Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon - RunMarathon

Being my first ever marathon, I was nervous not knowing what miles 20 - 26.2 would hold for me. The weather was perfect for a marathon....overcast, wind at the back, temps in the upper 30's at the start. Having trained in the heat of the summer, I was concerned about how my body would react to such a drastic temp change. I started at a comfortable pace, trying to keep about 10:15's for the first 10 miles. I kept 2 layers on top until mile 14 when I decided to ditch the long-sleeve. The decision to ditch it wasn't easy...I saw the overcast colds and was a little concerned about possibly being too chilled. Ditching it was a great move! I was able to sustain sub-10's from miles 11 to the finish. Originally, I was going to drop to just 10's from miles 11 - 15, but was feeling so good...figured what the heck. I totally kept to my fueling plan and my walk breaks after each mile. The discipline paid off. As I watched folks bolt ahead of us, I just kept remembering: If you are doing something different than everyone else, you are probably doing something right! I never imagined that I would see some of these folks again, but lo and behold by mile 18, they were dropping like flies and I was passing all those folks that darted out of the start gate. HA! Again...being my first marathon (but having done a handful of 1/2 ironmans) I new that mental toughness would come in to play late in the game. At mile 19, my legs were fatiguing. As I watched people stop, stretch, just give up and throw in the towel...I had a handful of go-to mantras: "shut up legs"; "the hard is what makes it great"; "you're not hurt, just hurting". And I just kept smiling. I also have to thank the many BT'ers that provided their experiences to help make me a decent runner. I believe tri808 is who said: "the first 10 miles run with your head. They should be crazy easy. The 2nd 10 miles run with your legs. Then give it all you got at the end". oh so true!

I had so much fun training with my most wonderful best friend Amy (Gordon_mom). This was an experience that I will never trade for anything in the world.

I don't know if I would do anything different. As with any race, there's a plan and if you're disciplined, you stick to the plan. I stuck to the plan and met my goal, met my non-time goal, but not my stretch goal. As much as I would have liked to do sub 10's the entire marathon, I don't know if that would have been the right decision. I know I have something to build on now.

It was a cold one! Got my checked bag; ran to the changing tent to get in to warm clothes and waited for Amy. She wasn't far behind. She changed, we grabbed a couple of beers and waited for Danielle. After the beer, I got a massage.


Being my first marathon, inexperience. Not knowing what to expect after mile 20.


Logistically I don't know if I've experienced a better race environment. The volunteers and spectators are unbelievable. And having raced in a couple of other states, Wisconsin has the BEST volunteers and spectators. We can't do what we do without them. Plain and simple. the finish line layout was just about perfect. The finish line had medics making sure each and every one of us was OK. The gear pick-up was right next to the finish line and the changing tents weren't far away. Perfectly run race!!! I'll do it again!