Green Bay Marathon

It’s been just over two years since I’ve ran my first marathon. Since then I’ve done a few triathlons and quite a few half marathons. This fall, my plan is to finish my first Full Ironman distance triathlon. Leading up to that, I wanted to run another marathon, sometime in the spring, to build up my running mileage first.

Let me preface this race by saying the marathon build up was flawless. Seriously. I’ve never felt better, fitter, and faster. Everything clicked these last 16 or so weeks. Speed workouts. Long runs. Even cross training. Perfect. Everything was pointing at a 3:20-3:25 marathon. Easy BQ. Then the race happened. Crash, bang, BOOM. I blew up.

At the race expo, ready to go!

The morning of the race we had received an email and text alert saying the race was yellow flagged. Pretty much, this just means that the conditions aren’t ideal and to start adjusting your goals a little bit. I looked at the weather… 75 degrees at 6 am. 90+% humidity. 70+ dew point. And this was 90 minutes before race start. Oof. Nothing I can do about it, but run and do my best and see what happens today.

Race day outfit, ready to go.

I couldn’t get breakfast down. I had my usual (bagel, banana, orange juice, water) with me but I think I took about 2 bites of my bagel and forced the banana down. My body was clearly a nervous wreck.

I donned my race outfit (Team Martilee, for the win!!) and we were out the door by about 6:45. This would give me plenty of time to use the bathroom, take my gel and mentally prep for the upcoming 26.2. Hubby had his bike and was planning to follow around the course as much as he could!

I still hadn’t eaten much, and water wasn’t going down easy either… again, not a super great sign for things to come.

I put on my tunes, and once the race started I tried my best to keep the negative thoughts about the weather out of my mind. I was running what felt easy, but looked down in my first mile and saw a 7:30. WHOA. Slow it down. This is much too fast! I kept pulling myself back and tried to run closer to 8 minute pace. This course was really flat, but I knew I was running too fast. Every time I looked down at my watch I had crept back into the 7:40s.

Course map provided by race website.

Around mile 5 I took my first gel, and again I had issues swallowing it. I had used Huma gels throughout my training, along with both water and Skratch Labs. I had to count down from 3 to swallow my gel… again, not a great sign.

Some of the spectators had their sprinklers or hoses on and the amount of people running slightly off the course onto the sidewalk or yard to run in the cold water was alarming. It had to be creeping towards 80 degrees at this point, but the flags were still yellow on the course. The miles kept ticking by and I somehow kept running in the 7:40s-7:50s. Maybe I could do this? Maybe I can run a 3:2X:XX.

At mile 10, I started to get chills. I know my electrolytes were off. I tried taking a few cups of Gatorade at every aid station coming up, but in the back of my mind I knew it was too late. By mile 12 I wanted to walk. My pace had slowed to 8:30s. I took out my phone and texted my husband one word, that rhymes with duck. In all caps. He immediately replied and asked where I was. I was almost to him and he said to just keep moving forward.

I saw him right at the half way mark and started crying. I knew my “race” was over, but it was only half over. I have never wanted to quit something so badly as I wanted to quit that race. I stopped. He gave me a hug and then said “keep moving. There’s a lot of race left. You can get this back.” But mentally, I was done. In my mind I had failed. I walked. I wouldn’t run near what I was capable of. I knew I had a ton of friends and family following my race, all believe I’d crush it and BQ. I let them down. I let myself down. I just failed…

To be honest, the rest of the race is a bit of a blur between walking and running and thinking “Don’t let the 3:30 pacer pass you.” Then they do. “Okay, but you can at least beat the 3:50’s and come away with a big pr.” Then they pass you too. “Just break 4. You can do that.” Nope… there they go. So effortless. “Fine. Just PR. That’s all. Under 4:10. Come on.” Not even that.

I cried a lot. I walked a lot. I cursed. I threw a pity party. I stopped to stretch. I told myself to just run this block. I bargained with God. I did everything… except quit. I forced myself to run the entire last mile. Just look down and keep running.

My medal in front of Lambeau Field.

I had to fight myself a lot in this race. I finished. My second marathon was slower than my first. I never even looked up my official time, but my watch had 4:16 something, 9:40 or so pace. I have never felt so defeated, finishing close to an hour after I thought I would. But, lessons have been learned. Give the weather the credit it’s due. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. LISTEN to your body. Adjust your goals. There are more races to come.

To go back to the race report archives, click here.

Eisenhower Marathon

After the expo, with President Eisenhower.

Ahhh… it’s finally here! My first full marathon! I was excited, but also very nervous. I flew into Kansas City the day before the race, and my mom and sister picked me up from the airport. We headed to Abilene to go to the (small) race expo. I knew it would be small, as this race was also my first half marathon a year ago! You can read about that race here. Then we all headed to dinner (my in-laws, grandparents in-law, husband, sister and her husband, and my parents) before hitting the hay.

My mom and sister were both doing their first half marathon this weekend too! Last year, I ran the half, my sister the 10k and my mom the 5k. You could say this family runs!

Race morning… zero dark thirty! You guys… spring marathons are tough. You train all winter long in cool/ cold conditions and then race morning shows up and it’s already 75 degrees and crazy high humidity… oh and 30ish mph wind gusts. WHY?! Alas… that was the situation today. Nothing I could do about it but adjust my goals a bit. My only REAL goal was to finish the darn thing. but secretly I’d love to break 4 hours! That’s a tall order for a first marathon, or ANY marathon but let’s see what happens!

Getting ready to run!

I knew the course, and knew there was really only one hill, that we went through a nice park both on the out and back in… and that the marathon course was just a double loop of the half marathon course.

Knowing this info, our families stationed themselves in the entrance/exit to the park area so they’d be able to see my sister and mom four times, and me eight times! Not bad spectating for them and easy since they didn’t have to move until after we started (and they’d have about 4 miles to get there) and until the last time I passed (around mile 22). I’m not sure there’s an easier race to spectate!

We took off and headed straight into the headwind for the first 3 or so miles… awesome. I felt pretty good and just tried to keep my pace nice and easy. I just recently got my Garmin watch, and I must say it’s nice to be able to see what pace you’re running! I headed out around 8:45 pace and tried to tuck behind a few taller people to use them as a wind block.

Mile 4 or so.. feeling good!

We climbed the hill and headed into our first loop of the park. Luckily the trees blocked the wind and the rising sun for a few miles too.

I decided to carry my own bottle this race with my Tailwind I’d been using for training. The course did have a few aid stations but I figured I should use what I trained with for months on end… even if I was totally tired of the flavor!

I kept cruising along pretty well, and remember hitting the first turn around point (about 6.5 miles) feeling really good! I knew I’d see the family in about a mile and a half, and once again before heading to the finish line for the first time.

Once down the hill, I got to run WITH the wind! Boy… I felt like I was flying!

But then… I crossed the finish line and there were cheers in the crowd! Until they realized I was turning around and heading back out… and the entire crowd let out a collective groan, as if to say “oh, yeah, she’s not done yet.” Right then and there, I feel like I lost all my mojo. Poof. Gone, like their collective sigh, blown away by the 30 mph winds I now had 3.5 miles to run straight into again.

Really, the only “good” part that came out of the next miles (13-17ish) was seeing both my sister and my mom bringing it home for their first half marathon. I was so proud of them! Even though I knew I wouldn't see them actually finish the race I could feel their joy and excitement building (all while mine continued to dwindle).

Around mile 18 I found a gentleman to run with (in the picture he has the red/ white/ blue shirt on). This marathon was his 129th. ONE HUNDRED AND 29 marathons. I couldn’t believe it! He was working his way through the 50 states for a third time. He just loved running in races, even if they weren’t his fastest. I ended up running with him until about mile 24 when my energy was pretty much gone and all I could think about was sitting down and eating pancakes.

No more smiles… lets finish this up!

I was thankful for the tail wind the last few miles, because if it weren’t for those big wind gusts I’m pretty sure I would have walked it the entire way back in. The wind pretty much blew me to the finish line. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but it was a big learning experience on needing a bit more marathon preparation for the next one for sure!

Finish line!

Yeah, I’m just gonna sit here awhile.

In the end, I finished in 4:10 and change, right about 9:30 pace. I did end up walking some. I let my mind get the better of me starting around 16 miles. I was very thankful to be able to finish, but I really feel like even though I “finished” a marathon I haven’t “ran” a marathon. I definitely want to do what I can to see if I can run an entire marathon, and maybe even try to qualify for Boston. Who knows how long it will take… but dreams worth doing don’t come overnight.

This race sparked a new dream, and I ended up getting second in my age group. Found that out while shoveling pancakes into my mouth. No one needs to know that there were only two of us in that age group…. :)

The cheer squad and runners, post race!

To go back to the race report archives, click here.

Florida, take two!

During the summer of 2016, I decided I HAD to go back to Disney again and wanted the challenge of completing the Glass Slipper Challenge (5k, 10k, half marathon) for Girl Power 2 Cure! Little did I know… I’d be pregnant in February of 2017. I received permission from my OB to go and have fun but to be sure to listen to my body. I had been running throughout pregnancy so far and had had no issues… so onward we went!

Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!

My friend Becky decided to take on the adventure with me, because DISNEY!! Plus we are both HUGE Harry Potter fans and planned to spend a day visiting Harry Potter world. She’s also been a huge asset and support in fundraising for Rett Syndrome and Becky truly has a heart of gold. AND it was going to be her first half marathon! We could think of no better way to celebrate that than at Disney and running for others! Of course we had to get ready to head to the airport at 4 am. Plus every race start at Disney is early… so many early mornings right in a row! But totally worth it.

Our first day in Florida we hit up the expo to grab our goodies. Then we checked into the hotel, rested a bit and headed back to the expo to work the Sparkle Athletic booth! If you don’t know about Sparkle Athletic, these ladies are pretty amazing! The owners (Carrie, Elise and Kelly) are also big in the Rett Syndrome scene and are part of the SoCal Ultra Ragnar team I’ve ran on since 2015.

After the expo we headed back to the hotel, where my Aunt Vanessa had arrived. We settled in and tried to get a little sleep because I had the 5k the next morning!

The only Disney races I’ve completed have been the half marathons in Florida in 2014 and California in 2014, both were for Rett Syndrome. I didn’t stop for any character stops in those races and while I had fun, I knew there was more fun to be had if I stopped for pictures! Also being pregnant, I figured I should focus on having fun versus running hard.

5k start line. Let’s do it!

Just hanging out with Dopey!

Under water creatures!

After the 5k ended (still at zero-dark-thirty), Becky and I got ready to go to Harry Potter World! I won’t bore you with all the pictures, but we did everything we could in our power to see and eat everything there was. We bought wands at Ollivander’s, we went to Florean Fortescue’s ice cream shop, rode the Hogwarts Express, drank pumpkin juice and warm butterbeer and listened to the choir sing with the giant toads. Seriously an amazing day to be had! Back to the hotel for naps!

Saturday morning was going to be another early one for the 10k start time. I had told Allison (also an awesome Ragnar lady and Rett momma!) that I’d run with her during the 10k. She was planning to push her daughter, Emma, through the race! Disney has a rule that once kiddos are 14 they can run the race, but since Emma has Rett Syndrome we were able to get a running jogger approved. Now Allison is FAST. Like… REALLY FAST. Then we found out that she and Emma would be starting before the A corral, and about 2 minutes later the A corral (where I was) would get to go. Two minutes doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but remember when I said Allison was fast? I took off sprinting and it took close to a mile to catch her!

10k start line!

Queen Minnie Mouse!

Allison, Emma, and myself with some circus characters!

Once I caught up with Allison, we had so much fun running together! We stopped at quite a few character stops for pictures, and traded pushing Emma through the race. It was so neat to stop about 10 minutes from the finish line and get Emma out of her jogger so she could walk across the finish line. Emma is a very lucky girl in that she can walk, if she’s already been standing. Once she’s seated she cannot stand up by herself. Emma has been crossing finish lines (many at Disney) for years. I love that the Disney race announcers always highlight Emma (and other Rett girls) crossing the finish lines!

Working at the expo!

After the 10k Becky, Vanessa and I went and worked at the expo for Girl Power 2 Cure. Working with them can be so moving… raising awareness for Rett Syndrome and letting others know just what it is. Most people I talk to about Rett Syndrome have never heard of it (just like me, before I married into my husband’s family) so it’s truly moving to talk to them and have them ask questions, show concern and compassion. We have been able to spread so much awareness which is just amazing!

Sunday morning shows up… final race day! The half marathon! What we’ve all been waiting for! If you’ve never ran a Disney race, prepare yourself for the 3:30 am alarms. If you do a challenge, prepare yourself for this DAILY. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was tired! But we woke up and headed to the start line anyway. Becky and I headed up to our corral and made a game plan to stop at character stops and have as much fun as we could! Her longest training run was 10 miles and I knew she was a little nervous about adding the last three, so we knew we’d do what we needed to do (which turned, for me, to have 3 potty stops and eating cheez-its along the way). The sun, heat and humidity made the last few miles really tough, and unfortunately that’s where all the character stops are DONE. But Becky and I powered through and ran the entire race! I’m so proud of her… she did amazing!

Snow White & Prince Charming.

The castle is beautiful!

Cinderella & Prince Charming.

Coming into the finish line!!

Post finish line smiles. We did it!

After the race finished, Becky and I hung out at our finisher’s tent and cheered in other GP2C team runners as they finished. It’s amazing to see all the flowers and purple race shirts out there on the course, and so many people said hi and that they stopped at our booth at the expo and learned about Rett Syndrome because of us. Even better… they said they were going to share our story and join the team next year. Rett Syndrome, we will defeat you!

Even though I really, truly love running and would run these races no matter what… it’s nice to remember WHY I run a lot of these races. Rett Syndrome affects so many families, including my own. My cousin has Rett Syndrome, a neurological disorder that has stolen her ability to walk, talk, use her hands in a functional way and has given her many things to fight against. So when my aunt Vanessa told me about this race back in 2014, I learned all I could about Rett Syndrome and Girl Power 2 Cure. I love running for Martilee and all the other girls with Rett Syndrome and will continue to #untilshecan because I truly believe that someday she will run with me!

To go back to the race report archives, click here.