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Grandma's Marathon
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Grandma's Marathon - RunMarathon
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Comments: Had a GREAT time the first 18 miles. Ended up pacing with a few guys in their late 20s, just out of school and starting new jobs up in Maple Grove. Eric and John. They were definitely there to have fun. First marathon for both of them. Trying to break 4 hrs. Life of the party. I called them 'college boys' just to get on their nerves. They'd sing a few lines of 'classic' songs, and I'd try and sing the lines that would come next. Ran with them on and off for the 1st 18 miles. Once again, hit all my mile markers on time until mile 18. Started sipping gels almost continuously starting at mile 13. Caught the college boys again at mile 20 and greeted them with a big 'BOO-YAH!' They shouted back 'SAL!' in unison. At that point Eric wasn't looking too good. He started cramping up. 4 hr pace team passed me at the bottom of Lemon Drop Hill (mile 22). Kept them in my sights as I ran up the hill. Lost them at about mile 23. Saw my wife and kids at mile 24. What a welcome site! Stopped and gave Cindy a kiss and continued running. Glanced at my watch and realized that to hit sub-4, I would need to run 7:45 pace. Lost some of my will there. I was giving it all I had, and all I could manage was an accelerated shuffle. It felt like I was running through downtown Duluth for FOR--EV--ER. Hit the wall at the end of mile 25. My body said 'this is all you're running.' My mind was saying 'just finish.' I stopped to walk at the underpass under Lake Street, when I heard 'SAAAAL!!! Noooooo! Keep going!!!' from behind me. It was the 'college boys' screaming encouragement. They had to be about a block behind, but with that encouragement, I gave it my last best effort. Had no kick, nothing left, but didn't walk it in either... What would you do differently?: Start sipping gels a little earlier, starting at mile 10. Other than that took a water and Ultima at every water stop... Keep my race number in view. Many times during the race, my number was covered by my shirt. Probably missed out on some good photo ops! :) Wished I had a chance to cheer the 'college boys' in. They helped me get through the majority of the race, and I lost them at the end...things you don't think about when you're struggling to finish yourself... :(  Post race
Warm down: Walked a bit, sat on the curb. Felt very nauseous. Drank 3 bottles of water. Wrapped a reflective blanket around me and just laid on the ground for about 4 minutes. Didn't feel like any more sugar. 26 miles of gels and replensher...couldn't eat another drop. Had a ham sandwich with mustard, though. Hit the spot. Met up with the family... What limited your ability to perform faster: Heat 74 and humidity 90% Event comments: Thanks for all the inspires and encouragement! Sub-4 is just another marathon away! :) Profile Album Last updated: 2006-02-15 12:00 AM
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 2006-06-19 10:00 AM |
Pro  4541    A farming town in MN |  Subject: Grandma's Marathon |
| 2006-06-19 10:13 AM in reply to: #458628 |
| Crystal Lake, IL | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Dude - great job! Sure, maybe it would have been nice to sprint across that line at 3:59:59. On the other hand, you gave it everything you had and don't have to worry about what you might have left on the course. And then you made yourself finish as strong as you could. That's a successful race no matter what your time was. Congratulations.
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| 2006-06-19 11:09 AM in reply to: #458628 |
Elite 3489  Lakewood, CO | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Awesome. You did PR and that is something in that humidity. You will be rockin' next time. |
| 2006-06-19 11:38 AM in reply to: #458628 |
Master 1901 Central, IL | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Not exactly ideal marathon weather! Awesome job! Boo-Ya! |
| 2006-06-19 1:03 PM in reply to: #458628 |
Regular 94 Spring Hill, FL | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Congrats on finishing, Boo-ya and always nice to have angels, referring to "college boys", on the course... Well thanks for sharing the entertainment report...God's Speed! |
 2006-06-19 1:42 PM in reply to: #458628 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2006-06-19 1:48 PM in reply to: #458628 |
molto veloce mama 9311 | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon awesome job! the conditions for the marathon were just TOUGH. you did a fantastic job. sorry we didn't run into each other!  |
| 2006-06-19 8:31 PM in reply to: #458628 |
| Regular 88 Central Illinois | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Top 50 percentile in both your age group and better than that overall. GREAT race on a tough day. |
| 2006-06-20 4:04 AM in reply to: #458628 |
| Veteran 158 Southeastern PA | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Great race and congrats on the PR!! Sounds like you had a lot of support too. Way to go!! |
| 2006-06-20 5:05 AM in reply to: #458628 |
Resident Curmudgeon 25290 The Road Back Gold member | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Great job, especially under those conditions. The H&H will take it out of you! Sounds like you had a great time regardless. |
| 2006-06-20 7:09 AM in reply to: #458628 |
| Veteran 219 Centreville, MD | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Way to go, man! Awesome job on the PR! Sounds like you really dug deep at the end - very impressive after 25 miles. -Dave |
| 2006-06-20 10:41 AM in reply to: #459855 |
| Expert 900 Austin, TX | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Sounds like a tough one. Heat really does take a lot out of you on a marathon. Sorry to hear that the conditions weren't right for you sub-4. But still, congrats on the PR. And you're right. It's only one marathon away! Sounds to me like you need to come out to Utah to run one of our downhill marathons. If you do, I'll happily train to run with you. I'm sure some of the others here would, too. Best of luck with your recovery. Spend lots of time on the bike and in the water. |
| 2006-06-20 6:08 PM in reply to: #460250 |
| Expert 1157 Tremonton, Utah | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon runningfoo - 2006-06-20 9:41 AM Sounds like a tough one. Heat really does take a lot out of you on a marathon. Sorry to hear that the conditions weren't right for you sub-4. But still, congrats on the PR. And you're right. It's only one marathon away! Sounds to me like you need to come out to Utah to run one of our downhill marathons. If you do, I'll happily train to run with you. I'm sure some of the others here would, too. Best of luck with your recovery. Spend lots of time on the bike and in the water. Don't give Sal any ideas, or I'll end up doing Top of Utah or something!
Seriously -- SUPER job, Sal! You know I've experienced that lovely Minnesota heat and humiditiy, and it's like taking a hose and sucking every drop of energy out of you. One thing that might help, so you don't get so sugar loopy, is to take Enduralyte Capsules. They help keep the electrolytes up, so you don't have to take as much other stuff. I took them for my last race, and I'm convinced that they helped. You still need to add carbs, but there are other ways to do that! Now -- get busy and get ready for LTF! I'm gonna do my best to keep up with you!
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| 2006-06-20 6:38 PM in reply to: #458628 |
| Regular 61 Noblesville, Indiana | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Great Job Sal!!!!!! Great photos too!!!! Congrats on a PR!! I'm looking at the training program you gave me, I'm going to try to incorporate it into my workouts. Congrats again! Good luck to you! |
| 2006-06-21 8:52 AM in reply to: #458628 |
| Veteran 157 Colorado Springs | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Good job Sal!! Sounded like a really fun race! Congrats on the PR!! |
| 2006-06-23 10:04 AM in reply to: #458628 |
| Regular 62 Draper, Utah | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Nice job Sal!! I can only imagine what joy it would be running a marathon in high humidity/heat... Uggh!! You did awesome!! The fact that you actually ran those last few miles speaks volumes... Great job! Those of us who have run marathons know and can appreciate how tough a marathon is without any extra factors working against you. And you still came really close to hitting your goal even despite those factors-- that's very cool! Your pics look great too-- If you were struggling, well, your pictures don't show it (although I can tell you were sweating like mad!!) You look tough... Kickin' butt! Good work! Edited by brappleye3 2006-06-23 10:07 AM |
| 2006-06-23 10:10 AM in reply to: #458628 |
| Elite 2515 Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea | Subject: RE: Grandma's Marathon Great race, Sal! I'm sure under "normal" Grandma's conditions, you'd have beat your 3:59:59 goal. Still a PR is an awesome thing to achieve not to mention finishing a maration in brutal conditions. See you at LTF! Tom |
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74F / 23C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 2255/6909
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 313/706
Met up with Roger (rabkaman) and Dave (goodav) at the Pasta Dinner on Friday night. Introduced the family and snapped a quick photo. Grandma's can get pretty chaotic with over 7,000 participants...
Woke up at 4:30. Drank some Berry Juicy Juice (100% juice), 2 bites of a bagel and sipped some PowerBar gel. Met Alicia, Gretchen, Jason and Scotty in the hotel lobby. Scotty drove us down to the Miller Mall for bus pickup. Spent most of my time talking to Jason and Scotty on the bus about previous marathons.
No warmup...are you kidding me? The 1st 10 miles of a marathon are warm-up! :) Did the usual wait in line for a Port-A-Potty and Bodyglide app. Put Bodyglide around and between my toes for this race. No sweats necessary for this race. Already warm outside at start. Did a few stretches and hung out and talked with Scotty for a while, then lined up at the 3:50 pace marker.