Grandma's Marathon in Duluth

This weekend was Grandma's Marathon in Duluth! Working up to this weekend, Dave had a pretty rough time training-wise.. A few weeks ago, he set out for his longest run yet, trying to run for a few hours to see how his body could stand it. He's never run a full marathon (26.2 miles) before, so this was going to be his test. He made it all of 3 miles and, from the desperate call I got from him on a Sunday evening while babysitting for a family in Burnsville, he collapsed mid-stride and somehow walked his way home. During his training in the past few months, he developed IT band syndrome, meaning his IT band became inflamed and tough. The syndrome came on full force that evening during his run. It is extremely painful and hard to fix in a short period of time. The pain symptoms come on the most during running or going up/down stairs.

For the past 3 weeks, we've been worried about whether or not Dave should even run the marathon. But, if you know Dave, you know he doesn't give up. So we have been doing what we can to get him back into running shape. Nick was nice enough to act as his trainer and roll out his leg whenever they could fit it in. While Dave couldn't stick to his running schedule, he did keep active by swimming and doing a little biking, which didn't cause his leg pain. Then last week, Dr. Suzy gave him a half our stretching session with her personal trainer which REALLY helped his leg. On Wednesday we got him set up with an hour massage with the therapist at Revolution (the office I work at, owned by Dr. Suzy). Thursday he went for a 3 mile jog in the evening to feel things out. He returned home and said it definitely still hurt, but he could at least run again.

Friday, Dave picked me up from work and we set off North for Duluth! We met up with Nick right away when we got into the city. He took us to Grandma's Restaurant for a light dinner (what the marathon is named after). It was a pretty unique place, really good food. We did take pictures (also of the run), but I cannot get my camera to upload right now...so those will have to come later.

The marathon started at 7:30am Saturday. It was a GORGEOUS & HOT day! We stayed with Nick and his awesome parents Mike and Sam at a hotel right off of Lake Superior and less than a mile from the finish line. It was more than ideal!

Mike, Sam and I walked along the side lines all day waiting to see our boys cross. Nick came through first in very good time -- congrats Nick! But we got a little worried as almost 1.5 hours passed after Nick came through and still no Dave. And in that time we saw about 4 people brought through on stretchers, a few people collapse in front of us, and someone was brought down the hill on a cart with an IV and space blanket. It was a little unsettling for me, wondering if the next injured or heat-stroke victim would be my husband. But then, Dave emerged through the crowd of runners, and he was still looking good, keeping up a light jog. We could see the pain on his face, and he has lost one of his braces that he had put on his leg earlier in the morning, but we were so glad to see he was still moving and not hobbling along.

He made it across at 4:44:50, pretty good for how he was feeling and considering Dave thought he'd be walking almost the entire race. We're so proud of him!

After the race, the boys got showered and the Ellensons gave us a little walking tour of Duluth. We ate dinner at Little Annie's, a Mexican restaurant, and stopped at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, where Dave and I picked up a small assortment of truffles (one of our weaknesses..). Dave and I hit the road shortly after, around 5pm, since he wanted to get some studying in before his two midterms on Monday.

All in all, it was a great weekend! Today, Dave is extremely sore, and so am I. Him because of his leg, and me because of sunburn. We haven't found a great all-natural sunscreen yet, so we don't wear any. I'd rather get red than put chemicals onto and into my body. This morning, we woke up and both just sat in bed not wanting to move. It was pretty funny. Pictures to come! Have a great Monday, all!! And happy Father's Day to all you Dads!!!

- Elise