Conquering the hills and wind... or at least surviving them

When planning my fall marathon season, my main goal was to set a new marathon PR. My summer training was going well, but I wasn’t sure if I would be in PR shape by September when I was to run my first marathon of the fall. When Justin suggested running the Cape Cod Marathon in October, I objected. I remembered him describing the course as hard; the words “hills” and “boardwalk” stuck in my mind. Although I actually prefer some rolling hills over pancake flat courses, you never know quite what you are getting yourself into when somebody describes a course as “hilly.” Hills that are too long, too steep, or come at an undesirable time during a race can dramatically impact your marathon time. As far as the boardwalk goes, I am not a big fan of running on wood. (The day after I wrote this, I wiped out running over a wooden bridge!)

While I am sure the Cape Cod Marathon is a wonderful marathon, I wanted to make sure my October marathon had a course that was conducive to setting a marathon PR in case my attempt in September failed. Next Justin suggested the Atlanta Marathon. All my experience with Atlanta was on I-75 going to and from Florida for spring break, but for some reason when I heard “Atlanta” my mind thought “fast.” So, without researching the race, I agreed to run it.

At the packet pick-up of the Atlanta Marathon, I asked one of the race volunteers to interpret the elevation chart for me. I am terrible at reading elevation charts - it all depends on the scale. You can make a flat course look hilly if you set the scale right. The race volunteer excitedly explained to Justin and me that we would not find a flat section on the course. It was constant ups and downs - mainly the short and steep type, not the long and gradual type. Upon hearing this, I was immediately thankful that I achieved my goal of a new PR the month before.

Since I had never run so many hills consecutively, I decided that I would run conservatively going up the hills and push on the downhills. In the first mile of the race, I met a lady that was shooting to run around 3 hours. We ran together until around mile 20. I use the term “ran together” rather loosely. It was more like we were constantly passing each other for the first 20 miles. She was a strong uphill runner and would surge ahead of me going up. I, on the other hand, followed my plan of working the downhills and would wiz past her on the downs. Just when I was beginning to think race strategy on how to take the lead, I found myself keeping pace with this lady on an uphill leading into mile 20. This was my chance. There happened to be a long downhill segment after this hill and I ran hard to get as big of a gap as I could. I kept the pace strong until the end, finishing 1st in 3:01. I was happy with my time but found myself wishing I would have pushed harder since I had a lot left at the end. If I run this race again, I won’t be as intimidated by the hills.

Two weeks after the Atlanta Marathon, I planned to run the Veterans Marathon. I am not like Justin and do not typically embrace running marathons that close together. How he runs marathons on consecutive weekends or consecutive days is beyond me. However, I wanted to run Veterans this year to redeem myself from dropping out last year. It is pretty demoralizing to drop out of a race.

By the time I was at the starting line of the Veterans Marathon, my legs were feeling good and I thought that trying to run just under 3 hours was a reasonable goal. Within the first few miles of the race, I found myself running with a great group of guys that were all hoping to run right around 3 hours. Although there was a lady ahead of me, I decided to stick with this group. We were running my goal pace and it was too early to try to go faster than it. I felt great through the half, took the lead shortly there after, and then hit the wind. I kept telling myself that the wind would be at my back most of the last 10k as I fought to maintain my pace. Unfortunately, I was so exhausted once the wind was to my back that I couldn’t enjoy it. Now, I don’t make a habit of walking during marathons. However, I was feeling really dehydrated late in the race, so I walked through the last aid station to take full advantage of the fluids they were supplying. After 3 cups of water and a glass of sports drink, I was off and running to the finish to complete the marathon in 3:04. I was a little off my goal time and a little disappointed that I crashed the last 10k. However, my fall marathons this year all went much better than last year, and I have now completed the Veterans Marathon.

The past couple years, Justin and I have considered running the Rainbow Lake 5k, but it never ended up fitting in our schedule. This year, we decided early that one or both of us would run it. Justin, unfortunately, injured his foot the week prior to Veterans Marathon and running two marathons on it did not help its recovery. Although I hadn’t done any speed work for over a month due to the spacing of the Atlanta and Veterans marathons, I decided that this could be a fun and painful way to reintroduce speed work into my training. I went with the conservative goal of running under 19 minutes though I really knew I would be disappointed if I wasn’t decently under that time. The race started like many 5k road races with a slew of youngsters sprinting their hearts out. I didn’t think much of them until I was a little past the first mile. I noticed there was still a younger looking girl ahead of me and she appeared to be going strong. I gained on her slowly during the second mile but when we hit a strong headwind in the last mile, I stopped gaining ground. I wasn’t able to find another gear. I knew at that point that if she didn’t start fading, she was going to win. I finished second in 18:38. I was pleased with my time and while it is always more fun to win, getting second makes me eager to get back to speedwork.

Third time's the charm?

We have all heard of the saying "third time's the charm," which means the third time doing something you are better to succeed than the previous two attempts.  It can also be used as a good luck charm, spoken just before trying something for the third time.  I remember hearing this saying at a young age.  So how did this "crazy" saying start?  After doing some research on the topic I found that the earliest account was 1839 in Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Letters addressed to R. H. Horne, ‘The luck of the third adventure’ is proverbial. Specifically, it is listed in Alexander Hislop's The proverbs of Scotland, 1862, "The third time's lucky."  But why is the third time lucky? There were no specific answer that I found when researching the topic.  However, I recently had my experience with "third time's the charm," at the Veterans Marathon in Columbia City, IN on November 12.

November 12, 2011 was the third running of the Veterans marathon. It was also the third time for me running the marathon there as well.  My previous two marathon attempts at Veterans were not very good. The first year I was unaware of the course, and I ran too "antsy," in the beginning and it cost me dearly.  I crashed and burned finishing 5th overall with a time of 3:02.  The second year I ran Veterans I had a severe cough/cold.  I was struggling with the cough all week and hoped it would clear up.  I was coughing pretty bad the night before the race.  Any other person probably wouldn't have ran the marathon under those conditions, but I paid for my entry so I owed it to myself to compete.  I started slower since it was tough to breathe and I would cough ever so often throughout the race.  I was able to muscle out a 4th place finish with a time of 2:52.  However, I had wished to run faster than that.

That brings us to the third try.  The week of the marathon I had a severe headache/ migraine. Every time I would bend down I would get dizzy.  I even took a day off of running (Tuesday) because I could barely move without getting dizzy.  I was able to tough it out at work, mainly because of Tylenol, which my Aunt Laurie, and my Mom suggested that I take.  I was worried that it wouldn't go away.  Thankfully, I woke up Wednesday morning (after sleeping 9 hours) headache free!  Maybe the headache was because of the weather change.  I took it easy running the next few days leading to race day.

 

Half way



Race day came, and the temperature was just right for a November race, except for a decent wind.  I had two goals in mind, top 3, and 2:45.  The first several miles I was getting into my pace and was running with a great marathon (master) runner Jeff Mescal.  I had met Jeff at Haunted Hustle marathon, he runs marathons in 240s-250 range.  I knew he would be on my heels if I didn't run well.  After about mile 4 I left Jeff and continued on. I continued to hit low 6s and went through the half at 1:21.52. A little bit slower than what I wanted, but I was in 3rd place. 



The second half of the race was tough.  I was all alone. The wind was picking up and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I have never been able to run very well in windy conditions.  I kept pushing going from low 6 minute miles to mid 6, to even high 6s.  At mile 17 my wife (Laura Gillette) was on the course with our daughter Natalie.  She told me "kick it in gear," I was able to drop the next few miles back to mid 6s, mostly because the headwind was gone. 



Coming in to finish



The last 10k I was focusing on every step and to keep my tempo going. We had a little tailwind which helped.  I was able to maintain my pace and not drop off hitting mid 6s. We turned on the final road at around mile 24. I had glanced back and saw Jeff was about 400 meters back , yet to make the turn on the road.  I had to maintain my pace.  Miles 24-26 is slightly hilly and you can see your finish destination (courthouse) the whole time.  Which is nice in a way. I glanced back right before mile 26 marker.  Jeff looked like he was only 150 meters behind.  I had to close fast.  I kicked it in high gear and finished in 2:48.14, 3rd place overall.  Jeff was a close 4th with a time of 2:48.35.  I finished my 3rd Veterans Marathon, with a 3rd place finish, and my fastest time on that course to date. I was slightly off my goal of 2:45, but the wind probably hurt my chances.  In three attempts at Veterans I have gone 5,4,3 at the race.  If the pattern continues I will win in 2013.  Will that happen?  Only time will tell...

Marathon Double

On Monday November 7th, I stood leaning up against my 1992 Ford F250 pickup with tears coming down my face. My two year old son, Miles, was in the bed of the truck and could easily assess the situation. His Daddy, friend, playmate, co-worker, and diaper changer was hurt. I had just dropped a large Pin Oak log on top of my right foot. Miles offered comfort in a caring voice, "Daddy hurt?" Yes I was, but I had to finish our firewood project that the two of us were working on. While we continued to work I could feel blood soaking into my sock and was hoping for the best, maybe it was just a cut foot and not fractured.

My week progressed very fast and slow at the same time. The foot hurt a lot, but did not limit me from running, but did prevent any hard workouts for the week. Typically with a non-running injury like this I will run easy until the pain is gone. That strategy normally works well, but this week the injury stressed me more due to wanting to run my first marathon double. A marathon double is what running marathons on back to back days is called. I was nervous for my first double, a banged up foot, and late uncertainty with childcare only compounded the stress level. Even though I was less than 100% healthy I still planned to chase my goal of two sub 2:35 marathons for the weekend.

The first marathon on tap for the weekend double was a Friday marathon, called The 11-11-11 Marathon of Sarasota located in Sarasota, Florida. I am not going to apologize for running such a small marathon, as there were only 66 athletes in the field. My reason for being there was to support the race director, my friend Greg Goebel. Greg collapsed during the Zoom Yah Yah Marathon this past January 2011. He was clinically dead and ended up in a coma for several days. A few operations and lots of prayers later and he was on the path to another marathon, but in reality this lasted several months. During his recovery he would text me from his hospital bed. Unfortunately Greg was unable to compete in the Maui Oceanfront Marathon later in January. We had planned to meet up there. I still went, won the race and broke the course record, which I dedicated to him. So when I heard Greg was organizing a marathon I had to be there.

The 11-11-11 Marathon was ran on a .44 mile loop that runners completed 58.72 times. If you think that sounds boring then you were not there! It was a blast. I was worried about the clockwise running direction and turns as that placed my right foot on the inside of every turn. My goal of running a sub 2:35 would still go on, but would be hard to judge my pace. The course did not have mile markers, but I could rely on my lap splits. The race field was filled with marathon celebrities. Larry Macon, Paul Milo, a former Miss Florida Juli Goldstein, Endorphin Dude, Dave Mari, and Scott Dahls among others. With such a high caliber group of runners I felt obligated to push through my foot injury, besides one lady who was on crutches was going to do the marathon.

At the starting line I got down into the starting block position, literally, as I was bracing for a fast start. Scott Dahls has been telling me he was, "In it to win it" and I knew he meant business. Before the sound of the starting pistol had a chance to dissipate Scott was already into a commanding lead. He held this lead comfortably for a good portion of the race, until according to him an old hamstring injury hampered his pace. It is probably an old football injury he suffered while being on the cheerleader squad. Actually Scott is a great guy and collects marathon medals for terminally sick children, I donated my 11-11-11 Marathon medal to him and the Medals for Mettle program, and suggest you donate medals to this group too.

The 11-11-11 Marathon went by fairly fast due to all the fun we were having. During parts of the race when lapping another athlete they would challenge me to a hard lap. Dave Mari did this several times. Joe Taricani, radio host of the Marathon Show, was running and broadcasting during the marathon. He ran with me to do an interview during the race, I look forward to hearing that. Endorphin Dude, who runs with a cape, allowed me to take his cape for a few laps. It was a little restricting around my neck, but otherwise did seem to help me run fast. I used the cape again for my last lap and finish photos. My finish time was 2:34:50, just under my goal. Foot hurt more than before the marathon, but now was not a time to stress about that, I had a flight to catch.

The race was in Sarasota, but my plane I needed to catch was in Tampa, a long hour drive. I knew I was running short on time to get to the airport so I gave my rental car a little more gas, broke a few laws, and managed to get to the rental car place 40 minutes prior to my flight leaving. From there I needed to take a shuttle to the airport, get my tickets, go through security, and find my gate. Still had time...hopefully. Luckily the shuttle driver was an equally fast driver. I smoothly made it to the airport and secured my tickets. Now for security. The line was little longer than I would have liked, but as luck would have it a new security officer started her shift and motioned for me to approach her. Just like that prayers were answered and I was through security and at gate E65 with 20 minutes to go before take off.

That flight took me to Detroit, which is where I connected with another flight to Indianapolis. At this point I would have ordered some food or drinks from the flight attendants, but I have heard airplanes have been running out of food lately. So like any smart and experienced traveler I ate the food that I had packed for the trip. Sometimes thinking ahead can save you a lot of money and time. The second flight was delayed an hour, which meant I would land in Indy later that I hoped for. From Indy it is a 158 mile drive back to Goshen. Driving this with my old pickup truck takes 3 hours, which put me walking into my house at 11:17 pm.

As I passed through from the rear of the house to the stairs to go to my bedroom I noticed two good looking ladies in my living room. At first I thought I was in a dream, but then realized my friends Julia and Tricia had made a secret 4 hour trip to watch me race on Saturday. Oh brother that only added to the pressure. Tricia is an athletic trainer at Wheaton College in Chicago, Illinois. I pick her brain constantly to get tips to treat aches and pains. She was leery of me running two marathons this weekend, and I am sure she was ready to pull me off the course if I looked bad.

After warming up for the Veterans Marathon I decided to maintain my goal of running a sub 2:35 marathon. The Veterans Marathon course is laid out in such a manner that I visualize it as a 9 mile race. The first half of the marathon is run simultaneously with the half marathon runners. Then the second half of the marathon course passes back onto itself which allows for outgoing runners to cheer for incoming runners. These two factors lead to only 9 miles having to run without the support of other athletes if you are in the lead, which is where I found myself.

Running in the half marathon were 5 Goshen College athletes that I coach, they were attempting to run a qualifying time for the NAIA Marathon. I tucked behind these athletes to let them do the pacing work. The group ran together until near mile 4 at which point it became obvious that Jake GunderKline was on a mission to set a personal best and win the race. I helped him click off quality miles. Near mile 8 it felt like he was about to leave me behind, but then he faded a little bit. I took the lead and tried to stay 10 meters ahead of him. My hope was seeing a person in front of him would pull him along. Lucky for him it helped as he won the half marathon and set a new personal best. Unfortunate for me I still had another half marathon to run. It was not until after I finished the marathon did I learn that these 5 athletes all finished in the top 7 of the half marathon, what a great group of guys to train with. Inspiring athletes.

The second half of the marathon was not very pleasant. My body felt fine until the high winds kept beating me down. We ran into a headwind for several miles, only to turn and have it as a crosswind. Then so very briefly it was a tailwind, but by then it was too late. The body had shut down; I was about to pass out. To keep moving forward slow step by slow step I told myself that the only way doing a marathon double would be news worthy is if I won them both. Losing was not an option, but winning was not enough to motivate me to change speeds.

I pressed forward as fast as I possibly could. The last 10k of the marathon was ran in 43 minutes, which is over 8 minutes slower than I can normally cover this portion of the race. Sometimes when I am in the lead of a marathon I wonder what the lead cop thinks when the pace slows down. Are they able to notice? Do they get concerned? When I crossed the mile 26 marker I knew I had to give it everything I had left in order to secure the victory as Eric Ade, one of the best runners locally and frankly probably one of the best people too, was breathing down my neck. Luckily he started his kick a little bit late and I held on for a 24 second win.

As I approached the final stretch the PA announcer yelled my name and informed the crowd that I had ran a marathon the day before. Once I broke the finish line I wobbled a few feet over to a park bench. From that park bench I did an interview with the PA announcer. He asked, "Yesterday you won a marathon, today you won a marathon, what do you plan to do tomorrow?" I responded truthfully, "Tomorrow I plan to die." I continued to sit on that bench for a decent amount of time. The Goshen College athletes all came over to talk story and share their race results. I was and am proud of them, likewise I hope they are proud of me.

After drinking 5 cups of Pepsi, please do not judge my beverage choice I did run two marathons, my younger brother Jake Gillette came in for 3rd overall. Eventually my wife Melissa steamed around the corner to win the females race. It was a good day for the family, but during all this excitement my foot was swelling more. Sunday morning welcomed me with near unbearable pain. The swelling was trying to force my skin to stretch and had changed the colors of 3 of my toes. Tricia jumped all over this and put her athletic training experience to use. She diagnosed the problem, then showed me how to treat it. Apparently pitting edema is what I have, which is fairly painful, but I would rather be in pain from winning 2 marathons then from losing 2 marathons. On the trip back home from the marathon I kept stating how disappointed I was for running poorly and failing to achieve my goal of 2 sub 2:35 marathons. I mentioned it enough that the athletes on the Goshen College team bus, which I was driving, told me to shut up and be happy with my efforts. That is hard to do when you had goals to do more.

Since these marathons I have had several media requests, delivered a few loads of firewood, had a custom tree cutting job, ate a bunch of cookies, and that was all within 48 hours of finishing the Veterans marathon. I believe that is what training programs say you should do for post race recovery, but I do not read training programs as I am afraid of getting a misprinted one. My foot continues to heal, but should take a few weeks to be back to normal. I plan to do light training until it feels better. My next marathon will be in December, so I have time to recover, until then I thank you all for the support.

3-2-1

3-2-1

Can you run three marathons in six weeks and place in the top three?  I happen to know several people that are good marathoners and are able to run marathons well with little recovery time.  It wasn’t until two weeks ago that I could say that I too was able to run three marathons within five weeks and six days.  Earlier this year I ran two races four weeks apart (Toledo and Rockford Marathons), but wasn’t happy with my time for the second race.  Combining my schedule working full time night shift as an OB nurse and my husband’s schedule as a Physical education teacher and cross country coach is quite the task, leaving few unoccupied weekends and limited time to train. 

This fall Jake and I both wanted to get several good races in without traveling an unreasonable distance.  Also we had to factor in childcare for our two year old daughter, Natalie.  My parents live in Wisconsin; so we found two races that worked with our schedules and asked my parents to watch Natalie while we ran.  There also was a race in Michigan that Jake informed me he wanted us to do.  That meant that he had found three races for us to run this fall, each about 3 weeks apart, I was not so sure that my body, especially my legs, would be able to handle the beating of doing all three of them. 

Fox Cities Marathon in Appleton, Wisconsin was September 18^th.  The results the past couple years showed that it has been a competitive race both for men and women.  Jake and I each went into the race hoping to run a good time as we hoped to have others to run with (at our pace) to push us to a respectable time.  Knowing this was usually a competitive race, I was hoping to be in the top three; however, I was not sure how likely that would be. 

The race was on a Sunday, which typically works best for Jake’s schedule.  Friday afternoon after school we headed to my parents’ house.  Thanks to heavy traffic in the Chicago area we did not get to my parents’ until late. Saturday afternoon we made the three hour drive to Appleton area, leaving Natalie at my parents.  After picking up the race packets we drove the marathon course.  This gave us an idea of what to expect Sunday morning. 

Just after the gun went off and the 26.2 mile race was underway it became apparent that there were a handful of girls that I would be chasing.  The first eight miles of the race I was in seventh place.   Miles three to nine I ran with a very friendly gal and we talked some about how we were going to catch the pack of girls ahead of us.  While we were running together we passed one girl.  After mile nine I decided to slow my pace down slightly as I was not sure I could keep that up the whole race and really didn’t want to “crash and burn”.  Unfortunately this meant I was running alone during the windy parts of the course and part of me wished I had stayed with her.  Around mile sixteen I visualized another female runner.  It seemed as though she was struggling, so even though I wasn’t feeling great, I focused on catching her.  At about mile nineteen I was able to pass her.  Mile twenty I started to feel better.  This I was very grateful for, as many marathoners (myself included in past races) “hit the wall” after mile twenty.  I continued to press on for time sake and also hoping to catch another girl.  I was sitting in fifth and wanted better than that.  Thankfully the last 10k went by fast as I did catch another female around mile twenty two.  The race spectators were slightly more frequent in the last three miles and one kind person confirmed my suspicions that I was fourth.  I soon spotted another female around mile twenty four and was able to pass her quickly.  With about two miles to go I would not listen to the aches and pains of my body as I knew I now was in third place and was not willing to give that up.  I finished in a time of 3:03:10.  This was my best time since having Natalie.  I had hoped to PR, but was glad I was able to finish strong and be in the top three.  The friendly gal I ran with the beginning of the race was able to win.  I was very happy for her as, if I recall correctly, she said this was only her third marathon.  This race was a well organized race with 851 finishers.

The following three weeks flew by.  I had very little muscle soreness but I still tried to be patient and let my legs recover.  The next race was Wildlife Marathon in Concord, Michigan.  Jake has run it the past two years.  He won it two years ago and was third last year.  The course last year was quite hilly and on several gravel roads. It was to be the same course this year.  Knowing it was such a hilly course, I was not really looking forward to the race.  I was thinking I could use it as more of a training run, but yet hoped to place well.  It is a small race and the winning female’s time last year was 3:28 (course record).  The race was offering a prize of $100 for setting a new course record.  I knew I should be able to do that, so that is what motivated me to do this race only an hour an half drive away.  Jake’s parents were visiting that weekend and were kind enough to stay on Sunday to watch Natalie while we raced.

October 9^th  in the small town of Concord, Michigan, as we were lining up at the start line, minutes before the race was to start, Jake pointed out a girl.  He then informed me he heard her telling some guys that she was hoping to run about 3:10.  Soon the gun went off and the race was on.  This girl did go out hard as she was just behind Jake the first bit.  I wanted to stay with her if she was planning to run 3:10,  but another part of me knew better. 

I chose to run my race, sticking to the strategy that I had composed previously.  I was fortunate enough to run with another guy, Grant, which is a friend of my husband.  The first few miles were mostly flat, but soon the course was hilly.  I forced myself to take it easy on the first couple miles in order to have enough left in the tank for all the hills.  The hills continued until mile twenty.  The last 10k was fairly flat with the exception of a steep hill in the last mile.  Grant and I ran together through mile twenty.   I was able to continue pushing on alone the last six miles.  I passed several guys who were walking and kept hoping that I would be able to somehow catch the lead girl.  I ended up the second female finisher with a time of 3:06.  After I finished, Jake informed me that he talked to the winning female and she said her marathon PR was 2:46 and had previously qualified for the Olympic trials in the marathon.  I felt a tad better, knowing there was no way I would have been able to beat her, but was still quite disappointed she showed up to this tiny race. 

Wildlife Marathon was the most hilly marathon course I had run.  The aide stations were lacking as some were more than four miles apart.  I was most disappointed that there was any water between miles twenty and twenty four.  One lesson I learned the hard way, you never know who will show up.  Of course I knew that already, but was really hoping to run my race and win this small marathon. 

Again the days flew by as our next race approached.  Jake and I both were registered for Haunted Hustle in Middleton, Wisconsin.  This race was only an hour from my parents so we were able to stay at their house and drive to the race the morning of it.  This was a moderate sized race in its second year with about 650 runners registered in the marathon.  From the previous year’s results Jake and I both felt we had a chance to place well…depending of course, on who showed up.  We did not have a chance to drive the course, so I really did not know what all it entailed. 

The morning of Saturday, October 29^th was a chilly one, but perfect for racing a marathon.  I tried to gauge my competition at the start line.  There was only one other female that started near the front with me and the other guys.  Within the first two minutes of the race I heard her ask, “How many miles do we have to go?”  I laughed to myself and did not see or hear her again.  There were several guys that I ran with during the first ten miles of the race.  Shortly after mile ten, my left IT band was quite irritated by series of hills that continued the next few miles.  I was forced to slow my pace down some.  This also meant I was left running alone.  I missed a couple of the mile markers, so I also was not quite sure what my pace was for what seemed like, long stretches of time.  (If only I had a GPS watch!)  I somehow continued to battle on alone, maintaining a decent pace.  I finished as the first female finisher in a time of 3:04:40.  I had even half splits and was over nine minutes ahead of the second girl, both of which I was proud of.  This win was a good way to finish up my third marathon in six weeks! 

~~Laura

Scary Marathon?

On October 28th, Laura, Natalie, and myself ventured to Wisconsin to run the Haunted Hustle marathon in Middleton,WI.  This trip also allowed us to stay and visit with Laura's family at their dairy farm in Linden, WI. Middleton is about an hour away from Linden, so it worked perfect for us to stay in Linden and drive up on race day which was Saturday October 29th.

We got our race packets on Friday and walked around a bit at the expo. The set-up was nice and Halloween theme decorations were seen throughout the expo. We got some really nice green bags, and a cool long sleeve dri-fit shirt.

Race day greeted us with cold/cool temperatures. The car said 34. Perfect temperature for a marathon.   The course had a mixture of roads, bike trails, boardwalk, and crushed limestone.  The gun went off and a 2 guys started like a rocket. One of the guys was the defending champion from last year. After the first 3 miles I was able to get with those 2 guys. I stayed with them for the first 12 miles. A fell back a little when we went through some nice Wisconsin hills and had a strong headwind.

For miles 13-18 I struggled. My pace was extremly slow. I made the turn around at 18 and noticed the 4th place runner was gaining ground on me. Boy did that put the fire in my legs. I said "come-on snap out of it." I was able to get my pace down, however the guy still caught me at around mile 21. So I was in 4th pace now. I kept digging with hopes of trying to catch him later. At mile 23 the guy who was 2nd at the half-way point was in clear sight. I was focused on him and passed him. Now I was in 3rd place. I kept on hammering away, 2nd place was about 400 meters ahead. At around 25.5 miles the half marathoners join the marathon runners this caused congestion, and harder to see the 2nd place runner. I told myself "ok less then 5 mins." I kicked it in high gear. I got up to the 2nd place runner. He turned to me and said "oh crap," from then on I thought it would be a sprint to the finish. He did hold with me until 26 mile marker, but then I was able to pull away.  My race went from great to total disaster to good. I finished in 2:47.23, and a 2nd place finish.