Aaron and I have been anticipating the Grand Rapids Marathon ever since we committed last fall. And finally today was RACE day! I was a nervous wreck all weekend long; I literally could not think of anything else than the race and how we would hold up. Aaron's knee had been bothering him quite a lot, so I was really concerned about him.
We woke up to chilly temps, but it was a great morning for running. By the time the gun went off at 8 am we were ready to go. The course started downtown at the Y, headed out to Millennium park, snaked through the grounds, and connected to some of the local running paths, then finally brought us back downtown.
Our goal was to complete the 13.1 miles in under 2 hours; that would require us to maintain a 9 minute mile. We started off strong and held that pace the first half of the course. The Marathon volunteers supplied water, Gatorade, gummy bears, and GU along the route which allowed us to stay hydrated and hold our pace. Aaron's knee started acting up, but he endured it and ran 11 miles strong. By the time we reached marker 11 he told me to go on ahead because he didn't know how much longer he could hold that pace with his knee. Those last two miles were the longest for me; I didn't realize how comforting and invigorating it was to have Aaron running alongside me. Little did I know, but Aaron was only a matter of steps behind me those last two miles. We both gave it all we had and crossed the finish line only seconds apart!
As for our times...well, we shattered our goal! Aaron came in at 1:52:13 and I clocked in at 1:51:39! If you do the math, you'll realize we averaged an 8:30 mile pace!
We are both psyched with how we did! Who ever would have guessed that we'd be distance runners, and not too bad at it either! Thanks to our families and friends who cheered us on along the way; it really provided a boost of energy and support!
What's next for the Quists? Well, I'm going to put my running shoes away for a while, but plan on dusting them off for the River Bank 25K next spring (I think I'll need those months to convince Aaron to run with me)!
We woke up to chilly temps, but it was a great morning for running. By the time the gun went off at 8 am we were ready to go. The course started downtown at the Y, headed out to Millennium park, snaked through the grounds, and connected to some of the local running paths, then finally brought us back downtown.
Our goal was to complete the 13.1 miles in under 2 hours; that would require us to maintain a 9 minute mile. We started off strong and held that pace the first half of the course. The Marathon volunteers supplied water, Gatorade, gummy bears, and GU along the route which allowed us to stay hydrated and hold our pace. Aaron's knee started acting up, but he endured it and ran 11 miles strong. By the time we reached marker 11 he told me to go on ahead because he didn't know how much longer he could hold that pace with his knee. Those last two miles were the longest for me; I didn't realize how comforting and invigorating it was to have Aaron running alongside me. Little did I know, but Aaron was only a matter of steps behind me those last two miles. We both gave it all we had and crossed the finish line only seconds apart!
As for our times...well, we shattered our goal! Aaron came in at 1:52:13 and I clocked in at 1:51:39! If you do the math, you'll realize we averaged an 8:30 mile pace!
We are both psyched with how we did! Who ever would have guessed that we'd be distance runners, and not too bad at it either! Thanks to our families and friends who cheered us on along the way; it really provided a boost of energy and support!
What's next for the Quists? Well, I'm going to put my running shoes away for a while, but plan on dusting them off for the River Bank 25K next spring (I think I'll need those months to convince Aaron to run with me)!
2 comments:
Way to go you guys! That is awesome.
Way to go Carrie and Aaron! I'm pretty sure that running around the block would be the equivalent for me.
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