felt pretty good throughout. wanted to go slower at the beginning and get my legs slowly warmed up, since it was pretty cool at the start. ran with peter to mile 2, but then felt ready to go faster. REALLY had to pee and there were port-a-pots at each water station (which were at nearly every mile marker), but there were lines! ran past them at mile 3 and then a bit later saw 5 women squatting in a little gully off the side of the road...so i joined them. felt a lot better after that. my brother told me that it would be really amazing seeing the arial lift bridge from mile 1 and then again at mile 11...and boy was that true. it went from being a tinker toy to being actual size. really gave me the sense of how far i was travelling. i am still in complete awe of anyone who does a full marathon. even with good training, a perfect day, and a great event with loads of cheering spectators, i couldn't imagine going twice as far (although, i did feel like the time on the north shore was too short...and the marathon is an extra 13.2 miles on the shore). my dad was the only one who made it down to watch the race (the girls were still sleeping at 8ish when i ran past my dad). he was waiting to take my picture and i hollered at him from about 100 yards away...and then 50...and he didn't see me until i was right next to him! 'oh! slow down!' and i smiled and waved and he tried in vain to get a picture of my back as i ran off.

long taper and a just a hair faster at the beginning i think.

saw a woman i know from duluth, so chatted with her...then walked around to cool down, had a smoothie, a cookie, a banana, then got in line for a massage. peter was in line already (despite finishing after me, he must have made a straight line for the massage tent!). massage was wonderful! after that, we got some bagels and ice cream, then headed to the gear pick up. changed our clothes, had a beer (which was nasty), then got some coffee. all the above mentioned foods and beverages were courtesy of the event. went to a candy store i used to work at and gave a sweaty hug to my old boss, then bought some peanut butter truffles and some treats for my family.


i would not do a 10.8 mile run one week before. my legs were feeling much better, but i could still feel a bit of soreness during the race and they are sore in the same places as last sunday. long taper and a just a hair faster at the beginning i think.


this is an amazing event. it is very crowded with over 10,000 racing between the 1/2 marathon and the full...plus a TON of volunteers. my brother said i wouldn't need a water bottle, and he was right. it seemed like every time i blinked there was another water station. very well organized. it was also cool to watch the elite marathoners come in...and nearly collapse into the arms of the volunteers.