Illinois Marathon Thoughts Via Anna Kinkade

"Never again!" "This ****ing sucks" "This was a stupid idea!" those were just a few of the "colorful" things that came out of my mouth running my first marathon this past weekend.

The marathon, 26.2 miles, pretty much lived up to all the descriptions you've heard; "the last 6 miles is the hardest", "you have ups/downs", "you hit a wall around mile 20" but when your done the sense of accomplishment is pretty sweet ass. I have earned that 26.2 badge and can now count myself as one of that .2% of Americans that have ran a marathon.

Proudly displaying the badge of 26.2!

The weather conditions were not ideal for race day in fact just minutes before the race it was down pouring in Champaign, IL but come race time it was dry, cloudy, windy and a bit cool. I could work with that! From start to finish I knew it wasn't going to be my ideal race day, but I wasn't about to let that stop me. I knew as we were waiting for our wave to start that I was going to be plagued with bathroom issues. The first half of the race I really felt great, had a consistent pace and never once felt my cardiovascular side labored. My legs didn't even feel the effects of the mileage until about mile 15 but once I hit mile 19 I was definitely counting down. Still even with the tired, heavy legs I kept my pace roughly a mid 9 all the way through. I've seen lots of marathon splits and one thing that they all have in common is the last half mileage pace gets slower and slower, mine didn't. Some miles were faster, some slower but consistency was my name, it's the one thing I do well with distance running.


 I really was thankful that my friend Karla ran with me not only for having a granola bar for me to eat at mile 19 but also because she is a talker. With out her non stop conversation I would have faltered long before I did. I don't even remember one single thing she told me other than "this one time I swalloed a bug". Despite the weather, the GI problems and the hard parts, I always tried to remain positive. I knew as much as a physical battle this was the  mental battle would be tougher. To keep positive I thanked nearly every single volunteer and made sure all the volunteers directing traffic knew I appreciated them and what they were doing. Then there was the city of Champaign, WOW! It's hard to believe this race has only been around for four years because they are pros! The spectators and supporters love this race and they show it. The signs were fantastic, my personal favorite was the one that said "good job runner I don't know" and "Beer only 5.9 miles ahead" then there was the "beerathon" drive way party or the guy offering bacon and beer or the lady offering mimosas. I really enjoyed running in this race just for the massive amounts of support along the course.
 

Karla and I about to cross the finish line.

My final race time was 4:17:13, my goal was 4:15 and my wish was closer to 4, which I would have made had it not been for my GI issues. From the start of the race to the every end I had the RT's (you remember what those are right?) I held it for 8 miles until I finally had to give in. After the 3rd stop I said I wasn't going to go anymore but then right after mile 25 if I didn't stop I was going to shit myself (sorry for the bluntness) so I had to stop. I was pissed too! I had changed my goal mid-race (which is something you need to do because each run is different) and my goal was to stay ahead of the 4:20 pacer, that last pit stop put me behind!

I think the marathon should come with the disclaimer that states "running 26.2 miles will make you temporally stupid" as there were so many times Saturday an Sunday that I was saying things that made no sense. There are points of the race and day that I still cannot recollect. And let's not forget the odd things that would come out of our mouths. But I survived, I ran the whole thing, and
I'm also recovering quite quickly, it's been three days and I have no soreness in my legs. I'm still saying never again but all my friends beg to differ.



FINISHER!!!



Illinois Marathon: Best Western YOU SUCK

I get it, your a two star hotel, your rooms are supposed to be crappy, your bed uncomfortable and everything about you is supposed just be satisfactory, its not like your a 4 star hotel. However, this doesn't mean your customer service should be non-existent. In fact you should actually step up that battle because I don't mind staying in your mediocre hotel room if you treat me decent.

Here's my complaint: I'm running in the Champaign marathon Saturday, I booked a room there in December because all the nice hotels were booked up and you were the only thing left close to the start. It's OK I just need a place to sleep & shower! Fast forward and it turns out I need to be in town on Thursday night as well. I go online and find you have a king room with a fridge available, but my room is a queen. I don't want to have to check out/check in again so I'll take a queen. But the queen room, which is downgrade from the king/fridge room, is offered at a HIGHER rate than the king/fridge. I ask "Can I have the king rate for the queen room? This is a downgrade I'm taking, so it only makes sense, plus now I am staying TWO  nights apposed to one." And the Best Western said "No, we can't offer that." and when asked why I can't even get a logical reasoning behind this. To make it even WORSE I also request a late checkout because I'm running the marathon, I want to leave my stuff somewhere and come back and shower. I was informed I could have a late check out at NOON (normal check out is 11am) but it will cost me half a nights rate, roughly $40. Are you kidding me? I'm expected to pay HALF RATE for an additional hour! That's absurd!
I get that Champaign/Urbana and the whole surrounding area is sold out of hotel rooms but that is for FRIDAY night and hotels, including the Best Western, will be in a little bit more of a rush to get rooms ready for the following day but if I'm going to pay a half rate I expect to get more than an additional hour in the room.

I haven't even stayed there  yet and I'm already disgusted with this place and sadly all I can say is "What did you expect you're at the Best Western". I can't believe that this is the kind of reputation they are satisfied with having. Honestly if I hadn't already paid for Friday night I would cancel my reservation and book a hotel 30-40 minutes out of town but since I've already paid I can't. And just an FYI two weekends ago I was in Springfield to run their half marathon and stayed at a beautiful hotel downtown and when I requested a late check out, I was given until 2pm...FREE OF CHARGE!

Do you have a hotel horror story to share?

Illinois Marathon: Taper Down and Problematic Shoes

Yesterday was the 116th running of the Boston Marathon, the most prestigious of marathons, the race was held in record heat and was the slowest running of the race since 1985. The winner, Kenyan Wesley Korir finished the race in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 40 seconds, that was 10 minutes behind last years worlds best established at last years race.



In just 11 days I will take on my first running of a marathon, 26.2 miles, I'll be happy to finish in 4 hours and 15 minutes, however my dream finish is in 4 hours. As the race grows nearer and nearer all I can think about is "O-M-G I'll be running a marathon next weekend!".


Once hiccup I had this past week was with my shoes. The heal on my right shoe has been digging into me and cause quit a bit of discomfort, normally I just keep going and hope that it will just go away. However, I've been going with that mindset for about 2 weeks now with out it going away. I made the decision that I should go in for a second pair of shoes, that way I have two weeks to break them in. Luckily, when I purchased my Saucony's I had also really liked a pair of Brooks shoes, so I just made a quick stop into Running Central and got the 2nd pair. Adam, the owner, also showed me a trick I can do to the Saucony's to alleviate the pain, simply cut the heal of the shoe down a bit to relieve that pressure and I should still be able to use the shoes. He showed me his running shoes and he said he is always cutting them up and altering them. I never even thought of that. I haven't done this yet, I'm too chicken to cut up such an expensive pair of shoes, but I really need to do it so I can try them out and see if it helps. The Brooks in the meantime worked remarkable well on my 12 miles last weekend. I really need to do the alterations so I can figure out which shoes will be on my feet for the marathon. If the alteration works then I'll simply have two pairs of shoes that I can alter between on my runs. I've never purchased two pairs of running shoes to use in tandem, so this is a first for me.


In the meantime I am now on my taper down period, meaning I slowly back off the mileage leading up to the marathon, the photo you see up top is the calender (yes its a Rivermen calender) of my scheduled mileage. I'm ready, Illinois Marathon-here I come!