So the Fargo Marathon just completed on Saturday which was cool as normally Marathons are run on Sundays but it was really convenient to take the day off from work on Friday and arrive Friday morning, get into your hotel, then check out the expo and get your bib then chill and prep for race day...race...party...sleep then drive back home in time for work on Monday. Or for the SMRT people, also take the Monday off for a nice full recovery.
I traveled with Osty and my sister Cherry to Fargo and we got our race kits along with Tyler and Aggie's as they would meet up with us later in the evening. And then I would then be in bed for 10ish to get ready for race morning.
Since this was the 10th year anniversary, the course was changed from last years (I did not race it) which started and ended at the Fargodome to the original start line at Main Ave. Bridge. The expo was small, not too much to write home about, although the race kit bag was really nice. They gave you the option to have 3 letters ironed onto your Under Armor bag for free. Osty picked SKO, Cherry CCC, I chose ZEN and for Aggie...since she and Tyler weren't there for their bag pick up we chose SXY and RED respectively.
Ok...Race day...woke up at 3AM because I had to pick up Cherry at her hotel which was about 5 mins away and bring her back to mine then we would all leave together. I pretty much wore the exact race kit I wore the past Sunday for the WPS half marathon with the exception of not wearing my Icebreaker merino wool baselayer. Breakfast, hydration and stretching was all the same for the past 4 days leading up to race day so there was no deviation in my planning.
Weather was +6C and clear sky. Barry, Osty, Tyler, Aggie, Cherry and myself took the bus shuttle together. We got dropped off into an unknown part of town, and had to walk a mile to the Athlete's village as the bus driver didn't know where the start line was. I had a Canada rain poncho on to keep me warm, and Osty and I did our CPR marathon clinic warm ups and ambled up to the 9:00 - 10:00 mile corral and waited it out.
After the national anthem, we get ready to go...The first mile is just an influx of humanity moving forward. I had a pretty decent pace going at 9:47min/mile and as the crowds started to thin out I was able to keep it going to 9:00 min/mile and go into cruise control as I knew this was a long race and I've been studying the map and saw the youtube video of the course so I just let my body dictate my pace and let everything flow. My plan was if I can get to the half way mark under 2 hours, and keep my wits about me, I should have a good chance for a sub 4hour race. Osty and I were pretty much in eyesight of each other but I lost him after mile 3 or 4. I was sure he sped up ahead of me and I just focused on what my legs were telling me and kept things going at an even pace. I heard my name called around mile 7 and I look and see its TYLER! He was alone and running and I was happy to see him, but the poor guy has been injured the past month and he wasn't fully healed. I was looking for Osty but thought he was way ahead of me. I kept my focus going and I had mental images of me running with the elites and thought about my stride and when I knew I had my glutes firing up the kinetic chain, I knew everything was feeling good and right and it just felt like my day.
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| When both my feet are in mid-air I knew I had my stride firing. |
The weather started off perfect at +6, but around 9:30am, it really started to get hot. Everyone was feeling the heat and I could tell I was starting to slow down a bit, but I heard my named called again. And this time it was Connie, my sister who drove in from St. Paul MN, to cheer all of us on. She kept screaming my name, "Ruben! Go Ruben! You look great, you're looking strong!!!" And I was feeling strong, this was around mile 11 and I just ran underneath 2 underpasses with the last one with a bit of a steep incline. Because I was averaging 8:55 min/mile to 9:17 min/mile, I knew I had to pick it up a little bit and get re-focused. I was being a bit of a dick on the course as I wouldn't slap any kids hands as they held them out. It was one reason I wore sunglasses as you can't see my eyes and was hopefully void of any emotion showing. Albeit, hearing Con cheer me on, brought a lot of emotion in me. But the heat was suddenly starting to get to me. I was drinking water, through the whole course but then decided to go with water then powerade for the electrolytes. As I suddenly realized that I wasn't sweating anymore and this was just before the 1/2 marathon mark. (Which made me think I wasn't hydrated as I thought I was)
When I finally passed the 1/2 marker I checked my watched and discovered that I just got under the 2hrs...I knew I wasn't going to get a 3:50 time as I knew I didn't yet have the training, physically to speed up enough to start negative splitting. I went under another underpass with not a very steep grade so it wasn't that bad, and the way I was attacking the hills was to drop my arms, lean a bit to save my strength. But I knew something was wrong about mile 14. There was that burning feeling under both my feet. I liberally applied half a stick of body glide on them early morning but that itchy burning feeling was at first a minor irritation and as I was rounding the corner into mile 15, it was getting unbearable. Both my feet cramped up and I was in literal pain. I actually stopped (which pissed me off) then I dropped on the grass and fell on my back as I was trying to rip my socks off my legs.
Mile 15 was also the medical drop off marker and I had medical crew come rushing to my aid. They asked if I was alright, I told them I was and was just trying to take my socks off. I asked if they could help me, and the medic whips out surgical scissors and I quickly told him "NO! Please just help me pull them off." So with the help of the medic, he was able to pull both socks off and then I slipped my bare feet into my Hoka's and then asked him if he could pull my lock laces for me as I was a little cramped up from lying on my back with my feet in the air (I'm sure it looked ridiculous). And as he got the tension right, I locked them up and he helped me up and then asked me one more time if I wanted off the course. I declined the offer and just started to pick up whatever pace I was able to run as my swollen feet were just getting comfortable in the Hoka's.
Of course by this time I lost a lot of time and was already if "F' it Mode" I knew I wasn't going to sub 4hr or even get close to a 4:15. I just resigned myself to finish, then it suddenly became a LONG course. I guess, when your mind and focus are shot, and the heat bearing down on you, you've mentally given up and are just in 'finish' mode. Between miles 18 to 24, was very hard. It suddenly wasn't fun and every step was becoming a bit of a struggle. My feet were rubbing in my shoes as I've never gone barefoot in these Hoka's before and it was rubbing on the top of my right big toe pretty much through the rest of the race. I was wasting a lot of energy focusing on trying not to feel the pain, and when I crossed the overpass onto the last mile, everything was hurting, especially my ego as I thought I prepared so well for this race. All that training over the winter culminated in this moment and I thought I had it and it was all there and it slipped away.
By mile 26, you turned a corner and you can hear the finishers cheering everyone on. I dialed onto a mark who was about 100m ahead of me and I could tell he was going for a strong finish and stopped feeling sorry for myself and told myself that whatever I had left, it had to be left on this last stretch of the course. I told myself to bring up the images of me running with the elites and finish strong. I passed by that mark and as I rounded the corned, I heard my name being said by the announcer "Ruben Cervantes of Winnipeg." I crossed the finish line, raised my hands in the little victory of 4:37:41.
Then I heard my named being shouted again...I turn around, and again it's my sister Connie cheering me on...and I started to cry...ball like a baby cry. (srsly wtf?) I cried because of the disappointment and how much it sucked. I cried because I knew Cherry and her believed in me and most of all I believed in myself and I let myself down...I also think I cried because the product in my hair didn't hold too well in the heat...I'm sure I cried because of that.
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| Dejection personified :) |
It was about 2 PM in the afternoon on the course and it was over 5:30 hrs into the race. I decided to walk back to the last mile and wait at the last turn to see her come in. I had to admit I was getting nervous wondering if she dropped out of the race...but I knew in my heart that she wouldn't quit and as I was looking down the street I could see blue shirt and long hair flowing. I got up and ran along side her for the last mile, as we were nearing the corner she kept asking me where the finish line was. I told Cher it wasn't far now and as we rounded the corner I told her "Now is the time to give it all." And she ran and I stopped and watch her cross the finish line and her victory became so much more for me because what she did personified what a true Cervantes was.
So after the race, my sister Con drove us back to the hotel, I lay in a fetal position for 10 minutes then showered up and got ready as Osty, Tyler, Aggie, and my sisters met up with Coach Dan, Haidee, Becky, Barry and Sarah along with some other runners for a post race dinner and celebration. Again, another learning experience with the marathon, but more importantly about myself and the people who believe in me.
...and believed in me enough to have my sister Connie sign me up to run the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in October. This one I'm looking forward to as, I'm going back to the race that started it all for me...but I just need to not run for a week so I can catch my breath, literally and figuratively.
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