Race Report: Fargo Half + Grandma's Marathon

"Are you done having kids so you can focus on running now?" 

That was an interesting question I received this year though the long distance running thing has been happening for 15 years - before, during all the pregnancies, babies/post-babies seasons, and continues now. :) The iceberg picture below is one of my favorites to illustrate any "thing" that a person is working towards and then recently I read this quote that brings it all together:

"When you finally break through the Plateau of Latent Potential, people will call it an overnight success. The outside world sees the most dramatic event rather than all that preceded it. But you know that it's the work you did long ago - when it seemed that you weren't making any progress - that makes the jump today possible." - James Clear, "Atomic Habits"

There isn't really anything fancy about this running journey. Just lots and lots of consistency, a pretty substantial injury years ago, mastitis, pregnancy and postpartum x 4, career changes, pumping for a nursing baby before long runs and races, moving, family tragedies. 

Everyone has a story that is "unseen" by most. That book I quoted above is totally nailing it. I'm usually driven by goals but "Atomic Habits" is teaching me to appreciate the process, the system, more than just the outcome-based goal itself. I love that! Because I secretly love the system, the day-in-day-out routine of training, more than actually racing itself. 

I'm all about chasing big goals and pushing the limits! BUT, I hate the feeling of grading months of training and efforts as a success or failure just based off one race day result. Learning to love the process is very satisfying and that process will eventually lead to progress in my goals as well. 

Thinking of this spring's races, I would personally categorize them in the "Plateau of Latent Potential" James Clear noted in the quote above! The training was awesome, minus some leg/hip niggles, and the race days didn't quite click together. But the process, it's there and continues to happen, and, soon enough, the breakthroughs will come.

Here's a quick wrap on the spring races: 

Fargo Half Marathon in May

Training went so well this spring and I definitely gained more confidence running the 5:xx-something pace. Getting there and this is a mental "win" for me. 5:xx-somethings sound fast in my mind and I'm trying to untrain that idea! The goal for Fargo was really to break 1:20 and, based on training, it felt like a reality on the right day.

So the niggle. I'm thinking that my form got a little sloppy deadlifting earlier that spring and that's potentially what started the "niggle" in my left hip, that then trickled down to my knee (also happens to be the knee I had surgery on in college, so maybe that added to the issue).

In the weeks leading up to Fargo, I tried to be "good" by icing my leg whenever I could and taking care of myself a little better than usual. Basically just trying to sit down sometimes :) On race week, I couldn't put weight on my left leg when I would wake up first thing in the morning but it would eventually loosen up and feel better as the day went on. Running felt pain-free but I could feel the inflammation in that knee and tightness, like my IT band was pulling on it. 

With my up & down stairs issues, I was just glad if I could race Fargo soundly and to not have any weird injury pop up DURING the race. I cut down my mileage big time in the week leading up to and the knee itself felt pretty good by race day. 

I stayed at one of my brother's houses the night before the race and my kids were able to hang with the whole cousin crew while I ran. Seeing my siblings, sister-in-laws, nephews and my dad at the finish line was really sweet! 

For the running part itself, I felt like I put on the wrong legs that morning - like my marathon legs instead of half legs. Maybe the super-taper to fix my hip/knee issue didn't help but it is what it is. In hindsight, I should have tried a few "surges" to see if my legs would wake up. A lesson to try next time!

(A note on the half marathon fueling: I took a caffeinated e-Gel with water before heading to the starting corral and then ran with my little 6 oz bottle containing the powdered e-Fuel mixed with water to sip.)

I tried to stay conservative in the beginning of the race but ran out of gas when I should have been kicking it! 

1:20:56 was still a PR and I had to be happy with the effort. The first place girl was really nice and it was a blast to be in the race atmosphere again! I enjoy how Fargo feels like a big race in some ways but also feels small in terms of navigating the area, parking, finding people, etc. I think I will always be racing Fargo at one distance or another! 

Then on to Grandma's a few weeks later... 

................

Grandma's Marathon in June

My hip/knee did feel much better by Grandma's and seemed to be improving overall. Oddly, I (still) have swollen lymph nodes in my inner left-side thigh since that injury (do we call it an injury? it feels less serious if I just say niggle) and need to get that checked out. 

I stayed at my friend Amanda's house before Grandma's and that was a joy! It was hot and muggy with some mega storms going through the area that night. 

Seeing how hot it was going to be per the forecast, I think most runners were feeling some nerves about that. I have had a few terrible blow ups in hot, humid marathons and that was definitely a thought going into Grandma's. Examples... Boston 2012, goal was to not pass out, and Fargo 2016, where I went in dehydrated & exhausted (with a 3 yr old & nursing 1 yr old up all night) and ended up basically walking the last half of the marathon :s Learning experiences that I didn't want to repeat! 

Amanda and I were on the road when the race announced they would be starting 30 minutes later, due to some damage from the previous night's storm. This took some pressure off our traveling time but did mean we would be running in slightly warmer temps.

We made it to the bus, had a smooth ride to the starting line, dropped bags and even made our way through a faster-than-it-looked moving line for the porta potties. We were ready to go!

The goal was to run around 6:25 for the first half of the race and to see how things felt from there. 

It felt really warm when we were running down the highway in the early miles, with quite a few people around us and trees on both sides, not allowing for much air flow. 

As the highway opened up to the lake, the occasional cool fog would come across the road and that felt reviving. 

Fueling was spot on, which was a big plus! Usually my stomach turns on me when the humidity is high and this was my first full marathon using CrankSports e-Gels. Would they sit well in my stomach or would the higher electrolyte load cause problems? 

I followed the carb-load guidelines from Featherstone Nutrition like I have for previous marathons and this is the fueling strategy I used (stolen from my IG notes):

🥤 Fueling Notes
• 3-day carb load
• Race morning: ½ bagel with PB + 12 oz @cranksports E-fuel + coffee
• Bus: UCAN strawberry banana
• Before start: Egel Caff Chaka Laka
• During race:
• Egel Raspberry @ 45 min
• Egel Caff Cola @ 1:30
• UCAN strawberry banana @ 2:00
• Egel Mountain Rush @ 2:30
(All gels taken with water)

The splits were fairly even overall and, given the hot day, I was happy with how I held up. One funny part was asking another guy runner where Lemon Drop Hill was! I was wondering if maybe we had already passed it? He wasn't sure either, but no... there it was, waiting for us. The race felt pretty hot and miserable at that point; time for Lemon Drop! (I think it was around mile 22?)

The gels kept going down. At every aid station, I dumped water under my hat and would take sponges when available to put on my wrists. There was a Dakota Popehn interview where she mentioned something about cooling your wrists to help in hot races. I think it helped me? If not physically, for sure mentally.

On a positive note, I felt really strong this race, my legs weren't fatigued until that Lemon Drop Hill and I felt so much more fitness in me than what actually showed that day. That was the hard part! Feeling really strong while holding back and respecting the limit I felt in that heat. "Riding the line" but not quite blowing up. 

A key take away was that my fueling plan worked really well and that I can feel strong, even in very un-ideal temps. My knee/hip didn't bother me during this race - that was another huge praise. 

2:51:11. Crossing the finish, I remember getting a glimpse of the clock and thinking "oh, shoot!!!" both at Grandma's and at Fargo! Haha. Hopefully that was just in my head and didn't come out of my mouth. I'm so ready to get back to Grandma's next year and take another swing at it; hopefully as a Semi-Elite, assuming they leave the qualifying standards the same :) 

Ultimately, there is so much to be grateful for, to be able to run at all is a gift from God and I never would have dreamed of running these times just five years ago! Yet there is a certain greediness or hunger you need to have to push yourself to get faster, to work harder. So I look at the big victories in this training cycle and just keep on putsing away in the process. It's actually a lot of fun! 

"Goals restrict happiness... But you can be satisfied anytime your system is running." - James Clear, "Atomic Habits" 

So what is the goal? My goal is to fulfill my potential and to glorify God in the ups and downs. Another fun snippet, I ran a 4th of July 5k and did PR in 18:25 but also crashed & burned, ending at my half marathon race pace for the final mile. Oye. Thankfully it was a full 3.11 mile race because it's hard to find a true full-length shorter race! I always enjoy being around our local running community. 

On to an exciting fall of races! Some exciting adventures lie ahead and the day WILL come along when it all clicks :) 

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