Grand Rapids Marathon Recap
Originally published October 2022
This weekend I completed my 9th marathon in Grand Rapids, MI (7th state). This marathon would be my first since before COVID. After 2 years away I was eager to get back on the road with the marathon community. I quickly realized how much I have missed the marathon spirit. I walked, hobbled, away from the weekend with a new PR!
I began this training season with an initial 30-day plant based experiment which has turned into a life mission. I was interested to learn how a plant based diet affected me as an athlete. I already was convinced of the longevity, health, environmental and overall wellbeing benefits, but what about my athletic performance. All throughout training my plant based way of eating was going really well, but would that translate to race day?
Race day could not have been more perfect! It was a little chilly and overcast which is pretty ideal running conditions. My goal this race was to finally hit a sub-4 marathon and my training and the weather was all lining up to make it happen. I have gotten so close in past races but my legs have never been able to finish fast.
In the weeks leading up to the race I had been struggling with a pretty uncomfortable hamstring issue in my left leg. What exactly was going on is still yet to be determined, but that was the thing making me most nervous up until race day. I was able to power through it in the weeks leading up but the pain was constantly in the background. The day before the race I ran a very easy 2 miles, walked a good couple of miles and really prioritized stretching throughout the day. The hope was that allowing my hamstring to stay mobile would lessen the discomfort race day.
Normally on race day I don’t do anything to warm up and consider the first 3-5 miles my warm up time but for this race I wanted to make sure my leg was warm and loose at race start. I jogged maybe a half mile and worked in some dynamic stretching before the race. I could feel the little annoyance of my hamstring but nothing too bad. I went to the starting line loose and already warmed up which I believe paid off for the remainder of the race.
In the starting line chute I found my 3:56 pace team (Will Ferrell was our mascot) and mentally started telling myself this was my year to get it. I had prepared, planned, trained for this moment and I just had to go get it done.
The first 14 miles were incredible. I was locked-in-step with the pacers and we were hitting a pretty hot pace just under 9 min/mile. I was feeling so good and confident in my ability. My body just knew what to do. It is probably the most comfortable first half of a race I have ever experienced. I was comfortable and just enjoying the beautiful run. My leg was like the most gentle whisper just telling me that hey this will be a problem later but now I had work to do. I also had a blister on my big right toe that started at mile 3, another thing I just put my mind past. All these things could be dealt with at another time.
My pace group had 2 different sections of our group and at mile 10ish the group I was in happened to be the half marathon pacers so they left at the half marathon turn. I could see just up ahead the marathon pace group and knew as long as I kept them at the distance they were currently at that I would be at the right pace.
At about mile 16 I started running with another runner and was enjoying the conversation and distraction. You meet some of the best people during a marathon and it is such a fun way to get to know another person. We both were going for our first sub-4 so were locked in pace together. We kept reminding each other to look up and take in the beautiful fall colors.
Trying to keep Apollo from jumping on his tired mama
At mile 20 things took a turn for me. The pain that was a quiet whisper was now shouting at me and pulling back my pace. I tried to pick it up but everything was telling me no. My hamstring was tight and it was getting harder to push it to a faster pace. I saw my boyfriend at mile 22 and my parents at mile 23 and what is usually a moment where I need the extra push I just wanted to cry. I could see my goal slipping away and it was painful to watch happen. All the self-defeating thoughts were going through my head of “why aren’t I better”, “why can’t I be faster”, “why does it always hurt me so bad” and I had to keep yelling at myself YOU ARE RUNNING A MARATHON YOU ARE AMAZING! The positive self talk came a little harder but I was getting myself through…if only I could do math in my head I would know that at mile 23 I still had it.
Little did I know that the hot pace that we started the race with paid off and I was still on track for sub-4 even though I thought I lost it. I just needed to run a few seconds faster. At mile 25 I finally realized that hey I have this! I just needed to pick up my pace ever so slightly which I knew I could do. I was digging deep one foot in front of the other pushing it all out knowing rest was so close I just needed to get there. I kept looking at my watch, still on pace, pushing a little faster with every step. I could see the finish line in view, passed the 26 mile marker, and picked it up even more. I couldn’t even feel my leg or blister at this point all I could see was the finish line and the seconds ticking away. Everything else was quiet. I was going to do it! I kicked and kicked and crossed the finish line, tears already streaming down my face. My watch read 3:59:11! If I was lucky my official time would be just under 4…my official time was 4:00:06. As soon as I crossed the finish, crying, I saw my boyfriend and just said “I did it! I did it!”.
I feel so many emotions about my finish time…If only I knew how close I was I could have picked it up and had my official time under 4 but what I know now I didn’t know then and guess what I finished with my best time ever! I PR’d! I did it and I ran it in 3:59:11 and peed for 20 seconds and said hi to my family for 35 seconds. I’ll take that finish! It’s a run like this when I need to have a moment with myself and remind myself of how far I have come and the person I have evolved into that has brought me to this point. I am proud of myself.
The day after the race - my left leg is taking the brunt of my pain and it is unbelievably unpleasant. Here’s the thing: I still feel better than any other race I’ve done. I don’t have the same pain sitting down as in the past, my right leg feels good (besides my blistered toe), and my upper body feels perfectly fine. A combination of my new training plan, added strength training, cross-training for triathlons, and eating a plant based diet seems to have at least affected my recovery.
I set a new PR and have my sights on all my next races already.
A few notes on this marathon:
Beautiful fall scenery
There are very few low hills that all are in the first half of the race
The support on the course is some of the best I have ever experienced. Water and medical was very well set up and available. The layout of the course had me thinking there would not be many spectators but there were a lot of people out to support.
