I just took a peak at the Fargo Marathon website. The race countdown is now less than one week--6 days, 23 hours and change. When Stephanie announced that she would run Fargo this year, I promised to share my experience from 2010. In all honesty, Fargo is a well done race. I love how they embrace the Midwestern phrase Uff da--which old farmers say when they get a little winded; after a marathon, everyone should say Uff da! I believe the course has been changed a few times in the past few years, but being in Eastern North Dakota, the only real hills are on highway overpasses. I hope the weather is mild and not too windy. The year I ran Fargo, it was in the 70's which was a little warm. However, that is not what I--or my family--will remember about that marathon. My experience in Fargo was my first marathon since 1994. I'd run lots of half marathons in the meantime, but anything past 20 miles is a whole other animal. Apparently, my very touchy digestive system has a very distinct way of dealing with the full marathon. Once my full 26.2 is in the books, my belly revolts. With a little practice, I have learned that I need to eat and drink a little something, throw up once and then proceed to refuel with more food and drinks. I know that sounds disgusting, but it works. Since Fargo was my first marathon in many years, I was not fully aware of this need to just get it over with. Also, one of Fargo's biggest claims to fame is that the race ends inside the FargoDome. Most people find this idea delightful...unless this urge to vomit hits at a bad time. I had found my family inside the dome, gathered some snacks, medal and my extra clothing. We were headed for the van and had made it to the concourse around the stadium when it hit. Unfortunately the trash can that I found was one of those that has a lid and you push open a flap to put trash in. No way to stick my head in there and ended up throwing up on the floor right next to it. Many apologies to whoever had to mop it up! To make matters worse, the sound of someone throwing up sometimes causes a chain reaction. None of my family succumbed to the urge, but they noticed other runners suddenly joining in. In celebration of Mother's Day, almost everyone's mom has asked, if everyone else was jumping off a bridge, would you do it, too? Well, if you see someone throwing up at your next race, will you do it, too?
Stephanie seems to recover beautifully following her marathons and she know about my one vomit habit, so I wasn't afraid to make her nervous with my tale from Fargo 2010. I love her race plan in the previous blog to go out slower than goal pace and gradually pick up the pace throughout the race. I also have heard a lot about negative split running and think it has a lot of potential. From the the number of track races I have watched, I know it's way more fun to watch the runner who finds another gear in the second half of a race and picks up the pace passing runners all the way to the finish. The crowd really feels the pain with the runners who take off too fast and really struggle through the end. When my husband ran at SJU, they would award the runner who looked like they were pulling the biggest trailer at the end of the race the Winnebago Award. It was not a coveted prize, but it gives a good visual to think about pulling a trailer rather than sprinting to the finish. Happy Mother's Day to our Mom, who is our biggest blog commenter, Stephanie and all the mom runners out there. I hope your family does the dishes on Sunday so you can get an extra run or walk. Happy running! Missee
1 Comment
Sandie
5/13/2018 05:03:20 pm
I do remember you over a garbage can. Stephanie don’t repeat your sisters example
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AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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