon is in less than 3 months. It's 34.8 miles of trails. I've already proved that I can handle 26.2 on the road, but 34.8 on trails... yikes. Today I got a taste of just what I've gotten myself into.


I'd consider myself a fairly decent runner. I'm not all that fast, pretty average. I can, however, run very long distances without much trouble. I don't hit the "wall". I don't cramp or have pains. I never need to take walking breaks. My body can go 15-18 miles without needing any refueling (Although I know it needs it, so I give it what it needs.) I think I'm pretty lucky.


I spent a good hour last night trying to figure out which trail area I wanted to venture out to this morning. I decided I'd go behind Holzinger Lodge here in Winona. I've been hiking back there before, so I knew that if worse came to worse, there was at least a half mile or so of good trails I could loop back and forth on 20 times if I needed to to make 10 miles. I've narrowed my Ultra training plan down to this one I found here. I'm excited for this training plan. It's different than the plans I've been on since February 2010. It's time for some change.


I think the biggest difference I need to get a grasp on with trail running is that pace doesn't matter. I've done a lot of research these past weeks and it all comes down to the same thing. Pace doesn't matter. The only thing Garmin is used for in TR is in case you get lost in the woods, to find your way back. They actually recommend walking up hills in TR as it is more efficient. They explain that running up roads is okay on the body because roads are paved and built for cars to go up them, however trails are rough and the terrain is so brutal that it is usually better to walk up them if they are extremely steep. With typical running and races, everything revolves around pace and PR's and age groups etc etc. Since I started training for my first race in February 2010 everything has revolved around pace.  None of that matters on the trail. Which is why when I looked down at my watch after mile 1 today, my stomach sank. I was at about a 14:30 pace. But, it was f***ing HARD. It was the hardest, roughest run I have ever experienced. For one thing, road running around here doesn't allow much for elevation change. Running the bluffs here definitely does. Then you factor in the terrain. Dirt, mud, sand, rocks, pebbles, sticks, logs. It is mentally exhausting keeping track of your footing placement with each step you take. It's like each step is a mini obstacle course.

Got to do the limbo under this log

I managed to pound out 3 miles on the trail, and it kicked my ass. Any belief I once had that I was a strong runner was crushed. That trail was the worst and most amazing run I've yet to have. I could feel my legs burning yet they were screaming for more. I have a lot of work in store for me in the next 3 months to be ready for this ultra. My plan is to do my second weekend long run on trails. I should probably mention I ran 20 miles less than 24 hours before this little adventure... and not one bit of pain or soreness... man I love my body these days.

I headed back to my car and drove to the lakes and finished the last 7 there. Amazing how much easier it was to run on the regular road. The biggest problem I had was that I had to wait until it was light out (BOOOO I'm a 4am runner damnit!!!) to hit the trail so I didnt trip and maul myself on a boulder so by the time I got to running the sun was out and it was getting warm.

48 miles this week. 30 in the past 24 hours. 69 days till the Chicago Marathon. 85 till Surph the Murph ULTRA!

Awesome new Saucony trail shoes... love em!

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” - Steve Prefontaine

When my mom told me I had lost my mind and was going to ruin by body by signing up for a 50k, this quote came to mind. I registered for my first Ultra Marathon the other day. An Ultra is considered anything farther than a marathon in distance. I'm absolutely in awe of Dean Karnazes who is an amazing Ultra runner. I just started another one of his books, and it's amazing. He recently ran across the United States, averaging 45-50 miles a day. Un-fricken-real. Did I mention he is the leanest machine around with only 5% body fat?! He's seriously not human.

These are his super amazing calves.... I am a calves girl. 

Anyway, the race I registered for is called Surf the Murph. One of my roomates from Sophomore year of college did it a few years ago and told me about it awhile ago. A 50k is 31 miles, however this race is 2 loops of 16.8 miles... so a total of 33.6 miles. It's located in a park Savage called Murphy Hanrehan Park Reserve. It's a 2,400 acre regional park. We used to go to this park all the time in elementary school for field trips. 

As most Ultras are, this is a trail race. I've never run trails before, but I am so excited to start. I'm not going to switch completely to trail running, but hope for at least 1 if not 2 of my runs a week to venture out in the trails around here. Fall is going to be the perfect time to train for this! I am running the Chicago Marathon on Oct 8th, and this race is Oct 29th, so it will work perfectly as I can use Chicago as my last long training run in preparation. 

I want more. I don't want to act like I'm a big shot who has run ONE marathon so I can do anything, but I want more. I want to push my body to its limits. I want to see just how far my body and mind can go. I am in the best shape of my life and there's no reason I can't do it.  It's a little scary, unknown territory again like Grandma's was, but I was confident then, did great, and I am confident again. Fingers crossed for an injury free training. 

I may be crazy. Who in their right mind pays $50 to run over 33 miles? Me Me Me! 

My hero.

There are very few people I know that have knowledge of my background other than I "got healthy and lost weight." I usually never eat before my runs in the morning, but I had some watermelon and hit the road. About a mile in I started barfing watermelon. You know, that taste in the back of your throat sets in and you know you're gonna hurl. That was me. I barfed, and kept on running. I got to thinking about how most people would consider that absolutely crazy and turn back for home. I wasn't going to let a little barf stop me..... and here's why....


I'm the youngest of 4 kids. I have 2 older brothers and 1 older sister. My siblings were 14, 12, and 7 when I was born, so I'm very much the baby. I don't remember much about growing up with my 2 brothers because they pretty much left the house for college as soon as I was old enough to have a memory. 


My brother Darren was a machine in high school. All-American in Swimming, Baseball, and Football. He was like some freak of nature in his athletic ability. He got accepted to the West Point Military Academy in New York. In case you don't know anything about West Point, it's a pretty prestigious place to go to college, and you HAVE to be nominated by a state senator to even go, which Darren was. 


I was 6 when Darren left home for college. I have one memory of it - we had just gotten done playing catch in our yard (Something we ALWAYS did together) and he told me he was going to be going away to school for awhile and we wouldn't see each other much. This was right before my parents got divorced - rough year. 


He went to West Point and graduated and went on to achieve countless honors in the Army. He was a 2nd Luitenant, served in Bosnia and Panama, was Special Forces, 101st Airborne, an absolute animal. Nothing could stop him. I remember him coming home from Special Forces training and telling us about it. They basically dropped him off in the middle of the woods in Alabama or somewhere to fend for himself for 3 months. He ate tree bark, bugs, dirt, anything he could to stay alive. 


He came home on leave when I was 14 and went to visit our other brother up north. While up there, he got jumped outside of a bar by a couple members of the Latin King gang in Minneapolis. They stabbed him 7 freaking times in his back and neck. He got away, crawled across a highway, knocked on someones door, and basically bled out on their front porch. He was helicoptered to the hospital, where he had a stroke from the one stab wound in his neck. 


He was told he'd never walk again, never talk again, nothing. His wife divorced him. He was in a coma. I remember going to the hospital and seeing him in a coma. This GIANT, muscular, lifeless body just laying there almost too big for the hospital bed, with tubes and wires coming out of everywhere. 


The stroke paralyzed the right side of his body, and the left side of his brain which is the communication part. He wasn't able to speak - there were no words. When he finally did wake up, it was just bizarre. You could tell the old Darren was in there somewhere, but not sure where. He was in a wheelchair and there was no doubt in any of the doctors minds that that is where he would be the rest of his life. 

This is a picture of Darren and I this past March in New Mexico, right after he completed a full marathon in the Desert with a 50 pounds rucksack on his back, and not to mention an entire paralyzed right side. It's called the Baatan Memorial Death March. I went along with him on the trip to be his ears and mouth and help get there in one piece. (I did the 15 mile honorary march)


This isn't the first race or challenge like this he's completed. He's done several 24 hour walks, triathlons, etc. This is a great article that was in the Star Tribune back in 2007 about him and a 24 hour walk he did to raise money for the Courage Center -----> here


Darren has completely defied everything the doctors and experts and people he knew thought and expected out of him. He doesn't take no for an answer, and he won't back down for anything. He has literally gone through hell and back. I want people to realize that I may be "crazy" and a little over the edge sometimes when it comes to training and my lifestyle, but this is what I always have in the back of my mind. I have absolutely NO excuses why I can't get out there and pound out a 15 miler any day of the week. I have 4 fulling working limbs, a fully functioning mind, and nothing holding me back. Darren is working with only half of what the rest of us are, and he accomplishes more than you could ever imagine. 

So I guess this is me explaining why after barfing watermelon I still continue running. When you have a big brother like him to look up to and knowing everything he's gone through and struggled with, it makes everything seem not so bad. I'm so lucky to have a big brother like him, and want to make him proud. As Darren would say, "pain... I like it."

Random

1. Delicious recipe I tried this weekend. I'm obsessed with blueberries and the wholesale had them for .99/pint last week. YUM! 

EAT ME!

2. Marathon training : I'm a firm believer in following Hal Higdon's training programs for anyone interested in running a half or a full. The man is a genius, and his plans are meant to get you across the finish line. I would also highly suggest using the "Novice 1" program if this is your first marathon. The Novice 2 program just has more miles in it, which from my experience aren't necessary. I used Novice 1, finished in under 5 hours which I'm so happy with, and am pain and injury free post-marathon. Heck, I even did 12 today for fun!

3. "Sneak peak" of our engagement pictures were posted by our photographer last night... check them out on my facebook page here! 

"Anyone can run 20 miles. It's the next six that count."

26.2!

Well I survived my first marathon. I had no doubt that I would, but it's still scary going into unknown territory. Here's the recap!


Marshal and I headed to Duluth Friday morning. We stopped in Rice Lake at Walmart and had lunch at Subway. Luckily the rest of the weekend went a lot better than lunch at Subway did. That Walmart was the most assbackwards place we had ever been to, and Marshal and I both got sicker than hell from the Subway. Mental note to not stop there next year on the way up.


We got to Duluth and went to the Expo. By far the best race expo I've ever been to. It was a little better last year, but we were there later this year so maybe they ran out of a lot of the stuff they had last year. Who knows. It was still awesome. I met up with the fam and we went to Famous Daves for the all you can eat down south spaghetti, yuuuuum! We then went back to the hotel which was about 20 minutes away from Duluth at the Black Bear Casino. Wow it was a great place to stay. They had a sweeeeet hot tub/pool area, you got $5 free every day for gambling (I just cashed mine in, cha-ching) and there was 24/7 restaurants etc.

 At the Expo 

My brother and nephew sharing some corn on the cob at Famous Daves

Me, Marshal, Paul, and April were in my room. My sister and her family along with my mom were in another room in the hotel. We had a poolside suite so I heard "marco... POLO!" until about 11:30pm when the pool closed. Not ideal conditions the night before a race, but who am I kidding... I wasn't going to sleep that night anyways. I was up at 4:00, laid there till the alarm went off at 4:15, and then got up and the madness began. A big thank you to everyone in my room that morning. They were troopers. Up at 4:15 and at least pretended to be awake. 


I met 2 ladies on the Grandma's Facebook page that wanted to carpool from Black bear, so Marshal dropped the 3 of us off at one of the pickup spots. We got on the bus, and it was almost an hour bus ride to Two Harbors, the start of the race. The race actually goes down alongside Lake Superior on the highway from Two Harbors to Duluth. This is the map of it from my Garmin.

The bus dropped us off at the start line. It was in like an old car lot or something. We headed to the porta porties along with the other 8,000 runners. By the time we were done with the porta potties it was almost start time. I hopped in the crowd and waited. I was so far back I didn't even hear the gun go off. There was supposed to be an F-16 jet flyover, but I don't know if I missed it or what. I crossed the start line at 7:20ish on the clock for the gun time. The first 2 miles flew by. I don't even remember them. Amy and I were running together for the first 11-12 miles, so I think maybe that made it go by faster.

Self portrait at mile 6

 My family split up. My brother and his family were together and my sister and her family, my mom, and Paul and April were together in another group. Sister and Co. were at mile 3. I had my phone with me so I could text them where I was, etc. The rain had stopped so I was warm, so I gave them my long sleeve shirt and cap at mile 3 when I saw them. It was so exciting knowing they'd be at mile 3, and then every other mile spot they were at. I ended up having supporters at miles 3, 6, 9, 13.3, 14, 16, 24, and then finish. It was faaaabulous! 

Brother in law and nephew, in the rain, watching Auntie run!

I actually took this pic on my phone while running by... April and Paul, handing me a raspberry truffle lol

Anywho, right after I dropped off my long sleeve and cap of course it started to rain. It was SO cold. I couldn't feel my darn fingers.

Risk of Hypothermia... lovely!!!

 So then I was texting them trying to get my long sleeve back at the next mile I saw them. Then by the time I got to that mile to where they were, the rain stopped again and it was pretty nice out. I ended up running the rest in my tank and shorts and the weather actually did get okay. At mile 6 I think I stopped to pee. I went behind a van, because I wasn't standing in line at the porta potties. After I got done, I stood up and realized I had peed behind a van full of KIDS! whoops. Well I guess they learned something new that day? ha. 

Mile 3, handing my family my shirt and cap

Mile 16. This is my giraffe look.

At mile 13.1 there were a million porta potties because that was the start for the half. It was weird being there again since that's where I started last year. I hopped in a porta and peed again. Then I was on my merry way. I saw my sister and co. at mile 16, and then after that I kinda felt like it was going to get rough going forward since I wouldn't have anything to look forward to till mile 24. It wasn't a "hard" 16-24, but it was strange. Mile 20-21 I had this uneasy feeling. I fully expected to hit the "wall" like everyone says they do after mile 20, but I never did. I stayed hydrated and fueled perfectly. I didn't walk once. Not a once!!! :) 


Later on they were handing out bananas and oranges which was a great mix up from the sport beans and water. YUM. At 21 there were tons of people yelling "you're almost done!". Really? Cuz I'm not, and unless you got your butt out there and were at mile 21 out of 26, you can't say "almost done!" at me. At about mile 23 or so I looked over and saw this girl I went to elementary school, jr high and high school with. I chatted with her for a bit which was pretty cool.


Mile 24 was finally there. I was searching desperately for any familiar faces. I saw Paul April and Marshal and was so relieved! I made them each give me a big hug as I ran by and then kept on my way. (Right after that I saw ANOTHER kid I went to school with growing up.. so strange!) 2 miles left! That was it. The last 2 miles curl around town sorta down into Canal Park. I felt great, I was cruising, and I finally reached 25. I turned around the corner down into Canal Park. My brother texted me that they were standing by the big boat and I knew exactly where that was. I hauled it and saw them, and he was in the road taking pics of me. One more corner to turn and I was on the homestretch :) 

Mile 24, needing hugs!

With about .20 left I saw Paul April and Marshal again. I was pumped up, so excited, feeling awesome. I heard the announcer say "you've got 38 seconds to bring it in to beat the 5 hour mark". I knew that was gun time, not chip time, so I was at about 4:52 at that point. I wanted to get in at 5 hours on the gun time too though, so I booked it as fast as I could. I crossed the line at 5:00:02, official chip time 4:53:16. SO HAPPY WITH MY TIME! 10:58 average moving pace. YES! 


I crossed, got my medal and shirt, tried to find a warming blanket but they were all gone since it was freezing, adn then went directly to the Dippin Dots tent lol. I stocked up on Dippin Dots, bagels, chocolate milk, and found my family. It was so flippin' cold we didn't really stick around and take many pictures, so thats a bummer. We did get a few, though. 

Showing off my medal with a mouthful of strawberries.

With one of my nephews, Eli.

My medal

We made our way to the chocolate store where I got a caramel apple with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and a bunch of other stuff on it. I split it with the fam, but it was amaaaazing. Then we made our way to the Duluth Grill where I had a yummy Blueberry pancake. It suuure hit the spot. We then went back to the hotel. I took an ice bath and it felt great. Then we ventured down to the pool area, followed by the casino buffet. First casino buffet experience... UFDA. 

The ride back to the hotel. Exhausted and happy.

SWIMMING!

I can honestly say I've never been so exhausted in my life as I was yesterday. We left about 9:30 for the cities to meet Marshal's parents at the Twins game. I literally couldn't keep my eyes open, and then got a migraine. Not to mention my legs weren't feeling great or working, so the stairs at the game were pretty brutal. But, the Twins won, so thats a bonus :) 

It was an awesome weekend. I can't believe I ran a FREAKING marathon, but it was the greatest time of my life! I can't wait to do my next one. People keep asking, "was it hard? did you want to walk? did your legs/feet/whatever hurt?" The answer is : Yes. If it was easy to run a marathon, everyone would do it. Of course I wanted to walk, why wouldn't you want to? And yes, after 20+ miles of running, something is bound to "hurt" or be sore... but it's mind over matter, and you just gotta keep pushing through it. That's what I've been doing the past 19 months... why stop now? :) 

"Anyone can run 20 miles. It's the next six that count."