Tecumseh Trail Marathon - RunMarathon

I started out at an easy pace, giving my legs time to warm up. It was chilly at the start, but forecast to warm up to the high 50s, so I was wearing shorts and my legs felt cold for the first few miles. I took it easy on the hills, but walked only a few of the steeper hills in the first half. I kept my stops at the aid stations short, just refilling my water bottle and sometimes taking a handful of pretzels. The weather was beautiful, and the trail conditions couldn't have been much better. The streams were running high enough to make the crossings fun, but not so high that you couldn't avoid getting wet. At the deepest crossing, an HHC volunteer was out arranging logs and stones for us to hop across. I thanked him enthusiastically as my feet stayed dry. At the halfway point (~2:03ish), I felt fresher than I had in my previous TTMs, so I felt good about my chances of hitting goal #1 (not walking the last 5 miles) and even goal #2 (finish within an hour of my road PR), but it was too soon to think about my super secret stretch goal (4:30). You're not really halfway done at the halfway mark at the TTM.

The second half starts with a hill that is laughably steep (like the 500 hill for my local peeps), and then continues up and down some pretty big hills with the last big climb at mile 19. I walked all the big hills, but tried to walk them with purpose (dare I say power walk?). I tripped on a stick and wiped out within sight of the 5.5-to-go aid station, and was slightly disappointed that no one teased me. At the same aid station, Mary from the tri club recognized me and introduced herself. She was stopping as I ran through, but I'd seen how strong she was running and knew she'd be passing me soon. The next couple of miles felt long, and I concentrated on keeping my mental focus. Heading back into the woods after the last aid station (3 to go!), my body was going and taking my mind with it. I knew I had a course PR in the bag as long as I didn't walk, so I was motivated enough to keep running but not motivated enough to keep running hard. I trotted along, getting passed now by stronger runners and passing a few who were more gassed than I was. Mary came up behind me, and I used a tiny uphill as an excuse to walk for a minute and let her go.

Coming out of the woods onto gravel road (last mile.2!), I scored a small victory by not stopping to walk and collect myself as I had last year, but kept running until I got to the last and final hill. A guy near me looked at the hill in disbelief and said "are you kidding me???" (or possibly something more colorful). I told him it was the last one, and up we went. At the top, I went back to my painful shuffle run, and tried not to look down the road for the turnoff to the finish. It was a huge relief to reach that final turn, and I thought I was smiling as I ran down the chute, but the finish photos will likely tell another story. As I passed the finish clock it vaguely registered with me that I had beaten my super secret stretch goal. I'd been dwelling on the negative (how much time I'd given up in the last 3 miles) instead of the positive (I'd run the race as a whole better than I'd expected).

More and longer long runs for a stronger finish.

I made it through the chute without falling down or throwing up, and even though I knew I shouldn't do it, I made my way to the nearest tree and sat down. My kids were tugging at my sleeves and giving me hugs, and wanting me to get my post-race cookies for them. I knew the soup would settle my stomach, so I finally dragged my sorry self over to the food line and picked up my soup and gave the kids my chips and cookies. Then I sat down again and enjoyed the fabulously hot and salty soup. As I ate it, I remembered to think of Roni out there running the North Face 50 miler in SF and sent her a mental "go girl!" As we watched the finishers coming in, my daughter made my day by telling my husband she wanted to start training for a race like this. She's 8, and I can't wait to run it with her some day.


I'm getting closer, but I have more work to do on my endurance and mental focus for a strong finish.


Love the TTM. Awesome course, terrific organizers and volunteers, and the nicest runners you could hope to spend the day with.