My Struggles and Triumphs at the Fargo Marathon

It has been a long time since I posted over here on my Resolutions Quest blog, and since I posted many times here before about my running endeavors this seemed like the best place to give an update. As I detailed in this blog at the end of 2013, I ended that year conquering my running goals by averaging at least one run a month and competing in my first half marathon. As of this writing I have now competed in five half marathons, and a few days ago I completed my second full marathon.

2014 was another big year of races for me, I nearly competed in all the 2014 editions of races that I did in 2013. The biggest though was my first attempt at the full marathon. I did it where I competed in my first half marathon in Fargo on May 10, 2014. I picked out a training plan from my Runner’s World Guide to Marathon Training and gradually started increasing my mileage over the course of the 12-week plan. It maxed out with two 20 mile training runs which I knocked out and I felt good going into marathon race day, but the beast of the marathon got the best of me that day and I was in for quite the learning experience.

By May 10, 2014 I already ran in four half marathons and for three of them I was averaging a 8:30min/mile pace, so I made the fatal mistake on race day thinking that my training conditioned me to run that pace for a full marathon. I ran three of those four halves with a time of 1:52 or 1:53, and made another incorrect presumption that I could run the full marathon within four hours so I lined up right behind the pacer holding the ‘4 Hour Finish’ sign. Usually for the half marathons I take the first two miles easy before stepping up my pace, and in hindsight that is what I should have done in 2014. I felt fine until mile 15 where I felt myself start to slow down and I had too much pride to take a immediate walk break and instead felt myself slowing down faster and faster as the miles ticked away slower and slower and I was really starting to feel it.

Finally around the 20 mile mark I took a few walk/stretch breaks, but by that point it did little to help my legs that felt like ten tons of lead and my joints that were incredibly tightened up by that point. My run turned into a mini-scuffle for the last three or four miles of the race, but at least I managed to finish which felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. Instead of the four hour finish I was shooting for, I wound up barely sneaking in at under five hours with a 4:49 finish. I had to take a week off from running as I felt quite sore for several days. Immediately after the race I told my dad that I would never run another full marathon again, but as the months ticked away I kept thinking of new ways I could tweak my training and all the race day mistakes I made that I could correct and sure enough, by the end of the year I signed myself up for my second marathon.

Going into my training season, I did not go with another training plan from a guide, but made some tweaks to how I wanted to run during training season on the fly. I stuck with my normal two to three runs during the week which were usually four or eight mile efforts, and I gradually increased my long runs at the end of the week which were usually ten milers, but as the weeks went on they increased by a mile or two each week. I competed in my first 25K outside of Lisbon, ND in the middle of March and it coincided perfectly into my end of the week long run progression. That race, put on by the awesome people at North Dakota ENDRACING, was an awesome experience as it was my first race filled with hills, and running in the beautiful scenic Cheyenne Grasslands made it a memorable experience.

For my long run progression I really wanted to improve my conditioning and endurance so instead of just two 20 mile runs, for my last four weeks heading into the end of the week long run I did four straight runs of at least 20 miles. First a 20 miler, then 21.5, then up to 23 miles and finally down to 20 miles to taper down a smidge a week out before the marathon. All of those runs took a lot out of me, but I feel it paid off big time as by that final big training run I felt comfortable at cranking out distances of at least 20 miles, and I looking back now I am very happy I upped my longest distance to 23 miles to be better prepared for the 26 miles on race day. I will give a shoutout to my sister on one of those long training runs, where I did not bring enough water with me on a warmer than expected day and I ran out with several miles to go, and she drove by me in the final miles and thankfully pulled aside and thank goodness she had a spare bottle of water in her car to save me from dehydration.

Another thing that paid off was doing my annual marathon training diet from the day after the Super Bowl until marathon race day. I did what I did the year before where I completely gave up burgers, fast food and pizza during that timeframe which was roughly 100 days. If I ate out at all it had to be healthy options so it was either grilled chicken, salads or chicken wraps. There was one time I had a turkey and broccoli omelet and I felt extremely guilty about it. Doing the diet again this year, but with a little more added weekly mileage this year paid off by going into race day about 10 pounds lighter than in 2014 as I weighed in on race day at 166 pounds.

2014 had perfect race day weather, while 2015 was not exactly ideal, it was definitely tolerable. It was a brisk 35 degrees out at race time. I had a long sleeve tech shirt and stocking hat on, which provided just enough warmth so that by a mile in my body heat kept me warmed up for the rest of the race. Major props to the race coordinators for adjusting the race start and finish at inside the Fargodome so I did not have to wait outside in that cold for a half hour before race time.

So race day came this year on May 9th in Fargo and I set myself two goals. One, I wanted to maintain a steady, but gradually improving pace so I can finish strong and not in agony like in 2014, and two, finish with a more realistic end time of four and a half hours. If I do more future marathons I still want to eventually shoot for a four hour goal, but I want to work my way up to that time instead of going for a goal a bit out of my reach. Instead of lining up by the 4:30 pacer though, I lined up right in front of the 4:50 pacer and I told myself no matter what to maintain that pace and do not attempt to pass anybody for the first seven miles. I did exactly just that by not listening to any of my usual race day playlists on my trust old Zune MP3 player, and instead listened to podcasts for the first 11 miles before putting on some music. Even at that nice conservative pace, those first seven miles breezed by and I gradually started to increase my effort at mile seven and started to consecutively pass people for the remainder of the race.

At 14.5 miles in I finally caught up with the 4:30 pacer and passed her and continued to increase my effort. It was about a mile later when I realized I still was in good spirits and that I had a really good chance of finishing strong this year. Once again, the Fargo race day experience proved to be my favorite race atmosphere of the year as a good portion of the course was filled with many spectators with encouraging and funny signs and bands every mile or two to keep the vibe electric. I lost track of how many little kids I high-fived which were definite morale boosters. Besides aid stations every couple of miles, there were plenty of spectators with their own mini-aid stations with orange slices, jolly ranchers, water and lemonade. The awesome Fargo crowd was another factor that helped keep me in good spirits and racing strong for a majority of the race.

That is right I said I raced strong for a majority of the race as there was a brief moment around mile 23 where I started to feel my calves start to feel heavy. I momentarily debated on not walking so I could at least say I ran nonstop the entire race, but I then remembered how that decision bit me dearly last year so a couple minutes after my calves started acting up the next aid station approached and I decided to take a quick minute walk break after downing some water, and I am glad I did as I felt much better immediately and raced strong and continued to pass people for the rest of the race. I do not want to come off as bragging by talking about passing people a lot, but I mean it as more that it helped provide a big mental boost to keep my focus strong as I managed to maintain that pace and effort. I have read and listened to interviews with other runners before that is a huge factor for race day performance, and especially after how I did at the marathon a few days ago I can fully vouch for them.

Approaching the Fargodome at the end felt tremendous. I rooted on a friend racing the 5K the night before, and I saw her holding up a sign rooting me on as I approached the finish line right outside the Fargodome and it only helped give me that boost for that extra little surge towards the finish line. As I crossed the finish, I did my poor attempt at a Michael Jordan-esque playoff celebratory leap over the finish line. It felt great to have a few of my friends and family there at the finish line to celebrate and hug as the endorphins were kicking in high gear for accomplishing my goals that day. Not only did I finish still racing strong and in good spirits, but I beat my goal time of 4:30 with a time of 4:26!

Unlike last year, I was not in pain and hurting all over for several days. Sure, I was a little sore for a couple of days, but felt fully recovered soon enough to the point I was back to running with a quick four miler yesterday just three days after the full marathon. At the beginning of 2012 I started running to lose weight, little did I know a year later I would be competing in my first 5ks, 10ks and half marathons and in 2014 I would be in my first of two full marathons. I think it is safe to say I still have a few full marathons left in me and I will not be giving them up anytime soon, but I still will look forward to competing in local 5ks, 10ks and half marathons whenever possible! If you made it this far, thank you for indulging another insanely long blog with me!