BAYSHORE MARATHON-Boston Qualified!

Last weekend, I had the opportunity of a lifetime, to run with my son, Riley. This was one of his Christmas gifts. I wrapped up a coupon that read 1 Bayshore registration+new running shoes + running with mom=PRICELESS. When I registered him, I didn’t even consider the possibility of us both qualifying for the Boston Marathon on the same day.

For this race, I decided to train using the Hanson’s Marathon Method which is now known as Luke Humphrey’s Marathon Method. I started the training in January with the intention of pacing a friend to Boston Qualify at 3 hours 30 minutes. She suffered some set backs with her training and decided sometime in late February that she wasn’t running or if she did it would be just to qualify so I decided if I was going to run Bayshore on my own that I would train to get a PR. This was my second marathon: I ran my first in 2013 in Concord, Michigan at the Wildlife Marathon. That marathon I decided about 4 weeks out to run it and finished in 3 hours 26 minutes. So deciding on a goal time 6 years later was challenging. I really didn’t know what time I could run it in. After my first marathon, I was driven to start running ultramarathons to see just how far I could run.

So I adjusted my goal training from 3 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 15 minutes. I wasn’t sure if it was achievable, but decided to give it a shot. The Hanson’s plan is based on the philosophy of training on tired legs or cumulative muscle fatigue. The plan consists of 6 days of running with a variety of easy runs, a long run, tempo run and intervals. My body adapted well to this training style; however, it was somewhat mentally fatiguing switching gears from just getting in miles to train for my hundred to working on interval and tempo training. What I was noticing as I was getting a couple months into the program is that I was feeling faster and comfortable at faster paces. So in early March, I decided to hire a running coach, Zach Bitter. He looked at my training plan which I was already a couple of months in: I shared with him my training and how it was going and he slightly tweaked it to increase my paces. By the end of the training plan, I felt strong and ready to go for my goal! Throughout my entire training, I relied heavily on using my arsenal of recovery equipment: Hypervolt, Cupping Set, and Air Relax compression boot: These kept me injury free with the exception of a slight pain in my achilles which I learned was due to a tight hamstring.

My son, Riley had a training plan of his own. He is 22 years old and independent, determined to layout his own plan. I teased him that I knew he would start out ahead of me, but I wondered who would cross the finish line first. Throughout training I would offer words of wisdom with his training sessions, recovery, and fueling. On race day I learned he did listen to my suggestion for fueling and it worked for him!

The day of the race, we awoke to thunderstorms in the area. The race was scheduled to be on time, but I was skeptical looking at the radar. We arrived the the Traverse City High School where it was raining, but warm. Riley had a few friends also running the race so we took shelter and hung out with them until it got close to race time.

I took off on my own to do a mile warm up and get my focus on. My husband, Derek and Riley’s girlfriend, Mckenna were going to points on the course to provide our nutrition/hydration. I checked with with Derek prior to heading to the start line to see if he was in position at mile 8. I drank a bottle of Tailwind knowing that I would want to refuel in about an hour.

We got to the starting line and I went in between the 7 and 8 minute pace signs, my plan being to start out at 7:20 and then making adjustments as needed throughout the race. The rain stopped and I knew it was going to warm up quickly. I met up with a friend from Team Running Lab, Peter and we ran a few miles in close proximity. We were both unsure of what time we would run, but figured we would both go out too fast. Of course that is just what I did: I started at around 7:15 pace and found a group of ladies that started pulling me along so I was nearer to 7 minutes. I knew in my head I should probably stick with my 7:20 plan and go negative at the end, but it was hard to make that adjustment, so I stuck around 7:05-7:20 pace for the first 21 miles.

The course was an out and back which made it great to see runners and hear cheers from familiar faces on the course from Team Running Lab. As I neared the 1/2 marathon mark, I saw a friend of my son’s and cheered him on. Then I saw Riley, he looked strong (I learned later he ran negative splits.). I hit the 1/2 feeling good at about 1 hour 34 which was a PR for me. I was hoping to hold the pace: I was well under my target.

I took in nutrition around miles 8, 15, and 19. This plan was working well until I hit mile 18 and didn’t see Derek: I was in desperate need of some hydration and electrolytes and this caused me some panic. I stopped and text him to see where he was. He was a mile out. When I got to him I recomposed, took in nutrition and extra electrolyte tabs (It was hot and humid and around 70+ degrees). Looking back at my splits, I noticed I suffered a loss of a few minutes with my hydration stops which I will reassess prior to my next race.

I was struggling a bit with hydration, heat and mental doubt around mile 22. This is when I came up on a couple of Riley’s college friends. I thought to myself do I do a sneak attack by them or run with them. I went with sneak attack and they noticed me and said hey and I waved hey as I ran by. When I got to mile 24, there was a beer station decked out with flamingos and fun! I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not, but I read where Camille Herron drinks a beer at a certain point in her races so I thought I might as well give it a try. I took a small shot of beer and was off: in hindsight it wasn’t a great idea it slightly bothered my stomach, but I was able to push through.

In the last mile, I went back and forth with another lady. After looking at results, my time ended up being slightly faster even though she finished right ahead of me. My finish time was 3 hours 15 minutes: I reached my goal, but finished feeling with a bit disappointment with questions in my head. If I had ran with my initial plan, would I have been faster? My competitive nature had my mind spinning and ready for a challenge to run another to finish nearer to 3 hours. Then the exciting news, Riley finished with a time of 2 hours 51 minutes. We both qualified to run the Boston Marathon. We are still undecided if we will actually run Boston, but feel honored that we both qualified and on the same day! I will forever cherish the moment.