After a marathon, you never have to tell me twice to "take time off" from running. I'm more than happy to take a break - two weeks is the goal. My current post-marathon cross training is catching up in my insane tornado of a house! The kids and I were gone for nearly a week, came back Sunday, dumped everything here after church and now it's like a pit. No running. Just right back into the school week and then power cleaning on the side.
And writing a race report, of course!
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On Saturday, I had the privilege of running the Blue Ox Marathon for a fourth year - not consecutive - but my fourth year on the full marathon course. It's actually pretty comical. I am at this race every 2-3 years or so and have had a baby boy in between each Blue Ox race...
2013: 7 month old E
2016: 3 year old E + 1 year old W
2019: 6 year old E + 4 year old W + almost 2 year old C
2021: 8 year old E + 6 year old W + almost 4 year old C + 1 year old S
Thank you, Jesus, that our family has been growing like crazy over the past 8 years! Though I will say this mama is tired and the pattern will likely not continue from here on out. Our hands are full with four boys in the best kind of way :)
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Training for the past 12 weeks was focused primarily on the Fargo Half Marathon (from two weeks ago) with longer long runs, tempos, and speed efforts thrown in to work for this full marathon as well. I recovered for a few days after the Fargo 13.1, acquired a moderate lower calf strain, and then tapered for the next week leading up to Blue Ox. Thankfully the calf strain resolved itself after icing, compression and easy runs.
Mileage for the half marathon I raced in the Spring was a super low average of 27.5 mpw. For this Fall half and full, the weekly mileage average did increase to 36.4 mpw - still very low for marathon training but better than this Spring. Work in progress here! I'm gradually building up that base while doing my best to recover after baby and maintain a strength work base.
The Fargo Half Marathon went really well two weeks ago and my goal at the Blue Ox was to run a smart marathon and to be happy with how I ran. Going for a PR in the half and trying to PR in a marathon soon after isn't always a great idea, but it was an idea anyways.
All in all, I just wanted to end 2021 on a good note.
I lined up with my friend Amanda and planned to stay around 6:50 for the first half marathon of the race and to then re-evaluate based on how I felt. That has grown to be a fairly comfortable pace for long distances but this race would be different because I was running with my hydration pack (lack of volunteers/water stations for this year). I have only used my Orange Mud pack for training - never for racing before. That made me a little, or maybe a lot, nervous. |
| Trying out mom's hydration vest (w/o water pack in it) |
Fargo was my last 13.1 for 2021! I'm making it my goal to write up a race report BEFORE moving on to the next race. Considering the 26.2 is coming up (tomorrow), I better get these race-report-writing fingers in gear.
The kids and I took off without Leo to make it to the race expo before the 5k started. The expo seemed so normal! It felt great to be back in the hustle and bustle of the race environment. Even with a "smaller" event this year, Fargo is still a big race for our area. I didn't lose track of the kids and I did pick up my race number - that was a successful trip for me.
Afterwards, we found the campground, checked in and Leo drove in with the camper just in time. He set up, we hit the playground and ended the night with a campfire. No s'mores this trip but Oreos did suffice. The Lindenwood Campground was only 5 miles from the race start/finish, which was great, though the interstate was pretty loud all night long. Camping was still a fun adventure for us and their playground was amazing.
We did turn the heater on that night in the camper. Race day was set to be in the 40-50's, which was chilly at first but perfect running weather. Fargo Marathon is usually a May race (Covid changed that this year) and this weekend has actually been the Grand Forks Marathon in previous years. The cooler weather is a huge plus for chasing Fall PRs.
I felt a little "meh" going in to the race. Tired from life but feeling a little tapered. Training has been creative this cycle, mixing half marathon and full marathon training. I usually don't run 20-milers for half training but needed to for the full. I don't usually run AS fast for strength days in full training but needed to for the half.
So either this mixture of half & full training was going to be super helpful OR I was going to end up running mediocre at both distances. It was a great experiment :)
Going in to the half marathon, I felt 100% healthy and uninjured! Just lacking a little energy. Maybe needed more coffee.
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Pre-Race Nutshell: I enjoyed the time visiting with friends, seeing running faces that I have missed, and the lack of bathroom lines in the Fargodome just rocks. They have bathrooms for days. A runner's dream.
When it was time to line up, I snuggled in behind the Elite fast people and in front of the 1:30 or 1:40 pace group.
Overall the run was pretty uneventful, in a good way! What I love about running Fargo is that I was never running alone. I always had a pack to run with or someone to chase. When I train solo for the majority of my runs, having company during the race is a great motivator and really passes the miles quickly.
Fueling went well. I had one Clif gel with water around the 7-mile mark and I think that was it for gels. (This is why I should write race reports asap! I can't remember all the details now) At the other aid stations, I took mostly sports drink because I am always in need of calories, even in a half. Breastfeeding a baby makes me a calorie monster for long distance running! ALWAYS. HUNGRY. Always. Thirsty.
Splits were fairly even with my main "crash" being around mile 11. Nothing went over the 7-min mark and that was a big improvement from this Spring's Summer Rocks Half Marathon!
They had a nice spread of great food at the finish line: donuts, donuts, more donuts, toll house pink cookies (my favorite), chocolate milk, chips, fruit, the works! I love a good finish line buffet! I waited for a friend to finish, we stretched and recapped the race before heading out.
Back to the campground - shower - eat lunch - and to the Zoo we went! Running the half marathon left some gas in my tank and going to the zoo was really fun.
I call this zoo friend, "My Monday Face":
Camping with kiddos is chaotic but the memories are worth it! Leo made pancakes for Nat'l Pancake Day the next morning and we headed home. We were glad to head home, too.
The Fargo Half Marathon was SO fun and getting back to the race atmosphere was a blast! Running a PR was a great way to end my half marathon racing for the year. On this end of training, I feel like running the marathon mileage (longer long runs, longer tempo runs, more mileage), benefited my half marathon race.
Now for the last part of the experiment: Will the half training speed be beneficial for racing a full two weeks later? (Sidenote: I feel WAY better than when I have raced full marathons two weeks apart!)
Blue Ox Marathon, coming up tomorrow.
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| Some of the Geography, History & Natural History resources for Weeks 1-6 |
It's been so long since I've written a race report! I'm actually digging up an old one from my blog to somewhat copy the format. 2019 was the last year of my in-person races. For myself <baby boy #4 was/is well worth it!> and probably for most of the running community as well <thanks, Covid-19>. Needless to say, getting back into the race environment felt A-MAZING!
This was the inaugural Summer Rocks Half Marathon and the race timing was perfect; especially with the Fargo Marathon being moved to the Fall for 2021. A friend and I had planned to run a half marathon post-baby "time trial" on our own but I had a wedding come up - so that didn't work out. Then along came this race.
Training was a bit all over the place, as is life with young kiddos. My average mileage was 27.5 miles per week - crazy low but for the half marathon, it was going to work. I knew I could at least finish the race and some solid longer workouts mixed in to that low mileage made me think that I could still shoot for a sub-1:30 goal.
Just a note: Fitting in 20-25 miles per week felt like a major feat with all the kiddos. Most of my struggle was with morning workouts. Baby's unpredictable wake up times, plus night waking, made it tricky to sneak out for workouts before the other kids were up. Stroller workouts aren't an option with the four kiddos and the treadmill was a desperate move - baby just cried when I ran on that. All in all, this is getting easier now! Baby S is 9 months old now and much better at a decent wake-up time :) For a season, fitting in time to even go to the bathroom or shower is ridiculous. Though things get easier! Time. Enjoying where I'm at and just giving it time. That saying "babies don't keep" is so true. The older three are growing up so quick - I am going to miss my chubby baby snuggles!!!
Okay, back to the race thing. We had a local 5k a couple weeks before the race and I had done a solo time trial mile on our track in town. Increasing speed has been the focus this year so far and I plan to keep working at that!
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On race morning, I woke up at 3:00 am to pump a bottle for S (that he didn't even drink), eat breakfast and scoot out the door. The forecast looked hot for race day so I drank a Nuun along with my breakfast, in an attempt to pre-hydrate some. I have gone into races dehydrated while breastfeeding and I just can't recover - tried to avoid that this time. Then I drank coffee because mama needs coffee.
Baby S nursed at 3:50 and then I loaded up to leave. I picked up Amanda around 4:45 and to Fargo we went!
We had a great time visiting on the way, talking about all things Jesus and this wife/mama life. I find it helpful to not dwell on the race too much. The race day "jitters" felt a little extra this morning!
We made it to the race with plenty of time to pick up packets, hit the bathrooms (no lines! amazing), change shoes and stay out of the rain. Yes, it was raining, but they had plenty of indoor space for runners to stay dry and also building overhangs outside. The race felt small, which was just right in my opinion. Perfect size for a first race back. Amanda and I went for a short shake out run and then we headed to the line up.
This race did have pacers available, with the fastest one at 1:40. We lined up just in front of him with another gal and waited there. The rain wasn't terrible and temp wasn't as hot as I had expected! The humidity was definitely a thing but it could have been much worse.
And we're off!
There were a few sharp turns to make on slippery ground but no mishaps that I saw at least. We ran a lot of sidewalks and dodged the goose poop. The Canadian Geese seemed content watching and I appreciated that they didn't attack :) I chased Amanda for a while but soon lost her and the runners in the front spread out.
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| Free race day pictures! |
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| (official time 1:28:38) |
