Wisconsin Marathon Race# 25

Kenosha, Wisconsin
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Time: 4:33:57
Overall Place: 419/674

 

We’re heading to cheese country.  Wisconsin is known for their cheese and we were going to be right in the middle of it for the Wisconsin Marathon.  This marathon is also known as the cheesiest marathon around and you can take that any way you want.

We left for Kenosha, Wisconsin on Thursday May 5 in the late morning and planned to drive about 11 out of the 13 hours that day.  Kenosha is right on the eastern end of Wisconsin, right on Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago.  Yes it is a long drive but what better way to spend the weekend then with my favorite person in the world. You’re right if you said Heidi.  We pulled into Watertown, yes another Watertown Wisconsin quite late and found a nice hotel where we got the last room.  We went a little further than we planned, which meant less driving the next day and we could sleep in, so that worked out nice.

On Friday morning we got up to a beautiful sunshiny day, had some breakfast and left for the short 1 ½ hour drive to Kenosha.  I’m learning when you travel quite often you get what you pay for.  This night we opted for a Holiday Inn Express as opposed to a Super 8.  What a difference.  The breakfast was amazing and the room was nice.  We have taken a lot of rooms at the Super 8, and while they were nice in their day, not so nice any more but they are cheap.   

Leaving a short drive to Kenosha meant that we could do a little sight seeing on this day before we had to get ready for the race the next day.  Our first stop when we arrived in Kenosha was a place called Mars Cheese Castle.  What a neat place just on the outside of town.  I didn’t know there were so many different cheeses available.  They had samples to try and we went around testing all of the different cheeses they had out. 

 

 

From here we set our GPS to the Museum where they had the race kit pickup and Expo.  You can always tell if you are close to the race kit pickup location by just seeing the stream of people going in and out of the location where kits were being handed out, so it wasn’t hard to find.  When we went in we found that there were only about six exhibitors, maybe, and the race kit pick up area.  I wouldn’t call this an Expo; actually it was kind of cheesy.  I did however meet another runner and fellow Marathon Maniac from the Chicago area whom I had met at another race and we had become Facebook friends, so it was nice to talk to her and formally meet.

 

 

Race kit pickup done we decided to walk around the area which included a very nice marina and their downtown area.  The weather was something I had not been prepared for.  At this time of year the temperature can swing 10 degrees either direction depending on which direction it is coming from and in a matter of minutes.

 

 

This day the wind was light from the south which meant that right down by the lake it was a little cool.  When you move away from the lake where we went later that day the temperature was about 15 degrees warmer.  The wind coming off any part of the lake makes a huge difference and this would play a big part in the race the next day.
It was late in the afternoon and we decided to go for a pre-race meal and yes I could have had Panda Express again but decided instead to go to Olive Garden.  I wanted to see if it would help me to feel not so full before a race and it certainly worked.  We had a great meal and felt a lot better than having Panda Express.

We made a few more stops in the area and even drove the south part of the course which was being run by the marathoners and also runs along Lake Michigan. 

 

 

 

The course was nice and flat so I was looking forward to a nice fast course with little or no hills.  We went a little further south and ended up driving into Illinois, just to say that we were there. 

 

We only went about 10 miles so it wasn’t very far. After driving around a little more we headed back to the hotel and got ready for the next day.  We also had a little time to relax which was a nice way to wind down.

The next morning we got up at 4:30 so we could leave by 5:30 to get to the race sight for 5:45.  We were told if we wanted to get a good parking spot we needed to be there about 4:30 – 5:00.  Well, we got there at about 5:45 and there was lots of good parking so I’m glad we didn’t listen to the advice.  When we arrived at the parking lot we had about a half mile walk to the start line along a little inlet to Lake Michigan.  The temperature was a lovely plus 18 degrees Celsius and the gentle breeze was coming off shore so the temperature was very pleasant.  We had heard that the temperature was going to drop a bit so we knew it was going to be perfect for running. 

 

 

 

 

 

The sunrise was absolutely beautiful over Lake Michigan and I had everything going for a perfect race.  We met a number of Maniacs that were running in the race, many I had not met before but some that I knew and so it was good to meet them again.

 

 

The race started at 7:00 so we went to line up at the start around 6:45.  There were only about 3000 runners in the half and the full so there was lots of room to find a spot.  The national anthem was sung at about 6:55 and Heidi, being the musician, said the singer changed keys about a half a dozen times so it was pretty cheesy.  Me, I thought it was okay, but then I don’t run with my hearing aids in so I may not be the best person to ask. 

The gun went off and we all started out together and would run the same course for the first twelve miles.  Heidi and I ran together for the first bit then left her to pursue a faster pace than she was comfortable with.  I should mention here that it was while we were getting ready at the start line that the weather took a complete turn for the worse.  The winds switched to the north and was pretty much coming off the lake, so it turned cool within minutes.  The course ran basically north and south, so we started heading south first, which was really nice.  Then we headed north for about five miles and by this time the winds had picked up to about 70 KPH or about 40 MPH from the north.  At one point we ran along a beach and I got to experience sandblasting for the first time.  It was hard going north and I tried not to expend too much energy because we had a long stretch to go south.  We went about 6 miles south and dropped the half marathoners at the 12 mile mark and we had another 7 to go till the turnaround before heading north again.  I must admit going south was fun being blown the whole way, but the thing that was going through my mind was that I then needed to come back 7 miles against a 70 KPH wind.  Surprisingly, my legs felt quite strong this race and I found myself walking less then I normally would have, at least until the last mile.  I was even more surprised that I found the 7 miles back against the wind not to be as bad as I expected and I passed a lot of runners on that stretch.  Finally reaching the finish line I was glad to see Heidi as she took her traditional shots. 

 

 

 

 

I have mentioned this before and I’ll say it again.  When I get to the finish line I like it when they place the medal around my neck like I had just achieved something.  This race just handed you a cheesy medal with no fanfare and you keep going.   Running a marathon or half marathon, or any race for that matter is a big deal to runners and for many it is quite an accomplishment.  Anyway I went to the tent to get my food which included a brat and beer; of course I hate beer, so I just took the brat. It was all good though.

We didn’t have much time to spend at the race because we needed to get back to the hotel and get showered up and get on the road for the long trek back home.  I wanted to be out of Kenosha by 1:00 which is when we were able to extend our late checkout to.  It all worked out perfectly as we were able to do everything we needed and were on the road by 1:00.  Okay, so I normally wouldn’t do what I planned to do this trip.  I promised to have Heidi home Saturday night/ Sunday morning, and that would mean driving 13 hours after running a full and half marathon.  It was Heidi’s birthday and mother’s day on Sunday so I wanted to have her back for all the fun things we needed to do.  That was probably one of the hardest trips I have ever taken and hopefully will never do that again.  I won’t tell you what we all went through, but it was not easy, but we did make it home at 2:15 in the morning.  And yes, I did sing Happy Birthday to Heidi at midnight.

It was a good race for me and although it was kind of a low budget event it was still a really well run race.  I ran strong and left everything out on the course.  Some of you may be thinking that it must be getting easier to run these marathons and that I just take them for granted by now.  It is quite the opposite.  In some ways, yes it is easier but only because I know what to expect and I know what it takes to finish a full marathon.  I never take the full marathon for granted and it is important to respect the distance.  As soon as you don’t take it serious this is when injuries happen.  After running 25 marathons over the last 13 ½ months I have noticed that my body is getting more tired every race.   I have to work harder and the recovery is harder as well.  I don’t just have to recover physically, but I have to recover mentally and emotionally as well and it becomes a real grind.  It’s becomes a balancing act between running too much and too little and not fatiguing the mind as well.  It becomes an emotional roller coaster coming off one race and preparing for the next.  I only have five more to go and I am pushing myself beyond the limits I even thought were possible.  Through all of this I am enjoying myself and I feel fulfilled knowing that I am making a difference in raising support for Siloam Mission.

Next race up is Fargo which is in two weeks.  Oh, did I mention that I am running a 10K on the weekend in between?  Whose idea was this anyway?  Only five more to go when I finish 30 marathons in 15 months.