Wisconsin Marathon 2011 -How it all Went Down

I never really got nervous…even that morning my calm never really left. I had run a quick 3 miler on Thursday and was just sort of resting…mind and body. There was nothing I could do about having a cold that was lingering…and if I lost pace during the race….there was really nothing I could do about that either. Your first marathon isn’t supposed to be about time…but I work well with a goal in mind.

I woke at 3 A.M. to Skip screaming to ‘Get OUT of the way!!!!!” at the top of his lungs. This is really not that unusual and only reason I even wake him up is to shut him up…because if I don’t…he’ll keep screaming stuff. I was able to get back to sleep and up for good around 4. I got myself together slowly. Drank coffee, ate a cliff bar and half a banana and made sure I had my junk. I woke Skip around 5:30 and he drove me to the start where I was to meet up with Amy and this wonderful lady Ginesa…a sweet gal that reads my blog that I was meeting for the first time. The weather was gorgeous with the sun coming up and the lake…sooo pretty. I had big hopes that the rain would hold off and it did. I found Amy who was running it with two other ladies. We talked some and it was lovely to see her…but it made me realize that Amy had found her OWN running path. I may have put her feet on it…but she was a full blown grown up runner now…and that is amazing. I had called her husband and told him to have their girls make signs and meet her on the course…I hope he did that. She and her friends finished a few minutes earier then her predicted and she was delighted with her time. Sooo proud of that girl.


Now Ginesa….Ginesa I found after my last portapottie stop. She had come down from Milwaukee with her adorable husband and meeting her was an instaclick. The first thing that struck me was how tall she was! And gorgeous! It’s funny how we have these preconceived notions of what we think people would look like….and for whatever reason….I just figured she’d be a shortie like me. Not the case.


So there are no corrals…just signs that gave rough mile times to line up by…so we tucked in near the 10 minute mile sign and waited. She had asked my running pace and we just kinda decided to run together till one of us wanted to change it and that’s what we did. I’m not a mile by mile girl….they all kind of lump together for me. I will say that the first few just flew by and we gabbed like we’d known each other for years. Commenting on the interesting choice of clothing on some of the people including one woman we saw that had her shorts crammed up her ass and you could seriously see peeks of her cheeks when she ran. I don’t know if she was running the full or the half but you have to wonder how she didn’t chafe within an inch of her life. And not that anyone is…but she really didn’t have the right ‘shape’ if you will…to be wearing that sort of thing….ick. Saw a dude dressed as a cow..a few broads dressed as bar maids with inflatable beer steins.
So we ran together till mile six..and it was wonderful…to meet her..to share something like that with her…and to have her with me till I ONLY had a 20 miler left. She did an amazing job!

It was going wonderfully. I was hitting my pace….walking only when I fueled…everything was going as planned. I felt good..mentally….physically…everything was lining up and I was delighted. Around mile 12 I guess it would have been…I felt something in my left ankle or Achilles start to kind of wig. I just looked down kinda like WTF? Of everything that has bothered me on and off in this training cycle…that part of my body never has. I just shook it off and kept going. The day was still beautiful…and although the clouds were starting to roll in…I was pretty sure it would hold off.

By mile 13 I sent Skip this text…Something’s wrong with my ankle”. This is NOT a good thing to be sending to your husband half way through the race. And something was wrong….very wrong. By the time I saw my family at mile 15 I could barely run. I didn’t know what the hell was wrong but I kissed the kids and whispered to Skip that I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish. He just told me to relax and try to hold on as long as I could. About a half a mile later I called him and told him he needed to get some Advil to me or I would NOT be able to finish the race. He told me he was already on it and met me at mile 18 with my family including my mom this time. He juiced me with 3 Advil….something I’ve never done for a long run, during a long run..or even after a long run….but I really didn’t give a shit by that point. Pulling up my splits I was dead on till mile 11…hitting every split and even banking a little time. But it just goes to show how everything can be going according plan….and then there’s race day.

So after popping my drugs I just trudged on. It dulled the pain but my go was gone. I finally got to the point where I was walking for 1 or 2 minutes and then running for 9. All I kept telling myself was…3 miles to Vincent…then 2 mile to Vincent….and finally…..Thank Freaking God there’s Vincent. He was waiting well before the 24 mile mark…with a big smile on his face. The boy was a godsend…motivational without being a pain about it. Fine with whatever I wanted to do as long as it didn’t involve stopping. It was funny….because the song he picked for me was The King of Rock by RunDMC….and that’s what was playing when I rolled up on him…my boy.

At mile 25 I was so over this race…and I made a comment to V about how the whole damn thing had been measuring at least .4 of a mile long. Like I’d be almost a half mile away from a marker and my Garmin was beeping….and there was a number of people running near us and they started saying the same thing…so it wasn’t just me. So I couldn’t even see the finish line and my Garmin was beeping 26 miles. I stopped it at 26.3…I had run my marathon…I just hadn’t crossed their finish line. At that point I could see my family….everyone but Skip anyways….I had no idea where he was. But there they all were….my mom, Dominic, Tate, my brother Paul and my Dad…who was up out of his chair waving his cane around….shaking cans, blowing an air horn…screaming their heads off. And right as I was coming up on them…my Dad shuffles out into the street and attempted to run a few steps with me. I patted him on the back and told him I’d be back in a minute. So V and I turn the corner…finally see the finish…and haul ass into the finish..where I finally see Skip. V and I grab hands…because I wasn’t going to let him jump off…and we finish. Clock time was 05:01:36. Garmin time 04:58:33. Chip time…somewhere in the middle.

We finish…get space blankets and my medal. I never even put it on…didn’t want to get it all sweaty on it’s way to it’s final destination. We grabbed water and a banana…the beer and brats would have to wait. Met up with my amazing husband who was soooo very proud of me…and made our way over to the rest of the family. We get over there…and they have 4 DOZEN roses for me….I couldn’t even hold them all. I hugged everyone….and then went over to my dad. I hung my medal around his neck and told him it was for him….all of it…and that I wanted him to have it. He cried a little….in my almost 35 years I have never seen that man shed a tear…but there it was.

So that’s it…we went home..I showered and didn’t move much the rest of the day. My ankle is pretty jacked up…I’ve been icing it on and off since yesterday. Today is mother’s day and I got up and did a 25 minute yoga to get things moving again….and then Skip and I walked the dogs for about a mile. Will I do another marathon? Maybe…but not anytime soon. I didn’t really enjoy this one…and it just takes up so damn much time. But at least now…I can concentrate on my barefoot running again…and find some of the joy that gets lost in the shuffle of training.


Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there. Ginesa it was amazing to meet you.


It’s gonna be a beautiful day!