Bismarck Marathon

I guess I didn't get my full fill of marathons, because I decided to run another one. I ended up running the Bismarck marathon just two weeks after the Pocatello marathon. I was a little nervous how it would be running two so close together, but I think it worked out great and would totally do it again- in fact, I really liked the timing, and ran the Bismarck marathon much faster! I had just enough time to recover and still do some training runs without loosing anything. Luckily for me, my family was really supportive and were excited to come and watch.

We got to Bismarck a little late, but still enough time that we were able to take advantage of the hotel pool. The kids were so excited...if you couldn't already tell from Emily's face.

Of course, a few people did find some time to catch a little of the BSU game that was on that night too. Emily is Jeff's little sports buddy (well, one of them) she loves to watch sports with Jeff.

The kids had a blast at the pool. It was nice and warm and even had a big slide. It was fun to play with them and was a great way to take my mind off of the race the next day.

Our room was nice, and had two separate rooms which was nice with all the kids, but I still didn't sleep all that great. Whenever I'm excited/nervous about something I usually keep waking up during the night. Fortunately the Bismarck marathon had a start time of 7:30 so I was able to sleep in until about 6:15am. I got up and got ready, then had a taxi pick me up at 6:50 to drive me to the starting line so Jeff wouldn't have to get up with all the kids. I started out in capris, but ended up changing into my shorts since it felt a little warmer than I had expected. Don't get me wrong, it was still cold! I just don't like to wear capris or pants until it drops into the 30's. It was actually the warmest right at the start with a temperature in the low 40's. I was thinking it would be perfect and that I would be able to ditch my long sleeved shirt & gloves. I ended up taking my long sleeved shirt off about mile 10 but decided to tie it around my waist and was so glad I did- I put it back on around mile 14. At that point, the wind started to pick up and it started to rain. For the rest of the race we had some pretty strong headwinds and sleeting rain. I never did take off my gloves.

I got to the race start just after 7am. I had just enough time to change into my shorts, use the bathroom (for the first time in my life at a race, there were tons of porta-potties and NO lines! I couldn't believe it!), then drop off my extra gear in my bag at the gear station, and get in line at the starting line. It was actually pretty nice, not a lot of standing around time.
With the Pocatello Marathon, I was so worried about having another experience like Richmond, that my whole goal was to run a steady, consistent time and just make sure I would finish under four hours. After getting that under my belt, I decided that I wanted to go out and run a marathon where I pushed harder and ran it faster.

There were only about 200 people running the marathon, but there were another 419 running the half marathon, and then another 130 teams running the marathon relay and we were all running together so there were quite a few people there. The race was set up pretty well and had a lot of great support. They had tons of water stations and people were cheering most of the race. The MC/director guy for the race was hilarious too.

(At the starting line)

The Bismarck Marathon is usually a pretty flat course, but because of flooding, they ended up re-routing the course and it included a big 200ft hill. Because it was a loop course, the people running the marathon had to run it twice- once at mile 5 and again at mile 18. Hitting it the first time wasn' too bad- I still kept my pace in the 8 minute range, but the 2nd time around I thought I did great by just running it the whole way. Good thing I could make up time running back down the hill.

All in all, I thought this race was easier than Pocatello. It was harder because I was running a lot faster, but because the Pocatello marathon was still so fresh in my mind, I felt like I knew exactly what to expect and knew how I would be feeling. I hit the halfway point at about 1:50 which put me on track for a 3:40 marathon. My goal for the marathon was to do a time in the 3:40-range so I was feeling pretty good and still feeling great running. I know my second time around the loop was a little slower- hello big hill! But I was keeping it up pretty well. When I came around the corner and saw the finish line I was so excited! I was so ready to be done. When I looked at the clock, I couldn't believe it- 3:36 as I ran across the finish line. The Boston qualifying time for me is a 3:40!

The 3:36:09 time put me 4th in my age group, 7th out of the women, and 21st overall. I was so tired and freezing cold, that I didn't think much of anything- I kind of felt like a robot as I went to get my food and a free post-race massage. That was awesome! When I got my bag, I called Jeff to find out where he was. They were just arriving after I finished and came and met me at the tent.

After some time had passed and I was feeling more normal, I started thinking about the race and the time. Even though I was way excited, I think the race distance was a little off-but I guess it'll go down in the history of Bismarck as a 3:36.

Anyway, I was so happy that my sweet family was there. I loved seeing the kids be so excited (even though they were freezing!) I was so happy that I ran the second marathon and felt great, and I met the goal I had started out with. I wasn't even very sore. I was ready to go out and run again 2 days later. It makes me wish there were more Saturday marathons close by that I could run- I thought I would be burnt out by now, but I want more. I would definitely call that a success and something to be happy about!