Marathon Comparison

There is just something about running in the morning. An afternoon run just doesn’t compare to the serenity of the morning!

The mornings are where it’s at for me! 🙂

Before heading out for my run this morning, I quickly ate 3 Clif Shot Bloks from this package. I didn’t want to bonk like I have been recently.

I only ran 4 miles with 3.5 of those miles at my “marathon pace,” so it went by pretty fast. I was tired, but I really can’t complain too much. (There wasn’t snow on the ground!)

I plan to do one more day of light speed work next week, but other than that, it is all about the rest until next Saturday!

Distance: 4 miles (3.5 miles at marathon pace)

Time: 32 minutes

After returning from my run, I quickly toasted a bagel, spread some Laughing Cow cheese on it, and then was out the door again to meet up with my friends Jen and Katie.

My set of wheels this morning:

Once again I biked to Kaladi Brothers Coffee to meet up—and catch up—with my friends!

The bike ride was good, but I went from WEEEE yesterday to OWWW-weeee today!!

My butt was SO sore today! It was actually quite a painful ride, but I made it there and back with a total of 50 minutes of biking. (I hope this doesn’t jeopardize my taper! I plan not to do any more biking until after the marathon.)

While chatting with my friends, I enjoyed a bowl of overnight oats along with my coffee.

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Just a little more than one more week until marathon #2!!

My first marathon was Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN.

I thought it would be interesting to do a little comparison of the two marathons.

Grandma’s Marathon 2010:

– 2100 women finishers

– 5500 total finishers

Mayor’s Marathon 2010:

– 380 women finishers

– 840 total finishers

Grandma’s Marathon:

– 26.2 miles on paved roads along the beautiful shores of Lake Superior

Mayor’s Marathon:

– First 4 miles along a very busy and noisy 6-lane highway.

– 7 miles of gavel/rocky trail.

– Chances of seeing a moose or bear: likely! (Oh, but don’t worry, Mom, there will be a volunteer riding his 4-wheeler up and down the trails, holding a gun!)

– We will have some beautiful views of the mountains though and I guess running in the foothills of the mountains is pretty cool. (That is just as long as I don’t get mulled by a bear. Actually, I am more worried that I will have to stop for a moose and miss qualifying for Boston by 30 seconds!)

– There will definitely be less spectators.

If you can’t tell, I’m not super thrilled about the course.

If I wanted to do a trail race, I would have signed up for a trail race. I want to do a road race, so I shouldn’t have to run 7 miles on a trail with miniture-sized boulders. (I went to check the course out one weekend, and it is definitely not going to be a very fun part of the course.)

And I want lots of spectators cheering for me!

Sorry, I’m just a little bitter about it.

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Question

What was your favorite race (marathon or not)?