Fox Cities Marathon

Member

before Mrs. Up beats me up.......

I'm sure 1/2 of my fellow RRers may be.....I didn't know she was doing a marathon????? Especially since I may have said that I couldn't get ready in time for Chicago in 3 weeks. On Wednesday I had a consult with my DH's coach and went over the pros and cons of me "winging" a marathon. We decide that if I could "hold back" a marathon would be good to build my lagging confidence.

My main focus was fueling properly and starting slow.

I ate until I thought I'd burst the night before, I slept well, had about 10 minutes of nervous episode as I put my race clothes on (which were too tight from all those carbs). I did absolutely no warm-up because I'm to go out slow

On the line, I see Wendi (excellent runner who is coming back from injuries and put down a 1:18 half last spring). I said "going for that 1:16 and course record?

The gun goes off and I "think" I'm running slow because there are lots of people in front of me. First mile = 6:20. oops! I look over and I'm running next to the guy that I started my half out with 2 weeks ago and he finished 1:17!!! Shocked

But I'm "behind" my friend, Norb, who consistantly runs 2:50-3:00 (about 50 times worth). I slow down to 6:50 and catch Norb and Forrest around 4 miles. Norb is a talker and the next miles went by quickly.

I make a "stop" at mile 8....Forrest got the portojohn.........and I stopped further ahead on a road. My "stop" was the conversation for 4 miles. My friend, Mike, whom I ran countless hours with when I lived in Green Bay is suddenly with my little group of guys. As he approaching the group he blurts "Sue, was that what I thought it was???????" hee-hee-haw-haw. Forrest catches up after his deed and first thing is "Sue, wow, I'm impressed, you pee quick" Mr. Green

I'm having fun but a little concerned with pulling down 6:55s. you have to run 6:52 for 3 hours. Forrest and Norb assure me that it's okay, we are into the wind. We go through the half at 1:28:40. I quit worrying. Around 15 miles the group is starting to break apart. It's me and Forrest, with Forrest still in need of a bathroom break, so he picks up the pace to look for one. Some guy that I don't know stays with me, but he's not a talker, but we have the company of eachother until mile 23. The course is now full of walkers and I'm finding a few guys struggling. I catch a friend at 25 miles that just did a 10:45 Ironman and he is walking. I yell at him that he needs to run to get 3 hours. blah...blah.blah..

I finish upright and get my fastest time on this course which I've done 4 times!!

more interesting stuff:

The ironman guy finishes 2:58 2 weeks post IM, another friend runs a 19:02 5k, which is a 2 minute PR-- 2 weeks after the IM (I saw him on the course and didn't recognize him he dropped so much weight), my friends daughter who lost 120 pound this past year ran 4:15 when her goal was 4:30! My husband's friend, who crashed on IM course and couldn't finish due to a concussion, ran a 1:40 half marathon.....a 12 minute PR! And Wendi Ray from Sister Bay ran her 1:16 half marathon Shocked

No pr for me, I wasn't really trying, I felt good and hopefully a sense of belief in myself. I was able to say Houston Marathon, 2:50 here I come!

edited to add: here, this guy writes better and you get a nasty pic Mad