2014 Fargo Half Marathon (race recap)

As mentioned in previous posts, I tore my ACL playing soccer back in January.  I had already registered for the Fargo Half and was considering dropping down to the 10k or not participating at all.  I began running short distances, 5-7k, taking lots of walk breaks.  I wasn't confident that I would be able to run a full 21km.  Last year in Fargo, I ran into a former high school classmate who was also running the half.  At the time, she told me that her husband was in the process of dropping down from the full to the half.  I thought that I'd be able to do the same thing and drop down from the half to the 10k.  One evening, I decided to look at the website and I had missed the deadline to drop down or even defer my registration to next year.  Hmm, now it appears like I'm stuck with the half or dropping out and losing my registration fees.  I contacted my classmate and inquired about her husband last year.  She informed me that he was unsuccessful in doing so and that a volunteer had told him to just run the half with the full marathon bib.  They thought it was a bit shady, so he decided to just run the full and injured himself in the process.  That was the last thing I wanted to do with my recovering knee.  Closer to the May 10th race, I consulted my sports doctor, my surgeon and my family doctor regarding the race.  They also said that I can run the race and won't do further damage to my knee as long as I wear my knee brace.  If anything, I could run what I can and walk the rest.  My friend, who is a physiotherapist, told me the same thing.  Going back to the website faq, all races can be walked, except for the full and have a max time of 7 hours.  With very little training prior to the race, I decided I would go and run maybe the first half and then walk the rest.

I was traveling to Fargo with Steph.  I'm sure she was happy to hear I was going, so she wouldn't be traveling/running alone.  Steph had registered for the half last year, but became ill prior to leaving and had to bail.  I ended up going to Fargo with her 2 coworkers who were in it for the shopping and were not running.  Well this year, Steph was going to get her chance to participate.  She had initially booked a room in Fargo for 2 nights, Friday and Saturday, but suggested we cancel the 2nd night and come back following the race.  She called the hotel, but they wouldn't let her cancel.  They said due to the marathon weekend, there's a minimum 2 nights stay.  Oh well, guess we were staying the weekend.

We left Friday afternoon just after 3pm and drove straight to Fargo.  We had no hassles crossing the border, just asked where you were from, where are you going and for what reason.  Answering Winnipeg, Fargo and to run in the marathon, he let us through.  We arrived in Fargo and checked into our hotel close to 6:30.  Steph chose the Howard Johnson downtown due to the close proximity to the starting line.  After unloading the car, we immediately walked over to the race kit pick up.  The bag we received was a vibrant yellow and teal, which matched my shoes perfectly.  Nike Air Pegasus, left shoe Volt yellow and right shoe teal.  We also received a similar shirt as last year's but in a different color scheme and of course our bibs.  We scoped out the Expo, but we didn't get anything other than a free sample sized bag of chips.

Race kit

Matching bag and shoes

We returned to the hotel to drop off our gear before heading out for supper.  We attempted the Spitfire Grill, but the wait was too long, so I suggested Kroll's diner which has a 50's diner motif.  We both got club sandwiches w/ fries and I opted for a caramel milkshake.  following dinner, we popped into Walmart to get water and a few pre race breakfast items.

Morning arrived and I had barely slept.  We both got ready and had a bite to eat before heading down to the bridge.  We made our way across to the other side and was then corralled down the center.  Half on the left, full and 10k on the right.  Music was blaring, some spectators stood on their balconies and a helicopter flew above.  The race began, I started my soleus watch and got into a comfortable pace.  I decided to listen to some comedy podcasts instead of music, since I didn't feel the need to listen to music to keep me at a pace rhythm.  I was going to take my time in hopes of finishing under 4 hours.  Steph lost me a few minutes in while we weaved around some slower runners.

Selfie near the starting line

I ran the first full mile before taking my first rest walk. So far I felt fine and seemed to be well ahead of my pace to beat 4 hours.  Not unlike last they had many bands performing and speakers from radio stations playing music throughout the course.  These included garage bands, polka bands, marching bands, highschool bands, etc.  Although, unlike any races I've ran in Manitoba, there were lots of spectators cheering on the runners.  There were also many more water and gatorade stations as well as some orange slice, GU (sports gels) and even Jolly Rancher stations along the way.  Not a whole lot of people dress up for these long races, but I saw one guy carrying fake barbells on his shoulders.  It's one thing trying to finish a half, but to do it with an inconvenient accessory is another.  I would have ditched it early on.

Dude running with fake barbells

I ran as much as I could with rest walks in between.  As time wore on, my runs shortened and my walks lengthened.  At around 6 miles, I started to develop pain in my knee and my soles were getting sore.  I walked for a extended time and the pain in my knee eventually disappeared.  My feet and my legs were not accustomed to these distances since my injury prevented me from putting in the proper training.  I decided I would walk the rest of the way, although I made some brief attempts to run a little.  One odd thing occurred that had never happened before was that my fingers seemed to have swelled up.  Squeezing my fingers into a fist seemed very tight and until now, I don't know what caused it.  Not a lot happened throughout the race.  Spectators cheered us on and I high fived kids which often gave me a boost as I ran by.  Throughout the race, in my head, I would calculate my pace and figure out the time I would finish.  It seemed like I could finish under 3, but slowly over time, that number would increase.  At mile 12, I took an obligatory pic of the marker.  By this time I could tell that I would finish under 3.5 hours for sure.

Further up the road, a woman who was already wearing her finishers medal yelled out saying she loved my shoes.  She too was wearing different color Nikes.  I ran up to her and snapped a pic of our shes.  She was on the phone with her husband and said to him "Honey, I just found my soul mate.  I ran into a guy with mismatched shoes like me".  I continued on, waved good bye and she wished me good luck.  Closer to the end, the crowds of spectators grew.  My friend Janelle, who ran the 10k, was among them.  We waved to each other as I ran on.  I drew as much energy as I could to run the rest of the way across the finish line.  Someone handed me water, another placed a medal over my head and a third passed me some folded up jacket.  A photographer took my picture in front of a back drop and I staggered through the corral.  I was a touch late on stopping my soleus, but figured I finished around 3.5 hours.  There was chocolate milk, banana halves, cookies, granola bars and pizza.  I got a few items and sat down on some grass to eat.  Getting up proved difficult as I was sore all over.  I grabbed a second chocolate milk and head back to the hotel.

A woman on the course wearing mismatched shoes on the left, me on the right

Rockin' my bling

Finisher's medal

Steph was there waiting, already showered and playing on her phone with the tv on.  I laid down on my bed to ice my knee and went on my phone as well.  Steph received an email with her time, finishing in 2:35.  I checked and also received an email informing me that I finished in 3:29:54.  After icing, I went to have a shower.  Prior, my fingers still felt swollen, but have showering, they felt like they were back to normal.  Regardless, we were starving and went out for lunch.  We made another attempt to go to the Spitfire Grill and waited over half an hour for a table.  I had my heart set on ribs.  Steph however said she was ordering the chicken and ribs.  I couldn't allow her to out eat me, so I ordered the same with a side of garlic mashed and skinless baked.  When the food arrived, the skinless baked was basically mashed potatoes with bacon and other toppings.  It was a lot of mashed potatoes.  The entire meal was delicious, especially the ribs.  Unfortunately it was way too much food and neither of us could finish it.  I made sure to finish off the ribs though and as much of the chicken as I could.

Chicken and ribs at the Spitfire Grill

Following lunch, we made our way to Happy Harry's for booze to bring back, Scheel's, Target, West Acres Mall and Best Buy.  Neither of us really bought a whole lot, but got a few things to at least warrant staying 48 hours.  By this time, I was exhausted and was walking at a slower pace than normal.  We headed back to the hotel and took a nap.  Following the nap, it was fairly late and we drove out to Jimmy John's for a late supper.

We got back to the hotel and wanted to relax in the hot tub.  As we got there, an older couple was also just getting into the hot tub.  We didn't care, we just wanted to soak.  Introductions were made.  He was Fernando and she was I believe Sanja.  Both also had a hint of a foreign accent.  They too had also participated in the Fargo Marathon.  Sanja completed her 6th half, while Fernando had completed his 34th full marathon?  Sanja thought he had completed more and was on his 38th.  Fernando has a bucket list, wanting to completed one full in all 50 states.  I asked him what his time was and he said, it's an easy time to remember, 3:33:33.  I jokingly told him that I beat him by nearly 4 minutes.  He was a very interesting man and we chatted a while, mostly about running.  He started running marathons in 1999, doing a couple per year.  Last year he retired and completed 10, but this year by this time he had only completed his 2nd.  The hotel clerk kicked us out at 11pm and we said our good byes.

Steph and I both woke up earlier than our alarms.  We showered, packed up and got some breakfast from the hotel.  Next stop, Grand Forks to gas up, for lunch at Culver's, a little more shopping at Target and then home.  The border again was quick and easy since we were both well under the limit.  This was a fun little weekend and I'm proud to have finished my first half marathon following my knee injury.  Obviously I didn't perform that great, but at least I finished without further injuring myself.  I'm currently registered for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Half in October, as I won free registration for the event.  I do not plan on registering for anything else, until closer to the date due to not having my surgery scheduled yet.  Better to pay a little more closer to an event than not being able to participate and losing out in registration fees.  I shall see what this year holds for racing as it shall be very different than last year.