Blast From The Past: 2009 Dick Beardsley Half Marathon

The Dick Beardsley half marathon was the start of my 5 week ambitious fall schedule in 2009.  I would run this event in Detroit Lakes, then the following week I'd run the half marathon in Bismarck, have a couple of weeks off followed by the FM Half marathon. Mentally I was a little unprepared for this race, since my first half marathon in the spring I hadn't run the 13.1 mile distance again, and my last long run before the event went poorly.  The weekend prior I had an out of town wedding to attend and had some trouble finding a rhythm with my schedule heading into the event.

It was dark out as Erin and I drove to Detroit Lakes early in the morning of the event.  We parked at the high school and walked over to Washington park. Packet pickup was well organized and I went through quickly.  We had some time to kill as I tend to be early for events like these and fortunately we found many runners from the Fargo area that we knew to talk with. When the time came to line up to start I was surprised at how large the event was.  I lined up towards the back of the crowd and waited for the start.  I was far enough back that I didn't hear much of the starting announcements or even the signal to get going, but after a little bit saw the people head of me start to move and I trotted across the starting line.

The race starts with a 2 mile loop into town away from the lake before meeting back up with the lake and running around it for the last 11 miles.  As you start heading away from the lake you run about a mile uphill before you get to turn around and head back downhill.  Heading up the hill I wasn't quite holding myself back as much as I should have, but it wasn't disastrous either.  The crowd is a little deceptive to start this race, some people are only running a 5k and start out at the same time as you.  If you're using others to gauge your own effort you can easily get misled.  As I was finishing the in town loop the 5k runners split off and the half marathoners start their run around the lake.  I was glad to be back to some flat ground again and I was enjoying the view out over the lake.  Crowd support was not nearly as good as when I'd run Fargo, but this was to be expected based on those I'd talked to that had run the event before. 3 or 4 miles in there was a DJ setup on a trailer playing Black Betty as I passed.  I remember thinking how perfect the beat of this song was for running and what a nice pick-me-up it was.

As I continued on around the lake the flat terrain gave way to some hills.  I wasn't really expecting much because I thought it would be flat all the way around the lake.  After a particularly long uphill I was coming down a steep short downhill and I saw Erin and Rick.  I didn't expect to see Erin during the race, but she had met up with Rick and they drove some of the course.  I dropped a couple of empty water bottles with them and continued past the relay exchange station.  By this point in the day it was starting to get warm out and one nice person had setup a garden hose on a ladder with the spray directed at the road.  It was very refreshing as I ran through it.  Towards the end of the race I struggled, the rolling terrain adding difficulty I wasn't mentally prepared for and the warmer temps took their toll. The last few miles felt like they went on forever, but eventually I was turning the last corner heading for the finish line.  I was proud to get my finishers medal and glad to be done running for the day.  I had some post race munchies as Erin and I tried to figure out where we wanted to go eat.  We didn't really feel like joining others at Zorbaz so we opted for Perkins. As we entered the restaurant we ran into Rick and Kristy and joined them before heading back to town.

Marathon Recovery

Since the marathon on Saturday I've felt surprisingly good.  There was some soreness in my quads for a day or two, but other then that my body has held up fine.  Sunday morning Erin and I went to the gym and biked for half an hour just to keep things moving.  I took Monday off and got back to running again on Tuesday with a very easy 3.5 miles.  On Wednesday I repeated the 3.5 mile route and focused on keeping my heart rate down as I ran.  Thursday I started the day with a run to the store and then 3 miles with Erin for a total of 7.  I was getting tired the last mile, but overall felt very good.  Additionally my 7 miles put me over 250 for the year with the Thursday morning group earning me a free pair of shoes.

Mentally I'm doing better as well.  I moped around for a few days disappointed that I had missed my goal and Fargo. That disappointment has since turned into resolve to do better in my next long distance event.  I know there's still lots of things I can do to improve and I just have to focus on doing them.  Unless my half iron man goes very poorly I think I'm going to push forward with my ambitious plans for the year.

In a week and a half is the Buffalo River trail run.  Erin and I have lots of friends who will be running either the 5k, or the 10k that day.  I'm hoping to get out there this weekend to check out the course so I don't have to worry as much about making a wrong turn during the race. It should be lots of fun.

2011 Fargo Marathon

For Erin and I, marathon weekend began with packet pickup and the expo Thursday night.  After work, we headed over to Perkins for a quick bite to eat and then swung over to my parents house to go over the map and figure out where we'd see my mom on the course.  After that, we drove to the dome.  When we got there the parking lot was mostly full. The kids race was Thursday night and had finished shortly before we arrived. We went inside and quickly found our packets.  After verifying that our chips were working, we started to roam around the expo.  Our first stop was at the Swanson Health Products booth.  We picked up a number of free samples, most of which was stuff that we didn't really know what it did.  I was a bit disappointed because last year they were giving away some different protein bars. Being able to try some new things lead Erin and I to pick up some of them for our training throughout the year.  The rest of the expo wasn't terribly exciting.  There were a number of chiropractors and physical therapists there and a few booths selling running related gear.  After running for a few years now, I've seen most of the products and there wasn't really anything new to catch my attention. Around 8:00, Erin and I where scheduled to give an interview with Kim Baker who was doing a story on Rick.  I waited with Rick's sister Jodi for a while before getting a call from Rick.  Kim had just finished up interviewing Rick and was still in south Fargo at Rick's house.  With it already being a bit late, I told Rick we'd need to reschedule and Erin and I headed home to try and get a good nights sleep.

Friday morning started early.  All week our plan has been to get up early so we're used to the schedule and race day isn't such an early start for us. Throughout the week, we've gotten up and always had something to do.  A couple of days I went into work early, and a few we ran.  However, on Friday, I didn't need to go in to work until 8:00 and since we were taking the day as a rest day, we just bummed around the house for a few hours in the morning.  Of particular interest was the weather forecast. Earlier in the week it looked like we would have to run in some heavy rain, but Friday morning the forecast began to change.  It looked like rain in the afternoon on Friday clearing by the time the 5k would start.  We would get some more rain throughout the night but shortly after the marathon would start the rain would break up again.  It wasn't mid 40's and low humidity like I'd prefer, but it was certainly better then what we were expecting.

I got off work at noon and headed over to Rick's house.  Kim was still setting up for my interview so I went inside and had a chance to chat with Tim, another one of the local ultra gang, who was also there. After a few minutes Kim was ready and I went out to Rick's camper to do the interview.  I talked a little about running with Rick, the training class, and a little about the impact Rick has had on my life.  Then we got some footage of Tim, Rick, and I walking down the street before Tim needed to head back to work. Rick had volunteered to post some signs along the marathon route and I tagged along to help.  It took a few hours to place the 100 signs.  It wasn't the most critical job but we were proud of how well we had them spaced along the course. When we were done with the signs it was time to head home for supper.

When I got back to our house, Erin had supper started.  Her parents were already here and DeAnna was still on her way here from Bismarck. I helped get supper ready and just as we were ready to sit down to eat DeAnna arrived.  We had a carb heavy meal and then tried to figure out what the plan was for Saturday morning.  Eventually we settled on DeAnna going with my sister Steph and her boyfriend Jake.  They would be moving all over the course and have a bag of extra stuff with them in case Erin or I needed anything as we ran.  Erin's parents would join my mom near the middle of the course.  We wouldn't see them as much, but they wouldn't have to move around as much as the other group would.  After getting all of that straighted out we headed off to bed to try to get as much sleep as we could before the big day.

Not many cars but a few sprinkles when we first got here.

Marathon morning started at 4:30 at our house.  The alarm went off and we went over to the computer to check the weather and look at the radar.  It was raining, but it looked like things would clear up around the time the race would start.  We got dressed, made a last minute check of the things we'd bring to the dome, and the things we'd send with my sister and headed off to the dome.  When we got there the parking lot was mostly empty.  We parked next to Rick's camper and headed inside to eat breakfast.  Erin had a bagel and a banana while I had some oatmeal raisin cookies.  When we were done, we relaxed for a little while before more people started to show up. Chris was the next one to get there.  We chatted with her and her husband for a few minutes before Erik pulled up. A couple of minutes after that, Kristy arrived and we headed back into the camper to chill before the race started.  Erik joined Kristy, Erin, and I at the camper while Chris went into the dome to meet up with some other people.  As the morning progressed, more and more of Rick's family stopped by to drop stuff off and hang out before the race. Rick's sister Judy and Jodi's boyfriend Trent were making some signs to hold up along the course.  Some of the ones I liked were: "Worst Parade Ever" and "Mortuary ahead, look alive."  Hanging out there before the race, we enjoyed a fun atmosphere and a perfect way to pass the time before the start of the event.

Judy and Trent making signs

Erin and Kristy's last minute preparation

Cassie and Trent before the race

Erik, Jon, Erin, Kristy and Rick before the race
Rick isn't smiling, it's almost like he knows whats to come

As usual, Rick was the last one out of the camper as we headed toward the starting line.  I made sure to keep him in sight so we didn't duplicate last year where Jodi and Heather got too far ahead and he couldn't find them.  Our group lined up towards the very back and anxiously awaited the start of the race.  Shortly before it started, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Cory.  He told me Maggie lined up with the 4:15 pace group, but they were far enough ahead that I couldn't see her.  It was nice to see another friendly face as the race began.  The first few steps past the starting line felt like I was barely moving, I checked the Garmin and saw my pace was around 10:00.  Way too fast for what I had scripted out.  I dialed the effort back a little to get to my warm up pace and tried to settle in.

Jodi, Rick, Cassie and I entering downtown

The first few miles went very smoothly.  There was a brief sprinkle of rain, but it was so light it wasn't of much concern.  I smelled something funky along oak street near the baseball fields caused by this spring's flooding. As we neared downtown, I saw my sister for the first time.  She asked how it was going and I told her well. There was a band across the street from where she was waiting and I thought to myself "at least she has something to listen to as she's waiting."  I found out later that the band was playing the same song over and over.  After a short run down Broadway, I turned towards Moorhead thinking I wouldn't see my sister again at our next checkpoint because she would wait at the first one until she saw Erin.  It turns out the timing worked perfectly as Steph arrived at checkpoint 2 just a few seconds before I did.  I smiled for a photo and continued on across the bridge into Minnesota.

The Minnesota side of the river smelled much better.  The lilacs were in bloom and very fragrant.  The course runs south in Moorhead before looping back on itself and heading into Concordia.  This gives runners an opportunity to see friends both in front of them and behind them.  I had a chance to see my coworker Matt who was running the first leg of the relay.  He was near the end of his leg of the race and still looking strong.  On my way back north, I saw Kristy and then Erik and Erin and finally Chris and Maria, all of them looking like they were having fun. When we ran through Concordia, I remarked to Rick that this is where it all began.  He and I have run a lot of miles together since first meeting up at that spot.  From Concordia we traveled back into Fargo across the Main avenue bridge.

Returning to Fargo

Shortly after crossing the bridge was the downtime Y and Steph was waiting to see us again.  I shouted for a towel and quickly wiped the sweat from my face before dashing off again towards Lindenwood park.  Around this time I started to feel a little tired, which wasn't entirely unexpected given that I've been running for an hour and a half.  I started to look forward to the 5 hour energy I would pick up from my mom at mile 9. Just before I met up with her and Erin's parents, I was passed by one of the wheelchair participants.  I'm guessing it was the leader of the half marathon by the speed in which he overtook us.  After I passed my mom and Erin's parents at mile 9 and enjoyed my 5 hour energy pick-me-up, the course continued south past the cemetery and into the neighborhood near the country club.  I was excited to see the O'Keeffe's out along the route and had a chance to high five Sam before he had to head off to practice. Just south of this point was a brief out and back that gave us a chance to see Kristy again before heading towards my least favorite part of the course.

Heading over to high five Sam

Last year, everything seemed to fall apart in the river drive neighborhood.  The sun came out, it got very warm and humid and I struggled with the conditions. This year the weather wasn't quite as bad and I was feeling much better.  I saw our next door neighbors at United Blood Services as well as Cory who was out along the course to cheer Maggie on.  As we neared the halfway point, I saw someone who was obviously not enjoying herself at the time.  I talked with her a bit and reminded her of how far she ran in training just to get to the race and told her she earned her spot here.  It seemed to help and after a few minutes I picked up the pace to catch back up to Rick.  As I was working to catch Rick, I passed another runner who was sobbing.  I tried to talk to her as well, but it seemed like she didn't really want to talk so I kept working to catch up to Rick.  On the way out of the river drive area there was a lady who had a hose and sprayer out at the end of her driveway.  As I went past I enjoyed a quick soak and thanked her for being out there.  At this point in the race I was drinking enough from my water bottle that it would be almost empty by the time I found the next aid station.  I found myself wishing that the aid stations would be a bit closer together.  When I passed the O'Keeffe's again Sam had left, but John was out on his bike.

I found myself working harder and harder to keep up with Rick.  He had gotten a few steps ahead and I just couldn't seem to catch back up.  I pushed a while longer trying to catch him before I made the decision to let him go and salvage what I could from this race.  Last year I had stubbornly pushed on toward my goal despite knowing I needed to adjust to conditions.  This year I wasn't going to make the same mistake.  I felt bad about not being able to keep up with Rick since he planned his race around what I was trying to do, but I think I would have gotten myself into a lot of trouble if I kept pushing as hard as I was.  After I slowed down, I continued to feel worse.  When I saw my family at mile 17, I had already gone through all of the Endurolytes I had with me and asked for some more.  Steph said she would dig them out and give them to me as I came back one block over.

Steph and I

Before I saw Steph again, I ran across a runner that I could tell was hurting.  He was on his cell phone yelling at his mom trying to figure out where to meet up with her. From what I could tell he started the race in a pair of Vibram five fingers and planned to switch shoes at mile 10.  He was still in the five fingers at mile 19 and it was obvious that each step he took caused a lot of pain.  I tried to offer a few words of encouragement, but it didn't seem to help so I tried to push on towards my next meet up with Steph where I could get some more Endurolytes.  There was a little miscommunication and it was actually 2 blocks over where I met up with Steph and Jake.  I took a walk break to swallow the pills and chat briefly with them about how things were going.  I told them I was hurting and I felt really messed up but that I thought I could keep going.  They offered some words of encouragement and I headed off.

Rachel found me on the course in about the same place as the previous year.  I told her how messed up I felt and that I thought I could at least walk to finish the marathon.  She joined me and did her best to get a little more out of me then I wanted to give.  When I walked she told me that I could walk faster.  When I went under a bridge she suggested I run the downhill.  I'm blown away by her ability to say what I need to hear when I'm hurting.  She was able to reassure me that I wasn't in too much trouble and that I just needed to get some more water in me as well as gave me a ginger chew to try.  After traveling a few miles with her, I thanked her for the company and told her I would be fine and that I would appreciate it if she would go back and find Erin in case she was hurting.  I continued to run/walk a few miles before I started to feel a little bit better and tried to sustain a slow jog.  It was harder then I would have liked, but I was able to keep moving without walking.  After turning onto 17th Ave N, I knew I was almost done.  I picked up the pace a little and continued towards the Dome.  Just before turning onto University, there was a guy dressed as the grim reaper holding a sign that said "The end is near."  The sign really helped lighten my mood as well as many of the runners around me.

Erin and I after her first marathon

I picked the pace up on the ramp leading into the Dome and finished as strong as I could.  Rick was still in the finish chute waiting for me. Steph, Jake, DeAnna and Erin's dad, Tony, were just on the other side of the barricade.  A lady who finished just a few steps in front of me almost collapsed but a couple of race volunteers caught her.  They were going to guide her over to a wheelchair, but she recomposed herself and was able to wander off on her own.  I wasn't feeling much better than this myself, but Rick put his hand on my shoulder to steady me and I walked around a bit until I felt a little more normal.  I chatted with everyone for a bit waiting for the rest of our gang to finish up.  I didn't have to wait too long before Erin was crossing the finish line.  I gave her a big hug when she finished and told her where she could get her medal.  A few minutes after Erin came in, Kristy finished.  Rick gave her a hug and they headed off.  We found out later that she was feeling a little hypothermic and needed to try and warm up as soon as possible.  We told our family that we would be a while because we wanted to see our friends finish and they headed out.  Erin and I sat on the floor in the finish shoot until Erik finished.  We both gave him a hug and congratulated him.  We followed Erik over to get his medal and meet up with his wife.  I was getting hungry so we stopped by the table with food and picked up some cookies and pizza.  After snacking and chatting for a while, we saw Chris and Maria on the displays on the dome.  We got up and headed over to the finish line to meet them as they crossed it. After some hugs and tears, we grabbed some more food and then headed out to the camper for some group pictures before everyone headed home.

Look at all those smiles after we finished

PR and Damaged Psyche

I'll post a full writeup of the Fargo marathon soon, but i just wanted to post my result and some initial thoughts I've had.

My official time was 5:12:53. I was able to PR by about 37 minutes.  It wasn't by initial goal, but it was a good backup goal and I am proud of what I was able to achieve. However my goal of 4:38 was not achieved.  It would have been hard to do, but I still think it was possible if I would have run a smarter race.

In each of my three runs this year that have gone at least marathon distance I've gotten my ass kicked. While I can make excuses about still learning how to run these distances I haven't really had much success at any race longer then a half marathon to this point.  With an ambitious plan to possibly run as many as 4 ultras this year I really have to question if I'm ready for such an undertaking. Perhaps I should focus on shorter distances this year and look to do longer events the following year.  I think there's a good chance I could bang out a 50 miler in 12 hours, but do I really want to suffer for 12 hours?  I could regroup and do a better job building base mileage and get better at the marathon distance before pushing further again.

I know it's easy to be hard on myself so recently after the Fargo Marathon when I'm still feeling the aches and pains and time will probably change my opinions.  I felt it was important to get this written down before feelings change and these ideas are forgotten.  Whatever I decide to do should be thought all the way through and these are valid points to consider.

Final Preparations

With the marathon less then a week away attention has shifted from lots of running to the last minute details.  Here are some of the things I've been focusing on this week.

I've been working with Rick to develop a pacing plan to allow me to hit my time goal.  I start off slow to warm up, run the middle miles slightly faster and then fade a little towards the end.  Rick has expressed an interest in running with me and I'm looking forward to the company.  I'm hopeful that with his help I'll learn how to run a better race.

I've done a mental walk though of the course.  Having the same course as last year has helped with this as well as having a video drive through.  I've spent some time looking at the route and thinking about each place it passes as well as how I felt last year in those places.  Hopefully I can learn from my mistakes last year and have a better event this year.

Looking at the extended forecast.  As of right now it's looking warm and rainy.  Not what I'd hoped for, but at least I have some time to get used to the idea of running with wet feet.

Figuring out last minute workouts.  I want to keep active, but don't want to go into the event tired.  Monday night Erin and I ran 3 easy miles.  Tuesday we'll do some light biking.  Wednesday we're going to do our last hard running workout before the marathon.  Thursday we'll run with the group from the store, but only do a couple of easy miles.  Friday will probably be a rest day.

Figuring out our situation with out of town guests and in town spectators.  Erin's parents will be in town from Bismarck to see her first marathon.  Also Erin's friend DeAnna will be coming from Bismarck as well.  We've gotten the house cleaned up for the guests and we need to develop a plan of where to position them as well as my family around the course.  We need to consider what items we might need along the way so that we can pick up stuff from them as we're running. Developing a plan to meet up after the event is another thing we'll need to take care of.

Nutrition is getting a little more focus this week as well.  We've been trying to eat better all week as well as plan a menu that will work for both us and our guests the night before the race.  We also need to make sure we have everything on hand that we'll want during the race. We also need to make sure we stay on top of hydration throughout the week.

We need to make sure clothing and gear is ready for the event.  I've decided on 1 handheld for the race and Erin will probably use a couple of them, swapping them out as we pass family and friends along the course.  We'll probably do a load of laundry later in the week so that all our workout gear is clean and we can make adjustments to whatever conditions we need to run in.  We'll also need to pack clean clothes and shower stuff for after the race.

I'm being a lot stricter with my sleep schedule this week.  Every day I'm getting up around the time I'm going to get up on Saturday so falling a sleep at night and waking up on time aren't an issue.

We're going to pickup packets and hit up the expo Thursday night so that we have more time with our guests Friday.  This schedule will also help us stay off our feet the night before the race.

Sunscreen.

It's a lot to think about, but it definitely helps to be prepared going into the marathon.  I'm optimistic that I've taken care of everything I can control and we'll just have to deal with the things we can't control.  It's going to be a fun weekend.