On July 12, I ran the Minnesota race of the Mainly Marathons Heartland Series. The Heartland Series is a seven-day series that includes races in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I just did the Minnesota race.
I’m planning to do the
Summer Camp Series, which is a five-day series that starts on July 13. All of Summer Camp races are within 15 miles
of St. Cloud, MN, making it possible to stay in the same hotel for the whole
series. The last race of the Heartland
Series was also in St. Cloud. I figured since
I was already going to be here, I might as well arrive one day earlier and do
six marathons instead of five.
I drove to St. Cloud yesterday,
stopping for lunch along the way. I’m
staying in a hotel room that has a kitchenette with a full-size
refrigerator. After checking in, I went
grocery shopping. I plan to fix my own
breakfast and lunch each day and then go out for pizza in the evening.
The race started at 6:00
AM. There was an early start at 5:00 for
people who needed extra time. Most
people took the early start so they could finish before it got too hot. I chose to take the 6:00 start, so I wouldn’t
have to get up any earlier. As it was, I
had to arrive early enough to pick up my race packet. People doing the whole series already had
their race bibs.
Today’s race was on the Beaver
Islands Trail. It’s a wide paved trail
with occasional views of the Mississippi River and the Beaver Islands. It was an out-and-back route that was roughly
1.1 miles in each direction. To complete
a marathon, I had to run 12 laps.
There was a well-stocked aid
station in the start finish area. They
had water, Gatorade, coke, chocolate milk, and a variety of food. There was a table at the aid station where we
could keep our bottles. That allows them
to avoid using disposable cups. We came
back to the aid station frequently enough that I didn’t need to carry anything
with me.
When you’re running
marathons several days in a row, you need to slow the pace down. My goal today was to finish the race without
pushing myself too hard. I didn’t want
my effort today to leave me feeling sore or tired tomorrow.
I started running at a
nice relaxed pace. My first lap was
unusually slow, because I was stopping to take pictures. My second lap was also slow, because I made a
bathroom stop.
Starting with lap three,
I was running continuously, stopping only to drink at the aid station. My pace ranged between 10:30 and 11:00 per
mile. At that pace, I would finish in
less than five hours. That was my only
time goal. Beyond that, I just wanted to
conserve my energy.
The temperature at the start
was 65 degrees, but it warmed up quickly.
It got into the 70s by 8:00, and it was probably 80 by the time I
finished. With that in mind, I had to be
mindful to drink enough.
I have a habit of getting
through the aid station quickly, so I don’t always drink as much as I
should. Today, I made a point of pausing
long enough to drink enough Gatorade. I
had a 20 oz. bottle, and my goal was to drink enough that I would have to refill
it every three laps.
Toward the end of my sixth lap,
I had to make one more bathroom stop.
After that, I only stopped at the aid station.
After six laps, I was on pace
in finish in about 4:47. I continued
running at a relaxed pace, and I had every reason to expect that I would run
the whole race at a consistent pace.
In the second half of the race,
it was getting hotter, and I started to feel the sun. This course has lots of shade, but when the
sun gets high enough in the sky, there are places where it shines through the
trees. I could’ve sped up at any time,
but I was careful not to overexert myself in the heat.
During pre-race announcements,
one of the RDs introduced the runners who were doing their first marathon or
half marathon. Early in my ninth lap, a faster
runner caught up to me, and I recognized him as one of the first-time
marathoners. I sped up to his pace so I
could talk to him. His name was Finn.
My first mile running with Finn
was my fastest mile so far. I mistakenly
thought Finn was a lap ahead of me, but we were actually on the same lap. Finn’s pace was faster, but he was taking more
time at the aid station. That was the
only reason I was still keeping up with him.
As we talked, I learned that Finn’s
longest training run was 20 miles. I
know how hard the last six miles can be when you’ve never run farther than 20,
so I decided to stay with Finn for the rest of the race. Nobody should have to do those tough miles on
their own in their first marathon.
The last race of a series is always
hot dog day. They had hot dogs at the
aid station, which were conveniently cut in half. When we got back to the aid station, I was ready
before Finn was, so I decided to eat half of a hot dog while I was waiting.
In the 10th lap, we slowed down
a little. Now, we were going at about
the same pace that I was running on my own.
As we started our 11th lap, we
were going even slower. Then Finn
started to speed up. I wondered if he
suddenly started feeling better. Then,
suddenly, he pulled up. He had a cramp
in one of his legs. Finn stopped to
stretch, and I stopped too. He had to
walk for a few minutes, but then he was able to run again.
We were somewhat slow until we
reached the turnaround, but coming back, Finn sped up again. We had our fastest mile of the race.
After that, we just had one lap
to go. I anticipated Finn would need
some time at the aid station, so I ate another half of a hot dog.
The last lap was slow. For most of that lap, our pace was slower
than 13 minutes per mile, but there was never any doubt that we would still
finish comfortably under five hours.
In the last mile, Finn needed
to walk, but with half a mile to go, he was ready to run it in. There’s a gate where we leave the trail to
come back to the start/finish area. As
soon as he saw that gate, Finn knew how close we were, and he picked up the
pace.
Now, I had to work to keep up
with him. As we made the turn into the
parking lot, Finn sped up so much that I had to follow at my own pace. Finn finished his first marathon in 4:51:44. I finished several seconds later, in 4:51:50.
The finisher medal has three
pieces that link together. The top and
bottom pieces went to anyone who did at least one race of the series. The middle piece was for today’s race. People who did multiple races got a piece for
each state that they ran in. People who
did the entire series got an extra piece that goes below all the states.
Before leaving the finish area,
I had a couple glasses of chocolate milk.
I would’ve had another hot dog, but they were temporarily out. When I got back to my hotel, I had more
chocolate milk and some cinnamon rolls.
I took a bath and did some stretches. My left Achilles tendon is a little tight, but I don’t have any sore muscles. Hopefully, that’ll still be the case tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I’ll keep working on that Achilles tendon.
Distance: 26.2 miles
Time: 4:51:50
Average Pace: 11:08 per mile
First Half: 2:23:26
Second Half: 2:28:24
Lifetime Marathons/Ultras: 517
Minnesota Marathons/Ultras: 97
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