If you have read any of my past marathon race reports, you know my primary goal of any marathon was to post a finish time under 3 hours. That has been at the forefront for me for 1 about 10 years of racing. So, when I woke up Sunday morning, I honestly was hoping for the race to get cancelled. Obviously, I didn't want to pony up another $100 race fee. But I just had a feeling that if the Fox Cities Marathon was run that day, I was going to have a miserable race. It was just a gut feeling I had. My mind was not ready to run a 26.2 mile race, but body didn't feel ready, it just wasn't going to be a good day. But, shortly after arriving to the starting area of the Fox Cities Marathon, we got word that the race was officially cancelled. We didn't receive much additional information at that time. I felt bad for most of the runners who trained all summer for that specific event and were unable to register for another event. But, inside, I was kind of glad. Even though I was upset at the whole idea of having to adjust my training or pay for another race. I had mixed emotions. Mentally I was so ready to be done training and the idea of another several weeks of dedicated training just sounds miserable. But, obviously, I jumped at the opportunity to register for the Lakefront Marathon when they offered a discounted registration fee specifically for Fox Cities Marathon registrants who lost the opportunity to race this event. I signed up for this event knowing that I had an additional 2 weeks of training and I would zero support out on the course. It was going to be just me, myself, and I. Honestly, I was kind of looking forward to that aspect of it. I would have no additional concerns out on the course. I would only have to focus on myself and not when or where I would be seeing my family.After a successful racing season last year while following the Hanson's Marathon Method, I focused solely on training for the Fox Cities Marathon with this training schedule. My training went pretty much flawless. Other than a couple super minor hiccups where I skipped a day or two for minor aches or pains to prevent them from becoming large bigger issues. I was hitting all my prescribed paces for all the types of workouts and I was feeling pretty good, especially compared to last year.
After finding out that my goal race was now two weeks out from when I had trained for it to be, I just repeated the last two weeks of training, but modified the "Easy Run" days. Throughout the entire training plan, I added an additional 2 miles to each of these runs to increase my weekly mileage. But after feeling fatigued and not interested in continuing my training after Fox Cities was cancelled, I figured that I earned the right to decrease my training mileage to make sure I would get to the start line ready to race.
Prerace
I am fortunate that I was able to secure a place to stay the night before the race at my brother-in-law's house, which is literally a 12 minute drive from the finish line of the Lakefront Marathon. So the day before the race, I left to pick up my race packet at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus. Of it rained the entire drive down to Milwaukee and rained damn near the entire day (and night). On either the Thursday or Friday before the race, we had received an email about a large amount of standing water on a trail portion of the race course at about mile 25. The race directors did not want to alter the course as it would remove any of the race certifications of the distance of the race. So they opted to have runners run through the giant puddle with hopes of it drying out prior to the race. So, now, back to me driving to Milwaukee in the pouring rain, all I could think about was that there is no way in hell that giant puddle was going to dry out now.
The race expo was decent. Pretty much your stereotypical expo, nothing special, nothing terrible. I got my race bag, bib, and shirt and headed out...in the rain. After getting to Jake's house, we relaxed for a little while and then went out for dinner. This past April, when I ran the Brew City Half Marathon, I stayed at his house and went out to dinner to an oriental style restaurant which served various meals including Pad Thai, sushi, and Pho. I was lucky to win the Brew City Half Marathon after that dinner, so there was no way I wasn't going to eat at the Hungry Sumo. I ordered the exact same meal, sushi, Pad Thai, and some water. After getting home it was pretty much to bed with an early wake up call.
The Lakefront Marathon's course is a point to point race starting in Grafton and running basically straight south along the Lake Michigan lake shore, ending in the Summerfest Concert Grounds in downtown Milwaukee. They offer busing from the finish line to the Grafton starting at 5:15. My goal was getting on the fist bus out of Milwaukee. I ended up getting on the second bus out of Milwaukee and made our way to Grafton High School. After getting to the school I found a quiet corner in a hall and just relaxed and listened to music as I normally do for big races. I then got my warm up in, which was basically a mile jog with some dynamic stretching worked into it. As it got closer to 7:30 (race start time), I made my way to the start line and was honestly feeling pretty damn good and I was optimistic.
Nutrition Plan
My plan for this race was a little different from past marathons. I have always felt that I took in too many calories too early in races which left my stomach just not sitting right. Not that I ever had digestion issues, but I always felt like by the end of races, I was never able to take calories in. Most of the time I would literally force myself to take in calories even though I felt like I didn't need them. The thing is, there are certain recommendation for calories to be consumed in races to maintain performance. I was already near the lower end of the recommendations, so I reached out to my friends at Hammer Nutrition to discuss a customized nutrition plan for me. I spoke with Anastasia who was super helpful. We decided that If I take in some light calories 3 hours before race time and then push out gels until later in the race and then take one other gel if needed in the later stages of the race. Also during the race, I would take a couple of capsules of Race Cap Supreme along with a couple Endurolytes to maintain my electrolyte balance. One hour before the race, I took a couple of capsules of Race Cap Supreme, two capsules of Endurance BCAA+ along with a couple Endurolytes. Also, about 15 minutes or so before the start of the race, I took a dose of Fully Charged.
Miles 0-13.1
My plan for this race was to divide the race into three sections; the first 10 miles, the second 10 miles, and then the final 6.2 (10k). My plan was to run the first ten miles slower than my goal pace of 6:45-6:50. During the second 10 miles, I wanted to be at my goal pace. Then for the final 10k, my plan was to pull out all stops and just finish strong. As I began ticking off miles, I was feeling really good. I didn't want to think it, but I felt as though it was easy. I took a gel around mile 8 to get some calories in. My plan was to take my only other gel at around mile 16. I crossed the half way point in 1:29:16. This was basically right where I wanted to be, which was about a 6:49/mile pace.
Miles 13.1-20
As I continued throughout the race course, the weather remained damn near perfect. Maybe a little too cold and I wouldn't have minded a couple more degrees warmer, but I left my arm sleeves and gloves on for a while. I still continued to feel like my effort was easy. I wasn't sure if this was fools gold or if I was setting myself up for failure for the later stages of the race. But I just kept chugging along. I really didn't adjust my pace too much since all my mile times were in the 6:45-6:50 range. I figured that my number one goal was to finish under 3 hours. It wasn't necessarily to finish in 2:55 or 2:57. I wanted the clock to start with a 2 when I finished. That was it. So I just told myself to maintain this pace and then if I'm still feeling good around mile 22 or 23, then that would be the time to pick up the intensity. I crossed mile 20 in 2:16:00, which was now averaging a 6:48/mile pace.
Miles 20-26.2
As I continued on, I was feeling good. But then mile 21 happened. I began getting side stitches (cramps, or whatever you want to call them). I was having a hard time breathing. My legs began to ache and cramp. I began wonder what the hell was happening. It is so hard to explain. It's lie this shit just comes out of no where and hits me like a freight train. I can't explain it. I have no idea why it happens. This has been the reason why for 10 years I have struggled to finish a sub three hour marathon. During mile 21, I took a super short walking break just to catch my breath and hopefully get back into a grove. I started running again and was feeling okay, definitely not great. My pace for mile 21 was 7:01. Then after I was running for a little bit, all those feelings came right back. I thought, "Oh great, my day is done and maybe I just wasn't meant to run a sub 3." I began walking again, but then some complete stranger passed me and said, "C'mon man, you can't quit now." I'll never forget it. I have no idea who said it, but that statement struck me. I told myself that I didn't sacrifice countless hours this past summer for training to walk and finish with another shitty race. I didn't drive down to Milwaukee to quit on my dream at mile 22 of 26. I sucked up any bit of strength I had and just began to run. I kept telling myself one foot in front of the other. Just keep moving forward. My time for mile 22 was 7:27. The remaining 4 miles all averaged under a 7 minute mile. As I hit mile 26, I knew it was going to be damn close to 3 hours and I decided to lay it all out on the course for the final 0.2 miles. As I came down the final stretch, I saw the clock read 2:59 and a low number. I knew I was going to finally do it. I crossed the finish line in 2:59:45. 15 seconds to spare!
Post Race
After crossing the finish line, I was in rough shape for a little while. I needed to get some fluid in me and just sat on a bench and drank some Gatorade until my stomach felt a little better. I then went to get my gear bag right away to call Sarah. I'll be honest, I cried (only a teeny tiny bit) when talking to Sarah. She had been just as invested in my pursuit of running a sub 3 marathon as I was. Plus she knew how much it meant to me. We were both pretty happy. She was bummed she wasn't able to share in the moment together, but she was happy for me. I also called my dad about it. It was a cool moment. I then enjoyed my traditional post race beer from Lakefront Brewery and then it was time to head home! I did make a short stop at a nearby brewery. I stopped in at Broken Bat Brewery for one more additional pint before finally heading home.
What's on Tap?
As of typing this, the race is now over a month in my rear view mirror. We have since moved into our new house, which was my personal big project. That occupied pretty much all my free time after the race and allowed me some time away from running. Now that I have finally run a sub three hour marathon, I honestly have NO clue what my personal goals or aspirations are. I have no current plans for a race in 2020 of any distance. I'm sure I'll run some race or even races, but I have no clue what ones or what distances they will be. And honestly, I'm pretty content about that.Thanks for sharing this journey with me!
