2012 Marine Corps Marathon 3:26:41 (VIRGINIA)

The Marine Corps Marathon would satisfy the “last” of many things.  It would be my 6^th and final marathon of 2012. It would also be the last of my “must do” marathon list – when I started this journey I knew there would be a fair chance of my not finishing all 50 so I tried to front load my list with the marathons I *knew* I wanted to run someday.  It would be the last marathon in a city where I or my husband had a family member...I’ll miss having an excuse to visit family.

 

I knew I was running on fumes.  The two marathons (Flagstaff and Findlay) in the previous five weeks were about the only work I had done.  Factor in the three week taper going into those and it had been quite a while since I had seriously trained. I can’t remember the last time I lifted a weight, maybe mid-September? I could see it in my body - my core muscles non-existent, my quads not as cut – I was not feeling particularly confident.

 

Red White & Blue 26.2 Marathon (OHIO)

My Ohio marathon will go down as my “best worst idea.”  I found out about a year ago that I would be in Columbus, Ohio for my cousin Jenny’s wedding.  I knew that I needed to do a marathon in Ohio so once the wedding date was set, I began looking for a marathon a reasonable distance from Columbus.  I found the Red White and Blue 26.2 in Findlay, OH being held the morning after the wedding.  Findlay is about 90 miles away from Columbus so I planned to drive out there in the wee hours. It would be a tight schedule as we were also flying back to Seattle that afternoon.  The goal was to just get it done so I tried not to dwell on the less-than-optimal conditions.

 

Flagstaff really beat me up and I really could have used more than two weeks to recover.  With that said, I didn’t feel that bad.  Nonetheless my head wasn’t in a great place for this race.  I was really excited about seeing my extended family at the wedding and I hadn’t factored in how much I would not want to leave for the marathon.  It meant I would miss brunch and my last chance to see most before they headed home. By Saturday night I was giving myself a 50/50 chance of bailing.  Coming from a family of mostly non-athletes, I felt like a fool saying, “yeah, I’m getting up in a few hours to drive to Findlay and run a marathon.” “You see it makes sense because I’m trying to run the 50 states and I’m in Ohio so it would be stupid not to.” “Right?” “huh?” “What’s wrong with you?”

 

Flagstaff race report (spoiler alert...my first marathon win!)

September  22, 2012...

Marathon number 15 in the can, or as I’ve heard mentioned on the TalkUltra podcast “done and dusted.”  A fitting description as I ended the race about as filthy as I’ve ever finished a run.  On to the race report…

Coeur D'Alene Marathon race report

Sunday, May 27, 2012... 

Coeur D’Alene would be my second attempt at breaking 3:30. I was cautiously optimistic about my prospects – with a few days to go, I was a little stiff (from inactivity no doubt) but my hip was feeling better and my hamstring issues while not great, were not too bad.  For the first time in over 7 years I would have my family with me for support.  Frankly, I was not sure how that would all pan out but in the end the race would prove to be almost perfect.

We headed over to Spokane, WA where Ty’s grandmother lives as it is only 30 minutes from Coeur D’Alene and we could tie in a visit to celebrate her upcoming 90^th birthday.  We left Friday evening along with the gazillion other people heading East for Memorial Day weekend.  Each minute in traffic eroded the minutes available for sleep that night. As I drove at a snail’s pace and fretted over it I realized that this weekend would be as much about my ability to give up control over the situation at hand.

The Delaware Marathon Race Report

Sunday, May 13, 2012...

Marathon #13 done!

The Christiana Care Health System Delaware Marathon, which apparently is one of only two marathons in the state. It draws runners who are working on their 50 state goal as well as marathon maniacs and mega-marathoners (those crazy people who will run hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of marathons in their life). I loved the positive atmosphere and eavesdropping on conversations in the early miles of the race.

Surf City Marathon Race Report

This was as much of a training run as a marathon could be, at least for me. After heavy training and two races last fall, I needed a break to recharge and repair some of the self-inflicted damage. When I registered for this race I wasn't even sure I'd be able to run it due to nasty tendonitis in both knees. On the other hand I REALLY wanted to go because a few good friends would be there and I didn't want to miss out.

2011 Chicago Marathon Race Report

This fall, my life's motto could be "it seemed like a good idea at the time." For some reason last year I thought it would be at least an o.k. idea to run back to back marathons 8 days apart.  Admittedly it wasn't my original plan, but it's how things worked out and so against all better judgment, I was going with it.