A few days after returning home from Boston I decided I was going to run another marathon sooner rather than later. Signing up for another race right away as a "do over" isn't recommended, but I knew I could do better and feel better. I needed to experience that good feeling so I wouldn't give up on running. I had also started doubting the training program I had followed since it was completely different from how I've trained in the past. But it didn't seem fair to judge it based on the not so ideal race conditions that Boston presented so I wanted to give it another shot.
I wanted just enough time to recover yet be able to maintain the fitness I gained during my training cycle without having to start all over. The Fargo Marathon was just under 5 weeks after Boston and only 3 hours from home. I hadn't run it before and a gal I follow on Instagram was running it for the 3rd time and recommended it, so I decided to go for it!
In between returning home from Boston and Fargo Marathon I really tried to focus on eating as clean and healthy as possible and I cut out alcohol, with the exception of about 4 beers during the entire 4 weeks. I didn't run at all for 5 days, but did do a ton of walking around Boston the 2 days after the marathon. Leading up to Fargo I did longish runs of 12, 12, 16 and 14 miles, 2 speed workouts, a tempo run and several easy 5-6 mile runs. Overall this mini training cycle felt pretty easy but I felt ready for another 26.2. That being said, I still had no race plan or real goal because I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself. I went into this marathon not really knowing if I would try to "race" it or maybe just consider it a long training run for a 50k I'm thinking about doing. I was just going to wing it and decide how I felt once I got out there.
Tara, my new Instagram friend, who I got to meet Friday night, had a goal of 3:35. I felt pretty confident that I could manage that pace well so I decided I would start out near her and see how it went.
The marathon starts and finishes inside the Fargodome which was awesome to have real bathrooms and not have to stand around outside in the cold before starting! The marathon started at 7:30 but we got there by about 6:15 so I had plenty of time to relax a little before lining up at the start.
I spotted Tara near the 3:35 pacer at the start but couldn't quite fight my way through the crowd to get next to her before the gun went off. Fortunately it was a smaller race and after we got outside I was quickly able to make my way next to her. We started talking and running together and the first 3 miles seemed to go by in no time.
Miles 1 - 7 were mostly through neighborhoods, there were a few random people out cheering but it was fairly quiet and not too exciting. (Splits 8:31, 7:55, 8:04, 7:55, 7:58, 8:00, 8:08)
At mile 7 the course moved from the streets to a paved bike path along the Red River which was a nice change of scenery. At mile 8 I heard my name and found my friend Nekaya who came along to support me. About 25 feet past Nekaya was Tara's family cheering for her, it was a nice boost! We continued along the river, first on the ND side, then crossing over to MN at mile 9. At mile 11 we were back on the streets and I was still feeling pretty comfortable but starting to get hot. (Splits 8:08, 8:06, 7:58, 8:05)
Miles 12 - 13 went through the campuses of MN State University - Moorhead and Concordia College and there were some nice cheering sections along this stretch. At about 15.5 miles we were back to the river trail and crossing back into ND. Tara and I were still together but by mile 16 I had gotten a little ahead of her and from there we began our own races. (Splits 8:07, 8:18, 8:13, 8:18, 8:18)
By mile 17 I turned on my music and just tried to focus on keeping my groove. Running through some more neighborhoods and there seemed to be more crowds out cheering now. I felt pretty relaxed and my legs still felt great but by mile 20 my mind was starting to fight against me and I was getting hot. I saw on a bank sign somewhere around mile 20 that the temperature was 71 but thankfully there was a good amount of shade. Several houses had sprinklers out to cool us off, I made sure to run through every one of them! I can't remember which mile, maybe somewhere around 21 I saw Nekaya again which was a much needed boost, she even got this picture of me and I look pretty happy!
The next couple miles started to get tough mentally but my legs still felt good. For some reason mile 23 seemed to go on forever and was the worst! I was wondering why I do this to myself and just wanted to be done for good. (Splits 8:07, 8:01, 8:17, 8:15, 8:14, 8:13, 8:26)
Once I hit mile 24 I knew I had slowed down but it didn't matter, I was going to finish and I was happy with how everything was going. I just focused on moving forward. You could see the Fargodome by mile 25 and it seemed to be taking forever to reach it! Nekaya was right at mile 26, before I made my way back into the dome, giving me that last boost that I needed to finish strong! (Splits 8:25, 8:17)
I pushed as hard as I could and finished that last .2 at a 7:32 pace. Final time was 3:34:58 and I was beaming as I crossed that line!
I heard Tara's name shortly after I crossed and waited to give her a high-five. We both qualified for Boston and we had a great time celebrating together the rest of the day and into the night!
I really enjoyed myself for the majority of the race and thought Fargo put on a great event. It was exactly how I wanted to feel during Boston and was exactly what I needed to experience. Even better is the fact that I earned a second chance to have a great run in Boston!
A few things I did different for Fargo that I think helped me; I made sure to eat 250-300 grams of carbohydrates the 3 days prior to the marathon, mostly brown rice, whole grain bagels, quinoa, and a small amount of fruits & vegetables. I didn't carry my phone because at Boston it annoyed me and the strap ended up chaffing my arm. I didn't try to carry my own drink because that was annoying too. Instead I took a Shot Blok every couple miles beginning at mile 4, alternating between caffeinated and non-caffeinated and took water at almost every water stop. I didn't wear compression socks because I actually think they made my legs feel worse/heavier, they may have been too tight.
I felt great after the race and was able to go out and enjoy myself and I was barely sore at all. 3 days later I don't even feel like I ran a marathon! The flat course probably helped some...and my next race will be the exact opposite when it comes to elevation change!
The only bad thing I can think of, the chaffing that resulted from the Shot Bloks that were stored in the built-in pocket on my sports bra. I didn't feel it at the time, but man did that sting when I took a shower, ouch!
