Green Bay Marathon Race Recap

5:00 am in the morning on May 15th I woke up extremely nervous, but also very resolute. It was the morning of the Green Bay Cellcom Marathon. The day of my first full marathon.

Booyah!

Making the morning trip to Green Bay with me was my personal cheerleader/photographer/mother extraordinaire. She wears many hats, and today it was a stocking cap because although it was raining and windy the day before, on this day it is just cold and windy.

The start was at 7am on the dot. This race director means business. Knowing that this is my first marathon which means I have really no expectations, I start near the 4:45 pace group but my main goal is to just finish.

Can I just say that I love that purple NorthFace jacket the gal behind me is wearing. I admired it as she promptly passed me. Looked for it later on the course, but I'm guessing that was not a throw away jacket.

Also note, I am not grimacing in that photo--yet--I'm looking for my mom.

Mom was diligently waiting for me up a head. She was calling for me to pose, but the gal behind me yelled out, "She can't stop, she's running a marathon!"

I gave her a wave and went on my way knowing I would see her again between the 4 and 5 mile mark.

One of my coworkers was about at this point along the race route cheering on her daughter who was running the half marathon. I mentioned what I would be wearing to her the day before. She saw me a couple times on the race route. Both times she credited my awesomely bright pink socks for spotting me in the crowd. They are not just for compression, they ARE a fashion statement.

When I saw my mom again around the 4.5 mile mark, she was on the other side of the street. I tried my best to play frogger and make it across the street without getting in front of anyone. I kind of liked my gloves, so I did not want to drop them on the course. So quick photo op and glove drop off.

Five Mile time: 48:50

The first miles on the course were through a residential area with lots of turns and hills. People kept yelling, "It's all down hill from here" when we would reach the top of one.

I would like to take the first time marathon coordinator's mantra instead, "It's a smooth, gentle decline from here." My shins appreciated that thought.

Ten Mile time: 1:38:38

As we were about to approach the part of the course where the marathoners turned right, and half marathoners turned left, I thought back to the expo the day before during the race course presentation.

"Full marathoner's plug your ears for a moment," the presenter whispers conspiratorially, "Half marathoner's when you hit that turn point Lambeau Field will be in your sights. You are almost done! This is when you start to laugh at the full marathoners because you are about to enjoy some beer and brats and they have another couple hours to go. Okay, half marathoners plug your ears."

"Now full marathoners listen up," the presenter continued, "When those half marathoners turn to the left, you can start laughing. Those pansies have nothing on you!"

At this point I'm kind of in agreement with him, I'm feeling great and thinking, "See ya later half marathoners!" This mentality is going to come back and haunt me in about six more miles.

13.1 Mile time: 2:10:12

We turn down a more commercial area with wide open spaces between buildings. This is our first experience with the open wind. So far the residential area has been blocking quite a bit and also mostly at our backs.

One parking lot that is not paved, but has gravel and dirt takes a gust of wind. It kicks it up and a whole pack of us runners have to shield our eyes and run sideways for a moment until the wind drops for a second. That was the first sign things were going to be a little rough.

15 Mile time: 2:31:01

After we pass the 16 mile mark we cross over a bridge and literally hit a wall of wind. On a normal day miles 16 through 22 would be beautiful. They are on a paved trail along the Fox River. Today it is going directly Northeast and into 20-40 mph winds. There is little blocking the wind, and this six mile stretch is not just hitting the physical runners wall, there are moments when I ran into a physical wind wall.

This face is not a smile, it's a grimace in disguise. I choose to walk though water stations during that stretch of the race and tried to draft off a couple of folks. But most of the time I was working this path on my own.

The highlight came right before mile 20. A church congregation brought in about 200 people to cheer, yell, and encourage the runners. Seriously, I could have cried at that point, their enthusiasm took my wind battered body and helped drag it over the bridge and get the wind literally at my back.

Mile 20: 3:31:17

At this point I am just thinking about seeing my family by the finish line. The highlight of this race is the final leg is a run around the inside of Lambeau Field, home to the current Superbowl Champion Green Bay Packers.

I'm dreaming of touching the tundra.

To get into Lambeau we had to go through a long concrete laden tunnel, and at the end we emerge from the players tunnel. I may or may not have hammed it up a bit for the photographers on field.

And on the other side I am trying to get the crowd to make some noise as I come in.

A sight for sore eyes, my favorite cheering section. The big guy in the middle has an awesomely loud voice perfect for cheering on his favorite only sister. Back in the day he was also a state champion cross-country runner.

Coming in for the high fives. Darn wispy hair is still giving me the Donald Trump comb-over look.

Here is a closer look at my run by:

And finally back out of the stadium toward the finish line. My cheering squad rushed out to catch me finish my first ever marathon in 4:53:18

Not the fastest run by any means, but I kept thinking to myself, "Be Courageous". This run is me against myself (and a ton of wind). At the end of the day, no matter what my time came in at I could now say, "I am a marathoner".

And since the Packers did just win the Superbowl, the metals were inset with a bit of good old pigskin. I think this is my favorite metal so far. Especially since a couple days later it was confirmed the course was 800 feet too long and adjusted our times. So in less then a week I had a new PR.

Not too shabby if you ask me.

Bonus benefit of this marathon, after I collected my metal, we were treated to brats and Stevens Point beer. Only in Wisconsin.

There is just something about this picture

I'm working on my first full marathon recap which should be up this weekend. And oh what an update it will be, filled with wind, triumph, wind, Lambeau Field, wind, crazy awesome runners, and WIND!

But there is one picture in particular that keeps drawing me in. There is just something about it that I cannot stop looking at. Something that seems a little amiss.

Okay, so there are a few things wrong, such as my heal strike, but one thing in particular is really bothering me.

The wispy hair.

It's uncontrollable. I bought these awesome large Bondiband headbands to try and contain the hair.

But it refuses to be contained.

My hair has a mind of its own. The shining strands in the sunlight, it kind of reminds me of a head crown.

Or better yet, a really awesome superhero helmet.

Yeah, there we go. Complete with fire-shooting shoes. Nice.

This is totally how I run a marathon.

2 Marathon PR's in 1 Week

This past Sunday I participated in my first full marathon. More details on that to follow, but first I want to commandeer the photos my mom took from her camera. Trust me, there are some great action shots that are going to show just how dorky I was during this whole adventure.

Yesterday morning I woke up to find this in my inbox:

My first thought was, gee, the course did feel a little long.

I was timing myself with my Nike+ chip that syncs to the watch. I know that a marathon course is calculated by the runner taking all of the shortest trips around corners, and if you are on the outside of a turn you are going to add on distance.

So at that point I just figured that I took all of the outside turns a little wide. I did not even think about the course being mislabeled.

And thus I learned that my original PR (since I had never run a full marathon before) of 04:54:58 was now slashed and changed to 04:53:18.

I PR'ed for a marathon twice in three days!

And now I will do a little victory dance, because that must mean I am pretty much a superhuman. Along with about 8000 other participants, but who's counting?

The Winter Warpath

My first mistake was thinking that if my sidewalks were cleared off, everyone would be diligent enough to clean off theirs as well.

This face about says it all. I would like to publicly thank all the folks that remove their snow in a timely fashion. For those that are not as diligent, well I was always told that if you don't have anything good to say--

Anyways, I am going to take the suggestion of my blogger buddy Sharla and consider this to be my own personal Warrior Dash/Muddy Buddy/Hell Run. But I would also like to add in a new kind of race -- The Winter Warpath.

In the course of just over an hour, I trudged through snow drifts, splashed with slush by on coming cars, climbed over snow banks, and slid on icy patches. It was awesome!

A couple highlights, as I was running over an over pass I almost rolled my previously injured left ankle. That would have stunk, thankfully after stretching it out for a bit the tenderness wore off. Was able to continue on with no pain.

At one point I had to go into the road because there was simply no way to stick to the sidewalk. Of course there are vehicles who do not understand the whole -- lets slow down because it is slick outside -- mentality. Nervous that they would swerve at me, I threw myself into a snowbank, also listed on the graphic above as "Dug tunnel through snowbank".

It was windy, it was slick, and it was snowy. Thankfully my feet stayed pretty dry and I was able to finish my scheduled 7 mile run. Absolutely tickled pink with my 8:51/mile pace considering the conditions. Honestly, I felt like I was going like a snail, so it was a bit of surprise when I plugged that into my computer.

A side note: I love that the nike run girl on my green chart is wearing shorts and a tank, because she would not. survive. it. in. Wisconsin. Just sayin'.

Apparently playing in the snow makes me feel like a kid again. Makes me wonder if there are winter run races with snow tunnels and required snow angel making during the course? If so, could someone send me the info because I think I may have found my new love?

Full Marathon Confirmed

Registration Confirmed.

Dear Blog Diary,

I am either incredibly awesome or incredibly stupid awe-inspiring because I just hit the submit button on my full length marathon.

I have roughly 18 weeks to get my lazy bum that has been "relaxing" after the last half marathon back into shape and able to hit the pavement for 26.4 miles.

Just not today. I have a cold today. But tomorrow, tomorrow I start in earnest.

Probably not a good idea to start training for an ambitious race when I'm sick, because my fever is the only thing that is going to be running today.

Under the influence of several cold meds I will now proclaim my rather ambitious goals for this race:

1. Finish -- I really want to run the final leg around Lambeau Field!
   
2. Aim for a goal of under 4:30 -- Just over ten min miles
3. Stay injury free
4. Make the most kicka$$ signs for my mom to hold along the race route
5. Stick to my training plan

Now, I have to finish my training plan that starts tomorrow. Hmmm...

Cherio!
~Clarkie

That time I was on a treadmill

When I go to the gym, it is not uncommon for me to hit the treadmill for a little while beforehand and warm up before starting on my strength training circuit. I say that as if I have this stringent training plan, which I don't, but I do have a nicely compartmentalized regimen that makes me feel slightly more productive with my workouts.

On such a day, I pick out a treadmill, noting the variance of spaces between individuals and machines. Heaven forbid I pick one right next to another person, even though there is one open next to it. You only pick a machine directly next to another person if a) There are no other options, or b) The guy on that machine is so hot you have to be closer in order to ogle him properly. The non-existent, yet very existent rules of the gym are prevalent.

Of course the treadmill that is an acceptable distance from the next gym member, also does not have its television working. In theory, this is probably for the best. Sometimes a reminder to unplug and go al natural is beneficial for this desk bound employee.

I do take the liberty of pulling out the "Whole Living" magazine to peruse through. Inside I stumble upon an article talking about mantras. It lists the usual benefits and reasons behind using a mantra, most of this is self-explanatory. They do quote Kara Goucher and her race mantra:

"I always have a power word that brings me back to my center and focus. For the marathon it is courage. To be courageous to hang in for the long haul, to be courageous to run my own race, to be courageous to believe in myself."

I like this. If I was not so squeamish about tattoos, I would even go so far as have "be courageous" branded onto my arm.

In middle school I had my own mantra when I ran particularly hard (for a 12 year old) workouts:

"If it were easy, everyone would do it."

I would chant this in my head as the coach yelled on to continue with 200m and 400m sprints. It sounds slightly elitist, like "I am so much better than you because you could never complete this workout." When in reality it was my young mind reminding me that I signed up for this gig, and I have to see it through to the end.

But there is no end. I am running on a treadmill more then a decade later still trying to find the right words to give my inner voice. My own mantra.

So while I will not be adding any tattoos to my body any time soon, I think I can borrow Kara's saying, "Be Courageous".

I say all this now, because I am contemplating signing up for my first ever full marathon. I know I can bring myself to take the journey mentally, but I want to believe I can get there physically as well. If I push that submit button, I have a feeling I will be relying upon a lot of internal mantras over the next six months.