It was 30 years ago, well over half my life, that I made a goal of running Grandma's Marathon and Twin Cities Marathons each for 25 consecutive years. The postal service goofed up my Twin Cities Marathon streak at 12 when the mail sorting machine chewed up my entry, which was returned after the race. So I have Grandma's, where I am a Lifetime Entrant (I never pay an entry fee, as I paid $100 in 1990).
When I reached the 25th year, I was prepared to be satisfied with achieving that goal. Then, the 2009 Grandma's entry information date came, and my son encouraged me to run with him for a 26th race. After a few minutes at the start, I think he was gone! Then, for the 27th, I decided to run 5.24 miles and quit. That would mean I ran 26.2 consecutive Grandma's Marathons. My son decided to run the whole race with me, so I could not quit at 5.24 miles, as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But he stayed with me the entire way, and I cherished that time with him. So finishing 27 means only one thing! The goal was now 30 consecutive finishes...
The 30th Consecutive finish at Grandma's Marathon is complete. I went into the week of the race thinking the two 2-mile runs, a 4-mile run, and a 5-mile training run in the two weeks before the race were inadequate to finish. For the past three years, I think I logged less than 15 miles running between each Grandma's. I do bike and walk. Running has lost all its allure, and I generally hate even a mile run. Walking is now even that enjoyable.
This year, Jordan was going to run the race with me. We left for Duluth on Friday at about 2:00 PM. It was just us, as Shelley had plans with her parents in Lincoln, Nebraska, and my sister could not make the race in years. We arrived in heavy fog and 48 degrees at 5:15 PM (traffic was horrible) and quickly picked up our packets. We walked around Canal Park, freezing! Jordan had won Spaghetti tickets, so we ate a below-average meal and headed to the car to sleep. By 10:30 PM, we were sleeping.
I woke at 4:00 AM, and the race forecast was dismal: cold, rain, and winds. The only thing that could have made the weather look worse was snow. Thank God that did not happen!
Jordan woke at 5:00 AM, and we were headed to the train by 5:25 AM. We made it to the start with about 45 minutes to prepare. All went well as we contemplated what to wear. I wore a real shirt with arm warmers, and Jordan wore a double-layer short-sleeve. We even each made it through the Biffy lines and lined up 10 minutes before the start.
When we started, I felt like I imagined the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz needing oil. Just needed to feel more smooth. The first mile was 11:29, and every mile was slower until miles 9 and 10. We gained about 30 seconds a mile. Then we were in a run/walk and 16-minute miles to the finish. At Mile 23, I was very nervous about finishing. Cramps started, and I used all my mental capacity to vary the strides and paces to hold them off. I was concerned I would get a Charlie horse, eliminating the chance to finish. Wisely, we chose to take it easy.
As a side note, between Mile 11 and 16, there were several times I was going to quit. I was hurting all over and very cold. Mentally, I am not as strong as I once was, which made the race hard. Jordan was just hanging with me for support, although at times, he would unknowingly cause me issues as he continually asked how I was doing. To answer, I could no longer block out the pain. My left ankle was in heavy pain, and I felt cramp-like twinges in various muscles from mile 12.
In the end, I scored 6:36:48, whereas last year, I scored 6:33:59, so I was consistent.
 |
| I really like the medal this year! |
The only issue I have now is what is left. This is a time when it is easy to get depressed as I am running out of goals to keep me going. I need a goal to live. Someone asked me why I did this or rode my bicycle from Denver to Minneapolis. I told them it reminded me that I was still alive. This is the only reason 31 is in my mind, but I realize that less than 15 miles of training will cut it, and I despise running. Wonder which one will win out?
No comments:
Post a Comment