#19--Bismarck Marathon

Bismarck, ND

September 19, 2009

4:11:27

This was an early fall marathon.  I really wanted to do Fargo, but Bismarck fit better into my schedule.  It was a Saturday marathon, which I really like.  Saturday marathons keep Sunday open to rest or travel, and I never have to miss any work on Monday.  In this case, I was able to fly up on Friday after work, run on Saturday, catch a late flight home, and have a day at home to rest before going back to work. 

This was a small marathon in a small town.  There was no expo.  Packet pick up was at the mall.  I asked the volunteers at the packet pick up where I could get some pasta the night before.  I remember having a very nice, cheap pasta dinner at the one local Italian place.

The race was fairly unremarkable.  The day was sunny with perfect temperatures.  A lot of the race was run on county roads outside town.  The roads were not closed to car traffic.  This was very annoying.  Not only did you have to watch out for cars and breath exhaust, but it forced you to run on the very side of the road, which over a long course puts you at risk for foot, ankle, knee, and hip issues.  I was on a sub 4 hr pace until the last 9 miles.  My pace slowed by about a minute per mile.  By the end of the race, the front of my foot and ankle was very sore, and I actually ran with a limp the last mile or so.

I finished the race in 4:11:27.  I was a little disappointed in my time, but as always, just glad to finish.  I cleaned up at the hotel, took the shuttle to the airport, and just made my flight home.

My foot hurt for several days.  It was in the area of the navicular bone.  Navicular stress fractures are very bad, so I was worried.  I ended up having an MRI of my foot later that week to evaluate it.  I was relieved that the scan was negative. It ended up just being tendonitis.

After a brief rest, training resumed for the next marathon.  Kind of the story of my life!