Fargo Marathon (Part 1)

Friday afternoon I went to the Fargodome and picked up my packet and got the kids stuff for the youth run. We spent the next couple of hours messing around with the youth run. I appreciate how much it was organized but with so many kids and adults it took forever to accomplish... first we waited to get to the staging area, then we stood in the staging area, then we waited at the starting line, finally we ran the 1/2 mile, then we waited to get the medals, then we waited to get out of the finishers corral, then we waited to get up the stairs, then we waited to get out of the parking lot. 2.5 hours to complete a 1/2 mile run!!! The whole family was fried after that and very hungry! I had family come to town and cheer so we met up with them and had a meal of pasta. I set out all my stuff and was in bed by 11:30... 4:30AM I'm jolted awake by a painful cramp in my left calf!!! I hop out of bed and hobble around until it's stretched out. I start thinking this isn't good. Just about the time I got back to sleep the alarm went off.

I got up Saturday morning got ready, ate a good breakfast and had myself to the Fargodome by 7:05AM. It was sunny but cool about 36F. I waited in the car where it was warm and had one last drink of water. I hit the restroom one last time and started to find my place for the start. I lined up just even with the projected 4:00 hour finish sign, and just to the left of the 4:00 hour pace group. After the announcements the wheelchairs were off and we were ready to go. As the group moved ahead I was sort of forced further back from the pace group. I could still see them but they were a good bit in front of me now.

The field was off and after a bit we were moving. I checked as I crossed the timing mat- a little more than 4 min since the official start. By now the 4 hour group was hardly in sight. I started running but couldn't get much under a 9:30 pace with all the people. I'm still surprised how many people I passed that were walking in the first 6 blocks. I'm all for it if you want to walk the marathon/half marathon, or use a run walk method but if you know your going to be walking in the first 6-8 blocks you shouldn't line up with the 9:00 min pace people because most of them are not planning on walking.

I spent the first 2 miles moving through traffic trying to get into a groove and close the gap between me and the 4 hour group. By mile 4 I had made it to the group and felt very good. I stuck with the group which seemed to have a good 9:00 to 9:05 pace going. I saw my in-laws and a few blocks down from them my wife and kids- spirits were high and I was feeling great. The fan support was awesome- it was cold outside for May even by North Dakota standards but it seemed like everybody was out cheering along the course. There were a lot of yard parties that looked like a ton of fun! I noticed that the pace group was stopping about every other water stop and walking for 10 seconds. I kept running and was able to get a bit ahead of the group... I had GU2O drink in a water bottle with me and I sipped that while slowing down a bit. I slowed my pace when I got out in front of the pace group too far and ran with them when the caught me. We passed the 1st relay exchange and rounded the course and started heading North. I passed my wife and kids again around mile 8 and handed off my empty water bottle for a full one.

I knew I didn't have any family waiting for me until near mile 11 so I hunkered down and ran with the pace group. I felt really good- relaxed, heart rate was around 155, everything was clicking. At times I felt like we were running slow. I thought this was a good sign I wasn't pushing it. I had some gel around mile 9 and I was feeling good. Next few miles were going great I spotted my family - and I could see the Fargodome in the distance. Mile 12 was a blur there was a group of fans that were super loud along 14th St. N. all I could do was laugh because they were just going crazy. We turned up University drive and there was a split for the half marathoners to head into the Fargodome for their finish. The full marathoners passed by and headed back around for one more loop. Our split time was good about 1hr 58 min for the half. I was really feeling good and thinking this under 4 hr thing might just happen.

Mile 14 the streets were less packed - the almost 5000 half marathoners would not be with us for this loop. I had to use the restroom from about the 8th mile but I thought I would put if off until after the half because there would be less people using the porta-potties on the second loop. I started looking around mile 14 and figured I should take care of this soon as it was drawing my attention away from running. Around mile 15 I found an empty porta-john and I headed in. A quick turn around and I was running again. The pace group was quite a ways ahead of me but I felt confident that I could catch up to them over the next few miles. My focus had changed from maintaining a 9:10 pace to running a bit faster and catching that group. By mile 16 I was closing the gap slowly I felt good and everything was going great.I downed another Gel and continued to hydrate myself. I was running about an 8:50 pace and felt still within my comfort zone at that pace. About 16.5 miles I felt a twitch in my left calf muscle. I thought Oh no not this! I took note but wasn't too concerned. About 2 blocks later I had a full blown cramp that stopped me mid stride. My first thought was - Ugggh there goes my 4 hours!

Part 2 is here!