A week ago yesterday I celebrated the culmination of 4 long months of training by running in the Des Moines marathon. There was a lot of stress in the week leading up to the race as thoughts of airborne viruses and injuries raced through my head but I am happy to report that I made it to the starting line in great condition.
On the day of the race I woke up around 5:30 AM to give myself a couple of hours to eat and get loose. After enjoying a couple cups of coffee and running through the hallways of our hotel, Jessie and I left the comfy confines of the Super 8 and stepped out into the cold and dark morning air; surprised to find frost on the windshield of the car.
We made it down to the starting area about 45 minutes before the start and took care of some last minute "business".
The forecasters turned out to be right as the weather report held true to the guarantee of sunny skies and temperatures in the 60's (although at 8AM it was still a little chilly).
The race went almost exactly as I had envisioned. I started out a little fast running splits about a minute faster per mile than I had originally planned but I felt great. At that point I hadn't run in almost 5 days which seemed like an eternity after having run 4-5 days a week for 15 weeks.
There were supporters lining nearly every mile of the course which was truly remarkable. And the course itself was gorgeous! Beautiful tree-lined streets, sunny boulevards, nice neighborhoods, and wonderfully scenic lakeside trails.
Around mile 18 I started to hit "the wall" and began dropping off about :15 seconds per mile pretty much the whole way home. Regardless of the loss of energy towards the end I was able to bring it in at 3:36.
Garmin Connect - DSM Marathon
I tried not setting up too many expectations and instead vowed to just "run my own race". Having that mantra running through my head as more experienced runners blew by me in the final miles served me well. However, in the last 10 miles I realized that finishing in under 3:30 was possible so I set my sights on that but honestly the time doesn't mean a whole lot to me; just knowing that the hard work payed off and I was able to finish my first marathon was enough.
Immediately afterward I claimed to have run in my last marathon. Now, a week later, I am giving that a second thought. I found the entire experience to be immensely rewarding and I am pretty certain that I would like to give it another go. With that said, I know it is going to be tough to match the enjoyment and emotions from running this race because of the amount of support I received from family, paired with the experience of enjoying my home state with my girlfriend for four days.
And I swear, ice cream tastes a million times more delicious after you've finished a marathon.
In the days following the race Jessie and I made a few trips out to my grandfather's lake house for some much needed rest and relaxation. Looking back on the entire experience almost brings me to tears because the whole thing went so well. I got to see old friends, spend time in my hometown, go to a football game, eat at many of my old haunts and most importantly spend some much needed time with my best friend. Makes me wish vacation came around more than two weeks every year but I guess that is why it's so great; because you don't get to do it every day.
Special thanks to everyone who made the trip more enjoyable!
Now it's back to the grind. I've got the first week back under my belt and I will say that it does feel good to get back into a routine.
As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by a see what's up!
Check back for more soon!
