“Your life’s course will not be determined by doing the things you are certain you can do. Those are the easy things. It will be determined by whether you try the things that are hard.” -Sheryl Sandberg
06.19.2021
We. did. it.
The week leading up to race day was filled with a rollercoaster of emotions, very similar to the course of training over the last 6 months, actually. Waves of excitement, anxiety, fear, doubt, confidence, motivation, and determination all ebbed and flowed from Monday morning until we crossed the start line.
We set out for Duluth on Friday afternoon, hoping we could get settled and relax a bit before attempting a night of sleep. I think it might’ve been the most silent car ride Bobby and I have ever had together, haha. I wasn’t in much of a talking mood…I was in a bit of a panic knowing that within the next 12 hours I would be doing something CRAZY.
Once we arrived in Duluth, we headed straight to the DECC (Duluth Entertainment Convention Center) where we became small fish in a large sea of runners. We were shuffled through our packet pick up lines where race packets were being handed out like flyers at a parade, literally! After the hustle and bustle of packet pick up, we wandered through the many vendors set up throughout the space offering the “best running sunglasses”, “the best running gel”, and really all the “bests” you could imagine lol. I’m not really into those type of things, so it was a quick lap around for us. The spaghetti dinner was calling my name anyways.
Think back to your pre-playoff sporting event spaghetti dinner and then amplify it by at least 50…that’s what the Michelina’s All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner was like. Walking through balloon arches and staring at the pounds of spaghetti in front of me was definitely an awe moment, lol. Apparently some 5,000 pounds of sauce and 2,500 pounds of dry spaghetti noodles are used. TALK ABOUT A CARB LOAD! It was a great space for people watching (one of my favorite hobbies) and a quite delicious meal indeed.
After dinner it was a quick turn around to get prepped for the early morning awaiting us and try to calm down enough to sleep at least a wink.
*I think I slept a total of 3 winks*
The 300 alarms I had set for 4:00am didn’t even have to sound because *surprise, surprise* Josie was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed every hour on the hour from 9:00pm-4:00am when restful sleep was supposed to be taking place. HA!
Anyways, we sprung out of bed, yes sprung lol, and started gathering our belongings for the journey ahead. The camelback backpack was filled with electrolyte gels, water, and all the things you can imagine. We took off towards UMD where the shuttle buses were lined up and ready to roll. I think we crawled onto our bus around 5:15am and sat anxiously on the 20 minute ride to the starting line.
While we unloaded at the Scenic Route rolling start line, I was amazed with the amount of people there! I could not believe that ALL OF THESE PEOPLE paid over $100 to get up at 4:00am and run for 2-3 hours!! What the heck!! Myself included lol. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many ports potty’s in one stretch of pavement in my entire life. So many!!
We truly couldn’t have asked for a better day of weather. At the start line at 6:00am it was in the sixties and an absolutely beautiful morning.
As we rolled into the start chute and crossed the start line, I tried really hard to be present and just soak it in. I feel proud of myself thinking back, because I believe that’s exactly what I did. I got my feet moving, and just enjoyed the morning, the wildflowers, the people (remember people watching is a hobby of mine haha), all the different types of people, all of the different outfits, and just being surrounded by such a unique community of runners, who were all here for the same thing. I would say the first 3 miles were a bit of a euphoria for me. The perfect temperature paired with all new scenery and a whole new experience was a great way to get started.
After mile 3 the “awestruck” feeling started wearing off and I began to think strategically about conversations we should have or music I should play when I really start to hit the wall. For the next mile we talked about which member(s) of our support systems we would want at each mile marker along the way to help us keep pushing on. We were lucky to have Bobby’s mom, dad, and grandma there for us along the way, but we definitely would’ve loved to clone them or have someone at every marker along the way. So, since we didn’t have anyone to watch for, we talked about who we would’ve picked to place at each mile and why. It was actually a fun little conversation!
Once we got to mile 6, I started to feel gross. Mentally I could feel myself weakening, and physically I knew that the tired feeling was only going to escalate considering we weren’t even halfway. Pushing through mile 6 was a result of knowing Bobby’s grandma was somewhere near mile 7, and were stopping for a photo and hug, so pushing through was important!
Mile 7, 8, and 9 were the most difficult. They are all just yucky miles for me haha. They’re too far from the beginning to feel fresh and they’re too far from the end to feel conquerable. This is also when we came off of the Scenic route and started weaving through the city. I guess I’m a nature freak, because it seemed like once I had to look at buildings I started to lose my cool.
Once we conquered Lemon Drop Hill, the “big” hill along the route and entered more of the business sector, I really felt myself slipping. We still had over 3 miles to go and I could feel every ache in my body.
From mile 10 to mile 12 I struggled. It took every ounce of my mental toughness to keep my legs moving, I was more than tempted to just take a seat on the curb for a hot minute lol.
Then, we FINALLY hit the 12 mile mark, so only one more mile to go!!! I really thought that at this point, after running 12 freaking miles, I would have been able to just unhook the plow and punch out the last mile with no problem. LOL. LOL. Wrongo. The last mile was arguably one of the hardest miles. We were SO CLOSE but yet SO FAR. Until we were within sight of the finish line (probably with .25 of a mile to go) it was a struggle. Like, I mean all the wheels have fallen off and you’re sliding down a hill backwards type of struggle. OOFTA.
Somehow we inched, literally inched like a snail I swear lol, closer and closer to the finish line. As we rounded the final corner of the course, I felt a surge of emotion. Fighting back tears, embracing the goosebumps that now covered my body, and awkwardly doing a smile and a crying face all at the same time, we kicked it into “high gear” for the final stretch. “High gear” meaning instead of going as fast as turtles walking through peanut butter, we were now going as fast as turtles walking through sand lol, so really not much faster. We got to see the smiling faces of Bobby’s mom and dad, which sent another chill down the spine, and we were greeted by the many supporters of the running community in combination with loud music and cheering.
It was pretty neat.
Pretty darn neat.
Pretty darn neat, but not neat enough that I ever need to do it again lol.
It’s fun to reflect on what the 6 months of training was like for me, and how back in February I had meltdowns about running 3 miles. There’s a switch that flips after running so far as 13.1 miles that makes 3 miles seem like going to the grocery store. Okay, not that simple, but just more doable. This whole process gave me just a little bit more confidence in anything I set out to do next….except for running a marathon lol, definitely not that.
I was planning to write out more of the details and a more detailed reflection of the experience from start to finish, but if you’ve been following along the last 6 months, I’m guessing you have a pretty good idea of how I feel about this feat. And, if not, this post is lengthy enough, so I’ll spare you and leave you with this quote by Arthur Ashe: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Thanks for following along!
xoxo
Jos
P.S. here’s a highlight video of Grandma’s Marathon weekend 2021: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oOpxFigAo2M&feature=youtu.be
Josie's Journey 