Birthday PR at Trailbreaker Marathon- no fooling!

Races tend to fall between hard and easy. There are some where it just seems to flow and others where you're gritting your teeth and wondering what made you sign up for this race. Or any race. Why even run anyway?  I'm somewhere in-between the two. I ran this race last year as a birthday gift and told the director I'll be back to run it on my actual birthday 4/1.

We drove down to Brookfield/Delafield the night before, forgetting that we'd be arriving in the area right about 4:30-5pm on Friday night, just in time for the traffic! Packet pick up was a breeze and once we ate our dinner, we headed to the hotel where I started the obsession into what I'd wear tomorrow. Checking the hourly temps by the hour...

I think this was one of the few times I got a decent night of sleep before a race! We arrived at the Schuetz recreation center in time for me to stop by the drop-bag table and then we just waited. I was restless so I kept going back and forth from the bathroom to the gymnasium. Then outside and inside. I somehow lost track of time and as I headed towards the start, I realized we had a minute before gone went off! I turned my watch on and prayed that GPS would be ready before the national anthem was over. As I got into the start "corral", the gun went off. I had no time to think but just start shuffling forward and hitting "start" on my watch as I cross the mat.

It was actually nice starting that way. It felt like a normal training run where I just trotted my way while adjusting this and that. I relaxed into a nice, comfortable pace while listening to others around me.  It was still pretty chilly out and I soon started pacing faster to keep warm in my skirt.

Did you get my good side?

As I made my way across a slippery bridge, I came across my first photographer. Oh shoot!! I was looking down the entire time! I gave him a quick smile just in case he'd missed me and I made a mental note to keep an eye out. Gave me something to focus on.

"I thought they said Finish Wine"

The beginning of the race is through downtown Waukesha and while it's beautiful, I was dying to get into the trails, even if it is paved. I tried to stick to the side, on the gravel/grass and focused on keeping to a comfortable but a little challenging pace. I didn't want to lose fuel before I hit my own personal wall (around 14-16mi and then again around 22mi) but I also wanted to push myself.

I zoned out for a bit after hitting one of the first aid stations and when I "came to", I thought I saw 9 mi on my watch. Holy crap! Did I just "lose" 5 miles?? And there's another aid station coming up. I took another Hammer gel just in case, but it seemed odd that I'd run that far without noticing. But I went with it and did a mental celebration since I had only a few miles before my drop bag and then into the real trails... until I came up to a cone that said "6 miles". ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME. I didn't know if I wanted to cry or laugh. Of course, I was wrong. I looked at my watch and noticed that I was in a different screen. It was showing my pace, not the mileage. 

One runner and I kept passing each other and at one point, he just called out "hi" and asked me about ultra races. I thought "wow - how did he know I run ultras?" I meant to ask we got into a discussion about trail/ultra races vs road/marathon races. This was his 2nd marathon and he's looking into doing ultras. I suggested a few different races and of course, told him to go for it. As we were talking, I realized the pace is a little faster than I'd like to go since we haven't made it to the 11th mile yet but figured it's a good speed practice. Let's see how long I can keep up. 

We ended up separating at the drop bag - I was dying to take my windbreaker off. In less than a mile, we were heading into the Ice Age Trail. This is what I was looking forward to. Last year was a disasterous mess with the snow storm we'd had that morning. There were no stable footing and uphill climbs resulted in a lot of sliding back down. I love that shit!

The trails were wet from the rain we'd had that week but manageable. I caught up with Brett and another runner and we made our way to the top of the tower (the turnaround). The other runner forgot to bring his phone so I offered to take photo of him and upload it on the race page on FB. I joked with the photographer up on the tower about not being there last year -- there was a wind advisory with a snowstorm all morning then.

Top of the tower

I joke around some more with the volunteers as they all loved my "Run for Beer" socks, asked the photographer to check my face before he took my pic and headed back into the trails and tried to keep up with that runner who was on the tower with me. I finally got next to him and asked him about his races. This is my favorite part of racing - getting to know other runners and what experience/knowledge they can share! He spoke with a very thick accent so it was hard to understand but from what I understood, this was his 19th marathon and he had PR'd at Chicago Marathon almost 10 years ago. During this time, I saw some familiar faces on the trail as they were heading to the tower. Fellow Skirt Sports ambassador, Jeni,  and her friends, who I'd also met at last year's race. I love that, don't you?  Just a quick "Hey - hi!!!" and them yelling out "Happy Birthday!!" as we continued forward in out separate directions but so uplifting (insert all the heart emojis here).  After talking a bit with Soren (I believe), I decided to push forward. Told him I'll probably see him shortly when he comes to pass me :)

Terrified of heights but had to get the obligatory selfie :)

This was getting into mile 17-18 and I was hitting my wall. My goal was to not take many walk breaks. If it was hurting, reduce my pace to a sluggish trot. This is about when I start questioning and self-doubting. I had just finished reading Dean Karnazes book "The Road to Sparta" and he wrote something that stuck with me throughout the race, even more at this time.

"The marathon..."  I knew I put in the work but was it enough? Too much?  I had to get out of my head and get past the pain so I just put my head down and just went to work. I maintained a steady pace and felt about the same around mile 20. I knew that my first wall was over with. I just had to barge through my second wall where I replay "Why couldn't Pheidippides have died here?" by Frank Shorter's comment at the 16 mile mark of his first marathon.

The Hurt Locker

Around this time, I'd been alone for a while and was craving human contact. I love training alone but when it comes to races, I wish for interaction with other runenrs. So I caught up to another runner who I was trying to keep pace with. He yelled over his shoulder "Are you doing the Earth Day 50k?" That's odd, I thought. How do these guys know I run ultras?? No, I told him. I have a half ironman coming up next month and I can't burn myself out before the big race.

Then it hit me. I've been running on the side of the paved trail. Pretty much a dead giveaway of a trail runner junkie, right? I asked him about his experiences with running and different races around here. Talk about a badass. He said he's done several 100ks and will be doing his first 100 miler this fall. As we talked some more, I agreed that compulsive racing not only takes a toll on your body but also on your relationship with running itself. By the end of Sept last year, I didn't want to ever race again I was so burnt out.  He relaxed his pace and I forged ahead, wishing each other good luck. He caught up to me again (and passed me) at mile 23 while I was grabbing some supplies.

Dashing to the finish line

I steadily passed other runners and continued to focus on the volunteers, community cheerleaders and police officers. It makes such a different on your day. I thanked them, yelling as I crossed the street if I had to and wished them a great rest of the day. They'd been out there all day -- volunteers and police officers, you are all amazing.

I grimaced as I went up a little hill to get out of the trail and back into the streets of Waukesha again. I knew it was getting closer but refused to look at my watch. In the last mile, I thought I saw Brett up ahead and he seemed to be struggling just a little bit. "You've got this!! You're almost there!" I yelled out to him. I figured if it wasn't him, it wouldn't have hurt to scream some encouragement at a stranger anway.

We talked a little bit and he mentioned that he had a low once he got back on the paved trails and struggled awhile. "But since you're here, I can't slack now," he retorted. I wanted to fly to the finish but didn't want to be a complete jerk either. So I just slowly increased my pace while I kept checking behind me and talking to him. "Do you see the finish line?" "Oh yeah - I was wondering if we'd already passed it!" he laughed. I'm not sure if I said anything but once there was about .2 left, I sprinted my way to the finish. I saw a mom holding a toddler yelling out "Tell her good job! She worked really hard!" (shut up, you're crying) and another lady yelling out "Way to finish it!". I jumped on the mat, grabbed my medal and laughed as the volunteer said "it looks like you could've gone another few miles more." I grabbed my water and turned back around to watch Brett cross. We congratulated each other and wandered back into the recreation center to see our finish time and whether we'd placed or not. After grabbing our celebratory beer, Brett left to head back to IL.

As I waited for my fiancee, who had finished his half marathon earlier, I got stopped a few times regarding my socks. A few had seen me out on the course "I remember those socks! I think it was around mile..." A volunteer asked if she could get a photo of me getting a beer with the socks, to which I happily obliged as it also meant I got a second beer :)

Now, I had placed 3rd in my age group but they had already finished the awards and the gymnasium was pretty sad looking as vendors were packing up their stuff or had already left. I could understand the awards being done already if I were towards the last of the pack and there were only 3 people in my age group. The biggest atrocity was when they ran out of beer. It happened last year and I pretty much had a cup of foam and apparently, they still hadn't learned their lesson from then!

As we headed out, I told Ben I wanted to hang out at the finish line for a bit. Who doesn't love the energy there?? And besides, I knew Jeni and her crew would be crossing soon. Seriously, is there a bigger love fest than the finish line? Strangers cheering on other strangers as they cross the finish line. The triumphant (and maybe a little nauseous) look on the finisher's face. Volunteers placing medals over the runner's head, congrats all along the way to the refreshment area.

Representing Skirt Sports!

I found Jeni, Heidi and Gary off to the side; I had just missed them :( But had a great time catching up and after a photo with Jeni in our matching Skirt Sports Super Girl tank top (4 pockets!) and also breaking the news that there is no more beer left (omitting the part where I had 2...), we headed out.

It was a successful birthday marathon. The weather was nearly perfect (my Irish skin burned a little bit with the sun being out for the latter part of the race), I finally got a marathon PR and met some awesome people along the way. But now it was time to eat...

There was also a taco or two that didn't make it in the pic.

Onto the next adventure...

~Dye


***I mention Skirt Sports and you see a lot of their clothing in my blogs. I'm not paid to mention or wear their merchandise but I am a proud to represent their name as brand ambassador. "Real Women, Real Bodies".