I don't write race reports for every race anymore as I have already written over fifty. But, since this race consisted only of me, I thought I'd write a little recap for me to look back on.
Running a race where there were no parking or traffic issues, and I could do my warmup exercises at home before riding with the family to the start (five minutes away) was nice. Once I got there I set up my aid station of fluids and gels, my wife and four year old counted down, and I was off.
The course consisted of eleven 2.4 mile laps, most of it along the perimeter of Eagan's Central Park. The course probably wouldn't be considered a fast course — it had 1,626 feet of elevation gain — but it wasn't an overly difficult course either. The hills were pretty gradual and on the backside of each loop was a long downhill.
The best part of the race was that I had a group of friends who showed up to cheer. For almost the entire race I got to see them each lap.
As for the racing part, things didn't shake out quite as I would've liked. Around mile seven, my foot started acting up. It's an old injury that occasionally flares up, and it had during a couple of long runs, but it had been pretty manageable and hadn't hurt on most runs.
Unfortunately, as my race went on, it started hurting more and more. Even if it hadn't hurt, I don't think I would have run the time I wanted because I was feeling pretty tired around mile 18.
At mile 21 or so I called Laura and told her I didn't think I'd finish. She said, "Oh I'm sorry. You're so close." Thinking about how close I was made me re-think dropping out. I decided to walk for a few minutes and try running again to see if it were tolerable.
When I started up again, it still hurt pretty bad, but I thought I could make it five more miles.
My foot was varying degrees of painful after my long walk. There was a lot of walking for the last five miles, but the walk breaks kept my foot feeling just well enough to finish the race.
My friends and family set up a toilet paper finish line. It was pretty cool breaking the "tape." I finished first (and also last), and I was happy to be finished.
I'm glad to have finished the marathon. It was my 19th marathon and I've now run a marathon every year since 2009.
Thank you for all your support and especially thank you to those who donated to World Vision. It really made the marathon worthwhile.
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