Baby we were born to run

As an aside (or more of a "front" since it is the start of this post), if you know the lyrics to the full "born to run" sentence in the Bruce Springsteen song by the same name you might chuckle. By using this as a title for my post I am not saying anything about the virtue of the lovely ladies I ran this race with, or myself for that matter.

Okay. Let's get to the point. I ran a race. A really hard race. But I loved it and I want to do it again....in a while.

Saturday the 27th of October was the Mackinac Island Great Turtle Half Marathon Trail Run. That is probably not the official title, but it covers the basics--location, distance, type of terrain. For those of you unfamiliar with Mackinac (pronounced and sometimes spelled Mackinaw)Island, here are a few facts:

The island is about 3.8 square miles and is part of the great peninsula we call Michigan (if you have a spare moment, look up the Michigan state motto--it's a good laugh).

The island sits in Lake Huron--basically between Michigan's upper and lower peninsula.

The island was home to a Native American settlement until European exploration in the 17th century. The Native Americans dubbed the island Mackinac (meaning turtle) because of the shape of the island.

• There are virtually no motorized vehicles on the island. People get around on horses and bikes.



• Because you can only get to the island by ferry, ferry companies can charge whatever they want to get you to the island---and they do. And we paid it. And we'd pay it again.



• There are a little over 500 residents. I can't find any exact numbers, but most of them leave for the winter when the island essentially shuts down. In fact, the weekend of the race is the last weekend that the island is open to tourists.



• More than 80% of the island is preserved as Mackinac State Park.



• The Grand Hotel, where most of the movie "Somewhere In Time" was filmed, is the most famous hotel on the island. The Hotel purports to have the longest front porch in the world (660 feet). If you can't afford the $300-$500 per night rate, you can pay just to get on the grounds.



• This island is breathtakingly beautiful (I didn't get that from Wikepedia, those are my own words).

I have been training with 4-5 women from the ward/neighborhood for many a month now. Though the January 1 marathon is my ultimate goal, this half marathon was my first objective when I started running. After my 15 mile run the Saturday before, I started to have some foot pain. It got really intense the week before the race and I was very, very worried. I tried to take it easy, but that darn foot kept hurting. I saw my doctor and he wasn't too worried about, but he told me that if I ran the race I may not be able to run the 17 miles I need to run the Saturday after the race. Long story short, after many, many prayers and many, many doses of ibuprofen, my foot did not hurt on the morning of the race.

We arrived the night before the race and stayed in Mackinac City (a city right by the ferry docks, but not on the island itself). We awoke on Saturday morning to an overcast, dreary, windy, drizzly day. I told Chad that he shouldn't take the ferry over with me--no reason for him and Jack to sit around in the rain and cold for hours before the race and hours while I was running---so I went over with my friends Rachel, Kiersten and Jan.

I had a mild case of pre-race jitters, but it wasn't too bad. After a long debate about whether to wear shorts or pants (I opted for shorts, a short sleeve shirt and a jacket and it was the right choice), we headed to the crowded starting line. Even though the sky was gray and everyone was shivering, the atmosphere was great. It was a challenge to find a comfortable spot at the beginning of the race, but after a few miles the runners thinned out and the race was in full swing. The first few miles were along a scenic road, right next to the Lake. It was a wind tunnel, but again, it was breathtaking. After we left the road and started on the trails, we got our first taste of the hills that would make this race so challenging. I'd heard from a friend that this course was "kind of hilly." I should have realized that this description, from a woman who runs 50 mile races, might differ from the description a sane person would give of this course! The four of us ran together for 2-3 miles and then Jan and Kiersten took off. Rachel and I stayed together, chatting with some other runners, for another 2-3 miles. I decided to go ahead and push myself a little more. I used all kinds of tricks--like telling myself that I couldn't turn on my music until half way through the race--as motivation. The faded autumn colors on the trees, the mansions of the rich and famous (including the governor), and the views were what kept me going. After winding our way up, up and up, the course returned to the same scenic road where we began. Once again the wind was brutal. By now, I was barely hanging on. I had told myself that 2:15 was my goal, but in my heart I knew that I should be able to do it within 2 hours. I should have been more reasonable considering how incredibly hilly the course was, but I really wanted to make that goal. I started getting a few sharp pains and all I wanted to do was stop, but I kept going. I was running with a guy I had met who was from a city in Michigan called Zealand. I told him I was going to run ahead to meet my goal, but then he kept passing me because I was running on empty. Then I'd push it again and pass him up. We were laughing at each other (he was doing most of the laughing--at me). It was a great feeling to see Chad and Jack at the finish line. I knew I'd barely made it under 2 hours, so I was ecstatic.

We all killed it! I'm so proud of everyone, myself included. It was a really, really difficult race, but our pace would have been impressive (to ourselves) on flat terrain.

Here are the official results:

Jan Parker 1:54:12 (8:44 pace)

Kiersten Lortz 1:57:46 (9:00 pace)

Yours truly 1:59:03 (9:06 pace)

Rachel Opdahl 2:01:53 (9:19 pace)

After the race, Jan and I took an ICE COLD shower. I'd paid $10 to rent a locker and enjoy a hot shower after the race, but as luck would have it the hot water was out in the entire resort. Better luck awaited us as the clouds finally cleared and we were able to enjoy the island. We had heard that kids could trick-or-treat at the resort that hosted the race, so we had Jack's costume, but we were too hungry to stick around. We walked downtown with Jan and her family and had a great meal. Then Jan informed us that there was trick-or-treating on Main Street. The stores were giving out toys, fudge, and more candy than any human child could ever consume. It was a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon. Eventually we headed back to the mainland on the ferry. We relaxed in the hotel pool and hot tub and ordered gourmet pizza for dinner. It was a great way to end the day.





Since the race my foot has still been bothering me. I took 6 days off after the race and only ran 9 miles, instead of 17, this past Saturday. Since then I'm feeling better. I haven't been nervous about running for a while, but I'm really worried about my 18-miler this Saturday. Wish me luck!